Notwithstanding the spirit and firmness with which the colonists bore their reverses, there could not but be a gloom over the community where every thing seemed to be on the brink of ruin.  Men’s minds became depressed when they saw no relief in the present, and no hope in the future.  But Time, with a rapid wing, brought about changes that appear permanently to have altered the circumstances of the colony, and to have placed it at once as one of the most flourishing of the British possessions.  The first circumstance, I have understood, which partially cheered the drooping spirits of the settlers, was a slight rise in the price of wool, in the year I have mentioned.  The discovery of the mines following soon upon this, the sun of prosperity burst at once upon the province, and gladdened every heart.  From this period, mine after mine of copper and lead continued to be discovered.  Every valley and hill-top was searched for hidden treasures, and the whole energies of the colonists seemed to be turned to this new source of wealth.  I was absent in the interior when the Burra Burra mine was secured, but the excitement it created had not subsided when I reached Adelaide.

I do not know whether the presence of mineral veins is indicated in other countries as in South Australia by means of surface deposits.  The opinion I formed that ores would be discovered in the Mount Lofty ranges did not rest upon the discovery of any such deposit myself, but on the peculiar form of the hills, which appeared to me to have settled into their present state from one of extreme fusion.  The direction of the ranges being from north to south, these deposits lie also in the same direction.  Those of iron are greater than those of copper, and it is impossible to describe the appearance of the huge clean masses of which they are composed.  They look indeed like immense blocks, that had only just passed from the forge.  The deposits at the Burra Burra amounted, I believe, to some thousand tons, and led to the impression that where so great a quantity of surface ore existed, but little would be found beneath.  In working this gigantic mine, however, it has proved otherwise.  I was informed by one of the shareholders just before I left the colony, that it took three hours and three-quarters to go through the shafts and galleries of the mine.  Some of the latter are cut through solid blocks of ore, which glitter like gold where the hammer or chisel has struck the rock, as you pass with a candle along them.

It would be out of place in me, nor indeed would it interest my readers, were I to enter into a statistical account of the profits of the Burra Burra mine.  A general notice will convey every necessary information on that head, and enable the public to judge as well of its value and importance as if I entered into minuter details.  It will give the reader some idea of the scene of bustle and activity the Burra mine and road must present, and the very great amount of labour it requires.