THE ROPER GOLDFIELDS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 187, 4 October 1872, Page 6

THE ROPER GOLDFIELDS.

There appears to be a great deal of excitement at the present lime amongst the mining population, relative to the reported discovery of gold in the Northern Territory. Judging from the published information concerning the auriferous nature of this district, there is little or nothing certainly known upon the subject, and during the rainy season, which commences about the end of the year, the weather is such as to preclude all prospecting operations,'and renders the position of all parties who happen to be in the field highly precarious. From a report published by Mr. M'Lachlan, a South Australian surveyor who was examining the district in August of last year, it appears that there could be no doubt of the existence of gold in the district, and that in some places it is to be obtained in payable quantities, but of the extent of ground through which gold is found* absolutely nothing is known, so as yet there is little to justify the migration of miners in this direction.. "It would," says Mr. M'Lachlan, "be very foolish of people to come rushing here unless they provided themselves with stock, drays, provisions, and firearms for twelve or eighteen months." Writing on the same subject, a correspondent of the Melbourne 'Argus,' who states at the outset.his belief in the existence of gold in the. Northern district, says: —-" To go 160 miles from the coast into a Tvild country, exposed to tropical rains and a seething heat, would in my humble opinion be courting the ruin of the constitution, if not certain death." If there is any quantity of, gold to be found in this district, it is passing strange that more was not heard of it at the time that the works connected with the overland telegraph were in progress, when strong parties, well equipped in all respects, were engaged for a considerable period upon the very ground that is now said to be auriferous; for we may believe that the men employed oh the telegraph works had their eyes well open to the nature and capabilities of the new country in which they were working, and would be especially awake to any indications, of the presence of gold. That nothing of the kind was heard from them renders it at least unadvisable to tempt this strange region until it has been very tnoroughly prospected, and definite information been published concerning it. —' Greymouth Star.' -

In answer to enquiries as to the probable cost of the voyage from New Zealand to Port Darwin, en route for the Roper Goldfields, .we quote the advertised rates of passage from Melbourne per steamer Omeo, such fares of course being in addition to the cost of transit hence to Melbourne:—Cabin, £2l; return, £3O; steerage, £l3 ; return, £2O. Passengers are allowed ten feet of luggage only free of charge; but it is necessary that every miner on arrival at the Port should be fully equipped with tents, tools, ammunition, firearms, pack-horses, and at least twelve months provisions. The supplies at Port Darwin are extremely limited, and on the diggings, or rather prospecting grounds, absolutely nothing can be obtained for purchase. *Alluding to the gold discoveries at Townsville, Queensland, the 'Brisbane Courier * says -. —" Colonial geologists who are tmiver3ally accepted as authorities, the Eev. W. B. Clarke and Mr. E.. Daintree, have given it as their decided opinion that the alluvial deposits in Northern Queensland can only be of a shallow description in comparison with* those of Victoria. The assertions of some scientific men with regard to mining in Australia have been proved to be incorrect; but. all the evidence afforded at Gympie and goldfields farther to the north goes to prove the ac-

curacy in the particular of the opinion -of the gentlemen we have named, as, after the mining and prospecting of some years, no auriferous drift of any great depth or extent has been discovered."

A Reefton correspondent says : —" The Roper River fever is not abated, I am sorry to say, and numbers are daily setting out for there, and the New. South Wales Goldfields. Should the next accounts prove favorable, a formidable exodus may be looked for, and a large portion of the West Coast miners ■will'be lost to this Colony. Had the Nelson Government made roads, and tracks, and thereby rendered the country acceptable to the miner, we need not have feared Roper or other rushes, for there is gold in quantity yet undiscovered on the Coast that is, by their unjust and foolish parsimony, locked up, that would, under different circumstances, have been get, and the population thereby retained. Miners Beware.—lt would appear by the local papers that the news from the Roper country has disquieted the miners at Queenstown and Maerewhenua; and that already several persons have left those districts for the supposed new Eldorado. We would caution others disposed to follow that example that they i may go farther and fare worse; in. proof! of which opinion we give an extract from the ' Grey River Argus ' of the 14fch instant : —Mr. Thomas Waugh,'of the New! i River district, was a passenger from Mel-; bourne, yesterday, by the steamer Tara-! rua. " He was in possession bf as late in- J formation as it was possible to procure | •from the Roper Rivor district, and he as- \ sures us that, so far as he could ascertain by diligent enquiry, there is nothing what- : ever to encourage people thither. With others he telegraphed for information as. to Port Darwin; and the reply received was that gold had been got, but not'in payable quantities. He-had also information—direct information—from two bro-: thers of the name of Gilford, who left the New River some months ago, and; after • proceeding to Australia, sailed for the! Roper. They describe the climate as bad,; and the prospects'" discouraging. There-1 .was also a dearth of "tucker." Mr. | Waugh adds that numbers of. miners had i come down country to Melbourne;* preparing to start for the Northern Territory, but the majority were returning to' the old ground. The majority of the pas-, sengers who left Melbourne by the Omeo were for Queensland, and the Bengal, which had been"placed on the berth, was unable to get filled up a'fter six weeks' detention.— Star.'

AN OFFICIAL W.ABNIN G. . We (' Sydney Morning Herald') have been requested by tre Colonial Secretary to publish, for general information, the following telegram received from the Government of South Australia :-—" Chief Secretary, Adelaide, to.Colonial Secretary, Sydney. It is absolutely necessary that you should warn persons leaving your ports for the Northern Territory, that there are no means of conveying them from the sea board to the reported goldfields, and that there is no stock of provisions in the country upon which people can rely for support."'