PORT DARWIN AND THE ROPER GOLDFIELD.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 186, 27 September 1872, Page 6

PORT DARWIN AND THE ROPER GOLDFIELD.

It is evident that in several parts of the country there is at the present time a desire to test what foundation there is for the reports in reference to the alleged gold discoveries on the Roper; at the same time, the distance is so great, and the recollection of the miseries of the Port Curtis rush so vivid, that there is a strong desire to obtain as much information in regard to the place as possible, before running the risk of a journey to that distant part of Australia. In reference to this subject, the 'Australasian' says:— "It is remarkable, considering the length of time since gold was discovered there, how little is yet known of the results of the tests to which the ground has, no doubt, by this time been submitted. The only results hitherto obtained would appear to be negative, or if any gold has been found there in quantity, the discoverers have kept the secret very closely to themselves." The following letter on the subject has appeared in the 'Argus':—

Sir, —In your issue of to-day there appears an extract relative to the Northern Goldfields, which, with others that have appeared in the different papers of the colony, I am puzzled to understand. The extract referred to is this :■ —" As regards the Northern Territory Goldfield, there is no news whatever of it. here (that is in Adelaide); they appear to £hink it a complete swindle. I was sppaking to a party who came from Port Darwin about a month ago, and he says he had heard nothing of gold there." Now, without wishing to encourage a desire to try the goldfields of the north —a desire which has already taken a firm hold of many persons—l think it right that statements like that quoted should be corrected. Three years ago the first "official" communication relative to the actual discovery of gold in the Northern Territory was sent to Adelaide. It was also stated that there were several splendid quartz reefs running through the country, though there was no means of testing them. Three years ago the Government resident, Captain Douglas, wrote in his despatch of the 16th August, 1869:—" That the existence of gold in the country is very general, there can be no question ; and its discovery as a payable industry must be left to the energy displayed by the settlers." On the 21st August, 1871, Mr. M'Lachlan, the Warden of Goldfields at Port Darwin, sent a despatch to the Adelaide Government, in wh'ch he stated, among other things, that he had been out with a party prospecting, between 29th June and 3rd August of that year; that they found gold nearly everywhere they tried; that there was both fine gold, nuggetty gold, and specimens ; that they never sank over fourteen feet; that they found payable gold in many places, and that at one place in particular, named in the despatch, they found washdirt equal in value to two ounces to the load; that in six days four of the party washed out two ounces twelve pennyweights of gold, with very inferior appliances; and that " there is not a doubt there are large deposits of gold in the Northern Territory." If I was at liberty to do so, I could supplement the above official accounts with something much more startling ; but even if I was at liberty to use the information, I should not do so, for the following reasons : Although T firmly believe in the truth of the reports I have got, so many persons have goue to the north since they were received, that I prefer leaving their fur-' ther development, of the country to confirm my information, to inducing persons to break up their business here for what might not prove a better position there to

I them. The extent of the auriferous ground I believe to be so great, that though some 1 of the pioneers may be very fortunate, I don't think all the miners in Australia ; will impoverish the place of its gold within the next ten years, and therefore there should be no hurry to go there till people are well prepared. As the wet and unhealthy season sets -in on the first week of December, there is very little of this year's dry season left for miners who leave here after the Ist of September; and to go 160 miles away from the coast into a wild country, exposed to tropical rains and a seething heat, without all the appliances required to defend European constitutions from, its unhealthiness, and without the means of getting back to the coast before the rains set in, would, in my humble opinion, be courting the ruin of their constitutions, if not certain death. In a letter I recently had from Mr. M'Kinley, the explorer, that gentleman told me that, as soon as ever the rains commenced, all wheeled vehicles are put under cover, and all draught cattle are turned out, because it is impossible to cross the country even with a buggy, the ground gets so rotten. I should therefore advise all who do not go before the middle of September to wait till next March, and by that time more certain news may be to hand. I am, Sir, &c. James M. Main. ! Ballarat, August 16th.

The recent gold discoveries near Port Darwin are the theme of an article in the ' Town and Country Journal/ a Sydney paper, in the course of which the following speculations are indulged in : —" It is, in our opinion, a reasonable conclusion to draw that the Port Darwin territory is part of the country described by the old Venetian traveller, Marco Polo, under the name of Lochac. He visited Sambawa, or Lesser Java, in the year 1293, and there heard of a great country, of a wild and desolate character, called Lochac, situated at the distance of about 750 miles to the south-east of Sambawa, where the people were savages, and 'where gold was abundant to a degree scarcely credible.' It was in all probability owing to this statement in Marco Polo's travels that traditions and ideas respecting a great South Land, rich in gold, became prevalent in Europe several centuries since, and which were so thoroughly believed by the prisoners and others who arrived by ' the first fleet' in 1788, that many of them perished in their attempts to reach the auriferous regions. The recent Australian telegrams appear to have greatly disturbed the Thames miners. About 200 people left Auckland last week in the barque Hokitika for Queensland. More vessels are laid on for Australia, and an exodus is feared.

Tlie latest Australian telegrams, in reference to the rush, are as follow -. The prospects at the Darwin diggings are encouraging. Three thousand yards have been pegged out, and a number of claims taken up. No payable alluvial ground has been discovered. The Government are sending out two expedition parties—one eastwards and one westwards. The rush to Charters Towers still continue. The Darwin reefs also command attention. The Adelaide, Sydney, Victorian, and Tasmanian Governments are about to join in subsidising a steamer for the conveyance of messages from and to Port Darwin during the time the cable, messages are interrupted. Tenders have been called for the use of a steamer. The Omeo left for Port Darwin, with 250 passengers ; the Blackbird for Charters Town, Queensland, with a similar nmmber. Numbers- are preparing to

leave the new diggings, as there are no provisions in the North, and probably great privations will Jbe suffered.