and he was
afraid that news of a gold-find might start a revolt that the military
would not be able to quell.

"Two years later an even more curious discovery was made. Mr. H.
Anderson, who owned a sheep-station where now are found the great
gold-fields of Ballarat--in the province of Victoria, south of
New South Wales--threw away the finest chance to become a
multi-millionaire that ever came to any man.

"While walking from the home kraal (corral) to his house, in company
with a neighbor, he saw on the ground a small piece of white quartz
shining in the sun and noticed a few thin streaks of yellow in the
quartz.

"He picked it up in a casual way, cast a glance at it, and handed it
to his companion.

"'We're the richest men in the world,' he said, jokingly. 'You and I
are running sheep over a gold-mine.'

"This jesting statement was literally true.

"But the other, who knew just enough about such matters to be really
ignorant, wanted to display his small store of knowledge.

"'Gold!' he said contemptuously, 'that's what they call fool's gold.
It's pyrites of some sort. Tut, tut, man! Golden nonsense! The only
gold in this country is what grows on the backs of sheep.'

"Mr. Anderson, trusting to his companion's supposed better knowledge,
threw the piece of quartz at a pair of wallabies (small kangaroos)
that were leaping about, near by, and thus lost the chance of
becoming the richest man in Australia. Five years later came the news
of the gold-finds in California, and the more thoughtful men in New
South Wales remembered these vague stories about gold having been
found in the island continent.

"Now, let us get back to Cl'ck. His employer, Dr. Kerr, had bidden him
keep his eyes open for any signs of gold, during his wanderings over
the wild pasture land with his flocks. He promised to give him five
pounds--a large sum for a black-fellow, in those days--for any piece
of gold he should bring in, no matter how small.

"One day, in February, 1851, while leading his flocks to water at
Meroo Creek, Cl'ck happened to see what looked like a smudge of yellow
on the surface of a good-sized bowlder of quartz. He chipped at it
with his long-handled hatchet, and there, solidly embedded in the
bowlder, was a huge chunk of gold. It weighed over 102 pounds and was
sold for over $20,000.

"This accidental discovery, which made Kerr rich, and which,
incidentally, gave Cl'ck a hut and a sheep-kraal of his own, was
amazing