Boyd, a Victorian, laid claim to that honour. Prior to the discoveries of this prospecting party he detached a parcel of stone from a reef and sent it to Melbourne to be treated. But the early good fortune of the prospectors became known all over Australia, and excitement was caused. Several prospecting parties now went up to the tropical district, and as spasmodic reports continued to arrive the excitement increased, and was contagious. Men from the Eastern colonies began to arrive, and by November, 1885, two schooners were anchored in Cambridge Gulf with prospectors and provisions. Most of the parties landed at Derby, where Dr. Lovegrove, in addition to the duties of Government Resident and medical officer, acted as warden to the gold fields. Good alluvial gold was obtained in different parts of the area described by Mr. Hardman until, by April, 1886, over 400 ounces had been conveyed to Derby. The reports were exceedingly bright, and professional diggers at once predicted a great rush for alluvial gold and a rich future for reefing. Not long after this Messrs. Carlisle, Harrold, Candish, and Edmonds arrived at Derby with fifty-six ounces of gold, Mr. Keelan with twenty-four ounces, and numbers of others with smaller quantities. The old story of mining "rushes" was repeated, and by June of this year between 200 and 300 men were engaged in the search. They congregated in no special locality, and were scattered over an area of about 100 square miles. It was decided that Cambridge Gulf would provide a good port of landing for the miners, and in the early part of 1886, Mr. John Forrest, the Commissioner of Crown Lands, assisted by the reports of Mr. H. F. Johnston and Staff-Commander Coghlan, after voyaging to the north, chose the site of a port and town—Wyndham—which was proclaimed on 7th August of that year. The mail contract with the A.S.N. Company along the west coast was extended to Wyndham, and a Government centre was established there. The Kimberley Goldfield was proclaimed on 19th May, 1886.
When the Legislative Council met in June, 1886, Governor Broome congratulated members on the "discovery of an extensive goldfield of rich promise" in the Kimberley district. To meet the exigencies of the fields the Goldfields Act (50 Vic., No. 18) was passed by the Council and was assented to on 16th August of that year. It provided for the issue of miner's rights on payment of 20s. per year, but did not permit of these being granted to any Asiatic or African alien for five years after the proclamation of any goldfield. Consolidated miners' rights could be obtained by companies or corporations on payment of a sum at the rate aforesaid (20s) multiplied by the number of miners' rights which the same was to represent, that is, the number of individual miners' rights under which the claim or claims were taken possession of in the first instance. The recipient of a miner's right could take possession of mine and occupy Crown lands for mining purposes; could construct races, dams, reservoirs, roads, and tramways on Crown lands; could divert water situated in or flowing through Crown lands in a proclaimed field; could occupy Crown lands for resident purposes, and cut timber or remove stone, clay, or gravel from any Crown lands for building or mining purposes. Leases might be granted for twenty-one years, at a yearly rental of 20s. per acre. Leases could be surrended at any time with the consent of the Warden, provided that all conditions had been fulfilled as far as possible. A business license for a term of ten years was obtainable from the Warden at the rate of £4 per annum, and entitled the holder to occupy goldfields land not exceeding a quarter of an acre for residence and business purposes; the license could be transferred on payment of 5s. No lease was to embrace an area exceeding twenty-five acres, and no such lease could be granted on any goldfield until two years after the date of proclamation of such goldfield.
The Governor might proclaim any portion of the Crown lands to be a goldfield. Pastoral leases might be suspended or cancelled by the Governor on the proclamation of the goldfield; public reserves, or lands applied to, and bona fide used for, residential purposes, garden, field, or orchard—in actual use—dams, or reservoirs, were exempted from occupation for mining purposes, but such exemptions were to cease on payment of compensation. The Warden must hear and determine all cases of complaint of breaches of the regulations, and was given the general power of Justices of the Petty Session, with right of stating special cases for the opinion of any Judge of the Supreme Court. Under the Act the Governor-in-Council was permitted to reward discoverers of goldfields with a sum not exceeding £1,000 sterling. On 20th August an export duty on gold of 2s. 6d. per ounce was imposed.
As the year 1886 proceeded, the popularity of the Kimberley fields rose rapidly until by the middle of the year there were between 1,500 and 2,000 people scattered over the gold-bearing country. As may be imagined, the excitement in Perth and the south-west districts was intense, and it was even thought that Western Australia might emulate the history of Victoria in 1851-6. As news was received from Dr. Lovegrove at Derby, or from returning diggers, of promising finds, the excitement grew with what it fed on, and parties were constantly being formed and going forth. The reports circulated in the Eastern colonies were greatly exaggerated, and men merged to Kimberley from every colony, and even from New Zealand. Several travelled overland from Queensland, and their journeys were made at the expense of great suffering. The Government supplied police protection to the diggers, and expended considerable sums of money in constructing main tracks for vehicular traffic. Mr. C.D. Price was sent to the fields by the authorities, and in August and September proceeded to Elvire River and Hall's Creek, where most of the prospectors were located. Wyndham became a busy port, and stores were opened there. Messrs. Connor and Doherty were among the chief—while one attended to the store, the other followed the practice of shrewd people on the old Victorian gold fields and drove a team to and from the gold centres. Some of the incoming prospectors chose Wyndham as their port of landing, and some Derby. The journey inland from both places was long and tedious, the weather was unpleasantly hot, and in the summer months heavy physical exercise was extremely irksome. The prospectors had therefore many severe trials, and their returns would need to be very large to compensate for their hardships. But, as a rule, after the first flush of expectancy was unsatisfied, they discontinued alluvial working and began reefing.
Mr. Price supplied an interesting report late in the year. When, on 3rd September, he arrived at what was known as McPhee's Gully, four miles from the point where cart traffic from Derby stopped, he found numbers of men encamped, some preparing to give the field a trial, but most about to return to Derby or Wyndham, disheartened by the disparaging reports from the fields. Mr. Price next went to the Elvire Gorge, the terminus of the cart traffic from Wyndham. The prospectors were distributed over a large area,
