THE OTAGO GOLD FIELDS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume I, Issue 32, 6 February 1862, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE OTAGO GOLD FIELDS.

(From a Correspondent.J Gabriel’s Gully, 31st December, ISGI. Is othing of importance to chronicle. Weather stormy and unsettled. A rush took place to the A\ T aipori, some 20 miles from Weathcrston’s in a !N.E. direction. A party of prospectors had found thirty-six ounces of gold in the bed of a stream, and brought it to Gabriel’s Gully for sale, so there was for once something tangible for the thousands ready to rush everywhere and anywhere on any kind oi a yarn being spun about new diggings richer than any other, &c. However,* of the thousands who started for the AVaipori, nearly all have returned, a few, perhaps three or four hundred, having remained to give the place a fair trial, which it is worth, at any rate, even should the thirty-six ounces prove to be the only patch of gold there, a thing possible enough, but rather improbable. Being at the time better employed, I have not been to see this, the last rush, but may probably take a look at it the ensuing month. A ou would learn by the Dunedin papers that the Blue Mountain rush turned out a complete sell, and that its denouement was also attended by the personage yclept Judge Lynch ; this worthy having made his debut in New Zealand on that occasion, and the wight who undertook to lead the diggers to the.new Gold field, or suffer death, was punished by the lash, and degraded by having his hair cropped close off, and was quite near enough being hung to deter any one “ not quite anxious to quit this world at short shrift” from trying the same game over again. Probably the guide in this chase had thought to lead his dupes far away into unknown country, and then give them the slip, but they were somewhat suspicious, and kept n watch over him that gave him ho chance of escape, unless attired in bullet-proof gear. Yery little prospecting was done, as indeed seldom is on occasions of monster rushes, so quite possibly gold may be found in payable quantities at some future day in the same district which witnessed Sam Perkins’ punishment by Lynch Law. Prom what I can hear of the AVaipori, the probability is that the gold, if there, will be found chiefly in the beds of the streams, and the bottoms of gullies, as is the case in the Aorere district in the Province of Nelson, bur this is of course mere opinion, which time may prove a fallacy. The great centre of attraction and population has for some time back been Wcathcrston’s, the gully lying to the east of Gabriel's. The spurs leading from the summit of the dividing range were the site of the first successful deep sinking, and have proved the most exiensire as well as the best average giclds, some thousands of men having been working (here for about three months past, many

