AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 767, 8 December 1852, Page 2

AUCKLAND.

The following extracts from the Auckland papers received by the Matilda give the latest accounts from the Northern Gold Field. " The Border Maid returned on Saturday, with His Excellency Lieutenant- Governor Wynyard, the Bishop of New Zealand, and the other gentlemen whose departure by that vessel was noticed in our last, with the exception of Mr. Blacket and Mr. Heaphy. who remained at Coromandel. No addition of much importance was made to the infor- ' mation which had already reached us. "Gold in small quantities continued to be found almost everywhere through the district where the surface was dug and washed ; but the actual productiveness of the field as a remunerative scene of labour __ still remained to be ascertained. " The Natives seemed thoroughly friendly, and desirous that the Europeans should continue to search for Gold ; and this being the case, it did not appear to his Excellency that there was any immediate occasion to make them a specific offer for the occupation of the land by gold-diggers. It would have been altogether useless to ask them to sell it ; and, we are told, it was their own wish that matters should go on as they were for the present, and ' that, if gold should be found in quantity, then terms might be arranged. — New Zealander, November 6. " The intelligence which we were enabled to communicate in our last number gave an encouraging representation of, the prospects of the gold-diggers, which subsequent accounts have more than confirmed. A report from Mr. Heaphy, of the Survey Department, has been received by his Excellency the Lieutenant-Go-veruor, which describes the success of the parties engaged in the field, especially of Mr. Coolahan's party as very promising. "A considerable number of nuggets had been found, one of which was said to be as large as the top of a finger. Mr. Burgess, the pilot, who has arrived from Coromandel, also corroborates the favourable intelligence ; and the expectation of a paying gold-field becomes stronger on each new arrival, although a full trial cannot be said even yet to have been made. Much of the working is not steady, systematic, or skilful. In a letter we have seen, it is said of some of the parties, " they looked about them, half- washed a dish or two, and finding no nuggets went away disgusted.' The endeavour to remove masses of rocks, which obstructed the diggers in many places is also very laborious to small parties. A writer on the spot observes, " It is dreadful hard work without mechanical aid ; we have to lift up rocks of two tons weight, and to bale out the water standing up to our knees in it; the weather is, however, more than usual^unfavourable." " The general conclusion from all we have " learned since Wednesday is, that the- grounds for anticipating that a really valuable Gold -

Field has been discovered, are more clear anreliable than before ; although further, investid gation will be necessary before the fact 1 can be considered established. Meanwhile we may mention that amongst the rumours which have reached town, one is that the Messrs. De Thierry have found good digging in a valley behind Te Mania, near the Frith of the Thames, and are working there with great success ;•— another is, that a specimen of gold discovered near Mercury Bay had been brought by a native to Captain" Drury of H.M. Schooner Pandora. ' ' — Ibid. N " Mr. Burgess, the pilot, reports most favourablyof the state and prospects\of the diggers. Mr. Burgess himself extracted gold, and witnessed Mr. Coolahan (who we rejoice to learn has been most fortunate in his researches) wash half an ounce on Wednesday evening, having obtained another ounce the day before. The earnings of Mr. Coolahan's party are stated to have amounted to sixteen shillings a day, and the most lively confidence is entertained that when pumps are employed to free the holes of water, that a much larger result will be achieved. The Californian diggers speak enthusiastically of the prospects opening upon them. They state that whilst at Coromandel gold is obtained from the surface soil, it is only to be had in California at a depth of several feet. Quartz boulders are likewise abundant, and all the indications of a rich gold field, in the opinion of these practical men, are discernible. " A report was brought in, previous to the departure of Mr. Burgess, that one of the Messrs. De Thierry, located on the Waiau Creek, had procured a nugget as large as a man's thumb. The actual discovery of an available gold field is scarcely a matter of further question." — Southern Crote, November 5. The Auckland Gold Field. — The discovery of gold as an actual natural deposit in the soil of New Ulster having now been established beyond the possibility of question — however the quantities in which it can be procured may still remain to be determined by fuller exploration — and numbers either having proceeded or intending to proceed to the diggings, the Government have judged that the time has arrived for such an official notification of th& fact, and for the 'promulgation of such preliminary arrangements, as may tend to the security of the various interests involved in the matter, and may prepare the way for such further regulations as will be promotive of the public advantage without injustice or injury to the Native owners of the soil in which the gold has been found. Accordingly the following Proclamation was issued in the Government Gazette of Wednesday :—: — By his Excellency Lieutenant- Colonel Robert Henry Wynyard, Companion of the most Honourable Order of the Bath, Lieuten-ant-Governor of the Province of New Ulster, &c, &c, &c. Whereas information has been received by the Government that Gold in its natural place of deposit has been discovered in the district of Auckland, in the Province of -New Ulster, on land in the possession of her Majesty's Native subjects : and whereas it is expedient that the said Gold Field should be made available to all classes of her Majesty's subjects, and to that end, as. well as to the peaceable and productive working of the same, that the management of the said Gold Field — saving the interests therein of the owners of the soil — should be undertaken by her Majesty's Colonial Government :—: — Now, I, the Lieutenant- Governor of the Province of New Ulster, do hereby proclaim and declare that measures are now being taken with a view to that object, and that, as soon as the necessary arrangements shall be completed, Licenses to work the said Gold Field will be granted by the Government on payment of a reasonable fee. And whereas her Majesty has been graciously pleased to place at jthe disposal of the Colonial Legislature the profits of any Gold Field which may be discovered in New Zealand, — Now, for the protection of the interests of. the Public therein, I hereby further proclaim and declare that all Goldmetal or Ore containing Gold, procured without such License as aforesaid, will be liable to be seized, in whose possession soever it may be found ; and that all , persons who shall take from any land within the Province any such Gold- metal, or Ore containing Gold, without being duly licensed in that behalf, will be prosecuted according to law. And I hereby call upon the Inhabitants of the Province to be aiding and assisting herein. Given under my hand, and issued under the Public Seal of the Province of New Ulster, this tenth day of November, in the Year - of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty- two. K. H. Wynyard. Lieutenant-Governor. By bis Excellency's command, Andrew Sinclair, Colonial Secretary. God Save the Queen ! This Proclamation was followed in the Gazette by the following Notice :—: — His. Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor directs it to be notified that permission to dig and search for Gold, until Licenses shall be duly issued, in that behalf, will be granted to persons who may apply for the same at this Office. By his Excellency's command, Andrew Sinclair, Colonial Secretary. Thus, pending the establishment of the necessary arrangements with the natives, and pending also the fuller investigation of the gold-field, parties desiring to dig can do so legally and with the sanction of the Government, by merely applying at the Colonial Secretary's office for a "permission" which will be given without charge. ' It is granted in the following form :— " Colonial Secretary's Office, $ "-Auckland. . " The Bearer, * of is hereby authorized to dig and search for Gold in the district of Coromandel, on land, public or private, with the permission of the owner of

