sons whose names have been mentioned above have assisted in the preparation of this narrative by furnishing valuable contributions from their own recollections, and the compiler takes this occasion to thank them and others, including legal managers of mines, whose ready courtesy has enabled him to do what he has done to rescue from forgetfulness the brief details here chronicled touching the history of this gold-field. He has borrowed some facts and figures, too, from Mr. Harrie Wood's ably compiled notes, published in Mr. Brough Smyth's "Gold-fields, and Mineral Districts of Victoria." To the officers of most of the public institutions referred to he also owes the acknowledgment of much courtesy; and to Mr. Huyghue, a gentleman still holding office in Ballarat, and who was in the public service here at the time of the Eureka Stockade, thanks are due, both by the publisher and compiler, for notes of that period, and for the extremely interesting illustrations of the Stockade, the Camp, and other spots copied from original drawings. The publisher also acknowledges the courtesy of Mr. Ferres, the Government printer, in supplying original documents, and of Mr. Koone in giving valuable assistance in connection with their reproduction by the photo-lithographic process. The contributions of newspaper correspondents during the Eureka Stockade troubles have also assisted the compiler, and notably the letters of the correspondent of the Geelong Advertiser in 1854-5. But to Mr. John Noble Wilson, the commercial manager of the Ballarat Star, is due, on the part of all concerned, the recognition of his suggesting the narrative, of his constant cordial co-operation, and his untiring ingenuity in making suggestions and collecting materials both for the text and the illustrations. The reproduced proclamations by the Government, which the reader will find at intervals, as well as many of the original documents, are the fruit of that gentleman's assiduity in collecting materials of interest and pertinence.
It has been necessary to record the fact that the tragic issue of the license agitation was mainly due to the mistakes of the governing authorities, even as the unrighteous rigors of the digger-hunting processes were made more poignant by the haughty indiscretions and brutal excesses of commissioners and
