THE NEW GOLD FIELD IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

Lyell Times and Central Buller Gazette, Volume VI, Issue 276, 5 June 1886, Page 4

THE NEW GOLD FIELD IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

SOMETHING ABOUT THE COUNTRY.

A Dunedin clergyman, the Rev. A. King, who is well acquainted with the northern settlements of Western Australia, and was stationed for some time at Champion Bay, has given a Dunedin paper some particulars, from which we make the following extracts :—The heat is tremendous, and almost as great at night as in the day. During the coldest months of the year, say June and July, the heat is very great. From the beginning of January to about the middle of February there is always what is known as the "hurricane season," and the meaning of that phrase can be well judged from the following anecdote : A new stone church had been erected at Roebourne, and on its completion an old settler left the district for a few months. He returned home after the hurricane season, and his first words were: " You havn't hed a blow, for the church is still standing." In and around Roebourne, and from there northwards to the Indian Ocean, there is no agricultural land, because it is too hot for anything to grow. The water throughout the territory is brackish, and it is more than possible that the gold digger en route to Kimberley will be without water for 60 miles at a time. Around Roebourne the blacks are quiet, but near Kimberley they are both numerous and treacherous, and unless very sharp watch was kept life would be none too safe. In all probability King's Sound, lHdeg. S., and Cambridge Gulf, in lat., 15deg. S., will be the nearest ports to Kimberley, and except during the hurricane season steamers go at intervals from Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth, round the coast. It may be said the climate of Kimberley is - one of the worst in the continent of Australia, and men when they arrive on the diggings will have to fight with heat, fever, thirst, and all the time be on their guard against the natives. Mr King states that in his opinion, as an old resident of the northern part of Western Australia, it would be utter madness for a man to attempt to reach the Kimberley unless he has £SO in his pocket when he lands in Western Australia. Another ihing worth recording is.that all the diggers, especially new arrivals, will have to guard against drinking, as no man can live in that climate who indulges in much alcholic liquor.

Melbourne, May 17.

The Waihora, which arrived from New Zealand, to-day, had on board several passengers from that Colony, who intend to take passages by the Gambier for the Kimberley goldfields.

Perth, May 11.

By the steamer Otway, which arrived from Derby on Sunday, May 9th, news comes to hand that a twenty-nine ounce nugget was found by a man named Slattery. Up to the date of the Otway's departure two thousand ounces had reached Derby from the Eimberley goldfield.