Notes on the Gold-field of Ballarat. 417 
an inexhaustible gold-field, and if so, Ballarat has a future. 
It is well known that there is deep ground in some parts of 
this plain, as it has been prospected by boring, but time will 
be required to develop it. One noticeable feature in all 
the Ballarat leads has been their richness. The gold is 
there, if they can only get at it, and so rich as to repay in 
many instances almost any expense. 
" Every man, on payment of one pound per annum, has a 
right to mine for gold on crown lands, and in a proclaimed 
gold-field can build himself a house on crown land, enclose 
a quarter of an acre, and no one disturbs him. But it can 
only be his so long as he possesses it. If he leaves it, 
another man can take it up, and the crown only recognises 
the possessor. To get possession of it he applies to the 
mining surveyor, who gives him a written notice to post on 
it for seven days, stating who has applied for it. If any one 
opposes it, it is done by lodging objections with the surveyor, 
who then hands the case over to the warden to adjudicate 
upon. All applications for mining are made in the same 
way. If dissatisfied with the decision of the warden, the 
case can be carried to the Court of Mines, then to the 
Supreme Court, and lastly, to the Judicial Committee of 
the Privy Council at home. The warden and surveyors are 
appointed by Government. The warden is warden of crown 
lands and of the gold-field, and settles all minor disputes 
about mining, and arbitrarily all crown lands settlement 
cases which are not connected with gold, issues licenses 
to saw-mills and splitters, &c. The surveyors make surveys 
of all land applied for mining purposes, and of workings 
below ground, keep a registry of all transfers of land, and 
mortgages of mining property in crown lands. For instance, 
if a man makes over his house, on crown land, as security 
for a debt, instead of a regular lawyer's document, you get a 
mortgage ticket from the surveyor, pay him half-a-crown, 
and it is done. They also make regular returns to Govern- 
ment of the amount of quartz crushed and its yield, number 
of miners and engines at work, &c. Besides these func- 
tionaries, there is a Mining Board, consisting of one repre- 
VOL. III. 3 H 
