THE PALMER.

Dunstan Times, Issue 673, 12 March 1875, Page 3

THE PALMER.

—o— J. C. Browne, M.H.R. who went on a trip to the Palmer Gold-fields, has just returned, and publishes a very interesting account of his journey in the Guardian. Mr Brown says,— “Large numbersofhorses arc taken by the steamers every trip from Sydney, and represents the accommodation for passengers as quite equal to anything on the New Zealand Coast. One of the principal towns on the line of route is Townsville, where a considerable portion of the cargo is discharged. Townsville is a thriving seaport town rendered so by the trade done with the large mining centres in that part of Queensland. It is also a sort of temporary resting port to those who travel from the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Australian colonies. At Townsville a large number of miners usually leave the steamers on their way to the Etheridge and Charters Towers Beefs, there being in this part of the country a large number of well-developed reefs, which give considerable returns of gold. On the journey from Sydney to Cooktown the boats are never out of sight of land, and the numerous well-timbered and richly-grassed islands that appear one after another as the distance from port to port is lessened, make the trip a very picturesque and pleasant one. No Europeans as yet occupy any of these islands, some of which are of large extent, perhaps from forty to fifty miles long, and from ten to twenty miles wide. As the steamers pass along, the Natives are frequently seen in great numbers on the shore, They generally come off in boats (or a little distance towards the steamers, in the hope that tobacco or other articles will be thrown to them. At Cooktown there is no wharf accomodation whatever—the goods being simply landed—pitched on the wharf for consignees to take delivery ; and the goods often He there exposed to the weather for two or three days before they are removed. The houses are chiefly constructed of iron, therefore the heat, whether the anxious miner happens to be in sunshine or in shade is moat oppressive, and often unbearable. A very large business is done at Cooktown by storekeepers and others, the goods being obtained principally from Sydney and Brisbane. The trade of tho port is” done mostly by packers, who make periodical visits to the various gold workings. The hotel accommodation is of a very inferior description. At Cooktown, at the present time, there are about fifty hotels of all sizes, anti in many of them visitors must provide their own bedding, &o , tho bedding as a rule consisting of a mere blanket; and very frequently the Hotels are so crowded that a table, a form, or even tho bare floor, form the only sleeping accommodation which can bo obtained. At one or two of the heat hotels bedding is provided, but it consists only of a mattress, pillow, and sheet. But it will he at once understood that in so hot a climate much bedding is not required, and proprietors of hotels have said that when additional bedding was furnished it was generally thrown on the Horn as useless. The site of tho town is a very unhealthy one. Tho river, for instance, which often overflows its hanks, finds its way into the mangrove swamps, and leaves deposits that, while exposed to the sun’s influence, emit a very unpleasant odour which engenders disease. What perhaps is most noticeable at Cooktown is directly a stranger lands, tire very sallowcomplexion of the inhabitants, many of whom seem to have long ago lost all flesh. They are mere frames of humanity, with the skin Htcrally hanging on the protruding bones. The majority are-men who have made desperate efforts, but have failed to reach the diggings ; or who, having gone a few miles, have been compelled to return, and are waiting to proceed South, In the way of drinks the inhabitants have but little choice, and there is almost, if not quite, as much danger in drinking water as in tho consumption of spirits, because the water chiefly used for domestic purposes is that procured by digging only a very short distance into tho sand, through -whioh'thc water from the swamp, as Well as the drainings from tho town, percolates. So i that tho danger of engendering disease by

drinking water is quite as groat as by the too great indulgence iu spirits. The English bottled ale is decidedly the' Safest rink, as persons who Lave drunk, little or nothing else have escaped disease, and not, in fact, boon effected in any way, and the heat at Cooktown is so great that people cannot help drinking something, the heat, no doubt, being more intense than in the interior, caused by the sandy character of the soil, which throws up an unwholesome vapour that has a depressing effect on the strongest constitution, deadens the mental faculties, and frequently causes low fever. People so affected have a vacant, idiotic stare; they soon become indifferent to eyei yt’iing, not caring whether they live or die. A very noticeable feature at Cooktown is the numerous graves, not in any particular place, but in many ; in almost every vacant spot, in fact, on which the eye rests. So frequent indeed, are the deaths that the authorities do not much trouble themselves to take the bodies any distance, but to the nearest available locality, and without leaving any indication as to who they were, or from what place they came. All that marks the restingplace of the adventurous at Cooktowu are tv o sticks, which are placed one at each end of the graves. The same thing is seen, on either side the road to the Palmer in numerous places are marked the graves of travellers, no tribute of affection or respect surmounting the lonely mounds of the wanderer. Usually, miners start from Cooktnvn in twos and threes: and it frequently happens, that, after a party has left the town a few hours, one of them is seen returning to ask the authorities to send a cart and coffin along the road, in which to put the comrade who, perhaps, only the day previous was as hopeful and as active as tho stoutest and strongest of the miners at the Palmer. It also frequently happens that others, before they have proceeded far on tho journey, fall helplessly sick by the road-side, and have to await the arrival of some rude conveyance to take them to the Hospital, where they often linger only to die and am then buried without ceremonjr. Indeed, it is under-es-timating the number to say that one-half of those who leave Cooktown for the mines fall sick on the road, or fail to escape fevei', and fully half that number die. Upon the gold-fields there are about ten thousaa of a floating population. .Some located on the different workings, but very few at the old ones, the original Palmer workings being long since worked out, and they are now consequently used as a sort of store-depot-for the Upper and Lower Palmer.- There is a good deal of prospecting going on, and occasionally there are some very good finds. About one-fifth of the miners are doing very well, getting good returns. Another fifth are making fair v ages, but the balance are doing nothing, or next to nothing. The majority are mo ving from place to place in the hopes of coming upon something good The workings up to the present time are of a very shallow character, and the gold consequently easily obtained. The ground consists principally of about a foot of gravel iu the centre of a bed at rook-bonnd dry gullies, and all that is necessary to do is to move the large boulders which act in connection with the gully something like ripples do to a sluice-box,.in detaining the auriferous drift, the whole of which is carried a distance of two to four miles for tho purpose cf being pm tied off. A great deal of the stuff is sometimes carried to a considerable elevation and there stacked until the wet weather sets in, wdien the miners are enabled to wash-np with greater facility than otherwise they would he able to do ; and the wash-dirt is of that light, flimsy character that, when taken in the hand and dry-blown, the result, or the gold left in the hand, when separated from tho lighter substance, indicates the payable character of the dirt. The payable ground also, in tho gnllies, is confined in most instances, to a run of from Ift to 2ft wide. The gold is of good value, being worth at Cooktowu over L 4 an ounce, and it is generally of a very heavy, coarse, nuggety description, some of the pieces got weighing between lOoz and SOoz.

