Nov.. 1891. 
ORES FROM NEW SOUTH WALES. 
257 
the respective forms of mining and horse-racing. It may be 
that the excitement of the former is found to be closely allied 
to that of the latter, for, of all uncertain speculations, I am 
informed that mines and mining shares need fear comparison 
with but few. Still, mines require machinery, and in the 
course of a visit to the celebrated silver district of Silverton, 
in the Barrier Ranges, on such business, my brother procured 
for me a few specimens of ores and rocks, on which I propose 
to make some remarks this evening. As probably the 
locality is not familiar to most Englishmen, seeing that it is 
not more than six or seven years since the mineral wealth of 
the district brought it prominently into notice, I may be 
permitted to give a few particulars as to the whereabouts of 
the mines. 
They lie on the extreme western boundary of the Colony 
of New South Wales, in lat. 32° S., and long. 141 E., about 
600 miles very slightly N. of W. from Sydney, and about 300 
N.E. of Adelaide, and it is strikingly illustrative of the diffi- 
culties of land communication that the wav to get to the district 
from Sydney, is through Adelaide. Just as the Riverina 
country has its natural outlet towards Victoria, so the 
Barrier Ranges have their chief traffic with South Australia. 
It was, at the time of my brother’s visit, no light under¬ 
taking to get there, even from Adelaide. One hundred and 
forty miles of railway travelling, which can, I am told, be a 
very uncomfortable experience in a South Australian summer, 
had to be supplemented by about 200 miles of coach ; and, 
seeing that these roads have all the heavy traffic to and from 
the mines passing over them, we may be quite sure that they 
are not as comfortable to travel over as, say, the wood pave¬ 
ment of New Street. It is, however, somewhat better off 
now, as there is railway communication with Port Adelaide 
and Port Pirie, which, of course, much reduces the expense of 
sending away the ores. 
When you arrive, you find that the country is unmistak¬ 
ably meant for a real desert. The water supply is of the 
scantiest. At the time of my brother’s visit the precious fluid 
was selling at so much per gallon, and, although I cannot 
remember the exact figure, I have the recollection that a 
wash would cost the greater part of a shilling. The quality is 
inferior, as the article supplied has about the colour, and nearly 
the consistency, of pea-soup. Add to this the fact that the ther¬ 
mometer stands, on occasions, at 120° in the shade, and no one 
will be inclined to wonder that much of the business of the place 
is done at night, when the temperature falls very considerably 
