re a small quantity has been found, large deposits must
be at no great distance. This gold however, like the baser metals of
South Australia, is very pure, there being few component parts mixed with
it.

From the various examinations of the hills that have at different times
been made, it would appear that precious stones, as well as metals, exist
amongst them. Almost every stone, the diamond excepted, has already been
discovered. The ruby, the amethyst, and the emerald, with beryl and
others, so that the riches of this peculiar portion of the Australian
continent may truly be said to be in their development only.

With such prospects before it, there can be but little doubt that the
wealth of South Australia will, one day or other, be very great, neither
can there be any doubt but that the discovery of the mines at the
critical period, made a complete revolution in the affairs of that
colony, and suddenly raised it from a state of extreme depression to one
of independence, even as an individual is raised to affluence, from
comparative poverty by the receipt of an unlooked-for legacy. The effect,
however, which the discovery had on its present prospects, and the effect
it must have on the future destinies of that colony, can hardly, it
appears to me, be placed to the credit of any ordinary process of
colonization. It has rather been in the shape of an unexpected auxiliary,
that this immense and valuable supply of ore has been brought to bear
upon its fortunes, for the condition to which the colony was reduced at
one time, was such, that it would have taken many years to have acquired
the appearance of returning prosperity, but the discovery of the mines
was like the coming up of a rear-guard, to turn the tide of battle, when
the main army had apparently been all but defeated. The assistance the
colony received was complete and decisive, and has seemingly placed her
beyond the hazard of failure or reverse: but, admitting the state of
depression to which it was reduced, and the length of time it would have
taken to bring about a healthy change, I yet believe, that the favourable
position of the province as regards its connection with the other
colonies, the character of its climate and soil, and the energies of its
inhabitants, would have ensured its ultimate success. Before the
depression in 1841, South Australia had become a pastoral country, in
consequence of the number both of cattle and sheep that had been
imported.