aroundworldortra00peebiala-1

and
58 AROUND THE WORLD.
nearly all the varieties of European fruits. "Walking through
the market with Dr. Dunn, on a January morning, I saw
ripe raspberries, currants, gooseberries, blackberries, plums,
apples, apricots, almonds, and pears. . . .
When these Australian colonies cut themselves entirely
loose from English domination, constituting an independent
federation, they will develop their hidden resources, and
reveal more fully the richness of their intellectual capacities.
RUSH TO THE GOLD-FIELDS.
If rock-embosomed crystals are subterranean flowers, metals
may be considered mineral trees in process of development.
Tradition has it that a Pyrenees shepherd, in 1849,
was the first to discover gold in Australia. The attention
of settlers at this period was directed principally to
the raising
of sheep and cattle.
Finding small bits of the " precious
metal," previous to this time, had not been considered of
sufficient importance to, turn the scattered settlers from their
agricultural pursuits. 'If the pluckiness of the American
Stanley, in discovering Dr. Livingstone, put to shame the
conceit and stupidity of certain Englishmen, the enterprise
of California miners was quite as conspicuous in revealing
the auriferous stores of Australia's hidden wealth. Those
famous gold discoveries upon the Pacific slopes aroused the
attention of practical men to renewed prospecting operations
for gold in Victoria, New South Wales, and other portions
of Australia.
Profitable fields were soon
'
discovered developed.
Gold was found in great profusion at Clunes early in 1850.
O reeling, clutching world ! how long will gold remain
your god ? Licenses were issued for digging on Sept. 11,
1851. Immense yields were daily reported. The excitement
was soon at white heat. Ordinary occupations were forsaken,
and the whole social condition of the country suddenly
changed. Attorneys forsook the courts, merchants
their counting-rooms, clerks their, desks, clergymen their