the statutory meeting of the shareholders, which,
however, is very sparsely attended, as the vic-
tims are chiefly people residing in the country,
who do not care to incur the expense of a journey
to London. The man who presides at the meet-
ing, an outside broker, begins a speech by
apologising for the absence of the chairman of
the company (of whom the shareholders hear
for the first time), and then goes on to describe
with tedious detail the technical working of the
mine, the stopes and veins, and bunches of gold
that there are, and the stamps, machinery, &c.,
that there are to be. He describes what has
been done in the alluvial pits, and the prospect
of wealth to be drawn therefrom as beyond the
dreams of avarice, and winds up with warm con-
gratulation of the proprietors on the valuable
property they possess. Whether he has over-
done his part or something prejudicial to the
company leaks out, the shares which had
changed hands at 10s. gradually drop to 5s.
Then a circular goes the round in which some
member of the ring of knaves invites the public
to join a syndicate to buy up five thousand of these
shares which he has, through peculiar circum-
stances, been able to secure the refusal of at 4s.
a share. A special meeting of the shareholders
is next called, when it is announced that more
capital is required, and that it will be necessary
to pay up the one shilling per share which still