VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. [From the Correspondent of the S. M. Herald, April 7.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 811, 11 May 1853, Page 3

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. [From the Correspondent of the S. M. Herald, April 7.]

Launceston, Thursday, March 24th. —In a recent letter I mentioned the formation of a Company here for the purpose of working a seam of coal which had been discovered near th<! mouth of the River Mersey. It may be interesting to most of your readers, and especially to those connected with the Newcastle coal trade, to know further particulars relative thereto, which I am now enabled to furnish. This is not the first discovery of the existence of coal which has been made in Van Diemen's Land. We have long had supplies of coal from the Government mines at Port Arthur; and a seam on the Douglass River has been worked for some time by a company of gentlemen resident in Hobart Town. Hitherto, however, the inferiority of the Ta3manian coal brought into the market, and the shortness of the supplies, has rendered us dependent upon Newcastle for the coustf. it *up

ply of this necessary article- A few days ago there were no less than five large vessels in this harbour, discharging coals from Sydney, viz., the Hulcyon, William, Giroffe, Gratitude, and Fanny. The steamers coaling here, however, keep up the price of the article, which now realises upwards of £5 the ton, with the probability as winter advances of a still further increase of price. It is asserted by the sanguine supporters of the new scheme, aud I believe with some degree of truth, that in the course of a few months Port Frederick will enter into active competition with Newcastle, and that the Lnunceston Company will be enabled to send an article into the market better adapted for " steaming " and for domestic purposes, and at a lower rate. Report speaks well as to its quality* and of its abundance there can be doubt whatever. Blacksmiths, the best judges on such matters, pronounce it " first-rate." One, indeed, in my hearing, went so far as to say it was greatly preferable to charcoal, in cases in which great heat was requisite. Families who have used small quantities of it for domestic purposes, also give a favourable judgment. But, perhaps the best'evidence that can be adduced upon the subject is the following, which I obtained yesterday from the lips of Mr. Latham, engineer of the Clarence steamship. He told me that on her last trip she was supplied with j 1 four tons of the Mersey coal, with which she steamed down to George Town, having still a quantity upon her decks. Upon his arrival at the heads, the steam was quickly got up, and though the vessel was much lower iv the water than usual, she effected the distance within the average time. Mr. Latham declares it to be the best coal he ever steamed with. He had his furnace doors open all the time he was burning the Mersey coal, which he could not have done with another colonial coal. Altoi gether he much prefers the new coal to that hitherto supplied to the steamers from New | South Wales. j If this statement be substantially correct, of which I have no reasonable doubt, it at once establishes the value of the discovery. Its local j circumstances will affect the rest. The works of the Company are elevated about four miles from the place of shipment, to which a tramroad will be constructed, on an inclined plane, the loaded descending waggons drawing up the empty ascending ones. The mouth of the Mersey is only 25 miles from the Tamar Heads, and Port Frederick is the nearest shipping port to Victoria, with which it already carries on a considerable trade in timber. Mersey shares are at a premium, and the land in the neighbourhood has risen in value. ! The papers are altogether barren of news, ' One of the men charged with the extensive gold robbery lately committed in this town, has been convicted, and Mr. River has recovered a considerable portion of his missing property. It is rumoured in town that coal has been found on the banks of the Tamar, a few miles from this place. Some quartz, sent home by Mr. Gibson, manager of the Van Diemen's Land Company's Estate, Circular Head, was found to contain sufficient gold to pay for the working, and he has been ordered by the directors to forward more for further experiments.