THE
CHRONLCLES
OF EARLY
MELBOURNE.
819
due the actual commencement of the Ballarat diggings. It was, however, clear that Brown and his party were working, during thefirstdays of September, on one side, and Messrs. Regan and Dunlop on the other side of the range forming " Golden Point." But it must be observed that these and the numerous other parties, w h o by this time were searching the whole country for gold, had been attracted there In fact, in the language of one of the witnesses by the discoveries of Esmonds and Hiscock. (Mr. Alfred Clarke, of Geelong), "the discovery of Ballarat was but a natural consequence of the discovery of Buninyong." T h e honour of first finding gold at M o u n t Alexander is assigned to Christopher T h o m a s Peters, then a hut-keeper at Barker's Creek, in the service of Mr. William Barker, on the 20th July, at Specimen Gully. H e had associated with him John Worley, George Robinson, and Robert Keen, fellow-servants, and they worked in secret until the 14th September, when, becoming alarmed at their unauthorized doings, Worley, " to prevent them getting into trouble," published in one of the Melbourne journals, Tlie Argus, an announcement of the precise situation of their workings. With this obscure notice, rendered still more so by the locality being described as at " Western Port," were ushered to the world the inexhaustible treasures of M o u n t Alexander. The Committee recommended that the s u m of £^5000 should be presented to Mr. Hargreaves; and £ 1 0 0 0 awarded to the Rev. W . Clarke, of Sydney; and proceeded thus:—"It will be seen that on the ioth June, M r . Campbell communicated the general fact of his having discovered gold in the Pyrenees district to M r . Graham, but, that it was not till the 5th July, that this fact, together with the exact locality, was m a d e known by the former, in a letter of that date addressed to the latter. O n the same day (5th July) M r . Michel actually showed the locality of his discovery to Dr. Webb-Richmond, as a m e m b e r of the Gold Discovery Committee. T h e Clunes discovery was also m a d e known at Geelong, by Mr. Esmonds on the same day ; and the information of it was generally diffused by Dr. Bruhn in his tour through the interior. Mr. Hiscock's discovery, though later in date, was of so superior a value, since it at once led to revealing the treasures of Ballarat, and the turning the tide of popular migration to our o w n borders, that your Committee consider him entitled to be placed in the foremost rank of our gold discoverers." The Committee agreed to recommend, "That to M r . Michel and his party as having, at considerable expense, succeeded in discovering and publishing an available goldfield, the sum of £ 1 0 0 0 should be given; to Mr. Hiscock, as the substantial discoverer of the Ballarat deposits, a like sum of £ 1 0 0 0 ; to Mr. Campbell, as without doubt the original discoverer of the Clunes, a like sum of £ 1 0 0 0 ; to Mr. Esmonds, as the first actual producer of alluvial gold for the market, a like sum of £ 1 0 0 0 ; and to Dr. Bruhn, as an acknowledgment of his services in exploring the country, and diffusing the information of the discovery of gold, the s u m of £ 5 0 0 . " The Report concludes by recording an opinion which has been amply verified by the progress of events from 1854 to 1885, viz. : — " T h e discovery of the Victorian Goldfields has converted a remote dependency into a country of world-wide fame; it has attracted a population, extraordinary in number, with unprecedented rapidity; it has enhanced the value of property to an enormous extent; it has made this the richest country in the world; and, in less than three years, it has done for this colony the work of an age, and m a d e its impulses felt in the most distant regions of the earth." At the end of 1851 the population had increased to 97,489 souls, a number swelled during 1852 to 168,321, and in 1853, to 222,436. In 1851 the quantity of gold raised was 145,137 ozs.; in 1852, 2,738,484 ozs.; and in 1853, 3,150,021 ozs. O n the 31st December, 1884, the population of Victoria numbered 959,836 persons, and the total gold extracted from Victorian soil from 1851 to same date realized, so far as can be ascertained, the enormous yield of fifty-two millions, nine hundred and eight-eight thousand, four hundred and eighty (52,988,480) ounces, which, at £ ; 4 per ounce, represents the almost incredible sum of two hundred and eleven millions, nine hundred andfifty-threethousand, nine hundred and twenty (£"211,953,920) pounds sterling! ccc 2
