GOLD FOUND IN ABUNDANCE WITHIN SIXTEEN MILES OF MELBOURNE!!!

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 634, 30 August 1851, Page 3

GOLD FOUND IN ABUNDANCE WITHIN SIXTEEN MILES OF MELBOURNE!!!

[From the Melbourne Daily iVews,] The above gratifying intelligence reached us at a late hour last night, and we hasten to lay before our readers full particulars of the most important discovery. The public are already aware that a party headed by Messrs. Habberlin and Mitchell left town on Monday last, and proceeded at once to the locality from which tbe specimens already obtained bad been, as they said, extracted. It is situated on Major Newman’s run, and the distance from town, being no greater than above stated, affords us the assurance that Melbourne is about to realise all the advantages of which it was once thought that the great Northern Capital would for ever retain. The parties though imperfectly furnished with the necessary “ materiel,” set to work in good earnest and were speedily rewarded for their trouble by finding at the distance of only “ two feet” from the surface an alluvial deposit yielding a very large per centage of the precious metal. Being provided with nothing better than tin dishes for the purpose, they washed nevertheless a considerable quantity of earth and found it uniformly to contain from seven to ten grains o! pure gold per dish full. They subsequently tried the same experiment at various places, and still with the same gratifying result. In the midst of their labours they were suddenly joined by another party (whose names will be found attached to tbe annexed certificate) in company with whom they continued to work up to the time of our informant’s leaving. The latter gentleman is Mr. Henry J. Hart Secretary to the “ Gold Committee,” who brings with him a sealed packet containing tbe most unmistakeable evidence of the fact above narrated. A loose specimen of the same deposit was tested in his presence by Dr. Greeves, who at once pronounced it to be “ gold, yellow, glittering, precious gold.” We must not omit to mention that one of the attesting parties has just arrived from Bathurst, and from general

appearances is led to conclude that the “diggings 1 thus opened up will eventually be found to exceed in profitable return all that has hitherto been obtained at tbe far-famed northern Ophir. Accident has conspired to bestow upon the locality the name of our beloved Sovereign, as, in consequence of a piece of gold bearing the exact conformation of the “ broad arrow,” the place has most appropriately been called the “ Victoria diggings,” Victoria diggings. We the undersigned having been witnesses of the finding of Gold within 16 miles of Melbourne, hereby certify the fact, having also washed the alluvial deposits ourselves and obtained the same results. Cha. Manton, Jun. M. Dent, Wm. Marchat, Jas. Fletcher.