Page:Victoria, with a description of its principal cities, Melbourne and Geelong.djvu/250

 plan resolved upon by the Government is to pay immediately to the order of two of the Commissioners the sum of £500; and upon receiving a report that that amount has been expended, to pay the second £500. His Excellency, however, still considers that there should have been an open subscription, but he is unwilling to impede the movement by insisting upon this condition being fulfilled, and is reluctant that the present favourable season should be lost for the want of funds. The "Register" adds that three very beautiful nuggets of gold, one weighing half an ounce, have been sent for the inspection of the Commission by Messrs. Collinson and Bayley, Gold Brokers, to whom they had been sold by a person who said he got them from Tanunda. We had the opportunity of inspecting them, and can only say, that, if they were really taken from Tanunda Creek, as alleged, and we have no reason to doubt the statement, there is every encouragement to prosecute an active search in that locality. We repeat our hope that one day will not be needlessly lost in starting the expedition.

We extract, lastly, intelligence from the mining district of Bendigo, in which is an interesting account of a new machine for washing gold drift:—

late fine weather has not only dried up our roads, but has been very propitious to the mining interests generally, which is shown in the quantity of gold brought in for sale on Saturday last.

Some Chinamen are doing remarkably well on the brow of the Fourth and Fifth White Halls. We were yesterday shown a beautiful nugget weighing four ounces and some odd pennyweights, obtained by them in puddling red clay some eighteen inches from the surface. Some short time since we noticed the erection of a new machine for washing the gold drift on Grassy Flat, by Messrs. C. J.