TO PORT DARWIN AND BACK.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1345, 20 November 1872, Page 4

TO PORT DARWIN AND BACK.

[special correspondent of Melbourne telegraph.] The departure of the Omeo from Sandridge for Cleveland Bay and Port Darwin presented a scene not easily forgotten, carrying away as she did upwards of 200 adventurers going beyond even the utmost verge of civilisation. Very little was definitely known about the Northern Territory by each separate indfvidual on board, but on comparing notes and collecting the various items of information brought to the general stock, it seemed the universal opinion that a second Melbourne was to spring up either at Port Darwin, or the Roper River, and we Omeo passengers were to have as glorious a Btart for a fortune as the lucky immigrants to Port PhiUip in 1851 and 1852. Among other rumors current on board, and generally believed, was one that a brother of one ot the passengers was making 3oz or 4oz a day at alluvial diggings near Palmerston, and had written to his brother to sell off his farm and join him at any sacrifice. It waa a letter I could ' not get aightof, neither could I learn which was the brother of the fortunate digger. At Gladstone, some of our passengers were offered L 3 to L 3 10a a week and board to work in. the mines, which they refused. Townavillo reminded me of a gold fields town in the zenith of the Victorian golden times— streets crowded, teams loading, shopkeepers busy, prices exorbitant, and sellers indifferedt to customers. The reports of the extent of the gold fields of Northern Queensland are sufficiently astonishing— extending north 300 miles to the Etheridge, and west 700 miles to the Cloncurry, with unexplored country beyond, rich mines of copper being discovered in all directions. Such of our passengers as were willing to hire had no difficulty in getting employment at high rates of wages. Hearing and seSing so much prosperity on the voyage, the adventurers to Port Darwin were ill-prepared for the severe disappointment that awaited them. Sanguine as they .were before leaving Melbourne, their expectations had been raised by the numerous offers of work made to them wherever we had called. A single hoar after our arrival served to place them in possession of the deplorable facts— no gold of appreciable value obtained by anyone whatever ; no means of conveyance to the diggings, and when there, no stores, and bat little prospect of getting gold ; added to which, an enervating climate and the near approach of the rainy season. The Condor's passengers ! were camped, part at Palmerston and part at' Southport, unable to get any nearer to the so-called diggings, living on provisions brought with them, and waiting for something to turn up. Such as I conversed with seemed to cling to the hope that payable ground might be struck, and means of conveyance arrive overland or round by sea— somebqw from somewhere. The expedients resorted to to convey provisions to the diggings evidenced an amount of energy deserving of success, if it did not achieve it. Nine of tie Condor's passengers appropriated a huj.e bulloik dray belonging to the Government and condemned as too heavy for use, and dragged it, loaded with their swags and provisions, to the Finnis, some twenty-eight miles towards the diggings, but Bad to abandon their intention of taking it all .the way. One man wheeled a barrow containing a hundred and a half the whole way from 3outh Port to Yam Creek. Two lion-hearted, fellows, . paßeengers per Claymore, packed in their swags one hundredweight each, for the

same' distance, and intend prospecting ■ until their provisions are exhausted. .Those only who have experienced tho enervating and depressing effect of the climate can appreciate th« pluck necessary "to face such an undertaking— but little ' hope of getting gold ; every step they take carrying them further away from human assistance j when their provisions are consumed, no- means of 'replenishing their stock ; if they fail of getting gold, the despairing prospect of beggary (from those who have nothing t;p spare from their own pressing emergencies) and starvation. About fifty of the intending miners, including nearly all who could raise the necessary funds, are returning by the Otneo to Newcastle, with the option of going on to Melbourne for an additional payment. If something be not done by the Government of South Australia t6 provide work and food for those that are left) I apprehend very serious consequences. A jetty or wharf is ranch wanted, and a contract, or work by th 6 day during the rainy season, would be the merns of retaining valuable colonists, who, if nothing be done for them, will be driven to desperation. So impressed was I with the urgency of the poor fellows' caso that I drafted a petition to the Government, requesting that men might bo employed on necessary public works at wages sufficient to provide means of subsistence, but there waa not time to put it into form and get signatures before the Omeo left. The site of Palmorston is admirably chosen. A plateau, some 80ft or 100 ft above tho level of the sea, on the northeast of Port Darwin, admitting of easy drainage, and abundance of fresh water obtainable by sinking. The town con- j sists of the Government residence ; about ( a dozen buildings, erected at various times i by the telegraph and surveying parties, all of a temporary character ; a very fine range of stone buildings, overlooking the bay, for the British- Australian Telegraph Company ; stone telegraph office and residence, for the officer in charge of the overland telegraph ; an iron store, erected by Reynolds, Gore, and Co. ; and some miserable shanties and tents by adventu- | rers by the Claymore and Condor. Some of the Omeo passengers, undeterred by the discouraging accounts received on all sides, were putting up stores and opening out goods for sale, but from all I could gather there seemed no immediate prospect of customers. Intending miners who had brought provisions were selling off flour, biscuits, and preserved meat— in fact, everything eatable, at a uniform price of Id per Ib, to raise money to pay their passage back to civilisation. So long as the panic last 3 the storekeepers cannot do much business. Revolvers, rifles, and ammunition are offering at half the price they would bring, second-hand in Melbourne. Port Darwin is tt magnificent harbor ; room for the navies of the world ; deep water up to the township itself. An arm of the sea runs twenty-five miles southwest to Southport. navigable for small vessels, and saving forty miles on the road to the diggings. Now, with regard to the future of the Northern Territory. A few days' stay at the seaport does not enable any one to speak confidently from facts within his own personal knowledge. I can only give testimony of members of the overland telegraph party, and others who have resided in the territory for a lengthened period. As regards the climate, everyone speaks favorably of it. The men seem to enjoy perfect health, and it would be difficult to find everywhere a more sturdylooking body of men than the 190 taken on board at the Roper. Just the men for real hard work. Only one on the sick list— a Mr King— who was of Stuart's party on his successful journey across the continent. He had been down with fever, and has not yet recovered. The women and children at Port Darwin were said to be healthy, but to my eyes they pre sented that washed out look so plainly visible after a week's hot weather in Victoria, more particularly " manifest ■, among children in Sunday-schools — so bright and joyous in the winter and spring, and then, after a week's oppressive weather, _ they come crawling to school with pallid complexions and dim eyes, all animation and joyous spirit fairly stewed out of them. However, for a tropical climate, I do not doubt that Palmerston is as fine as any in the world. The testimony of its prospects as a gold country is somewhat contradictory. Uold has frequently been found by the telegraph-construction parties in minute quantities. The largest finds I have heard of are by Mr M'Lachlan, some twelve or fifteen months ago, when employed by the Government searching for gold. The result' of three months' work was qn.ly.soz. Mr Burton, overseer of advanced section, when at Bynoes Harbor, washed 7dwt of gold from the bed of the Charlotte River from about 20 loads of earth. He usnd a torn, and amalgamated with quicksilver. At the Tumbling Waters, washing with a tin plate, he got a little nugget of about f dwt. Mr Burton reports many gullies on the sold sections in the neighborhood of Tumbling Waters as promising as could be wished for gold, with an abundant supply of water all the year. SmaUqiiaritities of gold are found wherever sought for.. One of Mr Butt's party washed with a tin plate about 2dwt of gold at Pine Creek, and a specimen of cement containing apparently ldwt or 2dwt from Ool"lett'B Creek, 13 miles soutK of : the Tumbliog Waters, Blackniore River. At Sandy Creek, near Pine Creek, ten men of the Kapunda party washed for one day, having two cradles and, a cart at work. The result was only 2dwt of gold. At Yam Creek six men of Westcofct's party washed only Odwtgold for fifteen days' work.

