bush, so all have to sleep in tents, and put up with great inconveniences, of course; but then gold pays for all, and though I don't like gold digging, yet I must do something; yet still I would rather have 1,000l. a-year in town than 2,000l. in the gold fields, and shall act upon this."

Letters of this kind might be selected by the hundred, but these specimens will suffice. They are more descriptively valuable than if they had been written for publication, inasmuch as they convey an idea not only of the general results. of the discovery, but also show the impression produced upon individual intelligent minds. We shall now present to our readers another, and a somewhat lengthy extract, written by a gentleman who established himself at the diggings for the purpose of purchasing gold, which will enable us to form a conception of the state of society there, and of the general features of a "Life at the Diggings."

"To forward our views we rode that afternoon into Geelong, to procure various little necessaries for our journey, and thus provided, set out the following morning, mounted on good horses, and carrying our baggage with us. The day was hot,--for you must remember that our November ranks with May in Europe, though more like April in its very changeable character;

there was, however, a pleasant sea breeze, which prevented the heat being oppressive, and I enjoyed the ride through a pretty park-like country, just now verdant with the young grass, but for the most part rather flat, so that on starting we could see the point of our destination in Mount Buninyong. We met with no particular adventure, the chief objects of interest being the various parties going to and coming from the Ballarat diggings, whither we were bound, great numbers being encamped in a forest about mid-way, and forming, with their temporary, gipsy-like tents, baggage-drags, and bush fires, some picturesque scenes. . . After an early breakfast at the little inn where we spent the night, we rode seven miles through a rugged forest-road to Ballarat, till within these last few months a part almost unknown, and simply forming a portion of a sheep run occupied by Mr. Y

The hills, of very moderate height, rise from the valley with little hollows (or gulleys as they are called) between them. Here the discovery of gold caused an accumulation of 8,000 or 10,000 people in a few weeks; and although by the time I arrived, the greater part of these had gone away again, there were still enough left to form a very curious scene, many hundreds of tents, of all sorts and sizes, being scattered about the valley in the most

irregular manner, while others, including several stores, were clustered together on one particular hill, called Golden Point, the lower part of which has been upturned and ransacked for the precious metal it contains. At a little distance this hill looks like a vast gravel pit, consisting of fine red gravel, such as you would choose, when sifted, for garden walks. On examining the ground more closely, the excavations are found to consist of square holes, all sizes and depths, from three or four feet to twenty or thirty feet. The strata are very variable and uncertain, but generally this bed of gravel lies upon a bed of whitish clay, and the gold is for the most part found in the lower part of this gravel, which is generally so firmly bound together, that it has become a hard conglomerate, which can only be broken with hammers.

"The gold is usually found in small, rounded, and evidently water-worn pieces, from the size of a pin's head to that of peas, but now and then of much larger size. The great bulk, however, is small, and scarcely perceptible to the eye among the gravel which is taken down to the stream and washed in tin dishes and cradles. . . . . . Among the rough, unshaven, dirty-looking men who were at work, I every now and then discovered some friend, who could hardly be recognised in his bush attire,

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consisting generally of a blue or scarlet woollen shirt, worn outside à-la-blouse, with a leather belt round the waist, a straw or wide-awake' hat, and trowsers and thick boots of coarse materials, and all of one colour, viz. that of the clay and mud with which they are covered. Mr. W. was one of those who thus masqueraded, and addressed me without my knowing him. Among others of my acquaintance with whom I met, were lawyers, doctors, tradesmen, in fact, people of all sorts; but I noticed that generally the parties of labouring men were doing best. The success is very variable indeed; in proof of which one gentleman told me that he and his party had been working hard for six weeks, and had sunk thirteen deep holes, but got nothing. On leaving one of their holes as a failure, another party took possession of it, and in two or three days took out 720%. worth of gold. For some time past a new district, called Mount Alexander, had been attracting a good deal of attention, and a great many had proceeded thither from Ballarat. From all I had heard, I concluded that this would be the best place for our object of purchasing gold, and therefore we proceeded there, after spending three days at Ballarat. One of these days was Sunday. It was a very wet morning, and probably owing to this no clergyman visited us,

otherwise, there is generally service. The place was very quiet and orderly, no work being done, and most men being very glad of a day of rest, after their week of toil, for gold digging is no easy occupation.

"It was on the afternoon of the 11th of November that we strapped our baggage on to our horses, wound the leather ropes round their necks, and started for Mount Alexander, having the greater part of our money still with us. The direct distance is fifty miles, but we were too late to make a single ride of it, and slept at the house of Captain S. Leaving Captain SS's after breakfast, we rode at a moderate pace, thinking that we had plenty of time; but in consequence of our horses being low in condition, and losing our way, we were in our saddles till some time after dark. Our first business, on arriving at Mount Alexander, was to inquire for the tent of the Government Commissioner, where we deposited our money, as we had previously done at Ballarat, for the sake of safety. I am slightly acquainted with the Commissioner, who was very polite, gave me some information, and regretted that, owing to their small tent being full, they could not give us accommodation for the night. We therefore continued our ride for about three miles, to where the main diggings and the largest