of them making good wages, Of course, there as well as elsewhere, neither industry nor perseverance will ensure success. There are plenty of blanks intermixed with the prizes, notwithstanding the accounts (grossly exaggerated and highly colored as they are) given by the correspondents of the Dunedin press. I know of parties, who have sunk hole after hole, till tired, without meeting with a payable prospect, but it would not be right to parade their names before the public as unsuccessful. Whatever may yet come to pass, the boundary of this Gold field yet remains, as it was six months ago, Munro’s gully on the west, and Weatherston’s on the east; for payable ground can’t be found either East of Weatherston’s, or west of Munro’s. The Watahuna is, of course, another field, drained another way, although from its distance, (only some seven or eight miles) it is generally included in the “ Tuapeka” gold fields. Munro’s gully drains direct into the main stream of the Tuapeka, and the streams from Gabriel’s and Weatherston’s, united at the mouth of Gabriel’s, join the Tuapeka some half-a-mile south of the junction of Munro’s : the Tuapeka flows southward, and westward afterwards. Its main feeder rises in the ranges N.W. of M unro’a gully, and flows down a grassy valley, at one edge of "which Evans’ claim was situated, which caused a rush in October last, but proved a failure. As far as I am aware Evans’ claim was the only claim in which a payable prospect was found in "the actual vicinity of the Tuapeka river. The tone of the Dunedin press is highly entertaining. The probability of wealth pouring down upon them like a mighty torrent, is certainly enough to turn the brains of many men of other races, but our canny countrymen from the north ot the Tweed were considered proof against things that would make an Englishman flighty, and set a Hibernian delirious. Their proverbial caution and undoubted shrewdness lias not saved them from taking strange courses. Thus in July, while publishing facts relating to the success of the first band of diggres here, sufficient of themselves to unsettle the minds of a great proportion of the population of the Australian colonies, they adopted opinions with all the authority of facts, tending to make out that the district was teeming with gold, needing only the gathering, not search ; such phrases as “ the richest gold field ever known,” were then in use, and were backed up by falsehoods about the success of prospectors hero and there ; in “ new gullies to be proclaimed to the public when present claims were worked out,” &c. When such news, and the shipment of a quantity of gold apparently endorsing it, caused a great rush from Melbourne; when miners short of cash became rather plentiful in Dunedin, when some of them began to bounce (for it was only bounce) about having food at all risks, then the Otago people got alarmed, they actually wanted their Superintendent to expend a large sum in giving the dreaded strangers passages back to Melbourne ; the papers “ could not think what had led so many diggers to come to a place of which so little was known, and that little of a kind that ought to have prompted caution.” They admitted (Hie truth for once) that their gold fields would not bear comparison with those of Victoria in their palmy days, nay, even went the length of admitting (a fallacy) that Pallaarat and some other of the Victorian fields would yet yield better wages on the average than their Tuapeka. The rush subsided, and a reaction ensued ; the hundreds of returned adventurers at Melbourne, their, rates of os. per day on the roads at Otago, of bad roads, dear provisions, dear everything but labor, stopped the tide effectually. [Though probably not intended as such by the powers that be, their offering ss. per da} 7 in a place where board could not be had for the money was a masterstroke of policy, to stop the tide that had for a time flowed too strong to be agreeable.] However, with the abatement of the rush the inventive genius of correspondents got free scope, and the tone of the press changed from the anxiety and wailing of September to the boasting and puffing of November. The most gross untruths have been printed, facts have been distorted and colored, figures jiaradcd in such a manner as to deceive the unwary, and again the old cry is raised, that the Otago diggings are the richest that the world ever saw ; own correspondents backing the editorials by some of the grossest exaggerations ever penned. One sample will suffice—The correspondent of the Witness has affirmed that “ any man willing to work may ensure from £G to £9 weekly, and thousands get more, up to as much as £9O or £IOO per week.” This is not true, for although a largo number have been clearing from £6 to so high as £BO, or perhaps £IOO weekly, thousands are not clearing £3 weekly and would be only too glad to be shown claims where they cou d realize £6 weekly, which, according to the Witness is a low rate of gain and to be had anywhere. Of course, there will be another rush from Victoria, and while many turn to reworking the deserted claims, a few will go prospecting, and quite possibly, a new field may be discovered which will compensate for previous disappointments, but the present limited diggings cannot give profitable employment to these present, much less to the greater number that may be expected. Perhaps it may again happen that the Otago papers may find the rush too strong, and wonder what has induced so many to come, ignoring their own puffery. I believe the Tuapeka diggings have proved richer for their extent than any other in this hemisphere except those of Victoria, but they are not to be compared to them. Jan. 6th, 1862. P.S.—New Year’s day was kept up in good style, athletic sports being the order of the day, wdiich attracted a large concourse of spectators. The weather was rather unfavorable, the ground being trodden to puddle, and showers falling towards evening. On Saturday night wc had the heaviest 3 ain during our residence here, and on Sunday morning a river was pouring down the gully. I have heard that a man was drowned, which was quite possible. There have been several deaths by accident lately. Many are going to the Waipori, as payable claims are scarce here. There is quite a large town (chiefly canvass and calico) at Weatherston’s. A gully South of Weatherston’s has been washed, but I believe has proved of no value. Provisions are very cheap in Weatherston’s, which is undoubtedly the “ capital” of the Tuapeka gold fields. Tools can now

be bought at half the prices charged three months ago. Beef and mutton alone maintain the old rates, Is. per lb. Flour is but 6d., and sugar Is. the lb.