A VISIT TO BENDIGO GULLY.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 2, 10 November 1869, Page 2

A VISIT TO BENDIGO GULLY.

BY AN OLD REEFER. Having just returned from a visit of inspection of the workings at Bendigo Cully, [ have thought that, as so much interest is now attached to that quarter, I might inform your readers of the result of my observations. Starting from Alexandra, and passing through Clyde, I arrived at I Cromwell ; and as this is the head-quarters of i. the principal owners of some of tjjo V-liiiins now i causing the excitemoutj-.haturally the conversa* tio’fi turns in that direction, as wherever you go quartz specimens are shown, and prices quoted as to the value of such and such an interest ; ■ but as those who are now in possession of these ; good things are not in the least way disposed to I sell, there is very little traffic in shares going | on. Leaving this township, which 1 may here remark is now fast becoming one of the most important of the Gold-field towns, I proceeded, in company with several other intending visitors, until we reached au hotel known as Domain's, | whore wc found some other ten or twelve horsej men, all bound in the same direction, and as the I whole of the company ha I travelled some disI tanoe, we determined t * foal ourselves and | horses. Owing to the traffic that has so recently I sprung up, great alterations were then going on I in the establishment, and some old Victorians j with myself could not help remarking the simi--1 larity between present appearances and <oss wc

had gone through iu past early times, as nothing could bo more substantial than the repast i placed before ns. After another gallop of I about seven miles we arrived at the punt crossing the Clutha, where the horses were taken ■across three or four at a time. The river here is very wide, and scarcely of sufficient depth to allow the working of a punt In all seasons of the year. The proprietor has erected good stabling, also a a null public hj nise, where he is at present doing a good stroke of business, as be is only fL distance of two miles from the crushing nu-1 dune belonging to (loodger and party, and some j fnor miles from the reefs. After refreshing the j inner man, we visited on our way the above i party's machine. The company have five | stampers, which are worked by water power, j constantly going, and on tin road wo met addi- ! tioual material for tin erection of other live, i Everything connected with this company’s plant ! has a very substantial appearance, and, with the j present battery-, they get through some sixty | tons a week. The company have had to cut, at i

a very large'outlay, a r«ad from the reef to their ’ machinery, which is situated on a Hat at the i foot' of the range crossing the alluvial work- i ings in Bendigo Gully, which, although seven ! years in existence, is n?t yet exhausted, as a i lead has been struck .at nearly eighty feet in i depth, and the,fives''fortunate Chinamen, owners j of tlie'claim, have'.within-the'past f cW weeks : netted some £d/0 a man, : the whole of which has. been taken out of a very small space in their claim. Others are also sinking ; ahd one party have just bottomed their shaft withsimilar prospects. .. .But as our intention was to return the same afternoon, we did not pay that attention to this gully we could have wished, but proceeded by a cut dray-road to the claim known as I the Aurora I'o.'s. This party consists of seven ; .shareholders, and from a careful inspection of ! their reef, 1 believe when crashing has com- : mcneed tbs result will rather astonish the i “ Browns.” They are erecting very substantial | machinery, having a battery of eight stamps : worked by an over-shot water-wheel. The company being in possession of very valuable water : privileges (the same party having formerly construeted a race for the purpose of working the ! alluvial spurs in the neighbourhood about three | years previous, they will be enabled to work | their claim hi a very economical manner. The machinery is placed so close to the claim that a tunnel commenced some few feet from the machinery strikes the reef at a distance of

SJft., giving them 10 Jit. of stone to rise upon. As the reef is cropping out at the surface, and the golden stone visible all through, a shaft lias been sunk to a depth of “Oft. to test its penna- ; nency, previous to the purchase of machinery, j [ have no doubt that, from the gold being so well distributed through the heart of the stone and the casing being thoroughly impregnated with the precious metal, the result will not be less than from six to eight ounces of gold to the ton ; and as the company will be starting their machinery in about six weeks, if my average prove correct, a great impetus will he given to prospecting in this direction, as I fully believe this golden belt of country will prove to extend to the head of Devonshire, Tinkers, Drybrcad, and other gullies, whose riches have been supplied from this source. From the appearance of the gold found in these places, there is no doubt that the supply has come from the gold bearing rock in their neighbourhood.

I The last sensation up to this date has been the I successful striking of a reef in continuation of Goodger t Co.’s, and situate some quarter of a mile from the Aurora, running in a parallel direction, the stone of which surpasses everything yet discovered in this part of the country. The lucky shareholders Messrs Gillies, Hughes, Oharnock, Ryan, Hawthorne, and AKield—have gieat expectations. The-stone lias been tried nearly the whole length of their claim (600 ft.), and in every instance where prospected very rich specimens have been extracted. Numerous visitors from Clyde, Cromwell, and other places, have come down from this with small mantelpiece ornaments, in the shape of golden specimens, moat of which have come from this recent discovery. Being acquainted with the shareholders, I selected a small piece of stouo weighing four ounces, and on my return pounded the same, when it yielded two and a half grains, or a total result of 4Goz. Iddwt. to the ton. I was informed that Goodger and Co. had proffered a trial crushing, and when this takes place there, is no doubt that the result will surpass any previous crushing in Otago. One of the original shareholders in the claim, named Hughes, after working only eight days, was offered the sum of i £2-)0 f<*r a working share,' being one-sixth which he immediately accepted. Mr Brian Id.

deu of Goodger’s party was the purchaser. Whether Hughes noted wisely iu selling his interest for such a sum, time will tell. .Since this, Mr Hughes has purchased from Mr Ilalllday, of Alexandra, one-sixth share in his dredging machine and claim situated on the Molynoux, for £l3O cash; and although very tempting offers have been made to the other shareholders in the claim, none, of them have felt disposed to accept, I may mention that a bona fide offer of 4000 has since boon refused for a share. Great credit is i due to MrGillics, the work lug shareholder, who j so successfully prospected this continuation of Goodger’s reef, as, from the broken surface of this part of the country, there is a groat difficulty in tracing the lode. During my stay [ visited several claims just marked out, whose owners appeared very sanguine of success. The ground was taken up soma two miles along the supposed line, and every thing had a very busy appearance.

Not having a sufficient amount of timo for inspection, I very reluctantly had to defer my visit to Goodger and Go.’s claim, as well as several others in that immediate vicinity, but as 1 intend shortly to take another trip to this interesting locality, possibly I may communicate the further results of my observations.