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'THE GOLD T?ISCOVIRERS OF,'
VICTORIA.
Tirrm more we' lcol into the Report of
the Select Committee appointed to
enquire into the claims of the Gold Dis
coverers of Victoria, the more we are
convinced that.ith report evinces egre
gious blundering, gross partisanship,
and recommendations not only incon
sistent with evidence adduced, but in
direct opposition thereto ; and; further,
that facts are assumed to be proved to
bolster up a pretentious claim," which
the least attention to the so-called
evidence, rebuts, or at least exposes to
great suspicion, which concurrent cir
cumstances fortify.
'The first claimAnt is Mr. Louis John
Michoel who, it is'grosely slated in the
report, discovered the existence of gol'l
in the quartz rocks of the Yarra Ranges,
at Anderson's Creek, on the 5th of July,
and showed.it on the.spot to Dr. Webb
Richmond, who on the 7th of the same
month, writes the following to the Hon.
See. Melbourne Gold Reeward Com.
mittee:--" I found a vein of quarts
running through the lower sandstone,
bearing strong indications of an auri
ferous deposit, and have since tested
specimens I brought from the spot,
many of which exhibit traces of gold;
but, as they were taken from the crop,
none are very rich, therefore I cn give
no opinion as to the probable richness
of the vein." - The plain matter of fact
of all this rhodomontade is, that Dr.
Webb Richmond saw no gold at all, or
he would hare said so, and simply found
some quartz ranges, and sand stone,
which he might have found in a hundred
other places. So much for the grand
point adduced to support Michels claim
to the discovery of gold, upon the faith
of which, on the 8th July, he
and his party make application
to the government for remuneration for
past outiay unu assisranueeao prosecuto a
search further, " by opening the veins."
These veins, it appears from the state
ment,. were discovered at the Deep
Creek, and are of.quartz andisand-stone,
which the discoverers. { have ?iioi doulit
extended over a great extent of country."
But all this time where is the gold
Of quartz there is abundance, and much
nrimitire sandstone, and great applica
tion for- ' government renmzneration," by
Michel and jiarty. :Iere is their own
statement-" The . specimens tested
were gathered fromivarious places along
the surface of the veins.- We have also
tested the specimens ourselves, both by
acids, daid by smelting in a furnace, and
by each of those-tests we have obtained
gold.'" Where are they? Where is the
record of them? A-' something was
shown to his Excelleicey, who it appears,
according to Mr. Michel, "did not
think-: much of the discovery." Add
that to the testimony, of Dr. Webb.
Richmond, who saw nothing but indi
cations, arid' the whole of the claim of
Mir..-Michel is before the Committee,
and miseraibly suppoited as' it is by
vague assumptions, those 'as§umptions
are only put forth for liresent aggran
disement, in the first instance to' the
Melbourne Gold ;teward Committee, of
which Mr. Nicholson was 'chairman,
and who was bound as a man of honour,
if he believed Michel, then to have
given him the reward promise, and,
secondly, to the government, who
treated the discoveryinaa very cavalier
manner, as though it- were little or
nothing worth, which, according to the
evidence, was a proper appreciation of
it. The public announcement of this
partywas not made until the 16th July,
or eleven days after:gold was .publicly
exhibited in Geelong,, being the dis
.covery-of Esmond at the Pyrenees;. and
the first-gold -brought. into Melbourne,
was. on the 27th .of August,; 1851.
There is neither proof .of, priority of
discovery; or of beneficial consequences
to the Colony, from .the discovery, and
·ye tlie claiin of: Micldl is nteritahied,
and he was to have lien pl ced at the
head of thle Victorian discoverers bf gold
but isoivw adiittetd' .tequhl participa
tion with' Esmond and 1-Iiscoch, anid the
renowvned W'illiam Campiboell, Esq., of
Strath.. Lodden, -.whose claim We will
next take into consideration: -:
'William.Campbell, Esq., is a gentle
man who, eccording to the report, dis
covered gold as far back as March 1850,
and who had a shrewd -suspicion that
gold existed in this colony. in 1849,
and had made a remark to that effect,
to his friend Captain: Mi'I.allan; sbout
that period, and had' pointed out his
fiend Cameron's run as the "localo,"
where it was found in 185'; by nm'.
Campbell, Esq., but, as it happened to
be in the heart of Mr. Cameron's r, n,
it was deemed advisable to say nothing
at all about it, and nothing at All was
,'dligging" there, and-as the matter was
thlnd public to everybo'6dyl, 'furthr lis~ip
pressioin wass thought 'useles, airidten
days after the public knew of tihe :xis
tence of gold at the Pyrlenees. T. ?Canip
bell, Esq., wrote'to his friend Mir Graham
claiming the mreit of the discovcry, for
which he now comes forward seeking a
reward : and the Honourable Gentlemen"
composing the Committee, in their highl
s'isdom and integrity obf resolve, value
services so rend-red. at .LO0O, which
we suppose to be the charge; for bond
ing an important seciet fobr. eighteen
months in a selfish breast, and venti
latiing it only because it .had: become
useless, and suppression was no longer
possible. It is pitiful to. witness such a'
claim put forth, for beyond writing a
private letter to Mir. Graham, who is a
member of the Committee, this claim
ant has not the most remote title to
consideration, but. rather deserves re
probation for retarding the progress of
the colony, form whose government
with a face of a brass he seeks to obtain
honor and reward, ill-gotten gaiii, and
surreptitious celebrity. 'f'hore is no
pretension to a gold reward, except
barefaced impudence by this geritleman,
who is as disingenuous in his state
mcents as he 'is bold in his denainds;
for he would make it appear that it
was in consequence of the letter he had
written to Mr. Graham, and another 'one
subsequently written to the govern.
iment that the Cluncs Diggings were
worked until deserted for the richer
diggings at Buniny: ng. It is a disgrace
to the Committee to recommend such a
claim, and whatever delicacy Mr. Camp
bell entertained to make the existence
of gold known, it is evident that he
has suffered a convulsion of that feeling,
which'is carrying him to :the opposite
gation of unparallelled presumption.
extreme. By narrow minded sellshiness
lie retarded prosperity, and now out of
prosperity seCos rewaru iuor
If anv reward be given to this gentleman,
it will be for the discovery and promul
We will dismiss this gentleman with the
notification of the simple fact, that his
friend, Mr. Caaieron, for whose inter-'
ests he entertained such inteinse respect
that the welfare of the coloniy is as
nothing compared with them, has since
bought the Clunes diggings, under the
pre-emptive right, a fitting "finale" to
such a friendly compact.
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