Colonial.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 476, 27 May 1857, Page 7

Colonial.

■■■■'■■'.7 . ■■'.■ NELS4i.e.-- '^ ■•■■■

, By the Comet, which arrived; yesterday afterribbnj we have Nelson papers to the. 16th ihst. There is not much said about the Gold-Fields'; butin': a circular of Messrs. Nicholson and Ridings published in;the ' Examiner': of the 6th May/we find the following general account, of the proceedings there, amongst other interesting intelligence:— ■•■■■•■ "'', '" .. "•'-■''tyith: tlie 'exception of the clip of woolj and the! hew and iinpoi'tant item, the pi'ddace of the Gold-fields^ we are' now' totally without exports. The "demand from 'Australia for agricultural produce, which for some years has been so important a source of profit to the settlement, hafc now altogether ceased, but we have little'doubt that the population wili'during the year be so increased ' by immigration, that lob&l demand will lie quite equal to the quantities ; 6f farm pi'oduce held. Our main stay as yet; the export of wool, steadily increases'; and, fostered by the new land regulations, which give the runholder their runs' in perpetuity, under a most liberal 'system of deferred payments, and also by the high prices of Wool ruling, and likfely to be sustained, in Europej will now no doubt ex-r tend in a still larger ratio. Recent explorations on the West Coast have proved that on the rivers Grey and Buller large tracts of first-rate grassed land exist, and that safe and convenient shipping ports can be had for produce grown thereon, contrary to the opinion hitherto generally entertained of the northern harbours of the West <3oast of this island; and as great anxiety to ohtain runs is at present evinced, these vaMable plains will soon no doubt add to the revenue a»d trade of the province. This season's shipments of" wool from Nelson prts amount to 1.818 bales, worth at present prices i here over £40,000, exclusive of a considerable quantity which, though grown in this province, has been shipped through Wfellingtou, but the expenditure in producing which has mainly benefited Nelson trade and revenue. We may congratulate ourselves upon the tact, that each 'year the Ne> T Zealand wool appears to rise in the estimation of buyers. The highest price I paid here for fleece wool has been Is. 4d. per j ffi. ' ■■■ ■.■■""' j The number of people employed on the gold-

fields is steadily increasing, aaij must mow exceed 1,000 men J^any of our own settlers, .deterred by, the ,cold and wet weather which has rece,ntk §et in, reuiiuding us that winter, is near atihan^ nud having the inducement #f comfortable homes not far off, preferring toNreap indirect gather thandirect gain, from, the sojd-fi,ews, have returned to their farms aud ot!\er avocations. Many pthers return dis*pppinied, ; .^heijr want of, sucqe^s being, however, ,in niQ^icases traceable either, to their; upiitness to bear th? hard work wh^ich gold digging, involves, $«iaziuess, or which,"weregret to^ay, exists to a fearful extent .',■.'.■■ JJut we,,_hava metj ▼er> 7 few able and, industrious men, who do not express] themselves in general terms satisfied with" their earnings, and determined to continue to employ .their labour in the same occupation^ even .-in. the, face of the., cpjd,winter weather whichjis, approaching, though we hay^;. met very „: few who,\ wrilj/ state . pi;fcicely w what iheir, earitiugs have been.- ;/,The. .first ,gully uvjvWh^h ,gold was found .here, ;has this pecttßai'ity, remarked uppn in one .of pur former circulai-s, that while none employed ,in•..it met witji prizes, all obtained some' goldi and .pearly HU/in quantity equal to good; wages.,. The greatest success; which we, have heard of, as meij with by thedipgersjn that gully, waa,the obtaining j>f 100 n pzs,,by a party of three men in, seven -iveek^i But in. the, guily which, nowemploys th«j-majority, of the diggers, the re^ult^have been quite' different. H) The_re the gold has been found in uch in,ore " nuggetty," and success has beeijji much less eyeniy distributed. ' „ Many who have worked here have riot paid their expenses, wHist^ large pro^fit^ liayg fallen to,the jot of <$hers,.f We have, seen today two beauiiful lots «f.this 'jiiiiggetty^ gold, one of fifty,,the .other of forty .puiices, and m,qre encouraging' samples w.e«certaiary saw ariywjiere. The paiticles yaryjfrom the size of a large ipinVhead t(? nug.gets "feeighing half; an ounce. The largest pie«e,yet; found weighs 2ozs. Odwt..llgrs.; We learn tbiat .several of the earlier fprmed parties have pushed 0n.,, into the country .intervening between the gullies now worked anc{ the great quartz xanges, and that over a hundred people are now engaged in the back gullies, and from the arrangements most of'them are making to winter on the hills, and the unwillingness they exhibit to make .tne localities in which they are .w.pjckingknpwji,- they are evidently doing r well. Th,e quantity <x£ gold entered inwards ai the Customsfrpm £he 24tt' of Majrch to date is 531 ounces, bait-this gives litflje: ( idea of the quantity actually brought into N:e,lson, as the, gold reported is only that broughi bnr freight, whUsfc of that brpug^ by passengers no report is o% tamed. We are quite certain thatihe. quanttiy brought in .the.- latter way far exceeds that ,repprted. The opinion of those best able to form an estimate of the present weekly yield, is ;that it. exceeds 500 ounces. A storekeeper, on the spot, who" being welt known, to : tKe majority of the people, is in jthe habit of weighing, their weekly finding? lor ipany^pf them, that they, luay be divided amongst the party, tells vis, that the week .before" last he weighed on the Saturday and iri this way over 'MX) ounces. Though a reliable assay has been attained from the" Sydney Mint, yet the people canipot be.induced to sell, an impression being general amongst them that the highest price paid in ouglit to be offered. Buyers; here plTer "745., and. atthat price the digeers sell merely sufficieiit to provide for present wants. This state of things must, howevei", s/:on come to an, end, and when the people are-satisfied that the value is offered, we believe thai at least 2,000 bzs. will come into the market. .'"*

, The, .same paper says :—The intelligence from the gold-fields Continues cheering, there being now no less than five gullies in which, the diggings are successfully prosecuted, "besides other parties, said to be the most "successful of all, workingon the ranges. We have. taken, some trouble within .the last few days to ascertain the number of persons now upon the diggings, and we believe they cannot be estimated hel^w 1,300, of whom 1,000 are actual diggers. On the same authority we are assurred that .the average earnings of* nil the diggers who actually" work is not less than than from £1 to £1 7s. a day. Of course there are many whose earnings over several days amount to very little, but subse iuently success compensates, them. We are glad to hear that all persons at present at the diggings evince a peaceable spirit. ' Tiid ' Examiner'is chiefly occupied with the discussion of the, Waste iaiids Question, and

contain^ n^fjiiy^ticle^j^id Jette.rs upon ..th^ tppic ;ymiph.is. r iiQ\r..^ssviining ( a : inost interesting $hapej. .We shall endeavour,. tp r give our, .reaSers digqat, qf .this, discussion hi a future nnojiber.,.