Auriferous country and gold-bearing rocks

The subject of my paper is one that cannot fail to prove of interest to this Society, seeing the great importance the goldmining industry is assuming, and has already assumed, in the colony of Tasmania.<br>The advantages to be gained by fostering this industry in the colony need scarcely be dilated upon by me, as they are so patent to any one who will take the trouble to examine into the causes of the vast progress the Eastern colonies of Australia have made during the past quarter century. The numerous large towns and villages that dot this portion of the continent —the majority of them founded upon, or connected in some way with, the discovery of gold in their immediate neighbourhood— speak for themselves; and the immense impetus to trade, commerce, and immigration which it brings about shows what mining will do for a country, hitherto in a state of almost primeval solitude. But for this source of wealth, the major portion of these colonies would still have remained in a "state of nature"—one huge sheep run, with but a sparse population and scattered country villages.