DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 749, 6 October 1852, Page 3

DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

The following particulars are from the South Australian Register, oftthe 25th August : There is now no doubt that at length an extensive and remunerative Gold-field has been discovered in this province. Every experiment that was made yesterday was attended with success, although most jealously, and even suspiciously watched by .the officials who were present on the ground. We shall now introduce, without comnfent, the account of our special reporter, which- will speak for itself. The extent of country in which the Gold occurs will probably be found to be very considerable. It commences at the- sources of the Onkaparinga, near Mount Crawford and Mount Torrens, and reaches to the coast following the line of that river to the Jownship of Noarlunga, a tract of country not less than sixty miles in length. The report furnished to us for general information, is as follows :—: — Yesterday morning, Mr. Finniss (Colonial Secretary), Capt. Freeling (Surveyor General), Mr. Bonney (Commissioner of Crown Lands), and Mr. M'Laren (Deputy Surveyor- General) attended by a party of police, accompanied Messrs. Chapman and Hampden to the site of their gold discoveries upon the Three Brothers' Survey. They arrived at Warland's Inn, upon the Onkaparinga r at' .twp o'clock,- and, after a short halt, proceeded to the place . where the nugget mentioned yesterday was found. It is in a broad gully well wooded with stringy bark, and at the foot of a low range, about two miles from Warland Inn, a mile and a half or a mile and three quarters east of the river Onkaparinga, and three miles from Echunga — between the old and new roads — on the left of the latter. The tree at the roots of which the nugget was found is about three hundred yards from the fence of Hodding's farm, now occupied by Mr. Hardiman, and in the immediate neighbourhood of Sections 3887, 3892, 3893, and 3894. In fact it is not yet positively ascertained that it may not be within the boundaries of one of those sections. This point will be settled to-day by the Survey party, which was to follow Captain Freeling. The Government Officers were joined at Warland's by sixty to eighty horsemen, who had arrived before them ; and when they reached the ground, at a quarter to three, there could not have been' less than a hundred and fifty persons present. In the course of another hour from fifty to a hundred more reached the spot, so that I certainly speak within bounds when I say that two hundred at the least were present, A large number of these men were returned diggers from Forest Creek and Bendigo. The first dish of earth was taken from unbroken ground near the tree, and washed in surface water in presence of the Colonial Secretary. It produced several good looking bits of gold, which Mr. Finnis took from the pan and tied up separately. The second yielded, as I thought, somewhat less ; but still a fair quantity. This Mr. Finniss would not suffer to be washed quite clean, but kept it with the ironstone (or emery, as the New South Wales diggers call it.) The third dish was taken from a place chosen by Mr. Finnis, where no previous trial had been made. This"yielded a little gold, but not so much as would be considered remunerative.* I then left Mr. Finniss engaged in a further search with the discoverers, and joined a party who were watching a young digger, lately returned from Mount Alexander. He had taken up half a dish of earth from a distant and untried spot, which he washed, and obtained from it what he and some others of his fraternity pronounced ' very good surface working.' Mr. Chanter, a well known and very successful Mount Alexander man, washed one dish in my presence, and obtained from it rather a large quantity, including a nugget of two or three penny weights. Mr. Charlton, a late resident at the Victoria Diggings, washed a couple of handfuls of earth taken from the surface', 1 and extracted several grains of gold. I have heard of many other washings, and was shewn their results. Some of them were greater than those I have mentioned ; but I confine myself to what I actually saw. Mr. Finniss, after several more trials, which I understood to be generally satisfactory, directed the discoverers to wash an ounce of gold in his presence, allowing them to take the earth from the neighbourhood of the tree, which they considered the richest spot. Each spadeful was taken from unbroken ground, and only from the surface. Three dishes were washed together, Mr. B. Finniss choosing the puddle in which the operations were performed. *An ounce of gold was obtained from nine dishes in somewhut less ,than an hour. It in-, eluded a nugget weighing about five pennyI weights. ' "*"' T have Mr. Finnis's, express authority for saying he is quite satisfied that the place is an available gold-field, -and that the discoverers will probably be_ entitled to the reward offered by Government. The washing was performed by means of the dish alone. Had there been a sieve used, the ounce of gold would, of course, have been obtained in less time. Mr. Chapman was anxious to show other places in various directions, but there was not time for their examination yesterday. It is stated that the gold-field extends for seven or eight miles at the least. He was unable to show his deeper discoveries, as the hole he had sunk was full of water. Every returned digger to whom I spoke expressed himself quite Satisfied that the gully was a real gold-field, } Several of them declared their intention of remaining to work it instead of returning to Mount Alexander. Of the entire number of persons on the ground, not one, as far &s I had the opportunity of ascertaining, went away with any other opinion than that a great and available goldfield had really been discovered.

Floods at Rg&s. — Perilous Position of a Mail Coach. — It" would be difficult to compute the loss of property caused by the overflowing of the Macquarie River. The beautiful estates belonging to Messrs. Kermode, Philip and Arthur Smith, in the neighbourhood of this

, river, were sadly bereft of all their substantial fences. Mr. Pariimore was washed quite out, as were several other families. The water rose at least six inches above the key stone of Ross bridge. The water was fast rising when the return coaches arrived on Sunday from Hobart Town, Mr. Page's coach gallantly dashed through it, and soon reached the opposite side ; but the mail which was immediately after, was not at all so fortunate,- . for having two young horses as leaders, it had not got far in, when, unfortunately a log that was drifting across the road at the time came ia contact with these spirited creatures ; they at once plunged off the road, notwithstanding the manly efforts of their coachman. You may guess the distress of the alarmed passengers, when by this fatal plunge they found themselves quite off the road, and in a strong current of water not less than "five or six feet deep. The coachman, after a wonderful struggle, so far succeeded as to get his horses once more on firm ground, and safe from under the coach. By the efforts of Dr. Macnamara the passengers were rescued, one of whom was a female. Every effort was made to extricate the coach from its resting-place, but all in vain. It was found on the following day, Monday, drifted full a quarter of a mile from the road, lying high and dry in Mr. Jackson's paddock. The horses, coachman, and passengers were hospitably 'entertained, by the Rev. Mr. Rowan, "Roman Catholic .Priest at Ross. — Hobart Town Courier. > *-