THE MATAURA DIGGINGS.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 183, 28 January 1865, Page 4

THE MATAURA DIGGINGS.

The following is the latest intelligence "from the above diggings.' It will be seen that the writer considers them very promising ; but it should be borne in mind that no occupation is so uncertain as gold mining, and uuless some richer ground be discovered, it is scarcely worth while going a hundred miles to take the hazard of making 10s or 12s a-day: "January LGth, 18G5. " Since I arrived here I have been so occupied in fixing myself that 1 have had no time to write, and at present I am so busy that I have only time to send a few lines by a friend who is going down to town. " These diggings arc situated on Dr Menzies' run, about five miles from his station, and thirty-five miles from Invercargill. The appearance of the country for some miles round is of an auriferous character—at least, such is the opinion of some old Victorian diggers with whom I have conversed. At present there are upwards of 200 persons on the ground, and others are daily arriving, so that ere long we shall have a large number of persons here. Some stores have been and are being erected, and goods of various kinds are coming in to supply the diggers' wants. 41 The digging operations are now confined to two or three feet stripping—the stuff is then subjected to ground sluicing, and almost always with a successful result. The Mataura diggings are of that class generally known as poor men's diggings," and I believe that an industrious man can even now make his 10s or 12s a-day. Surely it would be much better for the unemployed in Invercargill to come up here and make even that than to 6top there and starve, or trust to the aid of the Benevolent Society. I really think from all I have seen and heard, that when the country is well prospected, something will turn up which will benefit your town, aud if that be the case, although the diggings are in the Province of Otago, it will be entirely the fault of your merchants and traders if Invercargill does not reap all the advantages to be derived from them. I hope in my next letter to be able to send you a fuller and more satisfactory account."—Special correspondent of the 4 Southland Times,'

The accounts from Mataura diggings continue of a very promising character. Several parties who went to look about them have returned to town for stores, satisfied of the good prospects of the field. We understand that upwards of 150 miners are now actually at work on the ground, and that the usual indications of a successful goldfield are beginning to display themselves. Mr Commissioner We\don despatches a party of police this morning, with instructions to tako charge of any gold which the miners may be desirous of forwarding lo Invercargill. Mr Hughes, late of the Prince of Wales Hotel, showed us last night, a fine sample of gold, and fully confirmed the statement we made on Wednesday last, that working men can depend onmakingfrom 10s to 12s a-day—even with the present rough appliances. The extent of auriferous ground appears to be almost unbounded. The gold is uniformly diffused. It is very fine, however, and it is believed that more than half is lost from the want of proper appliances. —* Southland News.'

Foreign Notions of English Weather. As the 'Standard's' correspondent was travelling by rail from Copenhagen to Elsinore, he got into conversation about the weather :—"Two of the passengers, who spoke a little English, rather amused me in their ideas of our climate. One seriously assured the other that it rained cats and dogs sometimes in England, and that he had so read it. The other said that he had likewise read of its raining ducks and drakes ; and they philosophically accounted for the phenomenon by supposing that the dreadful whirlwinds triiich sometimes prevail in England must have caught up these animals, which in their descent were attributed to the rain of such things from from the sky. I was appealed to as to whether such showers did not fall, and I could only answer that I had certainly very often heard of them, but that I had certainly not had the good fortune to have seen them!" What kind of gloves are like young niggers ? —Black kids. <« Why docs the operation of hanging kill a man?" inquired Dr Whately. A physiologist replied, " Because inspiration is checked, circulation stopped, and blood suffuses and congests the brain." ,< Bosh!" replied his Grac:, 44 it is because the rope is not long enough to let his feet touch the ground." Something like Bathos.—Amid solemn stillness the clergyman's impressive words died away ; the glittering diamond cross that rested on the bosom of the bride, gently rose and fell ; the robes of one or two of the bridesmaids fluttered like fairy wings ; the spectators and witnesses to the coming marriage scarcely seemed to breathe ; pew-openers, with folded hands and downcast eyes, kept even their eyelids still; the beadle stood as motionless as if he had been a figure carved out of wood, and painted in blue, red and gold j and the air came in gentle puffs from the open door. The Inflation op the Currency—Curious Result.—•• Bill S ," says a Yankee paper, "is a good accountant, but, like all men, will sometimes make mistakes, and in one of his bills figured up that 4 8 times 8 are 81.' The debtor °was not slow in discovering the mistake, and demanded an explanation. Bill examined the account and saw that he was ' down,' but did not like to admit it; so, putting on a bold face, he said, 1 That's all right.' ' How so,' was <' the inquiry. 1 It's all owing to the inflation of the currency,' said Bill,' the multiplication table, ~ - like everything else, has gone up.'"