We were soon seated upon such articles as were handy, and after the first cravings of our appetites were satisfied, we renewed the subject of mining.
"All the miners," Fred remarked, "are not obliged to work so deep beneath the surface."
"If they do not, their chance of finding gold is exceedingly slim," replied the inspector. "I have known stout, lazy fellows pick around on the surface of the earth for weeks, and not earn enough to find themselves in food. To be successful a shaft has to be sunk."
"And yet, according to your own showing, gold is not always struck by such a method."
"True, and I can easily explain why it is so. Mining is like a lottery—where one draws a prize, hundreds lose. We might dig deep into the earth where we are seated, and it would surprise no one if we took out gold by the pound; and yet no one would think of laughing if we did not earn our salt. The case would be so common that no notice would be taken of it." We sat and listened to the inspector's words in silence, and began to think that we had better have remained in Melbourne and entered into business of a more substantial nature.
"I know of a dozen cases," the inspector continued, "where not even enough gold has been found by industrious men, who have sunk shafts, to make a ring for the finger; and yet not one rod from the place where such poor success was encountered others have grown rich, and left Ballarat well satisfied with their labor."
"But we have certainly read of men taking a nugget from these mines weighing over a hundred pounds," I said.
"And the account that you read was perfectly correct. I remember the circumstance well. It was soon after my recovery from the wound inflicted at the hands of Black Darnley. A man rushed into my tent one afternoon with his eyes apparently starting from their sockets, and his whole appearance that of a crazy man. He was breathless and speechless for a few minutes, but I at length obtained information that two miners had come across a nugget of gold so large that half a dozen men were unable to lift it from the shaft. I hurried to the spot, and as I went along hundreds of people were flocking to the scene. The news spread like fire upon a prairie. Saloons and rooms were deserted—miners crawled from their shafts—sick men forgot their ailments—even gamblers desisted from playing for a short time, in their anxiety to look at the largest lump of gold that had ever been discovered.
"When I reached the opening of the shaft I found many hundred people present, and fresh arrivals were joining the crowd every moment. I organized a force, and drove the excited throng from the opening of the mine, for I feared that the chambers which had been excavated would not stand the pressure, and that those above and below would be buried alive.
"After I had succeeded in my efforts, we set to work and raised the mighty nugget to the surface, but instead of its weighing two or three hundred pounds, it weighed one hundred and ten. But it was a splendid lump of gold, almost entirely free from quartz and dirt, and of rare fineness and purity.. The finders were overjoyed, as well they might be, and guarded their treasure with great care until they saw it safe in the custody of the government agent. A gentleman from Melbourne, who was on a visit to the mines for the purpose of collecting rare specimens of gold, offered the lucky finders four thousand pounds for the nugget, but they got an idea into their heads that it was worth more, and declined."