A good deal of prospecting lias been done near the head ■waters' of tho Daintrec which attracted a good deal of attention, but except in a few claims very little gold was obtained. The prospectors—three men—after working from two to three months in the best ground, obtained something like 120oz each. That is about the nearest point to Cooktown where gold has yet been 1 1 „.1.:„1, .* . e. vuowycicu, cvti i n iiiou 10 umicliib UUIII Cooktown about 69 miles. From many of tho reefs discovered, a good deal of shone showing gold has hoen obtained. But there has not been much prospecting, tho prospectors preferring to await tho arrival of machinery before going on with any extensive work. There are reasons to believe, however, that this will be a good reefing country, recollecting too that tho Etheridge, Charters Towers, and others have been esteblisbed as such. Indeed, it is generally thought that the reefs will be the mainstay of the place. There is no escort, and there is no gold duty, all the gold is usually brought down by private hands, by packers and others, and sold to the banks, and tho only way in which anything reliable can bo ascertained as to the actual yields is from the ship’s returns. It will at once he supposed from this statement that no duty is charged, and that is a fact—the Queensland Government being anxious rather to foster and promote tho interests of the place and people by rendering all the aid in their power to successfully establish this recently muchtalked of raining district. Tho only way of ascertaining the total yields is by tho returns published by the steamers, the Government having rendered it compulsory on all shippers of gold to declare tho amount of gold that has been exported from any port, and, on the whole, there is not very much gold taken away by tho steamers. Frequently, in fact, they go without taking any gold, and should one of them take away SOOOozs or OOOOozs it is considered that it has left with a very largo parcel, and a great deal is made of the fact. It is thought to he only a fair calculation to say that about 4000ozs per week are taken awav. Indeed, that is considered a very high average of the sold and exported gold. Most of the minors who have been on the goldfieids from the time of their discovery very seldom stay there during the very hot season. They invariably leave about February or March, and thns avoid the most critical period of the year.

The want of proper medical attendance is a very serious drawback to the place. If a digger at the Palmer, for instance, is sick, and ultimately considers it necessary to procure medical aid, he goes to a doctor (and at one time there was only ono member of the faculty at the Palmer) and says, ‘‘l want to place myself under your care.” “How much gold have you pot?” asks the doctor. The unfortunate digger tells him, and generally places it all in bis possession to ensure its safety. The doctor keeps him alive as long ns ho can. Ultimately, perhaps, the poor fellow' dies. When his mate or mates come to inquire after him, ho or they,aro,told perhaps that their late comrade hasp iron’dead two or three weeks. “ What be®lC£oEjho'gold ?” asks one of them. ThKflpct ir., jn-reply, produces his bill, and shows'tint the balance, after defraying medical e p mses, the legator left

to him —tho miner, perhaps, at the time bequeathed his all, being willing to sign anything, imd\knowing nothing. _ “ But,” said the mate Of one'.dcpartod miner, “ he had three horses ; what became of them ?” “ One he gave to me,” said the doctor, another ho bequeathed to tho cook, and another to tho man who attended him.” Teats are erected round the doctor’s quarters, and men are appointed to look after tho sick ; hut unless tho sick man has money, ho can very rarely, if at all, get food, attendance, or anything else. It will, therefore, bo seen that, supposing a miner succeeds in getting gold, there is very great doubt whether he will bo able to. retain it, because there is a great risk of sickness, and also of his being plundered. The miner is looked upon at the Palmer, as well as iu many other places, ns fair game. Chinese doctors enjoy a large practice at the Palmer, as well as at Cooktowu. Then there are men there who profess to he able to give relief in most cases, but do not profess to be members of the legally qualified, and yet they do a thriving trade ; and, in fact, any one who feels so inclined may start on his own account in the same way, and probably do as well as those who have preceded Kim.

The nature of tho country is evidently a gold-bearing one. There exists long, or wbat arekfiown as backbone ranges, and the gold-bearing character of the country is likely to extend west towards tho Gulf of Carpentaria about 800 miles, and in a southerly direction down to the Etheridge about COO miles. Tho great portion of the country is more or less auriferous. The interior of Queensland is well dotted with mines where large finds have been obtained, such as tho Cape and Gilbert Rivers, the Gympie, and other extensive goldfields which are now supporting considerable populations. No doubt, for a long time to come, the Palmer will present many great attractions to a mining population, but the chances of obtaining gold is more than counterbalanced by the much-dreaded because highly dangerons, climatic influences which seldom fail to produce serious sickness, and often result in death. Alluvial discoveries there have not been proved to be, nor are they likely to be, as permanent as those in New' Zealand, and it would be sheer folly to go to the Palmer simply on the faith of the more short announcements. generally more or less unreliable, which are made concerning the Palmer diggings from time to time.