THE GOLD PRODUCT OF AUSTRALASIA. 121 



Nine-pins were played with bottles of champagne, for 

 which he who broke fewest had to pay. 



"Treating the crowd," which is commonly known 

 in Australia as "shouting," sometimes cost the indi- 

 vidual hundreds of pounds. 



One very lucky fellow, who afterwards came to 

 poverty, had his horse shod with gold. 



In many instances drunkenness brought to disgrace 

 and utter poverty and rags men who had made thou- 

 sands of pounds in the gold mines. 



Surface diggings and nuggets are not much thought 

 of now, as they seem to have been almost wholly 

 exhausted. About all the gold mining done in the 

 country now is in quartz, for which large capital and 

 costly machinery must be obtained, as the gold must 

 now be sought deep down beneath the surface. We 

 were in one of these 500 feet. After reaching the 

 bottom, we went nearly a half mile in the drift. The 

 gentleman who accompanied us very kindly explained 

 all the mysteries and uncertainties of gold mining. 

 The process is too long for explanation here. 



It is better for such broad, rich territories as 

 Australia, when its inhabitants settle down into the 

 steady development of the general natural resources 

 which are presented other than gold, as seeking for 

 that element is usually attended with undue and un- 



