A TRIP TO THE PALMER DIGGINGS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4368, 20 March 1875, Page 1 (Supplement)

A TRIP TO THE PALMER DIGGINGS.

(From the Otago Guardian.) No. I. We have been kindly favored, by Mr. J. C. Brown, M.H.K., -with a full and very interesting account of his trip to the Palmer diggings and back, the first portion of which we now publish, and which will no doubt be read with great interest. I arrived, says Mr. Brown, at Sydney in the early part of Lecember last, on my way to those much-talked-of, but not always easily reached, diggings. Between Sydney and Cooktown, which to the Palmer is something like ivhat Port Chalmers is to Otago, there are six or seven steamers running, each of which call at the different intervening ports ; that on board which I ultimately found myself, the Victoria, 1500 tons, being the largest. The principal boats engaged on this line belong to the Australian Steam Navigation Company, and matters are invariably so arranged that the company is able to monopolise nearly the whole of the trade. Sometimes one of the company's steamers starts from Sydney a day before, and another a day after that despatched by another firm ; but, should none of the opposition boats be ready to proceed to Cooktown when the eager digger arrives at Sydney, he may have to wait a month, and perhaps longer, before he finds himself being bome rapidly away to the Palmer. A passage in either of the vessels not owned by the company, viz., the Lord Ashley, the Western, or the Blackbird, is about 25 per cent, less than one in the A.S.N. Company's boats, and the accommodation in all the boats is quite equal to that of any of those running along the coast of Australia or New Zealand. . At all the

INTERVENING POBTS a very large trade is now done, the principal trade, however, being done with Sydney, where passengers and freight are booked through to Cooktown. Large numbers of horses also are taken from Sydney to the Palmer, from 70 to 100 being carried away by the Victoria every trip. One of the principal towns on the line of route is Townsville, where a considerable portion of the cargo is discharged. Townsville is a thriving seaport town, rendered so by the trade done with the large mining centres in that part of Queensland. It is also a sort of temporary resting port to those who travel from the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Australian colonies. At Townsville a large number of miners usually leave the steamers on their way to the Etheridge and Charters Towers reefs, there being in this part of the country a large number of well-developed reefs, which give considerable returns of gold. On the journey from 3ydney to Cooktown the boats are never out of sight of land, and the numerous welltimbered and richly-grassed islands that appear one after another as the distance from port to port is lessened, make the trip a very picturesque and pleasant one. No Europeans as yet occupy any of these island, some of which are of large extent, perhaps forty to fifty miles long, and from ten to twenty miles wide. As the steamers pass along, THE NATIVES are frequently seen in great numbers on the shore. They generally come off in boats for a little distance towards the steamers, in the hope that tobacco or other articles will be thrown to them. As a rule they are shy and treacherous, and they are met with principally between Bowen and Cardwell, the latter place being the next port to Cooktown. When the Victoria arrived at Cooktown I saw a large number of the beche-de-mer vessels, schoonerbuilt, which are used principally as fishingboats, and at which place the fish are dried and prepared for consumption, principally for the Chinese. In this respect a very large export trade is done. Vessels of 500 and 600 tons can run alongside the wharf at Cooktown and discharge ; but the Victoria, as other large vessels are obliged to do, was accompanied from Townsville by a small steamer, the Bunyip, for the purpose of tendering her. With the exception of landing accommodation there is none ; for the storage of goods at Cooktown "there is no wharf accommodation whatever—the goods being simply landed—pitched on the wharf for consignees to take delivery ; and the goods often lie there exposed to the weather for two or three days before they are removed. COOKTOWN is situated at the mouth of the Endeavor Biver. There is only ono street which can really lay claim to be called a street. _ It is about a mile long, and houses, built chiefly of corrugated iron, line it on either side. At Cooktown, and all the other Queensland ports, the chief thing noticeable i 3 the manner, and particularly the material, iron, of which the houses are constructed, and therefore the heat, whether the anxious miner happens to be in sunshine or in shade, is most oppressive, and often unbearable. A very large business is done at Cooktown by storekeepers and others, the goods being obtained principally from Sydney and Brisbane. The trade of the port is done mostly by packers,|who make periodical visits to the various gold The hotel accommodation is of a very inferior description. At Cooktown, at the present time, there are about fifty hotels of all sizes, and in many of them visitors must provide their own bedding, &0., the bedding as a rulo consisting of a mere blanket; and very frequently the hotels are so crowded that a table, ft form, or even the bare floor forms the only sleeping accommodation which can bo obtainod. At one or two of the best hotels bedding is provided, but it consists only of a mattress, a pillow, and sheet. But it will be at onco understood that in so hot ft climate much bedding is not required, and proprietors of hotels have said that when additional bedding was furnished it was generally thrown on tho floor as useless. The site of the town is a very unhealthy one. The river, for instance, .which often overflows its banks, finds its way into

