Colonial.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 452, 4 March 1857, Page 7

Colonial.

NELSON.

I By the Zingari we have promisingl accounts of the production of metals in this province. Below will be found extracts from the ' Examiner" recording some of the facts. Just before the Zingari left we are informed that eighteen ounces had been brought into Nelson by Mr. Ridings from the new diggings at. Massacre Bay, and that there were 12 ounces more which the diggers were unwilling to sell, making in all 35 ounces since the discovery. About forty men were at work on the diggings and were making upwards of a pound a-day by the gold they found, and numbers were them by every opportunity. \ N Goz.i>.—Bv the Australian Maid from

Nnssacre Bay, we have news from the Ac ere Digging. Mr. 'Lightband has coni tinued at the'same spot since Mr. M'Gregor left, and the yield of gold if anything is improving/ We have seen three ounces and a-half brought over by Mr. Lightband, senior, from his son, which appears to us of excellent quality. The seaich for gold has been prosecuted with a good deal of perseverence and difficulty, Mr. W. Lightband having had no other assistance, up till, Monday lust, but that of a young lad, there being no other parties digging until this week. There are now about twelve men at work (most of them Australian diggers) who went over per Australian Maid and Rapid, and who are likely to give it a fair trial. The gold may be seen in Mr. Coates's window. This gold, making in all that has been brought, over five oinices/has been got °ut of a piece of land about twelve feet square, and at an average depth of about eighteen inches—the whole eighteen inches being washing stuff, .and yielding gold."— Nelson Examiner, Feb. 7. Goxn.—The first public sale of gold obtained in this province took place on Monday last, when Messrs. Fell and Co. offered for competition five ounces of gold obtained from the new diggings at Massacre Bay, «nd two ounces fiom those at the Moutere. The price per ounce received for the first ot of 3\ ounces was £3185., for the second j°tof \\ ounces, £t ."s. and for the rem:iinjHg lot of two ounces; £4. Several persons have left Nelson within the last 'few dnys for the diggings at the Aoreie, to try whe-

ther a really available gold-field exists.— Ibid, Feb. 11.

Oub Gold Fields.—No communication ha* been received from the gold fields at Massacre Bay since our last, but a vessel is expected this evening, which we hope will bring us- some intelligence. Meantime Several persons have gone over to try their luck at the diggings, and more are preparing to follow. Yesterday the Gold Bonus Committee held a meeting and subscribed £30 to Mr. M'Gregor, whose letter on the Aorere diggings appeared in our paper recently, to furnish him. and two other men with rations, to enable them to prospect to the foot of the distant ranges ; and an additional bonus of £150 was engaged to be paid him, provided he discovered a second available gold field. — Nelson Examiner, Feb. 14.

The following infoimation concerning the diggings >s contained in a published letter :, —•'We have made a great many prospectings, and with scarcely any exception found small specs of gold, but in such small quantities that we did rot think any of them worth our notice. We have also sunk several holes with similar success, but the abundance of water flowing into them caused us to desist from working them for the present. We tried to get an opportunity to test Lightband's claim, but as we find it would give offence in so doing, we have desisted from' it. We have taken the claim next to Lightband's, and to-day I am most happy to state that we have met with firstrate success; we have only tried six or eight dishes full of stuff, obtained about a foot- from the surface, and it yields most favourably : the gold is in very small specs but as we go deeper or nearer the hill we expect it far coarser. We have not yet \.xxt our " long torn" into operation; it is a very wet afternoon, but we purpose putting it to work to-morrow, when I really expect that we shall meet with a veiy profitable return. I have had a conversation with Lightband, and I find that he states pretty much the same that is contained in the ' Nelson Examiner' of the 7th instant, a copy of which I received by a party of five who arrived here by the Catherine yesterday morning. We shall soon be short of provisions and stores, and we cannot depend upon anything in return from an order to Nelson under at least fourteen days fr.om the time we write. I have heard nothing about the subscriptions that were promised in Nelson tow.ards the supply of provisions, &c, to the diggers, to enable them tp develop the resources of the gold fields. If anything has been collected for Ihis purpose, we should be very glad to receive some provisions with as little delay as possible, for if we be left without provisions we .shall be obliged to return and give up our labours here, which would at this period be a great pity, now that we have the implements, &c, and: things begin to look so favourable. , There, are at present sixteen men at work, on the diggings, one party of six, and;two parties of five men." Copper Mines. -^Accounts from England inform us that the■ Company for working bur Dim Mountain Mine has at length been formed, and that the shares rapidly attained a premium. The next mail will, we expect, bring us intelligence of active measures having been taken to work these mines. Meanwhile, the party employed on the Croixelles Mine are prosecuting their labours as fast as circumstances will permit, although the1 nature of the.fsoil through which the work is being carried to cut the lode renders thir work exceedingly difficult. The indications of a good lode are stated by Marsden to be. most .promising,' and the fact; will be established, or otherwise, very shortly.—-

