FOX'S RIVER DIGGINGS.

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 157, 15 January 1867, Page 3

FOX'S RIVER DIGGINGS.

(FKOX OUU SPECIAL CQItKESPQNDKNT. ) I^IGHTQjf, January IQ. Since the date of my last letter qur holidays have passed, and we are all again busily omplqyecl at the usual toils, of the day. In mining matters here everything seems to go. on steadily. A prospecting I claim was granted to a party ctf four by I Mr Warden' Jones, some four miles south of Fqx's River, about one mile inja.ncl, cm a very high terrace. As \isnal, a larg^e crowd went out to secure a piece of tlie ground, some of th.cm sitting up all nigl\t in the rain, which came clown in torrents, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the prospector, wb,o Ayas to ccmeput at daybreak, He did come, followed by a goodly number of his friends, who were getting "a quiet lay on." Amongst the latter was your humble servant. ' Qn arriving at ground, to oiiy groat disappointment ?^rfc Avas pegged off fop a good distance, as some of the Avide-awakes had smelt it the flight before. HoAvevor-, on arriving', our ajixiety Avas to see the prospecting', shaft asd the proceeds, hut, "Hunt-Aike, h©

showed the hole and the four pegs, and ..tiien ■";■ skedaddled " doAvn tlie hill .withoutshoAviiig any prospect ; but it was soon discovered that jA Avould be no easy job for anyone to raise a proapect there. It I i\vas agreed that some of the _Crbwd '■should f;o down the shaft and send , up some of heAvashdirt, which Avas dj?ne from the bpttpm and sides of the claiv\i^ Eight or nine prospects Aycre washed ''''out to the satisfaction of allj and the pr.oceeds.of the lot did not aiuount to? half a grain. ,-^o all present set the affair down as a rank swindle. On the^r way back to toAvn they ran tlie prospector, (Yankee Charlie as he is better known to the diggers of 4lu'. 'south)' up t(? the Police Gamp, \vhere he \ya& taken in custody for his own personal safety, until the first favorable day, -\vhenhe wpuld proceed to the spot and satisfy them that the gold was i)iero. Hoypyoi-, on the day appointed, he, in couipany Avith two policemen, and folio wed by a j large m.ob of men, Aveut to the ground, wlien, after his most careful picking and Avashiug, the best proapect Avas only half a grain to a large dish of dirt. Whereupun the yvlice brought him home again, Avhero lie is now. doing it at ease in H. M.'s logs, aAvaiting tho return qf Mr Kynnersley, avlio will, I have no doubt, reward him according to his ,deseiu# as tlie prospects heswovcTto Aveve li to ?> grains to the dish, with 4 feet of "w^hdirt. But some of the men wh« Avent out have a good opinion of tliu g^nmd, ,*ud already r^uvor has it that payable gojld has been struck ; but tkis is a mere repwfc. On Welshman's Terrace the claims that are washing are reaping a benefit from tlie rain, as water is the great thing' kere. The prospectors aro bn.r,ily engaged washing up Avith fair rotiiFijs, thoir:;unaigain giving a return of alwnt 0110- third, that being the avoi'aga oi the best of the claims, whereas thovu are a good few of them beneath that. A good many of the dniins that counted on piles will pay notking more than fair Avages — LlO or Ll3 per Ave.ek — and a great number Avill do nothing nutt'fi than LI per day. Certainly there are some that Avonid pay better, . but nothing like "eternal piles,"' as wop at first i'held out. Still the ground seems to extend to the north in some claims, but narrow. A good few shares have changed hands jn sums varying from L2O to Jji3o — that being the highest price I have heard. -of: Along the terrace southerly a good many shafts have been sunk, but in none has payable gold been obtained. The oyly profitable discovery is a soam of coal eight feet thick at the rear «f the town. I hear that an application has been made fop tho working of the seam, \vhich would prove a good claim to the owners, as" a tramway could be laid down, to the side of the vessels in the i-iver, #11 d it •would repay the owners of vessels to carry coals for ballast. A good many parties arc out prospecting up Fox's River, and rumor -will have it that payable gold has been got and that ■the prospectors are about to apply for a large claim. . Bat on inquiring at the Camp I find there is no truth in tlje report, up to the present time. If gold has bean struck there, the men are here who are able to coA'er a laj?ge portion of the ground without any mow* coming. The Pakihi Diggings seem to gain favpr as there are a good many going in that direction, that district being more of the poor man's diggings, it being shallow and easily worked, every one doing a little, There is a good road from here to the Pakihi nearly completed ; all the southerly portion, will bo finished in a month, when any person will be able to go through from the .Bnlle? to Greymouth on horseback. That & something for the Nelson Government to boast of. Their Canterbury .neighbor, pn the south ought to ta.ke a lesson from them. Since Christmas business here has been extremely duU,.in fact.' .some -of tlie places might as avoJI be closed, as one publican lately assured me that lie took the sum of one shilling fqj? his clay's Avork, As for the stores, some of them are doing ii fair business according to their connection. Provisions are really cheap, with tlie exception of butcherp' meat, which has ruled high; steaks being 2s per lb. But the arrival of the steamer Ahuriri from the north yesterday with a freight of cattle Avill perhaps tend to, linver the price. She landed her freight in Woodpecker Buy a)l safe with the exception of one beast fcfrat got drowned, and immediately steamed north. The people, here seemed to bu all aliA r e on her" heaving in sight, as nothing of. sailing kind has been able to look near us fqr.iome time. The Nelson and Kennedy are both anxiously looked for as there are passengers here for both north and south. The three crafts here have been prisoners for a long time, the Enterprise, Three Friends, and Emerald Isle. The cutter Hope has also been here foi' a few days. Amongst our visitors is JVfr Dick, Postmaster at Hokitika, who. ljas established Post Offices both here and at Pakihi. A want has thus been supplied which the people here have long felt, as the charge for remitting a letter by the express was 2s — too much in these times. Our population is greatly reduced, but the place is very quiet md orderly, as Avith the exception of a feAV petty thefts, there is nothing to complain of.