AUSTRALIAN GOLD FIELD. [From the Sydney Herald, September 9.]

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 568, 24 September 1851, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN GOLD FIELD. [From the Sydney Herald, September 9.]

OPIITR. Sepitmbkr 6. — The tide is turning in favour of Opiiir, if we may judge by the arrivals of the week ; at least a dozen new habitations Lave reared their modest roofs on the ground winch a few short weeks since boasted Us thousand chimneys. Mr. Nicboi, of the Cornish Settlement, is electing a substantial slab stoic on the flat immediately fronting the crossing-place be)ond the junction of the two creeks, winch will prove a gieat convenience to the Lewis' Pond Creole diggers, as well as those employed on the Sumneihill upuauls Ho is determined to set the storeLeejjei!= on the other side .in example bj. abstaining fiom Sunday selling ; the lawful six days lie very properly considers arc sufficient in the week for profitable purposes. The Honorable the Colonial Secretar} r , accompanied by Captain Doyley and Mr. Commissioner Gieen, arrived at Oplnr, from the Wentworth diggings, on Wednesday evening last. On the following morning they inspected a large portion of the diggings, the Colonial Secretary gleaning information fiom the digger as he proceeded on his way don n the creek. On the following morning they left in company, fiom the Commissioner's camp, for Bathurst, — it being understood that Mr. Thomson would revisit the Turon. Nearly 100 licenses for the month of September have already been issued on the Oplnr, and judging from appea> ances, these is little doubt but tli.it the numbeis will mn to as many ns on the previous month; the wotkers are moie scattered than formerly, and it is therefore impossible to calculate rightly the number engaged in gold seeking. The Assistant ComniibMonei a have quite a<« much laboui now, with the c\ccption of filling up licences, as when there were ton tunes the number on the ground. 'Iheif ;ue sevei.il companion ships djy dis/;iijgaljout seven miles up tho SunimeihiU,

1 who aie doing tolerably well. The gold procured, at that locality (known as Tomplai'a Crossing -place) (lifters little fiom tho w ater-waslied takon fiom the hank sides, and out of tho creek ; it 13 produced by greater labour, nil tho alluvium having to be convoyed to the cietk (sometimes sevoul bundled feet) for Ciadlinp. An alteration, it is generally believed, will speedily 1)0 made in the postal arr«mg«neols hoie, ami tbat the plan now adopted of sending the mail from Uathurst vid Orange will be superseded by the direct route to Opbir, the teiminus being at the Commissioners' Camp, midway between Oplur Viapc, the Lewis' Pond Creek, and the station known as Newtown. Arrangements could I veiy easily be ninde to despatch the mail fiom Bathuist thiee times a nook, so as to aiuve at Ophir by two or llnee p.m., which would give plenty of time for replies by the leturn m.iil ; and dining the summer months it need not leave before ten o'clock, to be in time for post in jiailiuisf. The loundiibout way Hie Jpfters aie now fonvaided is veiy unsatisfactory, and whenever theie aie a lew sboweis of rain the crossing places are impassable.

