THE GOLD FIELDS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 213, 26 August 1862, Page 5

THE GOLD FIELDS.

TUAPEICA. {mOii OUR OWN COr.RKJJ»OSt>£XT). August 22nd, 1862. Those whoje acquaintance with the* peculiar phases of digging life is hut limited, must have j wondered at the scenes occurring on this gold { field during the last two or three days. The ] miners vrere to be seen hurrying off on erery side, deserting claims that were paying from L 6 to LlO a-week, leaving valuable sluiee-hoxe3 to the first passer-by, and abandoning every article of porta- 1 ble property that was to> heavy to be made ap in ' tt swag. Here, on tiie site of some tent but newly removed, Rtood three stretchers of the late occupants untouched, and the fire still smouldering iv the sk! chimney, then you stumbled across windlasses, buckets ntid mining year, too weighty to be removed. Long files of diggers were to be seen toiiingup tuc steep asce'if? leading from W.-ther-stone's and Gabriel's, reminding one forcibly of a long string of auts. Nor we^; the storekeepers less migratory. The principal thoroughfares, especially at Wetherstom's, were blocked up by horse au>l bullock team*, all loa-lisg for the new ; d: ggiugs. The weil-known was to be seen pacing up aiitl dowu in front of his store, fuming because no one would take L7O a ton and transport his stock to the new El Dorado. Eventually some enterprising b -.Hock drivers consented to oblige him, by charging only LSS a ton for a di>!auce of about SO miles; and this cfler he with tliankfuincss aeeepkd. ' Disconsolate creditors were to be seen rushing madly for gmnmonscs to serve on doubtful , debtors ; but, alas ! when thi\y came to present them the birds had flown. Wethenstone's may be sail, so far as the diggers are concerned, to be almost deserted; and the Junction and Gabriel's are little better. Biscuits, formerly unsaleable, were <eiling at 2s. a pound; and, as the limited quantity was rapidly cleared out, disappointed diggers were heard to mutter that they suppose they would "get come at the first township they came to." The fever seems to have affected everyone, and it would not snrprise me to find this gold field for a time almost deserted. This will certainly b2 the case if the prognostications ot the• discoverers of the llirtk-y gold field turn out to be correct. Of course since the receipt of the news of this rich find there has been nothing doing, save the disc isslon of the probability of its being true. Even tnoie who do not intend to leave the field arc not at work, but may be found indulging in a parting glass with an old mate who is determined to b:? off. The route taken by those who are walking is by Gardner's, Miller's, and Captain i Baldwin's stations. The distance is computed to be about 70 mile*, and can be traveiled in three days. The leader of the prospecting party only took two days and a half in coming to this* place from the junction of the Manuherikia, with the Molyneux. Drayrf go by Waipori, past the Black Rock to Campbell Thompson's, thence onward by Mtirison's to Lot's and the diggings. This road is over 80 miles long, but is described as being passable for dray traffic. If goods could be transported by raeaus of the Molyneux as far *3 the mouth of the Tuapeka, there would bo no difficulty, I urn informed oy old settlers, in finding a good dray track to wit'.dn a few miles of the Manuhtrik'a. If this were done, there would be little difficulty in making a road over the remaining portions of the country lying between it and the diggings. Again, the miners will no doubt return to Gabriel's and Munroe's, and they could be supplied with goods much cheaper via the Molyneux, than by any other route. The v.eather during the last four days has been very pleasant, and even warm. Bush fires still continue to burn in the vicinity of the diggings,

A movement has been* commenced in Eas% Lancaslrire .to urge upon the Government the necessity , of at once repealing the remaining duties of 5 per | cent, oa cotton goods, aa«l 3| per cent on cotton * yarns imported from this district into British India, Q with the view to create an improved trade, and v thereby alleviate the vast distress and suffering now r tadurea by thousaudg of factory operatives.