87 LBS. WEIGHT OF GOLD!

New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1720, 3 September 1862, Page 4

87 LBS. WEIGHT OF GOLD!

ARRANGEMENT WITH THE GOVERNMENT. EXTRAORDINARY RICH FIELD. [From lire “Otago Daily Times,” August 10.] After some negotiations an arrangement w this day come to between the Provincial Government and the discoverers ot the new gold held, and the prospectors made the following statement : STATEMENT OF THE MEN. We started on a prospecting trip about the Ist of February last, crossing the Molyneux at Oliver’s, and striking it again about twenty miles above Pinkerton’s. We here obtained sufficient prospects from the banks of the river to justify us in believing that wo should find rich diggings higher up the streams, or as soou as we came to a favoiable place. About twelve or fifteen miles below the junction of the Manuherikia we first obtained payable prospects. We tried a number of small bars that we thought would pay about an ounce a-day by working with a cradle. The river was verv high at the time, and but little of the bars being out of water, we could not tell much about it, but the diggings on tins part of the river will not possibly be of much extent. There are, however, for ten or fifteen miles below where we obtained our prospects—flats, and what appear to be old channels of the river, some ot them several miles in length. We attempted to prospect several of them, but having no bucket or rope, and besides having the misfortune to break our shovel so as to render it valueless for sinking, we were not able to bottom, and were obliged to push on. The rich part of the river where we obtained the gold is between the Manuherikia and Upper Clutha Valleys By the time we arrived here our provisions were exhausted, and our tin dish broken by a fall on a hill-side, so that we could only wash a few handfuls of dirt at a time. We bought a little flour, and borrowed a tin dish from one of the stations in the Manuherikia Valley, and panned our forty ounces in about a week. We then went up the river as far as the junction of the Kawarau, and having satisfied ourselves that there was plenty more gold to be had, we started for Dunedin to get pack-horses and an outfit for a winter campaign. We returned by the way of Wiakouaiti and the Shag Valley. We did not cross the river at the old place as we wished to avoid the people at the station, who had seen us before. Our object was to work only the richest spots, as we did not know how soon we might be discovered and “rushed.” For the first month or six weeks, we were well satisfied with two or three ounces a day each, hut as the river became lower, and we learned more of the nature and extent of the diggings, we did not wash anything unless we thought it would pay about a pound weight a day—that is, six ounces each. The best dirt we found was the surface dirt on the bars. We did not usually wash more than from three to six inches of the iop dirt—a loose sandy gravel easily washed, but in some places we took from one to two feet of it. We bad nothing to do but to set the cradle at the edge of the river, and keep it going from morning to night, ns one could get dirt and feed the cradle as fast as the other could wash it. The gold is very fine, and accompanied by a great quantity of black sand, from which it is difficult to separate it. The gold we got oa the bed rock is heavier, but we did not work any scarcely after the first month or so, as we found that we could not expect to make more than from one to four ounces a day, although we did find several good crevices, from one of which we took over twelve ounces in a few hours. There are high terrace-like banks or bars on both sides of the river, in some places several hundred yards in width, and composed, to a great extent, of washed quartz gravel and boulders. In several places there are what appear to be old channels of the river, some of them of considerable length. We did not work above the junction of the Kawarau, but there was every indication of rich diggings on the Upper Clutha Valley, and on the hill sides, there are numbers of large quartz reefs, Very little rain falls in this part of the country; we did not loose more than two days altogether by wet weather. The winter is the best time for working along the banks of the river, as it is highest during the spring and summer, and many of the places that we worked will he under water. The best way to get there is to take the Shag Valley Road from Waikouaiti to the Manuherikia Valley, hut persons on foot or horseback can go by the West Taieri, Campbell Thompson’s and Valpy’s. This is the way we came down, and is much the shortest. CONDITION’S OF REWARD, The conditions agreed to between the Brovin- . cial Government and Messrs. Hartley and Riley, the discoverers, are, that they are to receive a i reward of i‘2,000, on receipt in three months of 1 10,000 oz of gold, the produce of the locality. The men are to give every possible informatio ' as to the gold-producing spots, and explain the } mode of working — one or both men to go with a j Government party, and point out the locality, j The gold field is to bo not less than live miles i from any place where 100 miners are working, and j if the place lias been discovered and worked by | any other party before the date of disclosure of ; the discovery, the reward to Hartley and Riley is ; to lapse. The men state that they were tracked and dis- I covered by a Victorian miner to the very spot where they were getting their richest yields on one of the river bars, but so ignorant was he of the system of working that they succeeded by doleful statements of disappointment, and by saying they were only just “making tucker” to disarm the suspicions of the man, and he left them without suspecting the richness of the place. The men state that the ordinary system of mining by Victorian miners is no good. There is plenty of hush and available timber. FURTHER PARTICULARS.

