THE GOLDFIELDS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT 7 



away by the report of fabulous riches being gathered on the Bendigo 

 Creek, thirty miles to the north. It was enough to upset all cal- 

 culations and derange all plans for Government control, for within 

 a few months this great central area was turning out gold to the 

 value of 200,000 a week with the most primitive appliances, 

 without any idea of the vast results to be achieved when scientific 

 mining and suitable machinery should be brought to bear upon it. 



All that had gone before was a mere flash in the pan compared 

 with the results now being obtained, and so magnetic was the attrac- 

 tion that early in December Mr. Latrobe advised Earl Grey that 

 20,000 people were there, while Ballaarat was temporarily abandoned, 

 not more than 300 diggers remaining. The latter statement was 

 probably an under-estimate. A month later he wrote that during 

 October, November and December, 1851, the Government Escort 

 had brought down 94,524 oz., valued at 284,000, from Mount Alex- 

 ander, while in the same period only 30,000 oz., valued at 90,000, 

 came from Ballaarat, which of course included Clunes and Bunin- 

 yong. In the official statement forwarded by Mr. Latrobe with the 

 above figures, the Colonial Treasurer appends a note to the effect 

 that the Escort returns did not cover more than two-fifths of the 

 gold raised. Taking this as correct, and seeing that the value of 

 what was so transmitted is understated by more than 100,000, it 

 may be fairly assumed that the product of the mines during the last 

 quarter of 1851 could have fallen very little short of the value of a 

 million sterling. Indeed, this is under the estimate formed by Mr. 

 Westgarth and contemporary press writers, but the incomplete basis 

 on which the Government statistics were started quotes the value at 

 less than half a million. 



Before the eventful year came to a close other centres of attrac- 

 tion for the diggers, and other areas of distraction for the Government, 

 were to be made public. On the 19th of December Mr. Latrobe 

 wrote to his chief : "I have also received official information of gold- 

 workings having been opened on a branch of the Goulburn Eiver, 

 about twenty miles from Kilmore ; and further, that the whole of 

 the Omeo country, a secluded district among the Australian Alps, 

 but within the limits of the colony, is found to abound in the same 

 precious metal. In short, judging from the general prevalence of 