' The Kapunda party, consisting of sixteen working , shareholders, all men of some means and respectable position in Sbuth Australia, arrived in Port Darwin, per Claymore, 21st July, with a first-class team of horses, waggon, stores, tools, and all things requisite for thoroughly prospecting the country. They have secured 180 acres on the line of reef known as tho PViscilla Reef, and also 80 acres at Pine Creek. Five of the shareholders return by the Omeo to Adelaide, paying, by agreement, during their absence, 30s per week each as equivalent for their labor. They have with them lumps of quartz, with gold showing in them, estimated by them to go from 30oz to 40oz to the ton. S6 faj as I am able to judge of the quality 6b the stone shown to me, I should say thjey vastly over-estimate the probable yield. 1 believe I have seen as good specimens from reefs in "Victoria that would not pay for working. On the

other hand, I have seen quartz showing ! ess gold that paid' handsome dividends. The members of the Kapunda party are unauimously of opinion that the Northern Territory will be rich in gold-bearing reefs, but that there will be no 'alluvial diggings. Mr Halbert, second in command of Weatcott's party, a Teturn passenger by the Omeo, informs. me he was out for several weeeks prospecting for alluvial diggings. He not only could find no payable gold, but ia the country traversed, embracing a radius of 200 miles east, west, and south of Yam Creek, he could find only 2ft or 3ft of alluvium, even in the beds of tho creeks. Putting .together all I can learn from the overland telegraph party and others, I have come to the conclusion that the country has not yet had a fair trial. Not a hole haa been sunk {anywhere to a greater depth than ten feet. It may be that no ;_ alluvium can be found to sink in ; which, however, I question ; and for want of means of conveyance, no prospecting worthy the name has been done^ except to the immediate neighborhood of Yam and Pine Creeks. As a squatting country the Northern Territory is supposed to present great advantages, the terms on which runs are offered by the Government being particularly favorable, viz., twenty-five years' the first seven at a peppercorn rent, and 10s the 3quare mile for the remainder of of the term, subject only to .the condition that the runs be declared stocked within one year from the date of application, at the rate of at least three head of great cattle or ten head of small cattle for every square mile of the country claimed. Upwards of 300 applications for preferenI tial rights to leases under the above regulations had been received at the Crown I Lands Office up to the 4th October, chiefly on the line of telegraph aud the Koper River ; many doubtless sent in for purposes of speculation, but some have given evidence of the hona fides of their intention of stocking the country applied for. A Mr Millner started from Adelaide in October, 1870, with 5000 sheep, 100 I horses, horse team, spring cart, and bullock team, his staff consisting of eight white men, a native and his lubra. The sheep lambed twice on the way over. He sold the whole of the flock to the Overland Telegraph party at 25s per head ; the bullock team for L4OO ; horses at most extravagant prices for as many pounds as they would be worth shillings in Victoria. When the Omeo was at Port Darwin he had about thirty left, yearlings, two-year-olds, and culls, dear at price, but he was asking absurd prices for them. His profits on the trip are variously estimated at from LSOOO to LBOOO. Besides squatting and mining industries, the climate and soil of the Northern Territory is admirably adapted for the growth of sugar, cotton, rice, coffee, and other tiopical productions ; and from tho proximity of India and China no difficulty should be experienced in procuring abuni dance of coolie labor at a cheap rate ; pearl fisheries and trade with the Malay : Archipelago would also conduce largely to the prosperity of a British port, if i once established; as an emporium for , trade on the north coast of Australia. It ; rests with the Government of South Australia, by judicious legislation and a moderate expenditure, to foster and develop the colony in its infancy, and the outlay will doubtloss be repaid tenfold, even in the present generation.