The countries of the world : being a popular description of the various continents, islands, rivers, seas, and peoples of the globe . y to be a successful one. Mines, etc. The mineral resources of the country are also great. As early as 1843 gold wasknown to exist in New South Wales; but in the then condition of the colony as a * Supplement to the Sijihicij Morniinj JliruU!, Jtaifh, 187S. 176 THE COrXTKIKS OF TIIK WOKLD. convict settlement it was thought wise to conceal a fact which might have the effect ofrenderiii^ the task of ruling the country even more difficult than it was. But of
The countries of the world : being a popular description of the various continents, islands, rivers, seas, and peoples of the globe . y to be a successful one. Mines, etc. The mineral resources of the country are also great. As early as 1843 gold wasknown to exist in New South Wales; but in the then condition of the colony as a * Supplement to the Sijihicij Morniinj JliruU!, Jtaifh, 187S. 176 THE COrXTKIKS OF TIIK WOKLD. convict settlement it was thought wise to conceal a fact which might have the effect ofrenderiii^ the task of ruling the country even more difficult than it was. But of courseiu time such news could not he concealed, and as all the world knows, in I^Sl came therush to the Victorian diggings. The first effect of the discovery was to derange all thesettled industries of the young community, and secondly, to bring to the shores of Australiaan immense concourse of people of all nations, and thus to give the colonies a stimulus bywhich they have never ceased to benefit. Up to 1871 the gold obtained was simply washedout of the soil, or from the sand and gravel iu the beds of streams, yet so abundant. VIEW 01 C-NMXGHAMs gap, MOVXT MITCHELL, NEW SOUTH was the precious metal in such localities, that the colony had exported gold to the valueof £40,095,823, besides coining millions in her own mint. There were then ui)wards of16,000 miners at work, but within the last eight years quartz veins have been openedout, and gold mining is now more confined to large companies than it used to be. Butit is certain that great areas of countiy as yet unexplored will be found to be great gold-fields of the West are within two days journey of the capital, andthe gold mining centres present all the appearance of orderly and thriving townships,with schools, churches, journals, shops, and places of amusement. The average amountof gold annually exported is over £2,000,000, but a large amount is coined, or used invarious other ways. Gold mining is,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury180, bookdecade1870, bookpublisherlondon, bookyear1876
