66 Voyage of the Novara. 



hitlier, standing out for a large sum by way of reward. Long 

 after we had left Sydney we learned that the 280 llamas 

 were sold to a company of sheep -breeders at £25 a head, or 

 for £7000 sterling the entire herd, the value of an animal in 

 Peru being two or tliree dollars. 



The yield of the various gold-fields* in the west, north, and 

 south of the colony, though nothing like so great as in the 

 neighbouring colony of Victoria, yet contributes in no incon- 

 siderable degree to the annual revenue of the state, and 

 maintains a considerable commerce with other countries. 

 According to ofiicial reports, the amount of gold taken out 

 since its first discovery in March, 1851, to the end of July, 

 1860, was 2,587,549 oz., worth about £9,600,000. Besides 

 this, however, a considerable quantity of money was brought 

 to the coast by private conveyance, where it was smelted 

 down, since the entire yield of New South Wales in nine 

 years was £12,696,231, besides £3,096,231 in the State 

 Treasury and Mint, according to ofiicial returns. 



The rumour that gold was to be found in Australia was 

 first set on foot by the Rev. H. F. Clarke, a Protestant mis- 



* The distance of the various gold-fields from Sydney and the various harbours of 

 the colony is as follows. Western Gold-Jields, — Bathurst 110 miles, Sofala 140, Orange 

 141, Ophir 146, Mudgee 155, Tambaroora 157, Meroo 160, Louisa Creek 176, Tuena 

 lyO. Southern, — Goulburn 125, Queanbeyan 182, Braidwood 184, Bill's Creek 190, 

 Araleun 200, Sundagai 244, Cooma 254, Tumut 264, Adelong 273, Albury 2S6, Obin's 

 River 410, Kiandra or Guoroy River, over Twofold Bay and Bambula, 240 miles. 

 Northern, — Hangus Rock 304, Bingera Creek 365, Rocky River 357, Tamworth 280, 

 Timbarra 67 miles from Clarence River, via Grafton, overland. The other gold-fields 

 of the Clarence River District, such as Lubra, Toolam, Emu Creek, Pretty Gully, 

 Sandy Creek, Table Land, Nelson's Creek, &c., are 80 to 100 miles from the river. 



