ISSUING LICENCES.
one thousand; that lumps had been found varying in weight from one ounce to four pounds; that the larger pieces were generally got out of fissures in the rock, "clay slate," which forms the bed of the river, dipped to the north-east at various angles, the fissile edges presenting jagged edges, which had opened under the influence of the atmosphere, "the smaller grain gold being procured by washing the alluvial soil resting upon and filling in the clewage joints of the slate;" that "gold was also found in the planks of the ranges, proving that it had originated in the mountains."
He observes:—"The workings at present are conducted in the most wasteful manner, from the cupidity and ignorance of the people, which cannot be remedied until some officer is appointed acquainted with the proper mode of working, with power to enforce it. The best thing that could happen would be a severe flood, which would fill the diggings, and oblige them to begin, de novo, under proper restrictions."
Such is the constant hankering of government officials to teach and regulate commercial enterprise.
