COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL. 



1367 



three or four days ; its Chinese physician ; and its handicraftsmen pursuing th.-ir re- 

 spective occupations in shops that were quaintly Oriental in structure and decoration. 



Many of the alluvial deposits of gold were exceedingly rich, and th<- pn-cious metal 

 was found, in a great number of instances, only a few feet below the surface. As much 

 as one hundred and forty-five ounces have been known to be taken from the bottom of 

 one shaft ; and it was by no means an uncommon occurrence for men to wash out ten 

 or twelve ounces from a single tubful of dirt. But, after a time, it se.-m.-d as if all 

 these teeming placers had been discovered and exhausted ; and then arose the necessity 

 for deep-sinking, so as to arrive at the ancient river-beds, or auriferous drifts, which have 



I'Ru.sl'l'A T I N I 1 FOR CiOLD IN Al'STRAI.IA. 



been overlaid in the course of countless ages by successive deposits of clay, sand, basalt 

 and mudstone. This, however, involved the outlay of capital, and the employment of 

 pumping ami hoisting machinery ; so that mining entered upon a new phase of develop- 

 ment ; as it did, also, when it was found that the schist rocks of the eastern portions 

 of the continent of Australia were veined with auriferous quartz, which retained its 

 richness at great depths, and could only be hewn or blasted from its position, crushed 

 and manipulated on a large-scale and at a very heavy expenditure of money. Hence 

 this great branch of industry is now prosecuted by methods diametrically opposed to 

 those which were pursued by the early digger, who had only to equip himself with a 

 pick and shovel, a tin pan and a cradle. The capital engaged in quartz-mining has 

 now to be estimated by millions ; the operations it pursues are of a permanent character, 

 and the crust of the earth has been pierced to a depth of over 2,500 feet. 



