uriferous diggings have been discovered,--every twelvemonth
bringing to light new deposits of rich quartz, and fresh alluvial
diggings. While the author was in Sydney, a gold nugget was found at
Maitland Bar and brought to that city, for which the Commercial Bank of
the metropolis paid the finder the handsome sum of seven thousand six
hundred dollars. It soon after passed into the possession of the
Government, and is now held by it for the purpose of being exhibited at
the forthcoming centennial exhibition to be held at Melbourne. At the
museum of this latter city we saw a cast which was taken of the largest
nugget ever found in Australia. As it was perfectly gilded, it seemed in
its large glass case as though it might be the real article. It weighed
originally two thousand three hundred ounces, and was valued at
forty-six thousand dollars. It is known by the name of the "Welcome
Nugget." It seems that the finder had heretofore sought in vain to make
a living at gold-digging, having worked long and patiently in search of
the precious metal. Finally he had reached a condition of poverty and
desperation which had led him that very day to resolve upon throwing up
his claim (nobody would give him anything for it), and to seek work in
the nearest city as a day-laborer; he would thus secure at least food
and a shelter. It was in this frame of mind, weary and hungry, that he
chanced upon this marvellous discovery; and hence he appropriately named
it the "Welcome Nugget." These remarkable "finds," as the miners term
them, happen once in a series of years; but in getting at the average
success of gold-mining the larger number of those who have not been able
to realize even a laborer's day-wages at the business, must be taken
into the account. It is safe to accept the conclusion which every
intelligent person in Australia, New Zealand, and California has arrived
at; namely, that the cost of getting gold out of the earth is as much as
its intrinsic value. To put it in other words: in the long run, the
average laborer, working at any other calling for three dollars or even
less per day, will realize more money in a twelvemonth than the average
gold-miner in the same period. Nevertheless, gold-mining seems to be the
active agent which Providence has employed to people the waste places of
the earth. The Western States of America are ample proof of this.

In glancing at a printed record of the finding of golden nuggets, we see
that amo