THE KIMBERLEY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XII, Issue 1728, 8 June 1886, Page 2

THE KIMBERLEY.

ACCOST BY AN AUCKLAND YISITOB TO DEBBY.

Mr Campbell,, of- Auckland, who hag just returned from the Kimberley, having left there on sth May, has bsen interviewed by a Star reporter. He gives the following particulars regarding Derby :— " I landed m Kinp's Sound, on which Derby is built, on 7th April. The landing is Very bad. The tide has a riss and fall ot 36ft, and the adjacent water being very shallow* the tide recedes nearly three miles. At low tide there is a lagoon of deep . water within half a mile of the jetty, and it is customary for vessels to Ho here, goods and passengers being landed by lighters at a jetty erect, ed by the Government of Western Atistralia. The site of Derby is dead level ; indeed there is not an eminence to be seen anywhere. As far as. the eye can see there are sandy, well-grassed plains, which, I believe, would provide fodder for horses all the year round.. Derby is three miles from the landing: place. There is no road, but. a temporary tramway had been laid along the mud- flat which extends. from the beach to within, a mile and * hatt of the town. The. township was laid out some years ago,, but of course there were no inhabitants until quite. recently. At the time of my visit it consisted of two "hotels," 'the Besident Magistrate's house, a few huts with thatched roof 8, and some joiners' tents. There were about 100 residents, I including 50 diggers. These met* hadcome to Derby without money, and they were trying to earn sufficient at roadmaking to supply them with means of locomotion to the goldfielda. Horses to, carry provisions, &c, are absolute necessities. The climate is remarkably* good. Up to the time of my visit there had hot been a single case ot fever and' ague.' The weather, though it was as late as April, was very hot. From May to September the weather is cool and delightful, and the flies and mosquitos, which are always very bad during the summer, almost disappear, but the ante are a terrible pest. I saw ant-bills 15ft high, and old residents say that it is almost impossible to save anything from them. A few snakes have been seen near the township, but the varieties are believed to be harmless, and none of the pioneers' have been bitten. Living is remarkably cheap, the hotels only charging 25s per week .for board and lodging. The food supplied at these establishment . comprised potted meat and fish, bread, tea, &c. No fresh meat, I saw no New Zealand brands of meat. There is a good store on the beach,' one and a half miles from' the township, at which everything can be purchased from a needle to an anchor, and prices are all very reasonable. Flour per 501bs bag was 10s ; rice, 2£d per lb ; good tea, 2s 3d per lb; sugar, 6d per lb; bacon, Is 6d per lb ; potted meat, Is 3d per lb, or by the case Is. Other goods were equally choap. ; Seeing that things can be purchased so cheap, I would not advise diggers to take provisions with them. The great want is horses and packsaddles, and them they certainly should take. 'The lowest pricefor th« worst class of horse backs that* would "not brin? more than £5 m -Auckland, is £25, and a shipment of horses, should pay well. I do not think that Derby will be the permanent : entrepot, of the, district. Cambridge Gulf, which' is 50O< miles further north, is 100 miles nearerthe goldfield, and possesses a good landing, whidh cannot be obtained any wherenear Derby. ; There is ajso good drinkingwater at Cambridge, which is not the case m Derby. The \ water m Derby is obtained from wells, bat is Very brackish. The Fitzroy river, which runs near the townshin, is merely a winter watercourse, and does not run m summer, though there are pools m its bed all the year round. I did not go to.tjjftgold. field, for personal reasons, but I have not the slightest doubt Me field is a good genuine one. Miners w.ho bad been up aHhe goldfields and had gold were rather^ reticent as to localities, »nd when they wfotoufc-a^ain they sneaked off for fear of being followed, Diggtn told w« that tbf road ia^ a good, ont, and that votf

out cutting a sapling. There is plenty of -water m the water-holes m the river, and there is also good feed for horses and oattle. All parties carry arms, not for protection against the blacks, who are too frightened of the whites to be dangerous, but for the purpose of eking out their provender with game— ducks, turkeys, and kangaroos being very plentiful. I intend to return to Kimberley about March. ._,>_,.,, , „ . . < . MPiTUj vr\ — ■■?•. c ;. : « •'• '•> « CoiillWfiil^VcUriints^are cflfrrefit ; of the prospects of the field. "A Sunny Corner" (New^South WalesVpubhshea a priT»te lette.*ffbm- thd Md, "in* tvhich the writer say* :— M The goldfields are m the trPttcsywj,^ » lo<P*oy*Qß«!nll all< * mine settlers for speculation. * 1 think the wnole thing a fraod from i^iyfningtd ..effd-r 'NQtUfilg is being prbduqed m the country except a few cattle m the Kimberlev district. I havef^eitill i^er Jihe tJniwd:Statesj and.i over Mexico, and y up.to-Aaska, but I have joftvee ini'my-Jife 8^ 11 .'^^*-^ 1 ilh&^tistra^amW the othefHaiidV'Mr P.tlooney, who wifli one or^^-^nert ? le£t^udgee eh route for KinAerler^^(says Mudgee^cpendent),^^ before fca'fingf stated 1 that he was oonfia«nt that the venture^was; a good "ittoi -saia that >he had beeh Bhown> letter received from the.rushvby a person , in Mudgee, ', .which stated-.tJiaA . the waiter: (a brother of th^ reciijient) /got B(J6oz of gold, m 11 weeks. Mr. Eoonny *nd^ Mr ' Tierney have had considerable experiehce ion the greatest jgoldfielda.»l^j»straliavand are thoroughly practical mineri.