THE MANGROVE SWAMPS, and leaves deposits that, while exposed to the -sun's influence, emit a very unpleasant odor which engenders disease. Indeed, what perhaps is most noticeable at Cooktown, directly a stranger lands, is the very sallow complexion of the inhabitants, many of whom seem to have long ago lost all flesh. They are mere frames of humanity, with the skin literally hanging on the protruding bones. The majority are men who have made desperate efforts, but have failed to reach the diggings ; or who, having gone a few miles, have been compelled to return, and are waiting to proceed south. In the way of drinks the inhabitants! have little choice, and there is almost, if not quite, as much danger in drinking water asi in the consumption of spirits, because the water chiefly used for domestic purposes is that procured by digging only a very short distance into the sand, through which the water from the swamp, as well as the drainings from town, percolates. So that the danger of engendering disease by drinking water is quite as great as by the too great indulgence in spirits. The English bottled ale is decidedly the safest drink, as persons who have drunk little or nothing else hare escaped disease, and not, in fact, been affected in any way. Aud the heat at Cooktown is so great that people cannot help drinking something, the heat, no doubt, being more intense than in the interior, caused by the sandy character of the soil, which throws up an unwholesome vapor that has a depressing effect on the strongest constitution, deadens the mental faculties, and frequently produces low fever. People so affected have a vacant, idiotic stare ; they soon become indifferent to everything, not caring whether they live or die. Another very noticeable feature of Cooktown is the

NUMEROUS GRAVES there, not in any particular place, but in many ; in almost every vacant spot, in fact, on which the eye rests. So frequent, indeed, are the deaths that the authorities do not much trouble themselves to take the bodies any distance, but to the nearest available locality, and without leaving any indications to who they were, or from what place they came. All that marks the last resting-place of the adventurous at Cooktown are two sticks, which are placed one at each end of the graves. The same thing is seen ON THE ROAD TO THE PALMER. Graves line the road on either side in many places, but no tribute of affection or respect surmounts the lonely mound of the wanderer. No flowery offerings on his grave are laid, The graceful tribute of a wife or maid ; No stone erected to mark the spot— Like dog interred, and just as soon forgot. Many have sickened and died, and many more, no doubt, will sicken and die when the Palmer —their long-looked-for destination —is only within a few days' walk. Usually, miners start from Cooktown in twos and threes ; and it frequently occurs that, after a party has left the town a few hours, one of them is seen returning to ask the authorities to send a cart and coffin along the road, in which to put the comrade who, perhaps, only the day previous was as hopeful and as active as the stoutest and strongest of the miners at the Palmer. It also frequently happens that others, before they have proceeded far on the journey, fall helplessly sick by the roadside, and have to await the arrival of some rude conveyance to take them to the hospital, where they often linger only to die, and are then buried without ceremony, without Funeral rite or holy service read, But thrust in haste among the kindred dead. Indeed it is under-estimating the number to say that one-half of those who leave Cooktown for the mines fall sick on the road, or fail to escape fever, and fully half that number die. And now as regards THE GOLD-FIELDS POPULATION. There were about 10,000 of a floating population. Some were located in the different workings, but very few at the old ones, the original Palmer workings being long since exhausted, and they are now consequently used as a .sort of store depot, i.e., the Upper and Lower Palmer. There is a good deal of prospecting going on, and occasionally there are some very good finds. About one-fifth of the miners are doing very well, getting good returns. Another fifth are making fair wages, but the balance are doing nothing, or next to nothing. The majority are moving from place to place in the hoping of coming upon something good. The workings up to the present time are of a very shallow character, and the gold consequently is easily obtained. The ground consists principally of about a foot of gravel in the centre of a bed of rock-bound dry gullies, and all that is necessary to do is to move the large boulders which act in connection with the gully something like ripples do to a sluicebox, in detaining the auriferous drift, the whole of which is carried a distance of two to four miles for the purpose of being panned-off. A great deal of the stuff is sometimes carried to a considerable elevation and there stacked until the wet weather sets in, when the miners are enabled to wash-up with greater facility, than otherwise they would be able to do ; and the wash-dirt is of that light, flimsy character that, when taken in the hand and dry-blown, the result, or the gold left in the hand, when separated from the lighter substance, indicates tfie payable character of the dirt. The payable ground also, in the gullies, is confined in most instances, to a run of from Ift. to 2ft. wide. The gold is of good value, being worth at Cooktown over £i an ounce, and it is generally of a very heavy, coarse, nuggety description, some of the pieces got weighing between lOoz. and 30oz. There were a large number of FRESH DISCOVERIES near the head waters of the Daintree that attracted a good deal of attention, but except in a few claims, very little gold was obtained. The prospectors —three men—after working for two or three months in the best ground, obtained something like 120ozs. each. That is about the nearest point to Cooktown where gold has yet been discovered, and which place is distant from Cooktown about sixty miles. From many of the reefs discovered, iv good deal of stone showing gold has been obtained. But there has not been much prospecting, tho prospectors preferring to await the arrival of machinery before going on with any extensive work. There are reasons to believe, ho we ver, that this will be a very good reefing country ; recollecting, too, that the Etheridge, Charters Towers, and others have been established as such. Indeed, it is generally thought that the reefs will be the mainstay of the place. There being NO ESCORT, the gold is usually brought down by private hands, by packers and others, and sold to the banks, and the only way in which anything reliable can be ascertained as to the sictual yields is from the ships' returns. It will at once be supposed from this statement that no duty is charged, and that is a facl;—the Queensland Government being anxious ..-atlier to foster and promote the interests of_ the place and people by rendering all the iiid in their power to successfully establish tins recently much-talked of mining district. Indeed the Government have long-since taken the duty off the gold. Consequently, as wns before remarked, the only way of ascertaining the total yields is by the returns published by the steamers, the Government having rendered it compulsory on all shippers oi gold to declare the amount of gold that has been exported from any port, and, on the whole, there is not very much gold taken awivy by the steamers. Frequently, in fact, they leave without taking any gold, and should ore of them take away 8000ozs. or 9000ozs. it is considered that it has left with a very large parcel, and a great deal is made of tho fact. It is thought to be only a fair calculation to say that about 400Czs. per week are (aken away. Indeed, that is considered a very high average of the sold and exported gold. Most of the miners who have been on the goldields from the time of their discovery seldom stay there during the very hot season. The;/ invariably leave about October and roturn about February or March, and thus avoid the most critical period of the year. The risk which the minor ram when sick, from '.he WANT OF PROPER MEDICAL ATTENDANCE, is vory great. If a digger at tho Palmes', for instance, is sick, and ultimately considers it

