THE CHRONICLES OF EARL Y
MELBOURNE.
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and of good quality, omitting the question of quantity; but no vessel could approach within eighteen miles of where a shaft had been sunk, and it would require an eighteen-mile railway to bring the coal to a place of shipment. In the course of the year rumours became rife about coal findings at the Barrabool Hills, 50 feet below the surface, and the Geelong Advertiser went into fits of ecstasy about the future of the district, but nothing ever came of it. In 1842, some m e n were employed sinking a well on land at Pascoe Vale, belonging to Mr. H . G. Ashurst, and at a depth of 80 feet they struck a vein of coal 3 feet thick, but it never led to further disclosures. Frequent intermittent reports were m a d e of coal and other mineral discoveries in divers places until 1848, when it was alleged that a large and valuable coal-bed had been found at Loutit Bay, and at the beginning of 1849 tne Superintendent (Latrobe) despatched Mr. Foote, a surveyor, to m a k e an examination, from which it appeared that there existed at Loutit Bay indications only of lignite; the working of this would not pay the cost of transit. This announcement was received with incredulity by the Geelongites, w h o sent off a local examiner to test the accuracy of Foote's statements. T h e result of this led to Foote being instructed to return and resume the investigation. H e did so, and in the course of his second inspection found some coal appearances. T h e Geelong people n o w said there was net only coal, but copper and other minerals abounding at the Cape Otway ranges and along the coast; so in June, 1849, steps were taken to organize a Geelong Coal Company, and provide funds for a thorough mineral survey of the neighbourhood of Loutit Bay; but beyond the preliminary "blowing" matters went no further. Still the atmosphere was not thoroughly purged of the mineral rumours, and the Superintendent (Mr. Latrobe) manifested m u c h interest in any possible coal discoveries that might be made, and promised all the co-operation in his power for any project initiated with a reasonable prospect of success ; but he consulted the L a w Adviser, w h o appeared to think that Crown lands could not be leased for other than pastoral purposes ; but this view was not upheld by the Sydney L a w Officers, and, in consequence, the reservation of coal on the part of the Crown was abandoned by proclamation. Early in 1850 reports were rife that some bond-fide coal discoveries had been m a d e in Western Port. M o n e y was getting plentiful, and a spirit of enterprise was active in Melbourne; so, notwithstanding thefirstfiascothere, it was seriously determined that Cape Patterson should have a further, and, if possible, a fairer trial. A public meeting, presided over by the Mayor (Dr. Greeves), was accordingly held at the Royal on the 4th June. T h e speakers were Messrs. Henry Moor, Robert Langlands, W m . Nicholson, A. H . Knight, B. Heape, C. H . Ebden, W m . Highett, etc., and it was resolved that prior to the formation of a company, a "Preliminary Expense F u n d " be raised by subscription. A Mr. Anderson, introduced as a practical scientific man, handed in a written statement, from which this extract is taken :— "I have no hesitation in saying that in Western Port coal is equal to the best samples of Newcastle. It is a bituminous coal, possessing in a moderate degree the caking property, containing scarcely a trace of sulphurous pyrites, making an excellent coke, leaving a very small portion of ashes, so that it is well adapted for eveiy purpose. In one respect it seems superior to the Newcastle coal I see landed here in Melbourne. Though some of it readily breaks into small cubical fragments like coarse gravel, very little of it crumbles into the almost palpable dust of which whole cargoes of the other seem chiefly to exist." H e estimated the expense at 3s. per ton at the pit's mouth; carriage by railway to the shipping, rather under than over is. per ton; freight to Melbourne in a suitable class of vessels, 8s.; wharfage, is.; and payment to Government for the privilege of working the ground, 6d. per ton. T h e capital required, according to his calculations would be from ,£16,000 to ,£20,000, and the annual sale of coal would be, say, 25,000 tons ; 10 per cent, on the capital would add another is. or is. 6d. per ton, and about is. would defray the cost of Melbourne management. T h e company, he believed, could have the coal free of charges of every kind for 16s per ton. Anderson's report was generally concurred in by Mr. G. H . Wathen, an engineer, according to whose statement the coal measures at Western Port, beginning at or near Cape Patterson, the Eastern entrance to that harbour and opposite to Phillip Island, extended almost uninterruptedly along the coast as f s the River Tarwin, a distance of thirty miles. T h e coal deposits, of which there were three distinct 1 s were associated with strata having the appearances usually indicative of this mineral. T h e thickness f the first seam was given as 1 foot 8 inches, of the second as 3 feet 4 inches, and the third as
