the ones most sought for, and
of course they were the rarest found.

"One nugget, resembling in shape and size a leg of mutton, and weighing
one hundred and thirty-five pounds, was found a long distance below the
surface, where some miners were tunneling to reach the bed rock; and
another nugget was found in such a remarkable way that I must tell you
the story of it.

"A man who was wandering about the scrub in the neighborhood of Ballarat
one day, sat down at the foot of a tree to rest. While sitting there he
took out his knife to cut a stick, and finding the knife was dull, he
proceeded to sharpen it by rubbing it upon a stone that lay almost
completely imbedded in the ground. As he rubbed, he found that the
surface of the stone became yellow. He was greatly surprised at this,
and then he dug around the stone with his knife, scraping it in several
places, and then trying to lift it. He might as well have tried to lift
a horse. Do what he could, he could not budge it an inch, and for a good
reason, as it was a mass of solid gold.

"He felt his head swimming and his wits leaving him. He pinched his
cheeks and pulled his ears to make sure that he was not dreaming. Here
he was with a fortune in his possession and he could not move it! Then
he sat down again and wondered what was best to do.

"Even if he could move it and started for the camp, he might be robbed
before he got there, as bushrangers infested the country, and he was
just as liable to come upon them as upon honest men. He could not stay
and watch it, as he had no provisions; and he was afraid to leave it,
for fear that somebody might come upon it during his absence. But there
was no help for it, as leave it he must, and after thinking the matter
over he acted about as sensibly as he could have done.

"He covered the nugget up very carefully, replacing the earth and
sprinkling it with leaves so that there was no indication that the spot
had been disturbed. Then he stripped the shirt from his back and tied it
to a neighboring tree, wisely concluding that it was not judicious to
hang the garment on the tree beneath which he had sat. Then, on his way
out of the scrub, he marked the trees here and there so that he could
find the place again, and as soon as he was in sight of the diggings he
went straight to the tent of the gold commissioner and told the story of
his discovery. The commissioner immediately sent the man back again with
a strong escort to secure