CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

Grey River Argus, Volume V, Issue 351, 14 April 1868, Page 3

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

THE GOLD FIFLDS. 1 A correspondent of the Cape, Argus writes thus from Durban, Natal, on the 10th February :— " The discoverer of the gold fields, I-lerr Carl Mauch, has arrived in Durban, and has exhibited a series o^ specimens of minerals during his travels. Of these several contain gold in small but obvious nodules of one-twentieth to onetcnth of an inch in diameter, embedded for the most part in a pure white quartz. It was at one time hoped that Mr Mauch might have been induced to read a paper upon tho subject of the gold fields before tho Natural History Society, but hia position as the employe, of a scientific association in Germany precludes him from doing so. He very properly regards the details of his discoveries, geographical or mineralogical, as the property of the body which supports him, and until they think fit to publish these details, he does not feel himself at liberty to do so. It is stated that he lias made proposals to the Government of the colony to reveal tho site of the gold fields for a sum of L2OOO, and it is certain that he has seen the LieutenantGovernor, and that a correspondence has been opened on tho subject (perhaps previously) with the Government of the Transvaal. Some disappointment has been felt and expressed at the smallness as well as the small number of the specimens brought clown by Mr Mauch, and there are not wanting some who draw unfavorable inferences from these and other circumstances which their superior acumen has enabled them to detect. In justice to Mr Mauch, it must be remembered, however, that he is in no way to bo held responsible for conclusions drawn by others from the -imperfect information they may possess — that he is as little under any obligation to gratify their curirtsity for fuller information — that the specimens he has shown are only a few of those he has collected, others having been distributed by him, sent to Algoaßay and elsewhere — and, finally, that he is not a gold-digger by profession, but a man of science, the objects of whose researches have been purely scientific. Thus it was no part of the investigations he has been pursuing for nearly three years in the interior to hunt for large nuggets, but to ascertain, among other things, the mineralogical and geological character of the country he was exploring ; and, scientifically considered, gold was to him of no more value or interest than the course of a river or mountain-chain, or the relations of the languages of the tribes among whom he was 1 ravelling. My own impression of Mr Mauch, if I may give it, is that he is an ardent lover of science, straightforward and intelligent, and as unassuming as he is indomitable. He is young, and blessed with good health, and I see no reason why he should not accomplish his present plan — that of traversing the country from south to north, spending four years, or as many more as may be required, in a journey from Natal to Abyssinia or Egypt, or possibly even the West Coast, should he be met in the course of his travels with inducements to bend his steps in that direction. He means to study the languages as he goes along, and with tho aid of instruments, the arrival of which he is now awaiting, will add astronomical and meteorological observations to those on the zoology, the botany, and the mineralogy of the countries he visits, notes of which, accompanied by maps, lie transmits from time to time to the Association he represents. Now that the discovery of gold has been proclaimed by Mr Mauch, it is stated that, it has been repeatedly discovered before, but the discovery kept secret, because the Government did not feel themselves in a position to profit by it, or to control the population which its public announcement would be certain to bring. It is even stated that one of the former discoverers, Commandent Joubort (whether in consequence of the discovery or not, is not said, I think) some years ago, by treaty with Moselekatse, secured a cession of the country in question, so that it is now part of the Transvaal. While giving the Boers every reasonable credit for desiring wealth, and any other lofty virtues they may be disposed to claim, it is rather difficult to believe that they should go on struggling with bad times and bad credit, depreciatedbluebacks and the like, with mines of untold wealth within their reach and in their own territory. The specimens brought down by Mr Mauch are only surface specimens, some of them waterworn ahd covered over with lichen, from the midst of which the gold may be seen peeping.