Page:Victoria, with a description of its principal cities, Melbourne and Geelong.djvu/122

 vein in an adjacent working can afford no certain assurance that the labour of the next adventurer will be similarly rewarded. We have seen the washing of two tin dishes of this clay, of about twenty inches in diameter, the yield of which was not less than eight pounds weight of pure gold.

From the latest Government returns, and other authority, we find that up to the 5th of January, 1855, there were twelve working Gold Fields, viz., Mount William on the Grampians, Avoca in the Pyrenees, Maryborough amongst Simpson's Ranges, Creswick's Creek, Tarrengower, Mount Alexander, Bendigo, Ballaarat, McIvor, Goulburn, the Ovens, and Omeo; besides which gold has been found in greater or less quantities at Ballan, Anderson's Creek, Plenty Ranges, and Howkwa. It is also reported to be found at Monkey Creek, Brenthen, and Nicholson in Gipp's Land. These Gold Fields extend from longitude 142° 35' to 147° 30', and from 36° 20' to 37° 40' latitude, over districts comprising an area of 36,000 square miles, or more than half the area of the colony.

The periods of discovery were as follow:—In the year 1851 Anderson's Creek, Ballaarat, Mount Alexander, and Bendigo; the Ovens in 1852; the McIvor and Goulburn in 1853; and the remainder in 1854. The following statistical Tables, which the Chief Commissioner of Gold Fields has kindly placed at our disposal, as referring to the year 1854, we subjoin:—