SYDNEY.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 272, 8 March 1848, Page 4

SYDNEY.

Ecclesiastical Intelligence. Diocese of Newcastle. — The Bishop of Newcastle arrived by the steamer Rose, on Sunday morning, at Newcastle. His Lordship attended Christ Church in the morning and evening, and read the communion service in the former -part of the day. On Monday, shortly before noon, the Bishop entered the church, accompanied by several Clergymen, and during Divine Service the ceremony of- installation was performed, and his Lordship was formally inducted into the possession of the See. After the Communion service, - the Bishop preached ex'eraportnsously a sermon from Ist Corinthians, chap. 4, v. 1 and 2. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was subsequently administered to a large number of communicants. The following address was, after the service, presented to the Bishop at the Parsonage: — To the Right Reverend Father in God, William, by Divine permission Lord Bishop of Newcattle. May it please your Lordship — We, the undersigned, the Chaplain, Trustees, and Churchwardens of Christ Church, Newcastle, and other inhabitants of Newcastle and its neighbourhood, most respectfully beg leave to welcome your Lordship upon your arrival in' this portion of your diocese, after your protracted voyage from England to these distant shores. We cannot but acknowledge a debt of gratitude of no inferior degree to be due from us to those liberal, zealous, and pious members of the Church of England, who have been the happy means of extending amongst us the due administration of the ordinances of our holy religion, the institutions connected with our venerable

Church, and the blessings of sound and religious education, by the erection of this portion of the colony into a separate See. That your Lordship may be long preserved by the good providence of God to preside over the affairs of the Church of this extensive division of Australia, of whicb her most gracious Majesty Queen Victoria has been pleased to appoint you Diocesan, is the sincere and earnest prayer of, - (Here follow the signatures.) His Lordship, in reply, after referring to the circumstances connected with the erectiou of Newcastle into a separate See, expressed his thanks for the kind welcome he had received, and concluded by observing, that that welcome had gratified and encouraged him, as it would also do all those who had come to share bis labours. On the following morning, his Lordship proceeded by the Tamar to Morpeth, wjiere he will take up his residence for a short time.

Burra Burra Mines. — Proceeding from Mr. Wren's Hotel, we passed through a gorge of the northern hill, and in a few minutes found ourselves in view of the " eighth wonder of the world." As we said before, the mines are chiefly in a basin, about fifty acres in extent, nearly surrounded with low hills lying confusedly around ; confused and irregular hills are indeed the prevailing feature of this district. The workings, however, are comprised in the space' of little more than six acres, but this space, on a working day, is a most animated and astonishing scene. The first thing, that strikes the eye is immense piles of earth, intersected with vast heaps of ore laid oat in a similar style to the broken stones on a macadamised road. Over the heaps are placed five or six great horse whims, some of which ply night and day. One, in particular, at Kingston shaft, never rests, except on Sundays. Like Goldsmith's celebrated article of furniture, it has different employments and uses by day and by night. During the night it raises ore, and during the day it raises water for cleaning it. No less than thirty shafts have been sunk; most of them to the water, and of course the operations downwaids must be suspended till a steam engine, which has been ordered, arrives. The - deepest shaft is the Kingston, which is sunk thirty-five fathoms below the surface, and which contains ten fathoms of water. Between the shafts are the sheds for separating and washing the ore. The ore is washed on a very simple principle. A lever j and rod are suspended above troughs filled with water, and a sieve containing the ore is | attached to the rod. The cleaner, by jerking the sieve up and down in the water, causes the ore, the heavier body, to sink, and the refuse on the surface is then taken off. It was stated by a good authority, that there is sufficient ore now on the surface, independent of what is on the road, at the port, on shipl'oard, and in England, to pay the shareholders two hundred per cent. (£25,000) every month til! June next. In the last few months the average quantity taken away has been nearly a hundred tons per day, and as the quantity brought from the mine to the surface is upwards of eighty tons daily, very little impression is made on the accumulations at the mine. We willno\T attempt to relate our labours threading the mazes of the vast souttrain. We can assure our respected readers that it is not every one who can do it. The man who attempts such a great enterprise should be young and active, should be sound and lithe in limb, and should possess good lungs, and no little perseverance. Above all, he should not be stout, for some of the holes are «o narrow that not more than thirteen stone can squeeze through, unless it belongs to a practical miner. The first process is to divest the ordinary habiliments, and to arm cap-a-pie in a miner's working dress ; then every man should have a candle, with a piece of soft clay as a candlestick. The first step is a teazer — you have to descend a perpendicular ladder, carrying your candle, and as you find it rather awkward, you have rather an unpleasant sensation that some one or two of the half dozen fellows above you may descend Ly the run, and take you along with them a few hundred yards below. You descend and find it is only twenty fathoms ; you follow on through galleries dotted with copper, down little shafts, and into great vaults, and chambers, and caverns like Vulcan's forge, where men are seen with candles in their hats, or stuck on the rocks, hewing away at the most splendid copper ores that eyes ever beheld. Sometimes you go down perilous descents, and creep on your hands- and knees, or, like the snakes, wriggle and writhe through holes with your head downwards ; all the time perspiring most refreshingly. You then come upon men who are working upon a great shaft near the water, and the rocks or earth continually falling down, dashing upon the waters, give you a vivid impression of the disagreeable situation you would be -in if you should tumble in. Ever and anon we came to beautiful little malachite arbours, which the miners called their I gardens, every side of which bting a bright

