AUSTRALIAN EXTRACTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 113, 27 March 1862, Page 6

AUSTRALIAN EXTRACTS.

PuoFtrs of Gold 'Digging,—Tc lias often been •stated that the average profits of gold diggers are smaller than they would earn by any other pursuit, an 1 we have heard of a fact, which strongly corroborates the assertion. About two years ago, Mr. Locke purchased a portion of Taylor's paddock, at Guildford, and subsequently sold the privilege of mining over ten acres of it, to the Chinese, for £ 1000 or .£llOO. The time allowed to complete the work was two.years— most of which, has now elapsed. The Chinese contractors sublet portions of the area to their countrymen; tili'there were nearly 300 miners at work On the ground. It has been computed from reliable data, that at the expiration of the lease, those. engaged on it will have extracted fully £20,000 from the soil. At the first blush it would appear that, the Celestials have been handsomely rewarded for their toil, but a slight calculation will show that their average gains cannot have much exceeded 15s per week. A consideration of this circumstance will at once explain the failure of nearly every European mining company that has been formed. Supposing the proprietor of the area above referred to, on finding a rich deposit or two, had incontently jumped to tlia conclusion that his fortune was made, and.resolved, after erecting expensive machinery,, to mine on his own account ; with wages at £2, or even 30s per week, lie would have been like a man endeavouring to fill a ca>k with a sieve, and if he had not soon tired of his experiment, he would have discovered, perhaps when too late, that he had been ruined by the possession of a gold mine. In most instances where the particles of metal are distributed over a wide extent, it is evident that the cost of collecting.the gold will more than exceed its value.— M. A. Mail, 7th March.

Extensive Bush. Firm at tiir Big .Hilt.,.—j On Wednesday night a very large bush tire broke out below the granite cutting at the Big Hill, which spread so rapidly that the owners of some of the1 tents-close by were in great danger of having 'fcheir.'frail tenements destr >yed. Fortunately, .the jw'ihd'• ■'Veered round, to the eastward, in the, contrary' direetionj and saved them. The immense hody of flames illuminated the horizon for miles ronnd.— Beiidigo Advertiser, March 8.

Casting Bread otox ihg Watbrs.—About two or three years ago, there was'a certain shepr. herd who lived in a small hut on a sandhiirsitu-' uted on a vuu'fronting the Billabong Creek., The hut in which the shepherd resided was contiguous to a fenced-in plot of land, called, by way of dis-. tinctioh, a "cultivation paddock." At the home station, about two miles distant, a present was received one day.of a very iine water-melon, and as the old shepherd was rather a subject for pity, in consequence of his lonely habitat, a large slice was sent to him—"just by way of a treat," as they said. " Gentle shepherd," of course, " cottoned " to the melon with considerable gusto, and, walking over the cultivation paddock in the enjoyment of the treat, many seeds were dropped about "promiscuously," A crop or two of. corn have since been reaped from the enclosed land, and no more was thought of the melon; but the other day the fortunate proprietor of the paddock in question—which for some lime had been deserted —found the whole ground covered with splendid melons. The fruit was not small, or sparingly scattered, but in great-abundance, of large size, and in flavour delicious. It is no exaggeration to say-that a cart load of melons, averaging 10lb. to 151b. weight, might now be .taken from the paddock without being missed'- Thus, the bread which was case upon the waters in the shape of a slice of melon bestowed on a thirsty old shepherd, has retu-ned after many days a crop of fruit such as is not often seeu in the colony. —Pastoral Times, 7th March.

Woman's Dbfbjjce.—A lady, whose name we (Bmtdiyo AdcertUer) do not wish to publish, was required as a witness in one of the cases at the present sessions of the county court, and she was invited by a complimentary notice to attend. She would do nothing of the sort. At last comes a subpoena tram the court, with the seal proper and sign manual of His Honor Judge Skinner, to whom she sent a polite response, that she would attend "on the condition that he sent some one to mind the baby."