TURON. IYeat's Poini, SunrMBLR 'I. — Little of interest has occurred since I last wrote. Tho rivoi is subsiding; fast, and with (he assistance of fallen trees can be now crossed at vauous places by any person not endued with an oxtia portion of timidity. The diggings here are many of them greatly falling off, although I think when the river is well down, so as to enable paities to sink to the bed rock, it is very possible that gold will be found in larger quantities than ever. A great number of people aie rambling about, some prospecting, otheis, and by no means a small number, Irving to purchase holes. This fact of itself speaks volumes, and must convince the most sceptical that however rich the Turon diggings are, it is not every one that can secuio ground which will pay. A man came to me to-day wishing to hire ; he stated he h.ul come to the diggings nearly three weeks ago with another man, that they had tned seven places, in one of which they sunk twelve feet ; tliat they had done no good in either of them, and their provisions being expended, they were forced to look for work. This is by no means a solitary instance of bud luck ; theie are hundreds of similar cases on the river. At the Golden Point a pat ty sold a claim for £10 to some strangeis who had been watching the washing of the ci.idle. To-day they went to work and realised one penny-weight of gold. It is strongly suspected that the sellers put some gold into the cradle, in oider to deceive the buyers, who were thus miserably duped of their money without even securing a place at all worth \\ 01 king. There is a great deal of roguery attached to the selling of holes, and the above is an old trick which has been successfully practised at Ophir. I do not know whether the law provides a remedy for such a dishonest practice, but I am perfectly sure it should do so. JVh. Commissioner King was down the liver to-day, as far as the Upper Wallaby Rocks, issuing digging lie n&es. 1 rather suspect a pretty heavy sum will be realised this month from this source of revenue. A Mr. Nonie, of Maitland, has just left Maitland Point on his return home; this paity have, 1 understand, netted ,£l2OO. At some of the dry gullies, parties are now at work, miles away from the Turon, and are, many of them, doing a very nice stroke of business. When the rain was on they dammed the gullies in various places, by which temporary waterholes have been formed where the ci jelling is managed. A party on one of them, about two miles from heie, made ,£2B the week befoie last ; £41- last week ; and the first three days of this week, £26. These diggings, of course, will not last a month after the dry weather sets in. September 5. — About 11 o'clock, Mr. Commissioner King again paid us a visit, stopping at every cradle as he went along, to ascertain whether the party held the requisite license; a good many fresh licenses were issued. New coiners are prowling round almost every holo, trying to ascei tain whether there is a chance for them to squeeze in. I saw three parties from this neighborhood striking for home to-day, having had, as they expressed theroselres, ''enough of it." However, plenty more are daily arriving to fill up their places, so theie is no fear we shall want for company, at any rate, for a consideiahle time to come. A peison arriving to-day fiomthe Wallaby "Rocks, tells me the diggings there are neaily exhausted. lie has camped alongside of me, meaning to try and get in somewhere on this point. The Bathmst mad arrived here on Wednesday hot, but no Sjdncy bags camp, so I conjecture that some mishap must have occuired between Peniith and Ikthuist. The weather here for the last two days has been beautifully fine, with an invigorating and refreshing breeze springing' up about mid-day.

The World's Evn. [Fiom a Correspondent of the Batlnnst Fiec Pi ess.] " Upon my arrival attbo Woild's End, I found Fitz" patrick's party at work, who, as you most probably have heard, were making 12 ozs. to 13 ozs. a dny, and to my great astonishment Dr. Gwynn, who had most unaccountably disappeared from amongst his party at the Turon, and being a bad bushman was supposed to have lost himself. Having heard of the new discovery be moved away stealthily in. the night time and was neither seen nor beard of until discovered, not at the end of the world, but at the World's End. Some of the blacks I found had procured large quantities of gold in the neighbourhood, which they had sold for a mere trifle. I was myself present when one of them parted with 2 ozs. for 1.55. worth of half-crowns. Their mode of searching for gold is rather singular. Having selected a likely looking spot, they describe a chela round it, nnd closely examine eveiy inch within the circumference. Their well-known quickness of sight is of very great service to them by enabling them to detect the slightest appearance of the precious metal. Some of the lirst buyers realised 500 or COO per cent, profit by their gold putchases, hut competition in this bianch of business quickly diminished their chances. Several of the blacks parted with their gold at the rato^of about Bs. an ounce, and being attached to gambling, their earnings weie speedily dissipated. After a little experience at this place I discovered that the first accounts of it were much exaggerated. The earnings were not greater than at the Tuion, and T think that the same number of individuals at the Golden Point are earning quite as much, if not more than at Louisa Creek. There appeared to me to be gieat uncertainty in the degree of pioductiveness of any particular spot. Two parties might open two contiguous claims, and whilst one would be dealing their 6, 8, or 10 ounces a day the other would scarcely obtain a sight of gold. Provisions moreover were very scarce, and were not proem able for money. One person was retailing flour at the rate of 15d. a pannikin, and was very careless of selling- even at that rate. Hungry, sharp looking faces were in gieat plenty, and many of the new comers, influenced partly by their stomachs and partly by disappointment in not finding gold scattered about the creeks like sand, rushed hick to the Tui on with as much piecipitation as they left it. Preferring the greater certainty with the smaller earnings of the Turon lower diggings, I determined upon returning, and am resolved not to he dragged away a second time by flaming reports of new discoveries."