the soil, until Licenses be duly issued in that behalf. "By the authority of his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, " Colonial Secretary." Thus the two-fold object may be attained of permitting such an exploration of the country to go forward as will afford ample facilities for developing its mineral resources, and at the same time maintaining a check which may be employed to prevent such indiscriminate explorations as might, .under present circumstances, involve the possibility of serious differences with the Natives. We understand that His Excellency the Lieut. -Governor purposes going on Monday next to Coromandel, with a view of meeting the Native Chiefs, and, if possible, completing such arrangements as it may be desirable to negotiate with them. The Bishop of New Zealand and Chief Justice Mai tin will accompany, or immediately follow his Excellency, — both having, we are informed, * been urgently requested by the Native Chiefs to visit them on this occasion. The Surveyor- General has for more than a week past been. in the Gold district. We have received the following letter from Mr. Heaphy, of the Survey Department. The hints which it gives are worth the attention of ! intending diggers :—: — " Coromandel Diggings, sth Nov., 1852. " Mr. Editor, — The want of proper equipments has caused many industrious parties to leave this gold field without having met with such success as they were prepared to find, or to make such a report as would induce other hard-working persons to follow them. The result of what Messrs. • Ring and Coolahan have done, has however induced a reflux of diggers, but they came almost as poorly equipped as Jhe the first parties. " The principal implement for straining the earthy — the Long Tom — seems unknown to them, and they bring cradles which are unnecessarily expensive and require an additional hand to work them. Large rocks have to be moved out of the bed of the stream, but no one ever thinks of bringing a crow-bar or rope. » "I would recommend every party to be provided with a " Long Tom," ,or with the materials for making one. It is not so expensive as a cradle, and may be carried in parts, and nailed together when the "bar" is selected. It economises the labour of one man in a party of four, and sifts the earth thoroughly. Long crow-bars, or iron-shod handspikes, are indispensable, as also a prospecting dish with bulging rim outside, and buckets or pumps for clearing out the water. Tents are unnecessary; a hut can' be built in an hour — shovels, spades, and picks, of course every one will bring. The short mining pick is the best. ! "With an equipment such as this, and a determination to work well, any four men may do what Mr. Coolahan's party has done — wash ■§• oz. per day, and wait at that until they get down to the nuggets. — Yours, &c, " Charles Heaphy." We commend to attention also the following recommendations which proceed from a very competent observer at the diggings :—: — " Companies of not less than four, should provide themselves with a large long torn, crowbar, picks, and shovels, also a double block and tackle for lifting the large boulders out of their' berths. '* The best way would be to have a large company of twenty, with flve long toras, as they could then divert any parj: of the stream."