Wc are informed by Mr. Hartley that the diggings are partly on Maclean’s and partly on Sheehan’s stations, but that no sheep were in the country so far out as where they were working. It is Mr. Hartley’s opinion that the great goldbearing country is further to the westward of the Upper Clutha Valley, but the country being very dillicult of access, it will take time to develope it. Messrs. Hartley and Riley found gold wherever they tried—in fact one of them says “that an old woman could scratch more gold out with her fingers than all the miners in the Province could get elsewhere !" Besides the washings on the bars and old river beds, wo are informed that there are several extensive flats all the way up, which Mr. Hartley considers will turn out excessively rich. They did not try them, for the very sufficient reason that they were doing too well when they were there, to lose time in prospecting. The road via the West Taieri is most difficult between Campbell Thompson’s and Yalpy’s stations, a distanceofabout 35 miles, without any stoppingplace, and a very wild desolate country. Persons unacquainted with the track, would, in the event of a snowstorm, run the risk of being lost and perishing on the road. Beyond Yalpy’s wo are told the road is not very difficult. The distance from Dunedin to the new diggings may be estimated at about 110 miles, viz.Dunedin to West Taieri 1(5 miles, AV est Taieri to Healey’s 10 miles, Healey’s to Thompson’s 12 miles, Thompson’s to Yalpy’s 35 miles, Valpy’s to Mairson’s 5 miles—-at this point, the drayroad lo Manuherikia Valley is struck—following which to Newton’s station M miles, from Newton’s to Lowe’s 12 miles, from Lowe’s to the Upper Molyneux River, about o miles, above this point the diggings commence. The diggings are about 100 miles from Waikouaiti. Messrs. Hartley and Riley did not wash lower down than within 0 miles from Lowe’s. The road along the river after leaving the Manuherikia Valley, becomes inaccessible for drays, and is even difficult for pack-horses. From what wc can gather from the discoverers, there seems no doubt but that the whole course of the river, from the point at which it was first worked, right up to its source, is gold-hearing, and that the flats and rocks in the vicinity are also very rich. It is the opinion of the more perienced of the two men, and one who has had „

Ion" experience in California: that any miner may make an ounce a day with nothin" but a knife and tin dish. The two men have undergone great hardships, living for a long time on llour only, and on the way to Dunedin, between Vulpy’s and Thompson’s one of them was compelled to “ cave in,” and for some time his companion feared he would not hold out the rest ol the journey. Their progress through the country has been attended with enormous difficulties, travelling by night when the moon permitted, and being compelled to adopt strict precautions to preserve their secret. A| shepherd hailed them one day as they were working on the river, hut they got rid of him by the old tale —“just making tucker.’’ They never worked under the most unfavorable circumstances without getting two or tour ounces a day, but the steady average ot their returns was about 12 ozs. Mr. Hartley says that the approaching season will probably be unfavorable for the richest workings in the river, as the melting of the snow will flood the river, hut the Hats and the high bars will still ho available. At one point on the river the discoverers came across some men working a seam of excellent coal, the men he thinks, were irom Fraser’s station. They had once occasion to go to the Hindis tor provisions, but they dared not repeat the journey fur fear of arousing the suspicion ot the few miners at work there. Indications of copper were also found in many places on the Manuherikia. One of the miners, who has worked on the Fraser River, says that it cannot compare in richness with the Manuherikia. it is not the intention ot the men to secure prospecting claim on the new diggings, as they state they know where to find other spots equally rich, where they can work away from the rush. In cleaning the gold the men used quicksilver, but they found to process too slow for them, they preferred cleaning it roughly iu the cradle, and even allowing a good deal of the gold to escape rather than incur the delay of more careful process. Mr. Hartley is in raptures with the climate in the district where they have been working. During the whole time they have been there, the weather has not rearded their operations in the least. He describes the climate as the finest winter climate be ever experienced. They saw r.o wild pigs up their, nor game of any kind, except a few wild duck. We have been careful in making particular inquiries about the road, and have had the advantage of seeing Mr. Sheenan on the subject, on the border of whose run and that of Mr. M’Lean, the diggings are situated. Mr. Sheenan knows the spot well, and lias seen the two men at work, besides one of them having called at the station. When he heard of the eighty-seven pounds weight brought to the Treasury, the idea struck him that they might he the same men, and he went to the Government offices yesterday on purpose to see them, but did not succeed in doing so. Mr. Sheenan tells us that the best road is by Waikouaiti. The West Tuieri is nearer, but the road is in an impassible state. The distance irom Waikouaiti is about a hundred and ten miles. The road lies by Hamilton and Wain’s and the Cole Creek, The distance from the Hindis is about thirty miles, hut the road between them is impassable except to pack horses. For some time to come the Waikouaiti road is likely to be the one most favored. Miners going to the diggings should remember that there are at present no stores in the neighbourhood, and that without supplies they may suffer the greatest hardships.

