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CHAPTER XI.
1. Governor Grey.—The colonists of South Australia had, in 1841, received a sharp but salutary
lesson, and we have seen that they profited by it. They had discovered that the
land was their only source of wealth, and many, who had sufficient means to
purchase farms or stations, went out into the country, determined to endure a
year or two of hardship in hopes of prosperity to come. Nor had they very long
to wait; in 1844 they were able to export corn to the extent of £40,000, and in
that year the colony possessed 355,000 sheep and 22,000 cattle.
The new Governor, Captain George Grey, took every care to assist the
colonists in returning to more prudent courses. Many changes were needed; for
in 1840, while the colony had a revenue of only
£30,000, it had spent at the rate of £171,000 per annum. Such imprudence could
lead to nothing but ruin, and the first task of the Governor was to reduce all
expenses as far as possible. In the first year the expenditure was cut down to
£90,000; in the next, to £68,000; and in 1843, to £34,000.
Instead of employing the poorer labourers on costly and unnecessary
public works, he persuaded them to take employment in the country with the
farmers and squatters, who were rapidly opening up the interior parts of the
colony. He settled many on small farms or stations of their own, but in this he
was greatly impeded by the high price of land; for Wakefield’s friends in
England were not yet convinced that their favourite scheme was defective—they
attributed every mishap to the incompetence of Governors Hindmarsh and Gawler.
“To lower the price,” said they, “will be to ruin the
colony;” and lest such a thing should happen, they raised the price of all
lands, whether good or bad, to one pound per acre. But many of those who had
bought land in the first days of the settlement had been so anxious to part
with it during the crisis that they had sold it for much less than it cost
them; and thus a great number of the poorer people became possessed of land at
very moderate prices. In 1839 there were but 440 acres under cultivation; three
years afterwards there were 23,000 acres bearing wheat, and 5,000 acres of
other crops. So rich and fertile was the soil that, in 1845,
the colonists not only raised enough of corn to supply their own wants, but
were able to export about 200,000 bushels at cheap rates to the
neighbouring colonies, and even then were left with 150,000 bushels, which they
could neither sell nor use. So rapid a development of resources and so sudden
an accession of prosperity have probably never occurred in the history of any
other country.
2. Mineral Wealth.—Such was the success attendant upon careful industry, exercised with prudence, and
under favourable circumstances; but the colony was to owe yet more to
accidental good fortune. During the year 1841, a carrier, while driving his
team of bullocks over the Mount Lofty Range, had been obliged, by the steepness
of the road, to fasten a log to the back of his waggon in order to steady the
load and prevent its descending too quickly. As the log dragged roughly behind
on the road, it tore great furrows in the soil, and in one of these the carrier
noticed a stone which glanced and glittered like a metal. On looking more
closely, he saw that there were large quantities of the same substance lying
near the surface of the earth in all directions. Having taken some specimens
with him, he made inquiries in Adelaide, and learned that the substance he had
discovered was galena, a mineral in which sulphur is combined with lead and
small quantities of silver. The land on which this valuable ore had been found
was soon purchased, and mines opened upon it. At first there was a large profit
obtained from the enterprise; and though, in after years, the mines became
exhausted, yet they served to call the attention of the colonists to the
possibility of discovering more permanent and lucrative sources of mineral
wealth.
3. Copper.—At the Kapunda
Station, about forty miles north-west of Adelaide, there lived a squatter named
Captain Bagot. One day, during the year 1842, he sent his overseer—Mr.
Dutton—to search for a number of sheep which had strayed into the bush. After
spending some time in fruitless efforts, Mr. Dutton ascended a small hill in
order to have a more extensive view of the country, but still he saw nothing of
the lost sheep. On turning to descend, his attention was attracted by a bright
green rock jutting from the earth. It seemed to him peculiar, so he broke a
small piece off and carried it down to Captain Bagot’s house, where he and the
captain examined the specimen, and came to the conclusion that it consisted of
the mineral malachite, containing copper in combination with water and carbonic
dioxide. They let no one know of the discovery, but proceeded to apply for the
land in the usual manner, without breathing a word as to their purpose. The
section of eighty acres was advertised for a month, and then put up to auction;
but as no one was anxious for this barren piece of ground, they had no
competitors, and the land fell to them for the price of eighty pounds. As soon
as they became possessed of it, they threw off all appearance of mystery, and
commenced operations. During the first year the mines yielded £4,000; during
the next, £10,000; and for several years they continued to enrich the two
proprietors, until each had realised a handsome fortune, when the land was
bought by an English company.
4. The Burra Mines.—The discovery of copper at Kapunda caused much excitement in the colony. Every one
who possessed land examined it carefully for the trace of any minerals it might
contain; and soon it was rumoured that, at a place about one hundred miles
north of Adelaide, a shepherd had found exceedingly rich specimens of copper
ore. The land on which these were discovered had not yet been sold by the
Government, and in great haste a company was formed to purchase it. This
company consisted of the merchants, professional men, and officials of
Adelaide; but a rival company was immediately started, consisting of
shopkeepers and tradesmen, together with the farmers of the country districts.
