Industrial Pioneers 265 



saving grace of imagination, that brought them 

 so long and dangerous a journey across the seas 

 in search of the wealth of Eldorado. 



Cities grew up as if by magic. Not many 

 years before, John Batman had found on the 

 banks of the river Yarra what he declared was a 

 fine site for a " village." Melbourne rose on the 

 village site, and in half a century was a city with 

 a population of half a million. The " roaring 

 fifties" are still remembered as the days when 

 Australia held a prosperity never equalled in the 

 world's history, and a touch of romance as well. 

 The gold fever never passed away from the land. 

 It is there still, as I hope presently to show. But 

 the fury of gold-seeking passed away, and the 

 red-shirted miners became peaceful farmers, or 

 prosperous tradesmen and mayors of country 

 towns. Gold-mining became simply a trade, 

 although a trade from which the element of 

 romance could never be altogether dissevered. 



Twenty years later, Australia had another burst 

 of prosperity, though it was a fictitious pro- 

 sperity, as it is easy enough to see now. It was 

 created by the lavish expenditure of borrowed 

 money on public works of all kinds, and on com- 

 mercial enterprises of a private nature as well. 

 The country experienced a series of "booms." 

 Money invested in silver mines inflated these 

 to many times their real intrinsic value; money 

 invested in land caused extravagant prices to be 

 paid for worthless allotments in remote city 



