the valuable find. The man received for the
nugget, after deducting all charges and commissions, the sum of
fifty-one thousand dollars.

"A great many fortunes were taken out of the earth around Ballarat
before the placer mines were exhausted. The news of the discovery of
gold in Australia spread to other countries, and thousands of people
came from all parts of the world to search for it. Nearly every
nationality was represented, and they came in great numbers. Just before
the gold discovery there were seventy-seven thousand inhabitants in the
colony of Victoria. The population doubled in a single year, and three
years after the discovery the colony had two hundred and thirty-six
thousand inhabitants. The gold rush properly ended when the placer mines
were exhausted, although in the meantime new mines had been discovered
in several localities, principally at Bendigo and Castlemaine. Ballarat
was nearly deserted for a time after the placer mining gave out, and the
same was the case at the other places mentioned. Then the reefs and
ledges were attacked; crushing machinery was erected, and the form of
work which you call quartz mining in America had its beginning. It has
gone on steadily ever since and gives employment to a great many people.
It also employs a great deal of money, as quartz mining requires
capital, while placer mining does not. To get a fortune by quartz mining
you must have a fortune to begin with, while in placer mining you need
nothing more than a pick and shovel.

"Australia will continue to produce gold for a great many years to
come," the gentleman continued. "New discoveries are made almost every
year, and in some years half a dozen fields will be opened. The
government has changed its tactics in regard to gold discoveries. It
rewarded Hargreaves and Esmond for their discoveries in 1851, and it has
rewarded the discoveries of other gold fields. Most of the colonial
governments have a standing offer of a handsome pecuniary reward to
anybody who discovers a gold field, provided there are not fewer than
two hundred men working in that field six months after its discovery.
This, you see, bars out all those finds that are exhausted in a few
weeks, which is the case with the majority of them.

"Every little while there is an excitement over a new discovery,
companies are formed for working the mines, and their stock is placed on
the market. It is safe to say that, in the majority of instances, more
m