The Golden West.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1711, 18 May 1886, Page 4

The Golden West.

The Kimberley rush ia beginning to set mm earnest, the first sanguine accounts oil the «old discoveries having been substantially confirmed. Large quantities of alluvial gold have been obtained, and experienced miners who have examined tho couutry report that there is a certuiuty of rich reefing m the future. But the- situation of the Held is such that it would bo sheer madness for people to hurry off thither without having made their preparations carefully beforehand, anil, above all, provided themselves with a considerable sum of money. This is not a poor man's rush, by any means. Kimberley ia an important pastoral district m the north of Western Australia, anil is reached by the little seaport of Derby, and the mouth of the Fitzroy river,' which is about three weeks steam from the nearest port of New Zealand. Hitherto, the usual route to Kimberley has been via Adelaide to Freemantle, the port of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, thence by sea to Derby, and thence inland 370 miles by any sort of conveyance, on horseback or on foot. This means a journey of five or six weeks, and the overland portion of it is through a perfectly wild country, not particularly rough, it seems but entirely void of any sort of accommodation. Everyone soin'o 1 to the goldfieldf, therefore, must for the present, at all events, take sufficient supplies of all sorts to last for many weeks, and must also be prepared t'i submit to many privations and hardships by the way. We learn from the telegrams last week, however, that m Australia another route has been preferred to the one we have described. A straiucr is to leave Sydney on the 25th, for Cambridge Gulf, carrying passengers f>r Kimberley. Now, Cambridge Gulf is an inlet of the sea on the nothern-most coast of Western Australia, only 15 degrees south of the Equator ; and a erlance at the maps will show that it can only be reached from Sydney, whether north about or south about, by a voyage half round Australia. The "Kimberley goldfield is about the same distance from the head of Cambridge Gulf as from Derby, 370 miles ; but we imagine the route by Cambridge Gulf is preferred on account of its proximity to Port Darwin and the comparatively settled districts m the Northern Territory of South Australia. A good many people have already gone from the Northern Territory to Kimberloy by way of Cambridge Gulf, and the ro"iito is reported to be " not free from difficulties and dangers, but still not such as to appal men accustomed to the Aus tralian interior." That does not sound very" encouraging. In short, be it approached how it may, the Kimberley goldfield is just about as awkward a place to get afc as there is m the whole of Australia, outside of the waterless and trackless interior. The heat there is tremendous, for it is far within the Tropic, m the north of Madagascar, and though itself supplied by the springs of the Fitzroy, is on" the edge of the great sandy dasert. No doubt, if the goldfield proves permanent, and equal to expectations as to richness, easy means of access will speedily be furnished from one quarter to another, and it will not be long before a railway will be made to Kimberley, either from Derby or from Cambridge Gulf. Already a telegraph line from the latter place is projected by the Western Australian Government. Ihit for the paesent we cannot think it wise for anyone to leave New Zealand for Kimberley, except strong active yuuns: men with nothing to carry but a stout' heart, a spirit of adventure,, and a fair stock of cash. — Wellington ?re«».