CAPE GOLDFIELDS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 219, 15 September 1880, Page 4

CAPE GOLDFIELDS.

[From the Timaru Herald}. ■■ We have been shown a letter received by a resident in Timaru from one of his late employes who went to the ; Cape Colony a short time ago, and have received permission to publish the i following extracts, which we have no jdoubfc will bo read with interest. The i letter is dated 'Beaufort West, Cape ! Colony. July 4, 1880/ and the writer, i after giving a brief account of his paajsage from Melbourne, goes on to say : ! — 'l am now 336 miles inland. This •is the teiminius of the railway. It is ja fine level country, but I don't think jit is of much account for agricultural 1 i purposes, as the land seemß of too dry a nature. Things are in a bad state 1 here at present. Over 100 men came here for the gold diggings, but there is ' jnothing at all doing. Most of the gold iwas being got at a place called Pilgrims 1 Eest, but the Zulus have driven every ■ white man out of the district, Prom 1 all accounts the diggings are very poor at the best. About 2© of the men that leime with us returned to Melbourne |by the first steamer, and I think more ; will go by the next one. There is little doing here for laborer!?, as the railway works are at a standstill, and wage i are jvery low. Men, are getting 4s to 5s a ■day for nine hours' work and plenty of linen can't get anything to do at these ! figures. I believe it is a grand country jfor anyone with capital, but at the j present time it is a poor one for workiing men. Beef is 9d per lb and mutton ;7d ; oats are worth 3s 6d per bushel. Theu are no good draught horses here; .such as there are fetch high prices.' ' The writer mentions that the railway works are at a standstill, and we learn .from the Cape Argus of July they are jlikely to remain so for an indefinite jtime. The G-overnmenfc introduced a ißi.ll to provide for very extensive rail|way construction, but on the day before 'the paper referred to was published a ilong debate took place in the House of

Assembly in Committee on the Bill, which was of such a character that • the Government, according to their precious intimation, gave the Committee to understand that they would abondon the Bill altogether.' The Argus speaks definitely of the j collapse of the Railway Bill.' New Zealanders, therefore should think twice before leaving for the Cape, as we understand some thought of doing, in the expectation of making money on the Cape railways. .