d tradition, gold was discovered in
the mountains behind Sydney about the year 1814, but the news of the
finding of the precious metal was kept a secret by the government. At
intervals of a few years from that time small deposits of gold were
found at various places in New South Wales and Victoria, but these were
also kept a secret, the individuals who found the deposits being in one
way or another under the control of the government.

"In the early part of 1851 a miner from California, named Hargreaves,
discovered gold at Lewis Pond Creek in New South Wales, and about the
middle of the same year another California miner, named Esmond, found a
deposit of gold at Clunes, sixteen miles from Ballarat. Before the
government could take any steps for suppressing it the news had spread
and the excitement began. The stories were greatly exaggerated, and many
people came here believing that they had only to shovel the gold from
the ground into barrels and boxes, and send it away to be converted into
coin. That was the beginning of the gold rush, and a rush it was, you
may be sure.

"From all over Australia people flocked to the new El Dorado. Mechanics
of all kinds left their employments; shepherds deserted their flocks;
merchants and clerks fled from their counting-houses; farmers quit their
fields and gardens, doctors and lawyers their offices, and the whole
country seemed to have gone mad about gold. Youth and age got the fever
alike; boys of sixteen and men of seventy walked side by side on their
way to the mines. Melbourne and Sydney were deserted, and the
prediction was made that before the end of the year grass would be
growing in the principal streets of those cities.

"Provisions, clothing, and miners' tools and equipments rose to an
enormous price. Picks or shovels worth four or five shillings apiece in
the sea-coast cities were sold for ten pounds apiece at the mines. Nails
for building sluices sometimes brought their weight in gold. Bacon and
flour were worth a dollar a pound, and not always to be procured at that
figure. The most ordinary shelter was worth ten shillings a night, and
the rental price of a house for a month was the equivalent of its cost.

"The government refused to permit anybody to work at mining without a
license, and the miners were so numerous that the revenue from the
licenses issued was a large one. The money thus obtained was expended in
organizing a strong police force and preserving order