Kimberley Goldfields

Feilding Star, Volume VIII, Issue 40, 14 September 1886, Page 3

Kimberley Goldfields

Th« Chronicle says: — Our readers will, we doubt not, b« pleased to be pat 2a possession of information, how•v«r meagre, from the pens of erstwhile midents, or relations of resident*, «f Wanganui. The first letter w# q«ot« is fr«m Mr Daniel O'Hara, • veil kuowa Wangaaui contractor, whose wife and family are here now. Mr O'Hara left for the new field by waj of Auckland and Sydney some months ago. He writes from Wyndhapi, oa 28th July, as follows :— Wo iaadsd hsw from Port Darwin two day* ago, fearing oxperienced a great deal of delay getting off the steamer. Wyndham possesses an excellent harfcor, but the country is fearfully barren, everything Wing completely dried up. The town itself is a queer looking place at present, consisting of & few stores, or shanties, a large number of tarts, and a largo crowd of men and horses. The news from the diggings is very bad. There is very little gold being, found, and water is exceedingly scarce. Bain is not expected in anything like sufficient quantity till the seusuu. for it sets in, which is iv November. A. great number ef those wh<* «r«ut to the goldfields without taking a supply of provisions with them, have returned hore, as none can l<e obtained oft the diggings. By far the greater number of those here are Nee Zealanders, as the accounts published concerning Kiniberley were terribly false and unwarranted, as those who have come back give it a vory hut-rid name. Up to the present Tory littlo gold has been obtained, but it is considered that it may be a little more prosperous when the rain set* it. Our party have obtained a good stock ef rations, our intention being to start for the field to-morrow. A great number hare decided to camp at Wyndham till the wet weather arrives, but the delay I think would b« dangerous, as everything here is tremendously dear — beer a shilling a glass and spirits a shilling: a nobbier ; there is no fresh meat to be got here *t aIL There has been a large influx of visitors lately, and numbers intend returning up«n the first opportunity. The heat is excessive, the consequence being that the amount of clothing we wear is very meagre, while at night we sleep without any blankets. A few enterprising people are putting up a number of small wooden buildings, in the expectation of the field turning out welL There is as yet no Post Office or Bank here, although it if said that they are shortly to be established. I was luckly in getting my horses here without any loss, although several times during the voyage they fell sick. I managed to \ pull them through ; but I landed them > in very poor condition. Notwithstanding the bad reports we mean to see the journey right out, and we all are bueyed up with the prospect of success. Our trip there will be a long one, for travelling is so very slow on account of the heat, the number of dead horses lying along the line •f inarch is already considerable, as their owners either over-worked or •ver-burdened them. The extreme load for two horses is reckoned to be Bcwt. This is all I have to tell at present ; when next I write I will be able to give an account of the goldfield itself .