UP-RIVER DIGGINGS.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 637, 17 February 1870, Page 2

UP-RIVER DIGGINGS.

(fbom our own correspondent.) Moonlight, Jan. 12. The population of Moonlight is rather on the increase, partly because a good many miners have been drawn there with the expectation of obtaining employment for wages on the reefs, and also in consequence of two or three small rushes which have taken place lately ; but although every successive rush adds a few miners jto the population, the place does not. appear capable of retaining any considerable number of people, which is just aa, well, for, from the patchy nature of the* diggings about Moonlight, and from there putati on of the place altogether, .it is ta be presumed that those only remain who are getting gold, or who have a good show of doing so. The township at the Forks is becoming au important place. There, are as many business people and places here as would. supply the requirements of a population of ten thousand miners, if every one of them were getting gold.. I wonder, where the timber and other building materials come from which are put into the erections which spring up as if by magic at every little rush that takes place } The claims in the gorge have each washed np tha paddocks which they have stripped lately, with, I am informed, satisfactory results. It is pleasing to know this, for stripping a , paddock at this place is no joke. The principal point of attraction in. alluvial digging, in the Moonlight district, is the Deep Lead, in the terrace behind Aitken and Magill's store. The supposed lead is pegged off for more than half a-mile, and a high opinion is entertained of the ground by the different claimowners; The sinking is between 20ft and 30ft deep, with a good deal of water, which, however, has been overcome in the prospector's claim by the use of the Syphon. This piece of machinery has been found to work admirably, and the astute individual who first thought of ! utilising it, in the manner in which it. may be seen at work here, must certainly have : been either a. guager or a guager's son. I have been unable to obtain any detailed i information as to the actual richness of the washdirt on the lead, but from the good opinion "which is held of it, by those who ought to be well informed about the matter, I am disposed to think it will turn out well. , At Jerry's Gully (Murphy's), six or seven parties are working in the creek and • terraces, and " crevicing" (that is the new word ; it used to be fossicking) amongst the quartz which abounds in the neighborhood. This creek, which was rushed., in the middle of the last winter, has been 1 the immediate cause of drawing the atten* tion of the miners to this district, which has resulted in the opening up of the : different rushes which have lately taken ; place. The gold at first was confined to. the narrow bed of the creek, but it , gradually led to the discovery of good patches in the vicinity, some of; which were incredibly rich. There is very littl« doing here now. Garden Creek is occupied by about six , parties, who. are principally working in ft^ bed. The J gold is coarse in this locality, • but the weather must be very dry before \ the creek can be worked to advantage. : A party of six miners have commenced an i undertaking in the Main Creek at this. , spot, and if they succeed in bringing it ta . [ a successful termination, they will benefit : not only themselves but the whole district. They intend to erect a damsuffi- ; ciently strong to divert 'the current of Moonlight Creek, so that they can prus* ■ pect the bed of it, which b.asy never beest reached yet as low down as this. To enable them tp properly test their claim, they will- have to divert the courses o£ Garden and McCarthy's creaks, both of which run into Moonlight here. They intend to apply for an extended claim in the creek, as some compensation for the heavy outlay they will have to make, and it is to be hoped thai no more obstacles. , will be thrown in the party's pay, provided i i they can show that they really intend to carry out the work as proposed. Should thia^ party succeed in striking payable gold in Moonlight Creek at such a distance, down from the present workings it will be. the cause of opening-out a new gold fiel<s at once. - ■ There is a terrace lower down, than this, creek, oh which a party are making pre* parations for the purpose of bringing in a. head race. The speculation has every appearance of success, for I believe the ground has paid very well formerly, notwithstanding the scarcity of- water. I did hear the name of this terrace, but although it may be appropriate, it ia certainly more expressive than elegant. I will wait ; it is very likely by the time I have occasion . to mention the pldce again this terrace: will be re-christened. I estimate the population of Moonlight,, exclusive of the reefs, at about 350. The population has increased! considerably! at Baxters (Moonlight) lately. Ifrioyf numbers about forty miners, the majority of whom are making small wages. Two. parties, I believe, are doing very wellmuch above the average. A store and butcher's shop have been erected in this creek. This creek and the adjoining one, the Caledonian, run parallel to Moonlight for a considerable, distance. The natural outlet of all these creeks is the Grey River ; bat at the present time, owing toa sandbank which has formed between the Grey River and the range, the courses of both Baxter's and Caledonian creeks have been diverted, so that they empty them* I selves into Moonlight. There is a remarkable difference in the quality and appearance of the gold olk tamed in these creeks. At Moonlight,, as everybody knows, it is coarse and nuggetty, which is also the case at the Caledonian ; while at Baxter's, which is situated between the two, the gold is com-r paratively %c, resembling that found on, the opposite side of the river. At the Caledonian six parties are at . work, making fair %ages. The ground ist shallow, but there is generally a great . scarcity of water. Four or five mihjs further down the river from Moonlight, the Blade BaU Creek runs into the Grey. This was a place of $ome importance at one time, but now it only supports a population of about 25 men, who. are generally making wages. There is a store at the foot of this creek. This part of the country is comparatively unknown to a large proportion of the population up the river ; it is vaguely Bupposed by a vast number of people that the ground is not only patchy, but that it' is poor also-^ in fact, that it is a " nugget or nothing, 1 ' Such is not the case, SoniQ

very rich finds have been made, and at all events small wages may be depended on, almost with certainty. Of course, in writing in this manner, I do not pretend to point out any particular locality. lam speaking of the district generally — from Langdon's to Slatey ' Creek, which place appears to be the boundary of the gold-bearing country on the Moonlight side of the Grey until the diggings in the vicinity of the Junction are reached. The want of practicable tracks is a great drawback to this part of the country. If a track were made from Langdon's Ferry to the bottom of Moonlight Creek it would open up a tract of country which would give employment to hundreds of men fur years to come, This is no idle assertion ; for it must be remembered that payable gold has been found in numerous isolated spots ; but the difficulty of getting through the bush with provisions has prevented the miners from remaining, without some extra inducement — in the shape of very rich ground — to do so, Besides, this is the only locality on the Coast where quartz has been discovered, containing sufficient gold to induce capitalists to expend their money in the working of it. A track was made in the direction I have indicated some years ago ; but, in consequence of the desertion of the place during the great rushes to the North, it was allowed to get out of repair, and the sue cessive floods in the river since have washed' it entirely way.