abor of
raising it to the surface and crushing it. Theory and fact, however,
have come into collision upon this point, as demonstrated both in
California and Australia. The laws which govern these deposits are not
understood, and the best-informed often find themselves at fault in
their calculations. The mines do not invariably grow richer as they
descend, but vary near the surface. "Twenty-five years of mining
experience," said a Victorian to us, "have taught me that no one knows
at what depth quartz lodes or reefs will be found to pay, and there is
nothing to show that the quality or quantity of the yield of metal
depends upon the depth from which it is taken." Statistics show all
sorts of yield of gold at all depths; it is indeed as the working miners
say regarding the gold, "Where it is, there it is, and no rule applies."
We were told of the appointment of a Government commission in Melbourne
not long ago, whose members travelled over the colony to inspect
personally the mining operations, and make a proper report thereon.
After due consideration these gentlemen prepared and published their
report, with much official flourish, each member doubtless tincturing it
with some favorite theory of his own. The result was simply ridiculous,
as within a twelvemonth, and by practical results at the various mines
which they had inspected, every deduction of their report was proved to
be entirely wrong.

It is in this colony of Australia that the traveller finds the giant
trees, considered to be one of the great wonders of our times, and which
exceed in dimensions those grand conifers of California in which
Americans feel such pride. These big trees of Victoria are called the
mountain ash, though why so named we do not understand, as they are not
of that family. But they are certainly the tallest trees in the known
world, often measuring four hundred feet and more in height, and from
fifty to sixty feet in girth a couple of yards from the ground. When we
say that these trees exceed in dimensions those of California, we refer
especially to their height, inasmuch as the American trees equal them,
if they do not in some instances surpass them, in circumference. The
Australian trees rise a hundred feet more or less from the roots without
putting forth a lateral branch. On beholding them one is not at first
impressed by their exceptional size or monarch-like appearance; but they
grow upon one by further observation. A trip of a hund