AUSTRALIA—FORTUNE LAND
Though the Government officials hushed upthe discovery, fearing that it might lead to an “utterdisorganization of society,” gold will out—and when it came outAustralia experienced a stampede of the wildest sort, withnuggets of wondrous size and fortunes picked up overnight.
There was a celebration at the Stag’s Headsaloon, Downieville, Sierra County, California. A dozen or moregold-seekers from thenearby bars on the Yuba River were onhand to say good-by to “Sailor” Hargraves. The great Californiagold rush of 1849 was approaching its crest. “TheCity,” as San Francisco was known throughout the diggings,was overflowing with wealth. Crowds of red-shirted miners fromthe creeks, anxious to exchange their dust forsomething—anything—anything that caught their eye—met andmingled with the vast horde of adventurers drawn from all partsof the world. From the over-taxed saloons came the droning cry,“Money on the bar,” indicating a lucky man invitingthe world to celebrate with him.
Even Downieville, born only a few monthsbefore, was bubbling with excitement. The guest of the evening,Edward Hargraves, was returning to Australia with the avowedintention of discovering a goldfield even greater than that ofCalifornia. Like many others, he had come hotfoot to theCalifornia diggings one year before. He had not been successfulas a miner, this soldier, sailor and bushman. Perhaps he wasmore of a talker than a worker. He certainly had a flair for thetheatrical and was given to boasting of Australia.
Half a century before this littlefarewell celebration took place, England’s political heads werepuzzling over what to do with a huge island in the SouthernSeas. A penal colony! Good idea! So for fifty years she haddumped her convicts there—some cut-throats of the lowest type,others misguided idealists who had queer political views. As aresult about one-half of the population of Australia were eitherconvicts or “emancipists”—the latter, convicts who hadserved their terms but were not permitted to return to themotherland.
“Even if you did discover agoldfield in Australia, Hargraves, that old queen of yourswouldn’t let you have the gold,” an emancipist fromAustralia sneered, while Hargraves boasted.
“Queen Victoria, God bless her, willbe informed that I have discovered a great goldfield and willmake me one of her Gold Commissioners and perhaps afterward apeer of the realm,” Hargraves replied, striking anattitude.
Curiously enough a large part of thischildish boast was destined to come true!
Arrived in Sydney, New South Wales,Hargraves tried to induce old friends and acquaintances to putup funds for him to make an expedition into the“back-blocks” to discover a goldfield. He pointed outthat he had just come from California and was an expert at bothdiscovering and washing gold. His friends refused to put theirmoney into such a wild speculation. Nothing daunted, he investedthe few dollars that represented all his capital in a saddlehorse. He then rode across the Blue Mountains, through Bathurst,to Guyong, where he picked up a native guide and plunged intothe wilderness.