Geoltxjji of War rand lite (Joldfield. 541 



out. Sinkiiiii' would then proceed down the " dropper " until 

 the next bedded vein was met, when this in turn would be fol- 

 lowed until it ceased to be payable. The bedded veins were 

 generally about one inch thick. Tlie " droppers " passed through 

 the bedded veins without any faulting. Tlie " droppers " so 

 far as seen were not connected with any well-defined reef. This 

 mode of occurrence was seldom found on TTiird Hill, and not 

 elsewhere on the field. We have here apparently an example 

 of the principle of intersection with deposit of gold. 



Some of the conglomerate bands in the silurian have been 

 prospected for gold, and son)e workings occur at Fifth Hill. 

 Some of the miners with South African experience thought 

 there was a similarity to the banket beds of South Africa. Tlie 

 writer was informed that a few ounces of gold were found 'n\ 

 one of the conglomerates, but whether between the pebbles (as 

 in our ordinary gold-bearing gravels), or in a reef that might 

 pass through the conglomerate (as some do), was not clear. Evi- 

 dently, however, they have not proved payable, although the 

 determination of the point w^ould be a matter of scientific 

 interest. 



(g) Mining History. 



The account now given of the history of the Warrandyte 

 goldfield is based upon the official reports of the Mines Depart- 

 ment from May, 1859, to June of the present year. So far as 

 the writer is aware, no official publications appeared before 

 1859. Those that have been used are referred to in a general 

 wav in the list of literature at the end of this paper (14). Tlie 

 yields stated by Mr. Forbes in his report already referred to 

 have not been used or verified, as insufiicient details are given. 



According to Westgarth (15, p. 125), Anderson's Creek, War- 

 randyte, was the first place where gold was discovered in Vic- 

 toria. Whether it was actually the first is not quite clear, but 

 there is no doubt that it was one of the very earliest. The date 

 is stated to be July, 1851, and £1000 was paid by the Govern- 

 ment to the discoverers, L. J. Michel and party (1'6). 



From 1851 to 1859, no official records are available, and 

 therefore the portion of the mining history covered by this 

 period cannot be touched upon. 