necessary to procure medical aid, he goes to a doctor (and at one time there was only one member of the faculty at the Palmer) and says, "I want to place myself under your care." "How much gold have you got'!" asks the doctor. The unfortunate digger tells him, and generally places it all in his possession to ensure its safety. The doctor keeps him alive as long as he can. Ultimately, perhaps, the poor fellow dies. When his mate or mates come to inquire after lrim, lie or they are told perhaps that their late comrade has been dead two or three weeks. "What became of the gold?" asks one of them. The doctor, in reply, produces his bill, and shows that the balance, after defraying medical expenses, the legator left to him—the miner, perhaps, at the time he bequeathed his all, being willing to sign anything, and knowing nothing. "But," said the mate of one departed miner, "he had three horses; what became of them 1" "One he gave to me," said the doctor; "another he bequeathed to the cook,' and another to the man who attended him." Tents are erected around the doctor's quarters, and men are appointed to look after the sick ; but, unless the sick man has money, he can very rarely, if at all, get food, attendance, or anything else. It will, therefore, be seen that, supposing a miner succeeds in getting gold, there is very great doubt whether he will be able to retain it, because there is great risk of sickness, and also of his being plundered. The miner is looked upon at the Palmer, as well as in many other places, as fair game.

THE CHINESE DOCTORS enjoy a large practice at the Palmer, as well aB at Cooktown. Then there are men there who profess to be able to give relief in most cases, but do not profess to be members of the legally qualified, and yet they do a thriving trade ; and, in fact, anyone who feels so inclined may start on his own account in the same way, and probably do as well as those who have preceded him. The district presents indications of being a GOOD GOLD-BEARING COUNTRY. There are long, or what are known as backbone, ranges, and the'gold-bearing character of the country is likely to extend west towards the Gulf of Carpentaria about 300 miles, and in u southerly direction down to the Etheridge about 600 miles. The great portion of the country is more or less auriferous. The interior of Queensland is well dotted with mines where large finds have been obtained, such as the Cape and Gilbert Rivers, the Gympie, and other extensive gold-fields, which are now supporting considerable populations. No doubt, for a long time to come, the Palmer will present many great attractions to a mining population, but the chance of obtaining gold is more than counterbalanced by the much-dreaded, because highly dangerous, climatic influences which seldom fail to produce serious sickness, and often result in death. Alluvial discoveries there have not been proved to be, nor are they likely to be, as permanent as those of New Zealand, and it would be sheer folly to go to the Palmer simply on the faith of the mere short announcements, generally more or less unreliable, which are made concerning the Palmer diggings from time to time.