The former always maintained a haughty air, and soon came to be known
throughout the colony as the “nobs”; while they, in their turn, fixed on their
rivals the nickname of the “snobs”. For a week or two the jealousies of the
companies ran high, but they were soon forced to make a temporary union; for,
according to the land laws of the colony, if any one wished to buy a piece of
land, he had to apply for it and have it advertised for a month; it was then
put up for auction, and he who offered the highest price became the purchaser.
But a month was a long time to wait, and it was rumoured that a number of
speculators were on their way from Sydney to offer a large sum for the land, as
soon as it should be put up to auction. It was, therefore, necessary to take
immediate action. There was another regulation in the land laws, according to
which, if a person applied for 20,000 acres, and paid down £20,000 in cash, he
became at once the proprietor of the land. The “nobs” determined to avail
themselves of this arrangement; but when they put their money together, they
found they had not enough to pay so large a sum. They therefore asked the
“snobs” to join them, on the understanding that, after the land had been
purchased, the two companies would make a fair division. By uniting their funds
they raised the required amount, and proceeded with great exultation to lodge
the money. But part of it was in the form of bills on the Adelaide banks; and
as the Governor refused to accept anything but cash, the companies were almost
in despair, until a few active members hunted up their friends in Adelaide, and
succeeded in borrowing the number of sovereigns required to make up the
deficiency. The money was paid into the Treasury, the two companies were the
possessors of the land, and the Sydney speculators arrived a few days too late.
Now came the division of the 20,000 acres. A
line was drawn across the middle; a coin was tossed up to decide which of the
two should have the first choice, and fortune favoured the “snobs,” who
selected the northern half, called by the natives Burra Burra. To the southern
part the “nobs” gave the name of “Princess Royal”. The companies soon began
operations; but though the two districts appeared on the surface to be of
almost equal promise, yet, on being laid open, the Princess Royal was soon
found to be in reality poor, while the Burra Burra mines provided fortunes for
each of the fortunate “snobs”. During the three years after their discovery
they yielded copper to the value of £700,000. Miners were brought from England,
and a town of about 5,000 inhabitants rapidly sprang into existence. The houses
of the Cornish miners were of a peculiar kind. A creek runs through the
district, with high precipitous banks of solid rock; into the face of these
cliffs the miners cut large chambers to serve for dwellings; holes bored
through the rock, and emerging upon the surface of the ground above, formed the
chimneys, which were capped by small beer barrels instead of chimney-pots. The
fronts of the houses were of weatherboard, in which doors were left; and for
two miles along each side of the stream these primitive dwellings looked out
upon the almost dry bed of the creek, which formed the main street of the
village. Here the miners dwelt for years, until the waters rose one night into
a foaming flood, which destroyed the houses and swept away several of their
inhabitants.
In 1845 Burra Burra was a lonely moor; in 1850 it was bustling with men,
and noisy with the sounds of engines, pumps and forges. Acres of land were
covered with the company’s warehouses and offices, and the handsome residences
of its officers; behind these there rose great mounds of blue, green, and
dark-red ores of copper, worth enormous sums of money. Along the roads eight
hundred teams, each consisting of eight bullocks, passed constantly to and fro,
whilst scores of ships were employed in conveying the ore to England. From this
great activity the whole community could not but derive the utmost benefit, and for a time South Australia had every prospect
of taking the foremost place among the colonies.
5. Governor Robe.—In 1841 Governor Grey had been of the greatest service
to the colony in changing the state of its prospects, but he was not permitted
to see more than the commencement of its great prosperity; for, in 1845, he was
sent to govern New Zealand, where troubles had arisen similar to those which he
had helped to cure in South Australia. His place was filled by Colonel Robe, a
military gentleman, of what is called the old school, honourable and upright,
but inclined to think that everything ought always to be as it has been. He disliked
all innovation, and did what he could to prevent it, much to the discontent of
the young and thriving colony, which was of necessity the scene of constant and
rapid changes. He passed a very troublous time for three years, and in 1848 was
heartily glad to be recalled.
6. Governor Young.—The colony was then placed
under the care of Sir Henry Young, whose policy was completely the reverse. He
sought by every means in his power to encourage the ceaseless activity of the
people. His failing was, perhaps, an injudicious zeal for progress. For
instance, in his desire to open up the river Murray to navigation, he wasted
large sums of money in schemes that proved altogether useless. He made an
effort to remove the bar at the mouth of the river, but fresh deposits of sand
were constantly being brought down by the current, and lashed up into a new bar
by the waves that rolled ceaselessly in from the Southern Ocean. He spent about
£20,000 in trying to construct a harbour called Port Elliot, near the entrance
to the Murray; but there are now only a few surf-beaten stones to indicate the
scene of his fruitless attempt. He offered a bonus of £4,000 to the first
person who should ascend the Murray in an iron steamer as far as the river
Darling. A gentleman called Cadell made the effort, and succeeded; he obtained
the reward, but it was not enough to pay his heavy expenses, and when he
endeavoured afterwards to carry on a trade, by transporting wool to the sea in
flat-bottomed steamers, he found that the traffic on the river was not
sufficiently great to repay his heavy outlay, and in a short time he was almost
ruined. The attempt was premature; and though, in our time, the navigation of
the Murray is successfully carried on, and is, undoubtedly, of immense
advantage not only to South Australia, but also to New South Wales and
Victoria, yet, at the time when the first efforts were made, it led to nothing
but loss, if not ruin to the pioneers.
CHAPTER XII.
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