ABSTRACT
The first finding of gold in California occurred in September, 1847, when a Mr. Marshall, the proprietor of a saw-mill on the Sacramento River, observed some glistening grains among the sand in his mill-race. Sir Roderick Murchison, the distinguished geologist, pointed out the great probability of the existence of gold in Australia many years before the precious metal was actually found. It has, however, been stated that gold was met with in Australia so long ago as 1788. The methods of carrying on the gold-seeking operations vary according to the nature of the deposit which is worked and the resources of the miner. In seventeenth century these mines employed 60,000 persons, it is said; and in other districts of India diamond-seeking has also been carried on from time immemorial. The extreme hardness of the diamond secures it from all those accidental abrasions and injuries to which softer materials are liable, so that it does not deteriorate by age or use.
