Australian Heroes and Adventurers

by William T. Pyke

Two years later the Rev. W. B. Clarke, an enthusiastic geologist, who for a long time had been engaged in the laborious work of studying the structure of Australia, found gold in the basin of the Macquarie. He exhibited his specimens to his friends, to the Government, and also communicated the facts of his discovery to scientific friends in England. Subsequent years of exploration increased his conviction as to the auriferous nature of the mountain ranges, and at various times from 1842 to 1847 he published declarations of the existence of gold-fields. But no one attempted to profit by his disclosures, for the authorities still considered it unsafe to disturb the easily excited feelings of the dwellers in the penal settlement. When Count Strzelecki returned to England he took with him specimens of the rocks which he had examined. His theories, together with those of the Rev. W. B. Clarke, respecting the gold-bearing nature of the Australian ranges, excited the attention of Sir Roderick Murchison, and in 1844 this eminent scientist described to the Royal Geographical Society the comparison between the formation of the Australian Cordillera and that of the Ural Mountains, which he himself had explored between the years 1841 and 1843. He stated that although no gold had been detected in the mountains of Australia, yet they possessed all the auriferous indications of the well-known gold-fields of Russia. In 1846 he again strongly expressed his belief in the richness of the Australian ranges, and recommended the tin miners of Cornwall who wanted employment to emigrate to New South Wales, and there to search for gold instead of tin.

In addition to the above-named discoveries others were reported to the Colonial Government; but as it offered no inducement to a continuance of investigation, and as the discoverers either deemed it of little practical importance or lacked the public spirit necessary for a sustained effort to arouse the colonists, the "lucky finds" benefited no one but the finders themselves. A known instance of the latter is that of an old shepherd named McGregor. He excited a little temporary curiosity when, laden with "treasure trove," he travelled by the mail-coach to the metropolis. After this event subsided the gold-finder was unheard of for a long time, excepting for the rumour of his refusing a tempting offer of an enterprising jeweller as an inducement to disclose the locality of the treasure ground. But as McGregor "made money" without any other ostensible means than that of shepherding and gold-finding, his rise to wealth may be taken as an evidence of his success in the latter occupation.

Several stories can be told of these solitary seekers of the precious metal; but the pursuit was usually deprecated by men of good standing, for they believed that on the presence of gold becoming widely known their own little world would be turned upside down. Some persons who successfully prosecuted further researches were pronounced as enemies to the colony when they dared to disclose the facts publicly.

But although the clamours of science and enterprise were silenced for the time, and gold, sent as specimens of the richness of the country, sceptically received and even said to be jewels and watches hidden by thieves and melted by bush fires, yet the fact of the existence of auriferous ground became at length so evident that the New South Wales Executive requested the English Government to send out an efficient geologist to examine the country. For this purpose Mr. Sutchbury, an eminent scientist, left England in September 1850.

HARGRAVES, THE PIONEER MINER.

While these discoveries were agitating the minds of a section of the agricultural and pastoral community, the one person who by his perseverance and intelligence initiated the practical working of the gold-fields of Australia was, like the father of Norval, tending his flocks and herds, and living quietly as a squatter near the town of Bathurst. The alternative droughts and floods occurring between the years 1844 and 1848 ruined many Australian settlers, and forced others to change their mode of life. Edward Hammond Hargraves was one of these latter unfortunates. He had been remarkably prosperous before this disastrous period, and even after it had sufficient to clear himself from debt. The discovery of rich mines in California about this time induced him to endeavour to regain his former fortune by searching for gold in the valley of the Sacramento. There he spent nearly two toilsome years seeking the precious metal. His industry was poorly rewarded. During summer the life at the diggings was tolerable, but in the winter the cold was very severe, and Hargraves' party suffered intensely. Even with every particle of clothing they possessed heaped upon them they had extreme difficulty in keeping the warmth in their bodies whilst sleeping, and in addition to this there was the danger of the tent being borne down by the weight of snow upon it, and the risk of being rudely aroused by the rough paw of any grisly bear that might take it into his ursine head to leave the surrounding forest in search of food. The rigours of the climate, added to their bad luck, so dispirited the party that at the close of the cold season they separated. Hargraves, with a heavy heart and a light pocket, made for San Francisco. All the hopeful imaginings which had warmed his blood when he embarked for the gold-country had now been entirely dissipated by the grim realities of mining life.

As he journeyed downwards towards the seaport, probably whilst reflecting on the vicissitudes of life in general and of his own in particular, he was struck with the appearance of a deep gulch in the Sierras, which awakened old memories, and it dawned upon him that the features of the surrounding country were remarkably similar to those of the valleys near his old home in New South Wales. His two years' toiling had not weakened his energy nor dulled his observation, but it had made him more practical. He examined closely the formation of the surrounding gold-bearing districts, and found that the rocks and even the soil corresponded in many respects to the Blue Mountains of Australia. The many resemblances between the two places impressed him firmly with the belief in the existence of a gold-bearing region in New South Wales.

But his belief did not dissuade him from making another trial at the Californian diggings. In company with a friend he made several trips up the Sacramento, and succeeded in finding some payable ground; but visions of the secluded valleys near his old home constantly haunted his mind, while the rumours he had heard of the finding of treasures in the recesses of the Blue Mountains vivified his imaginings and renewed his old desire of retrieving his fallen fortunes. He disclosed his thoughts to his mate, and attempted to convince him of the gold-bearing nature of the hills near Bathurst. But all the dilations of Hargraves were wasted on his companion, who expatiated upon the foolishness of forsaking substantial profits for the sake of shadowy prospects, and pointed out to the enthusiast that the geologists of Australia had already searched the mountains thoroughly, and that if fortunes could there be made by opening up a gold-field they would have done so long before. Hargraves argued that the object of the geologists in examining the ranges was merely to verify scientific principles, and to further scientific knowledge; but that to open up a payable gold-field men of a very different stamp were needed—namely, prospectors with a practical knowledge of the modes of extracting the gold, and with will and capability to delve with the pick and to wash the gold-sprinkled earth. Arguments, however, proved unavailing; therefore Hargraves left his mate, and all alone shaped his course for New South Wales.

Hargraves reached Sydney in January 1851. He called on his former friends, and finding himself unable to keep silent on the subject that was ever in his thoughts, he related his experiences in California and made his propositions; but they were looked upon as visionary, and when he wished to borrow a little money in order to carry them out, his request was coldly received. Of all Hargraves' acquaintances only one sympathised in any manner with his enthusiasm, and not one of them would lend any help towards working out his schemes. Determined that his purpose should not be frustrated, Hargraves resolved, with manly self-reliance, on going alone to the district that scientists had pronounced to be auriferous. The few pounds required to buy a horse and for the expenses on the way he obtained by promising cent. per cent. interest on the loan, and repayment of the whole within a few months.

Early in February he set out upon his lonely journey. Every hour brought before him the old familiar scenes which reminded him of his former squatting life. Every step onward quickened his feelings and increased his hopes of regaining fortune by bringing him nearer to the Eldorado that was so rich and bountiful in his imagination.