IIRPORTED MultBER OF M'KINtAY'S V.V.UTY. —The following loiter received by the Government from Mount Serle on Thursday last has been obligingly placed at our disposal for publication :—Police- Station, Mount Serle, Feb. 20, 1862.—Sir.—Police-trooper Besley having just returned from the northern patrol, I have the honor to lay before you the following information, received by him from Edward Good, stock keeper at I'ctemara, one of Mr. Jacob's stations —viz., that he had seen two Hill natives, named Owardina Billy and Pompey, who told him they were on the. plains in the direction of Lake Hops, and had seen some of the natives of that place, who told them that the Saltwater blacks had killed Mr. M'Kinlay and party, and had eaten all the sheep and bullocks. The Euro Mantous, they said, ran away—-meaning the camels. Police Trooper Besley states that he made it his business to see the native who returned from Mr. ■ M'Kinlay's party about five weeks since, also a number of Lake Hope blacks at Tooncaehin (an out-station of John Bakery, : Esq.) and made 'every} inquiry of them respecting Mr. M'Kinlay and party, but none of them appeared to know anything of the above rumor. Police-trooper /Besley made every endeavor to see the Hill blacks who gave.rise to the above report, but was unable to.doso.. ilt is my impression that the statement •of the two blacks, Pompey and Billy, is without foundation, and should have considered it unworthy your notice, but thinking it might reach Adelaide from other parties.—l have, &c. James WaI'CKOP, Corporal. To G. Hamilton, Esq., Chief Inspector of Police." It will'be seen that the writer of the letter discredits the story of the blacks as to the death of Mr. M'Kinlay and his party. And it is further discredited by Mr. iStuckey, who has just arrived in tow.i from Blanchewater, and with whom we have conversed on the subject. Mr. Sluekoy says that the native. Pompey, who gives the information of the murder, has not been further north than Mulligan, one of the out-stations, and that he is not at all trustworthy. He is one of the blanks implicated in the hut burning at one of Mr. Jacob's stations, three or four years ago. We.think there is no good ground for supposing that Mr. M'Kinlay and his party have met with the untimely fate stated to have overtaken them. They were well armed and provisioned, and thoroughly prepared for any such contingency as an encounter with the blacks.— Mount Alexander Mail, March S.

"Furious Dkivxku.—Wo understand that a man named Emery, long in the employment of Cobb and Co., has been discharged, owing to his having driven his team into Geelong at such a rate that two of the horses died on the following morning. The time in which be performed the journey was five hours and twenty minutes.— Dalluarat Tribune.

A Hint to whom it may Concurs.—The following is from the Melbourne eorrespoudeiu of 1 the Ballaurat Star :—The inquest after the : suicide of ex Alderman Hay ward only partially .brought to light the state of morality "which has ; been long known as a characteristic of our city councillors, and which even now is only partially . improved. The inquest disclosed the fact that ! three wives, at all events, were the victims or , executioners of Mr. Hayward ; but I have heard lit mentioned that there was at one time a seraglio of five wives bearing the name of the deceased alderman. No'morbid affectation of sorrow for the fall of such a "man should prevent us from condemning the. vices which contributed to hurry him to self destruction at so early an age, and it would have been more to the credit of tha Oddfellows if they had refrained from bringing such a funeral into more than necessary prominence, by attending the obsequies in plain clothes, if they liked, but not in the promineut insignia of their order. It would be more encouragement Ito join the Oddfellows and other kindred lodges lif it -were known that some distinction was made between a brother who led a notoriously bad life and one who led a verj' exemplary one. All the lodges of the kind in the colony are far1 too lax in this respect, and it is not too .much to say that the benefits of the Oddfellows, Freemasons, and other kindred societies, are oftentimes used only as the stepping stone to a good introduction into society by men whose character should exclude them from such a privilege.' I know of my own knowledge that more care in this respect is exercised in England than here, ', and the consequences are apparent in the in- \ creased influence and respect of the various ! lodges where snch rules arc carefully observed.

Thk Sjkhs.—-The 'Army and Navy Gazette regrets to learn there is a prospect of-trouble.'■with, the Sikhs, By the last mail fronv Bombay, we learn that three batteries of the .Royal Artillery, at Ki]rrachee, Neemuch, and Bombay, on the point of embarkation for .England,, were stopped Dy pressing telegrams from Bengal. The next news from this' quarter is expected with some anxiety,