Plumbago.—A shipment of a* few ton B of plumbago,'fi-om Massacre, Bay, is about to be made by the Messrs'.Curtis,-'of Nelson

who, have ia- the most praiseworthy manner determined .on testing the commercial value of the article both -in the neighbouring: colonies aifd" in England. Should the article be of that value which many persons suppose who have seen specimens of it in Nelson,-it may become an important addition to our list of exports, as the quantity obtainable seems unlimited.— lbid.

Coal—A very superior sample of coalnow lies at our office, obtained from the estate of Mr. A. G. Jenkings, about a mile and a-half beyond the limits of the town. Mr. Jenkins is at present engaged in opening the seam, and as far as he has gone, this promises to realize the most sanguine expectations which could be formed of it. The depth of the seam is not yet ascertained ; but the portion of it visible in the present stage of the work is from 4 to 4£ feet thick.

The Monsoon and John Masterman both arrived from London on Sunday last, theformer after a voyage of 124 days, and the latter after a voyage of 104 days. The John Masterman, in addition to a few cabin andintermediate passengers, has about 115 immigrants for Nelson, with the shipment of whom the labours of Mr. Macdonald, as Immigration Agent for Nelson, were brought to a close, by the funds at his disposal being exhausted.— lbid, Feb. 16.

Stock for the Amtjki. — Mr. W. Robinson started for the Amuri a few days ago with 7,254 sheep, which he had selected and purchased in the Wairau and Awatere districts, together with a number of cart mares and the entire horse Criffle. Mr. Robinson was a South Australian colonist for, we believe, fifteen years, but has recently settled in the Amuri district, between Wai-au-na and Hurunui rivers, where he , has purchased off the Government 20.000 acres of land in perhaps the finest country in the world. The sheep were two, four, and six-tooth ewes, except a few wethers for the journey, and about ninety choice rams, and were. as nearly pure merinos as could be obtained, having been selected [principally from the flocks of Mr. Redwood, Mr. Stafford, Mnjor Richmond, Dr. Renwick, and Mr. Elliott. Not only was this the largest flock of sheep that.ever crossed Barefell Pass for the southward, but it was decidedly the choicest in every respect. The price whicfc Mr. Robinson is understood to have paid,for his ewes js from 12s. to 13s. each. , The scene was a novel as well as an exciting one, to witness so large a body of sheep, after having rendezvoused at Upcot, the station of Mr. Elliott in the Fairfield Downs, proceed on tlieir journey, accompanied by a considerable number of horses, pack-bullocks, and all the et ecetera of an overland party. — Ihid.

Whaies on the Sand Flats.—We neglected last week to notice that two whales of the $>perm kind, each about twenty-five feet long-, had beer? captured on the'sand-flats outside the harbour, by some boatmen, and towed to the Boulder Bank, where they had been tried out. After .considerable waste in the process, for want of the necessary appliances, about 500 gallons of very beautiful oil was obtained lb'ul.