INATIGITRAI, ADDRp;SS, 21 



re])laced previous guess-work or speculation. Nevertheless, such 

 problems as the exact relation of the fossiliferous Silurian to those 

 of older date, the stratigraphy and fossils of the marine Cretaceous, 

 and its relation to the supra-Cretaceous rocks, still await solution 

 The geologist to the expedition has done his work so conseien- 

 tiously and thoroughly that the poverty of his report* is to be 

 ascribed to Nature's deficiencies. In other departments of natural 

 history our expectations have been satisfactorily realised. May we 

 hope that the Australian Macsenas of our time will crown his 

 efforts to unfold some of the mysteries of our dry interior by 

 directing a systematic exploration of some well-defined area, such 

 as the oasis of the Macdonnell Rano;e ? 



DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 



The year of 1851 marks an epoch in the history of Australia, 

 because in that year the rich goldfield of Ophir Avas discovered. 

 Gold wa« scientifically discovered by Strzelecki in 1839, and by 

 Clarke in 1811, though its existence would appear to have been 

 known as early as 1823. In 1814, without being aware of these 

 discoveries. Sir Roderick Murchison pointed out the similarity of 

 the rock structure of the Eastern Cordillera of Australia to that of 

 the Ural Mountains, and predicted the occurrence of gold. Subse- 

 quent events afforded a proof that geology, like the more exact 

 sciences, is capable of advancing philosophical inductions to very 

 imjjortant results. ► But the precious metal was not commercially 

 discovered, so to speak, till 1851, by Hargreaves, who had spent 

 some of his earlier years as a stock-raiser in Eastern Australia. 

 In 1849 he was gold-mining in California, and his experiences 

 there gained convinced him of the similarity in structure of the 

 auriferous rocks of California and certain districts in New South 

 South Wales. He revisited New South Wales early in 1851, to 

 put to the test his geological instinct and the accuracy of his 

 observations. In this he succeeded, and ultimately, under Govern- 

 ment direction, the goldfield of Ophir, in the district of Bathurst, 

 was declared open. He Avas awarded £10,000 for his discovery, 

 and in 1876 a pension was granted him. He died in 1891 at the 

 age of 75 years. 



The discovery of gold proved a source of an enormous amount 

 of wealth to New South Wales, and was soon followed in the 

 same year by the discovery of much richer goldfields in Vic- 



* Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Aust., vol. xvii., 1893. 



