PDF BOOK SOUTHERN GOLD FIELDS

PDF BOOK RESEARCHES IN THE SOUTHERN GOLD FIELDS OF NEW SOUTH WALES:
THE REV. W. B. CLARKE, M.A., F. G. s. ; F. R. o .s.; H. z. s.;

PREFACE.

There are many circumstances which induce me to regret the necessity of putting forth so imperfect a publication as the present, on the geology of so extensive a region. But I have had no alternative. The little leisure of only seven weeks, amply occupied by constant and wearying duties, has been allowed me to meet the demands of those who have earnestly desired and pressingly urged the re-issue of the Reports which I presented to the Government, in order to supply some information to persons thronging to the Alpine region, the auriferous capabilities of which were first made known in those Reports.
It is not to be supposed, that in introducing so many geological details, the subject is exhausted. A considerable quantity of my notes in the field, has not been at all employed. Should I ever be enabled to realise my desire, of describing the Colony in a more definite manner, they will find their appropriate place hereafter.
Had time allowed, I would have endeavoured to supply, so far as the want of a complete topographical survey would permit, a geological map and sections, without which the book is compelled to be now issued from the press. This defect, however, cannot be remedied. Maps and sections are not made in Australia without great difficulty and prolonged labour. The map appended to this volume will point out all the localities known to me in which gold, in the region covered by the map, has been found; but I wish it clearly to be understood, that that is the sole object of the indications. With the extent of auriferous soil or rock, or with the probable richness of any of the localities, the map is, in no wise, concerned.
I present what I have been able to accomplish, in the incorporation of my Reports with much additional new matter and a variety of useful information subordinate to it, in the form of letters and extracts which I have not had leisure to condense, and, therefore, am obliged to reprint from the originals, in the hope, that, whilst the general observer may derive some geological knowledge from the perusal of these pages, the gold-producer may also obtain some assistance in his pursuits.
I have endeavoured, by frequent references, to make the various portions of the volume illustrate each other.
The personal style of communication, is almost inseparable from such a work as this, and I have been obliged to speak of myself much more than I desired. Gladly would I have avoided it; but the candid reader will admit the necessity, when he has gone through the whole. In addition to its chief object, this book furnishes a vindication of the honesty of its author.
It was originally intended to print nothing more than could be sold at a very trifling charge; but the volume has grown beyond its proposed limits, in order to be more effective; and the increased cost of it will now scarcely pay the mere expense of publication. So far as the author is concerned, it is, literally, and without any metaphor, given to the public. The publishers and myself have taken more than ordinary pains to free it from typographical errors; but a few have crept in, especially in Report XII., (part I. of which is wrongly printed as XI.) These the reader is requested to pardon and correct.
I have only, in conclusion, to express a hope, that persons who are not so unreasonable as to neglect warnings, but, who are still anxious, before October to rush into the risks of migration to the Alps, may find, in Chapter XIV., sufficient information to cause them to suspend their journey till the Spring.
Parsonage, St. Leonard's,
28th August, 1860.

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