NARRATIVE OF C U R R E N T E V E N T S FOR TRANSMISSION TO MELBOURNE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 229, 13 September 1862, Page 5

NARRATIVE OF CU R R E N T E V E N T S FOR TRANSMISSION TO MELBOURNE.

The low days that luive elapsed since bur hist Melbourne summary have not been marked by any events of startling" ■" interest. We cannot boast of -the discovery of a fresh Duhstan or Nokomai every week. Still there \nu been no deficiency of ■"excitement, for the interest in the new diggings has been kept nlivo by almost daily reports which, have come to ham! from various sources, official and otherwise.: The general tone of those reports has been very encouraging, us showing that a really good gold-Held is being opened up. The diggings now extend for fully twority miles along the river, but are still confined to the immediate--' banks, eve.-y'uudy, a,s a rule, preferring to work tUo known rich shingle and suud, rather that! prospect about in search of fresh ground. The population is roughly estimated at 3'JOO _nnd upwards, au;l the number of men arriving on the ground rather exceeds that of tho*e departing. Most of those who remain nre now at work, a tolcrab'.v suiiiulent suuuly of ■ provisions having been rcce'.ved, and tho eonsctiuenisa is that tie gnnnMir.g has alniost entirely ceased. With so small a population scattered along to great a longt]£of the river, it i*. exeewJingly tfiillcuU to arnvo jicany t-xact estimate of the earnings of tiie men, but it is a singular tiling that almost all the accounts thut liavo been received, sot down the average earnings of the men at work, at from 2Uj. to 30s. a day and upwards- Of individual eases of success, plenty are mentioned, but; we <io uot l'iy so much sirtss upuii ihe:;e us upon the general projects of the lidd. These would appear to be good, at least for the number at preset on the ground, but there n a:i im.nessw.i that there will not be room for many more -until sonic ground is opened up away I'roni the river, and it is confidently bclicvud that somerich places must exist in the -neighborhood. !>>«vj lar^e parlies arc telling oil two or thr-iu of their member* to t;-y the high ilUi. 15/ tha San accounts there was talk of a uy-.v rush bumcwherc lower down the river than the present 'i'^oii'o*- Wy hays already mentioned that as toe!; of provisions had reached tho digging and that the dread of famine was at an end. Still the pike of neceiiaries continues very high—flour Ms., sugar 2s. (id., tea ss. to Gs, candles oi, salt (">3. and brandy-" Is. a nobbier. .Sheep 50*. to (>o;j. each. 'Timber w.is in even greater demand tiuuTuoJ, it hdug almost an impossibility to get a pieco of timber to make anythinz. Gin cist* wero. selling for 20*. and ;j;?3. each, ami even more. Cra<llm were begmnmg to beeo'iK" t>lt*ntifal,Vaud the work vrn? going along merrily in consequence. There w:u a sufllcieney of scrub fur present une as firewood, but the quantity was limited, au<l it must soon be use 1 up. A goad seam'of lignite" had been discovered, and this, ■together' with the timber to ha 11 j.itCHt down from higher n\> thj river, was rdljl"upon fur futiire »m. There i.4 Home little; difficulty" at present for want of a magistrate, but the S:ib Inspector of l\»\ke hi c'lurgo, appears to be doing v«»*y well in the way of settling cibpuiei by arbitration.

With regard, to th? Xokoitiai or M>i Crock, iit> further partioiiiur^ hum yet ittx'ii received, if ••vc except wh-.it will be.found.in the Ifcttof of our JiivtTivtr»ill eurresponlenr, in another colunifi. .The O-imn<isiluP,er uf i\>iicy ha* been absent for ilie li.st Uw d;iy-», ■ Irivhig tiU*trk'tt for tho Xokonui, witti tha *loub!e . object of L'4t:it>Hs!|. the police there, and of. himsdf soviujj what *ort uf ro.i J thyro h tr.»:« Dii.tzitin.

A great in.'imy iisiuers hav«t boon lutcly, rctuniiug to the old dig/m^-j fruin the mw rush, and thore has been a ujjhHumuls! amouut of sijvbblin* over claims, but that wsi? to b* expected. Uis wcil for tiicm thitt they fiiid good etaims to st|uu'»blu' over, after tH^ir fully in rush-in;' away aiipropared to the DunsL-m'wlu»u they had been so earnestly-warnest not to go without nt least ;i Pjrtnight's provisions," " The attraction of the lJunitan iliggiu^^.lias drawn a'.vay large numbers of people from Canterbury and Soutlil:iu<l.