258 
ORES FROM NEW SOUTH WALES. 
Nov., 1891. 
on account of the great dryness of the air. The want of 
water is a very serious drawback to the mining operations. As 
is well known, ores are usually sorted by a species of washing, 
the lighter quartzose material being carried further than the 
heavier ores by a slight stream. Steam engines, again, require 
water, so that, even with the presence of very rich silver ores, 
mining in the Barrier Ranges is not entirely unalloyed 
enjoyment. 
The author of a paper on the opal-bearing rocks of S.W. 
Queensland, some 150 miles north of this district, but in 
about the same longitude, says, that in 1881, at the time of 
his visit, there had been no rain for twenty-two months, and 
that there was then no sign of a change. It was just in the 
region where Burke and Wills and their exploring party 
perished. He says that the river systems dry up in the 
droughts to lines of waterholes, called Billabongs, and 
proceeds, “ Sometimes twenty-five miles separate the 
waterholes ; in some of these a liquid is seen resembling 
in colour and consistency thin white paint, and this 
decoction is imposed on strangers as water. It tastes 
strongly of cow.'" 
A series of borings for water has been made between 
Silverton and Wilcannia, a town on the Darling, 115 miles 
distant, but they were reported to be useful only for stock 
purposes. The report for 1884. of the Department of Mines 
of New South Wales says that “ the permanence, even the 
very existence, of this field entirely depends upon an adequate 
supply of water for domestic purposes being provided at all 
the mining centres,” and goes on to suggest the formation 
of large tanks. 
In the report for 1887, it is mentioned that rains had 
filled the tank, which had just been finished ; but that for 
1888 gives 3| inches as the total rainfall for the year, of 
which two inches fell earlv in February. However, in the 
beginning of 1889. two more inches had fallen, so that the 
works which had been stopped had got to work again, 
I have been unable to get any continuous statistics of the 
production; and the fact that much of the ore lias been 
exported as such adds to the difficulty of presenting the 
figures in an instructive manner. In 1885 the value of 
refined silver, silver-lead, and ore sent away from the mines 
was £108,281. In 1888, silver lead to the value of £863,467, 
and silver ore to £136,800, was despatched, making a total of 
£1,000,267, with an additional £1,000 worth of tin ore, £304 