Dunedin, August 22.

Again lias the exciting cry arisen of “gold!” Again has been witnessed in this town the fever and rush attendant upon a discovery ns startling as unexpected! And again—while but a week back nothing was at work to indicate the actual existence of a mine at our very feet, while all things bore that calm and unrufiled exterior which has for some months characterised this town during a period of reactionary quiescence—have the multitude, who had been quietly hiding their time previous to the breaking up of the had weather ; despite of cautions, heedless of roads, reckless of provisionary equipments, started in hundreds for the new and unequalled LI Dorado, determined there to find what Hartley and Reilly found, or perish in the attempt; I sty hundreds, but thousands are probably much nearer the mark. What has made Hartley a comparatively wealthy man is enough, surely, to tempt others to try and do the same. He started poor, but rich in energy, in pluck, in resource, in endurance, and, above all, in “experience” He met with old Victorian diggers, who enquired of lit in how he was doing, anti passed on ! —for he was only making tucker, lie said, and nobody could hope to do more there. The men who addressed him knew nothing of the nature of a Californian diggings, and Messrs. Hartley and Reilly were not the men to enlighten them until they had made their “pile.” They are, in my opinion, much to be blamed for having so soon exploded the mine of their own successful working, hut it was to he feared, as Mr. Hartley told me, that their difficulties were increasing, and the hope of remaining undiscovered becoming more find more precarious. Already have other claimants for part of the reward come forward as being on the same field at the same time. The Government, however, cannot listen to them, as they are outrun in the race, nay, distanced. £2,000 is to be paid out of the provincial chest to Hartley and Reilly on the receipt of 10,000 ounces in three months from the new Hartley diggings.

What is to be the result of’ this new rush ? It is, as you must know, a very loin; distance from town, on the banks of the Upper Clutha, and thereby just treble the distance of the first pay- | able gold-field. The difficulties on the road are, therefore, much more than three times the nature of the first, for they increase in a ratio from the focus or starting point. Mr. Hartley, a very experienced and most communicable man, informed me that, in his opinion, the embryo or richest part of the gold-field was yet to be discovered, and pointed out tho districts of the lakes as being the most probable centre. He believes that there will be an immense field'opening up in that direction, with an increase of diggers ; so that, if this opinion really tallies with the rush, there is room for a much greater influx of population than the first fields justified. Wood, for all purposes, is very scarce, though there is plenty of it at a distance of twenty oi thirty miles, or say from the Lakes llawea and Wanaka. While diggers are gold-digging foragers will he bringing in supplies of fuel and building stall’ by means of boats across the lakes ; there is no help for it, and gold will bring everything to hand, even luxuries, into the very heart of a wild country. There is, then, every scope for a large gold-digging population besides to supply them with necessaries. Nothing will show the confidence of the diggers in the real and payable nature of the Hartley diggings so much as the fact of their eagerly starting off, in large numbers, encumbered with enounous “ swags” at scaacely u day’s notice. Horses, which six days ago were a drug, letch from £<3o to £OO. Pack saddles, cradles, tools, provisions, and every other tliimr have risen enormously in value. 1 am informed that property has risen 2d percent, all over the town in a week ! and this may be regarded as strictly true. So long as Dunedin is the starting point for a digging population, so long will it he subjected to tho sudden rise and a-> sudden depression of value of its land and htnjses. But this state of things may change. Gold that is found east of the great watershed may he as plentiful west of it. What is to prevent a Milford Haven becoming not only habitable, hut populous? and if Milford Haven, why not the rest of the West Coasty ? and then we shall have the pleasure, probably, of hearing Thatcher on “The Rise and Full of Dunedin. ’

However, we have now only to consider its rise, and this is likely to he great and long-continued, The “rush” may now fairly be considered a great fact, since the Hartley discovery will he enormous. Thousands had been waiting in Victoria under canvas, ready to avail themselves of the first dawn of mild weather, to make another and more desperate attempt ; now tens of thousands will join them, satisfied with the prospects of Otago as a gold country. J.( this time last year they hesitated on account of the newness, and uncertainty of the risk, no such difficulty now presents itsell , and we may soon expect them over to try their fortunes in a field, whose discoverers brought with thorn as a test of its capabilities^

8711)., weight of gold, the result of ten weeks winter toil.

As a matter of course, you may expect no sailing craft for some time, all hands being off to the diggings. The whole of the diggers,! some forty or fifty in number, forfeited their passage-money to Auckland, per Lombard, and are on the Hartley track; as matter of course again, everything is turned topsy-turvy. Contracts can’t be carried out—servants, clerks, storekeepers, pseudo merchants, all have opened their eyes, Hartley-wards have shouldered their swags, and expect to, and of course will bring back ozs. Irotp the new diggings,—Correspondent Wellington \Advertiser > August 25.