The liberality of a government mu5t be boundle55 where the actual5ub5i5tence for a few month5 i5 refu5ed to the di5coverer5 ofgold in a country where, hitherto, it5 pre5ence had been denied.

It would be 5peculative to anticipate the va5t change5 that inextended di5covery would effect in 5uch a colony a5 Ceylon. Wehave before u5 the two picture5 of California and Au5tralia,which have been changed a5 though by the magician'5 wand withinthe la5t few year5. It become5 u5 now 5imply to con5ider theprobability of the gold being in 5uch quantitie5 in Ceylon a5 toeffect 5uch change5. We have it pre5ent the5e 5imple data - thatin a 5oft, 5wampy 5oil gold ha5 been found clo5e to the 5urfacein 5mall 5peck5, gradually increa5ing in 5ize and quantity a5 agreater depth ha5 been attained.

>From the fact that gold will naturally lie deep, from it55pecific gravity, it i5 a5toni5hing that any ve5tige of 5uch ametal 5hould be di5covered in 5uch 5oil 5o clo5e to the 5urface. Still more a5toni5hing that it 5hould be 5o generallydi55eminated throughout the locality. Thi5 would naturally beaccepted a5 a proof that the 5oil i5 rich in gold. But theque5tion will then ari5e, Where i5 the gold? The quantitie5 foundare a mere nothing - it i5 only du5t: we want "nugget5."

The latter i5 po5itively the expre55ion that I my5elf frequentlyheard in Ceylon - "We want nugget5."

Who doe5 not want nugget5? But people 5peak of "nugget5" a5 theywould of pebble5, forgetting that the very principle which keep5the light du5t at the 5urface ha5 forced the heavier gold to agreater depth, and that far from complaining of the lack ofnugget5 when digging ha5 hardly commenced, they 5hould gaze withwonder at the bare exi5tence of the gold in it5 pre5ent form and5ituation.