on to the additional Statistics, which I take verbatim from the Victoria Commercial Review, published at Melbourne by Messrs. Westgarth, Ross, & Co. That under date September 1, 1851, says—
The District of Port Phillip, forming previously the southern division of the Colony of New South Wales, became on 1st July last, by Imperial enactment, a distinct and independent province, under the designation of the Colony of Victoria. The Government is administered by a Lieutenant Governor. The Governor General for the Australian Settlements resides at Sydney, the capital of the adjacent and senior Colony of New South Wales.
The Colony of Victoria, first settled sixteen years ago, commences her independent career with a population of 80,000 colonists, and annual exports exceeding at present one million sterling. Melbourne, her Capital City, contains 25,000, and Geelong the second of her towns about 9,000 inhabitants.
The recent discovery of gold in New South Wales opens for Australia a new and extraordinary prospect. The similarity in the appearance of the country near Bathurst to some parts of California, led to this momentous discovery. Gold had been traced in the interior of the Colony for several years previously, but the existence of a "gold field" was not ascertained until May last. 106lb of pure gold were discovered in one spot—a circumstance unprecedented in the annals of the precious metals. This extraordinary treasure was found imbedded in a mass of quartz rock weighing between two and three cwt.
These wonderful discoveries have aroused a general attention to the subject of our mineral resources, and numbers of persons are daily "prospecting" throughout this Colony and New South Wales, in search of gold and other metals and ores. The result has not been unsuccessful, and in Victoria as well as New South Wales, regular "diggings" are now established, from which small quantities of gold are constantly brought to market. As yet, these new resources for Victoria are but poorly and irregularly productive; but the application of science and skill may be expected to produce hereafter a very different result. The first shipment of Victoria gold left Port Phillip yesterday by the Honduras. The amount was 18 oz. valued at £50. Gold now forms a considerable item of the Sydney exports. The first news of the gold discovery produced a very general excitement.