Mil. HICKEY AND THU TURON DIGGINGS. (From the " Batluust Free Picss.") At length there appears to be a change for the worse in the foi tunes of the Tin on diggers, and it is now our duty to rcpoit tli.it success is not nearly so general as hitlieito. This circumstance may be accounted for in two ways. The Tnron River, upon which are the most permanent desposits, presents a eonsideiable water frontage, on which as has been proved, there weie many very lich spots. To the hundieds who migrated there originally/ veiy little difficulty was experienced in obtaining piofitablc ground, but with the increase of numbeib the difficulty has incieased, and theie aienow great numbcis rambling about the Tin on River in qu<ist of new diggings, many of whom are doing little good, and some none whatever. Anothei leason of the change is the exhaustion of some of the best holes, which in numerous cases hive not lasted moie than a lew days, 'lhe loss of time consequent upon the ni'cessaiy seaich for new spots leduces the average earnings veiy considerably. By many wlio piofess themselves ju'ljrcs, the alteration spoken of is attributed to the iguotance of the gioat body of the miners in the art oi cxti.icting (he gold from the soil. They say ihat gold still abounds in the ranges and gullies of the Tuion. Very piob«b]y so, but then ignoiance was not an insuperable obstacle to their success in the fust instance, and as it is a com plaint which cannot be removed in a day or a week, it is likely to piove a stumbling block to the prosperity of many, and uheie piudenre and forethought have not been excicibcd, to be productive of complete failuie, pecnniaiy loss, i.nd pethaps misery. The change h is occurred rather suddenly, but it was not altogether unlooked for. In our last Wednesday's issue, we wcte only expressing the seniiments of many intelligent individuals,' in slatim; tbat ' when a veiy lai'>e addition to the present body of niineis takes place, it appears not impi obablo that success will lie lurch leis jjeneii'l than «4 picsent," At the time that aen-

tence wis penned we h.ul no idea, however, that wt 1 should be so quickly called upon to record the verification of that probability. Under any circumbtances it would have been our duty to gi\e the earliest information of the falling oil in the average yield of the Turon divings; but we feel ourselves the more urgently impelled to the task, to correct the erroneous impicssions which may beivuide by the publication of the following extract from a letter written by Kdwin Hiekcy, Esq., in the Emp.rc of the ltilh instant: — " We have now been five day 9 at the Turon, and have been eveiy day employed in exploring the river and its tributary creeks. We find that not only the dry gul'ies, but the rery surface of the mountains are filled with gold. Parties of three and four each are in very many places employed in digging either on the sides of the mountains or in the dry giillies, and they average about five or six ounces a day to each party. You people in Sydney have no conception of what is being made heie by individuals and parties. Take for example, Mr. John Want's party of six. Since we arrived here they have made from 16 to 22 ounces per day from one large hole. Some men are making their pounds weight." The extract, given as it is without any qualification, is a highly exaggerated account of the doings at the Turon, and is calculated to mislead the people at Sydney. Without disputing for a moment theenrnings of Mi. John Want's party, which have been exceeded by others, or doubting that " some men," though few and very few, " are making their pounds weight," we unhebitatingly deny that the average earnings of parties of three or lour, except in the small minority of instances, have been either five or six ounces, even in the palmiest days of the Turon. Taking Mr. Hickey's lowest estimate of five ounces, as the correct one, and calculating the Turon. population at the moderate number of 4000, whom we will divide into parties of four, and allow to work six days in the week, we shall hiive something over a ton of gold produced weekly ! But what evidence have we of a quarter of the production 1 The estimate is an absurd one, and it is to be hoped that the people of Sydney will not be misguided by such wild and reckless statements — and that correspondents whose lucubrations may figure in the press, will exercise a little more caution in making them. Coming from a gentleman of Mr. Hickey's known respectability they may be productive of incalculable mischief.