THE CHINESE IN OTAGO.

Evening Star, Issue 3391, 3 January 1874, Page 2

THE CHINESE IN OTAGO.

(From the Southern Mercury.) The following items of information respect* : ing the Chinese will be of interest:— Wo learn, from the most reliable sources, that the Chinese population of this Province has sustained a considerable decrease of late. It is estimated that, during the present year,' about 1,60 > have migrated from Otago—--600 returning to China direct, and about 1,000 for Hokitika and the West Coast. Judging from the tone of letters received here from those who have gone to the West Coast, it seems highly probably that a large number will shortly return to Otago. But there are not at present any indications of a fresh influx from China or Victoria. There are at present about 1,883 Chinese in the Province, of whom 1,533 ate engaged in gold-mining, and 350 are employed on the railway works between Tokomairiro and Lawrence. The Chinese gold-miners are thnsdistri. bated ;—At Taapeka there are about 100 ; at Waipori, 100; at Waitahuna, 18; at Glenoro about 50; and at Adams’s and Miller’s Flats 15 are working on private property. At Queenstown, Cromwell, and the goldfields above the Teviot there are about 900 miners ; .and at Nokomai, Waikaka, and Switzers, about 350. So far as good behaviour is eon corned, the Chinese*in Ot*go have conducted themselves with great propriety, committing indeed but few offences, and those of a trifling character. They are, for the most part, of a quiet, harmless disposition, giving but. little trouble to the authorities; and when for wages, they appear to give satisfaction to their employers. As gardeners, they are unsurpassed ; their vegetables are always the earliest and the finest, and many localities would be altogether destitute of these necessaries but for John’s industry. None of them have as yet taken to the vocations of the laundress and nurserymaid,' which are in California favorite pursuits of che Chinese. But in the present dearth of female labor on the goldfields, it is probable that they will ere long be called on to assume such functions. As cooks they are highly appreciated, and many of them are now employed in that capacity.