Lucky City

Ballarat was not a typical goldfield. There was little surface alluvial gold and, in a tantalising search for fabulous underground river beds the, the youthful migrants of the 1850s overcame immense obstacles. They were both thrifty and speculative, using the profits of one bonanza to pursue another—and were probably goaded by officialdom into the famous Eureka rebellion of 1854. Weston Bate explores the interaction of man with the environment. He sees Ballarat's pioneers as heroic adventurers.