green, formed delightful spots in which to rest. A few of the miners grumb'ed because they had only Is. 3d. per pound of tribute (from which sum the tribute ranges to 2s. 6d.) and protested that they did not make quite £10 per month ; but an old Cornish and Columbian captain, unconnected with the mines, who was present, told us that the miners were habitual grumblers ; and we learned afterwards, that some of them made as high as £40 or £50 per month, and that the superintendent sends as much as £200 and £300 in a week into Adelaide, to invest for the fortunate and industrious. We must, however, mention, for the honour of the men, that the grumblers were a small exception. In some of the vast caverns, thirty, forty, and fifty feet wide, when surrounded on every side with malachite, red oxide, green and blue carbonates, mingled in rich confusion, the miners asked our experienced friend if he had ever seen or heard of anything like the Burra, and evidently were far from surprised at his most energetic negative. After four or five hours' hard travel through this labyrinth, we at last re-ascended, leaving, for want of time, a great portion of the mine unexamined ; and here truth and justice demand that we should announce the conclusion which the experienced mining captain who accompanied us, gave iv our hearing when he came up. He had been previously prejudiced against the mine, having been assured that it would soon be worked out, but he was of a totally different opinion after he saw it. He said the vast quantities seen on the road would give the impression that the Burra must be exhausted, but seeing what is at the mines, you can scarcely tell that any quantity has been taken away. There is ore in sight which will last for two years, independent of the new ground which the steam engine will open up. We may here remark that, before steam engines were employed in Cornwall they could scarcely go below thirty fathoms, now some mines extend to a depth of 320 fathoms. We cannot close this brief notice without doing justice to the great exertions of Mr. Burr, the talented superintendent, who has introduced a most admirable and methodical system, and who has nearly cleared the mine of bad characters. He is well supported by Captains Roach and Ryan, whose underground operations are upon an excellent plan. We remarked lhat the mine is particularly well ventilated and well timbered. We had almost forgot to mention that two new lodes have just been opened at the Burra Burra ; one of them, containing the finest ore, was discovered by the workmen who were levelling ground for a new whim. The direction of the lode appeared to be east of north. The Bon Accord mine, purchased by Mr. Morehead, from Sydney, on behalf of an Aberdeen company, situated close to the north of the Burta Burra workings, has hitherto been a failure, and, at the time we visited it, the workings were abandoned. The general 'opinion at the Burra seemed to be, that the search for ore was made too far to the west of north, and that the lodes were easterly. Mr. Morehead went up a few days ago with a Cornish captain, who we trust will be more successful than Captain Eye. It is certainly singular that the lodes of the Burra Burra could not be met with at so short a distance. There is a scarcity of timber in the neighbourhood of the Burra Burra mines, which will be most seriously felt in the course of a few years. This, we are told, is the chief cause why smelting is not likely to succeed there. A gentleman, farther north, has commenced planting gum trees (600) in the neighbourhood of his chief station, and we recommend the proprietors of the Burra survey to follow his example. A new smelting concern is about to be commenced by Messrs. Penny and Owen, at Tothill's Gap, thirty j miles to the south of the mines, where there is plenty of timber. — S. Aus. Register. ■