KIMBERLEY GOLDFIELD.

Pahiatua Star and Eketahuna Advertiser, Volume 1, Issue 1, 11 June 1886, Page 4

KIMBERLEY GOLDFIELD.

Mr CntnplK.ll. of Auckland, wfio has insl returned from llie Kimberley, hating let! t.'ierc on sth Mu.v, lias been inter, viewed by a Star rejiortrr. Ho given tho following particulars regarding • ,

j IIKEIIV ** ( liui> lei I iu Kings Sound mi nliirh 1 lierhyts built on 7th April. The landing is very bird. The tele has a lisp mil fall of .'gift, and the adjacent water being very shallow, the tide recedes nearly three unle.?. At lew water there is a lagoon of deep water within half a mile of the jetty, iuiit ills customary £>r vessels to lie here, giunt- And passengers being landed by ligluero at - jetty erected by the Government uf Wc-tos ,\ustrn:it. The majority ol stesimers ruo.-«^ : ’ io •Kvby belong to (be Adelaide riteaiu NaviguTion They call at Derby once l iHHiIJi, The site of Derby is dead love?I /herein not an eminence to be seen inykhvir. As far ns the eye can see them itre satuly g-e/l-gras.-ed plains, which, I belie, e. would fodder for lior.rz all the year round. /K>rby i- tlneo iiiik’r from live Liadiugplare. There is no road, hut a temporal -, tram wav had been laid >)««( the mini Hat whicli evieiul- from (lie Iwaeh (’■ nilhin a mil* ami a half of the towit The tunnslup was laid out anar years ago. but ->f course there were no in'habitants until -itiito r.Voilly. At tho lime ofni.v > i-it a emisisttsl «f two - lnuel-, ' the ih-n(cnt Aingisir.vte's a fen lints with tCuiched tool-, sod s,am.uhuri> lent*-. Their* were about 100 reahkaw. including W Jigger-. These, men |ia,< eoine to Iteiby rillmiit anoney, and they were tryiug to tain -nilicietit or toedmaking t>. snpjdy *l»-m with •■•cans «.f locoiiiolioo to llir gold!i,-l<t». Horses to carry provisions, Jte.. an* tities. Thu Uorrmuant olKccrs are tleo magistrates, -who' is also doctor, tut ) two or three |i.i!iv"tnciv

ruv- cuuvrv: is likmoac.isi.T i«to». Up to llw tiim-ofiny visit there had not been a -ingle ease of fever and ague. The wi Mtber, thmighTr wg* a» Into a? April, was very too*. From May t«Beptember tlw v cuD.tr i- coo] anddeiighflul, and tba llie* xr.d m»s|iu(os, wl,icb are alway? very had during tba smumer, al-. most iliu]i)KK, but the ants aiy-iy terrible pCEU Jjiaw . ««iT inu* SI) high, and eld miileiitr spy that it is shno.-l iiiipre-»ibla »•> s»,e.anything from (lieu, A few ?nak«- lia\« been seen iMlr. the n-wnchip, hot IU ».trielies sre Ikll»ml tn be t-(\rmle—. «ml iNnie id the pintKershav; b-n Uttm

14VIX1- Is (IV -K.i l.'K ult.V ,IIKIV, tfic.luurl- «rlv f barging S-V, a wt'l, for board and U-V.au. Tliu f-.-zd ..uii-!>v4 «i

thesis eefabiiiilnuenta cmiiprised potted meat and tc i. biesid, No fro-sli meat, f saw no New /.e-ilnud brands • t meat. There is a g.md «toce on (ho beaeh, owe and a half miles from the township, »t -which everyllting can W> jmreleiseil lroni it jicedlo to an anchor mid price* are all very reasmiahl,.. Flour per tiOlb bag was 10s, rice :J.stl jicr lb, giKid tea 2s 3d per lb, *nger Ihl per lb, bacon Is Ctl per lb, pound meat Is ltd per lb or by the casts Is. Othct goods were equally cheap. The owners of the store draw their supplies from Singapore, not from Perth. Seeing that things can be purchased so cheap, I would not advise diggers to take provisions with them.

THU Ulir.AT want Is UOItSES ami park-saddles, and those they certainly should take. The lowest price for the worst class of horse hack* that would not biis g more than L‘> in Auckland, is £23, au-1 a shipment of horses would pay well. I do not think that Derby will be the permanent entrepot of the district.-

C'.VMBlttDOr. ofLV, ... . which is 50 miles further north is 100 miles nearer the goldfield, and posseses a good landing' which cannot be obtained anywhere near Derby. There is a'so g-xid drinking water near Cambridge, . which is not the cave in Derby. Tho water in Derby is obtained from wells, bat is very brackish. The lhtzroy river, which runs near the township, is merely a winter watercourse, anil docs not ran in summer, though there are pouls in it* bed all tho year round. - I did' not go to tho goldfield, for personal reasons, but 1 have not the.slightest doubt V - THK FIELD IS A «00)» ONNITNE ON>:. Miners who have been up at the goldfields and had gold wore rather reticinnt as to hxgdities, anil when they went out again they sneaked off as if fur fear of icing followed. Diggers told me that the road is u good one, and that you could get a dray nearly to the field without cutting a sapling. There is plenty of water all the year round in the watcrholes in the rivor, and there is also good feed for horses and cattle. All parties carry arms, not lor protection from blacks, who are too frightened of tho whites to be dangerous, but for the purpose of eking out their provender with game—ducks, turkey*, and kangaroos being very plentiful. I intend to return to Kimberley about next March.

A corrcsiioiidcnt from Derby says;— Intending diggers should land with at lean A'lOO, to enable lliera to get an out fit for a three or four months’ trip. One bullock team is just ready to start. Cartage is ATSO per ton. The digger* are very ictie-ient. All of them seem to have money. One firm has exported OGOozs of gold, the price given being L 3 10s per oz. The gold was n good sample. Eighty diggers went by tho Memnuir, 00 of them being without menus or transport to reach the goldfields.

Conflicting accounts are current of the prospects of tho I'u-M, •* A Sunny Corner " (New .South Wales) publishes a private lettpr from the h -M, in which the writer says Thu goldfields arc in tho tropics, and the. rush is concocted by- a tut ot Queensland mine seniors tor speril lation. I think the whole thing a fraud from beginning to end. Nothing is*being produced in tho country except a few cattle in «tie Kimberley district 1 ivave •been nil over the United States, end over Mexico, and up to Alaska, but 1 have never in ,ny hfe seen sut-h a land ns this Wcsietii Ausiiaiia liiiniliug." On tiie other h ind. Mr B.llooni-y.whouitliime or tv» cutler- left Mudgeo «-n V fin Kimbetk-y i-.iy.i the Mmlgee Lnlepcndent■. U-t'ore leaving Kt-itp.l that lie was confident thal the -venture was a good one. and said tliaf he had been shown a lotto- received from tli» ritsli by a person m Mudgcc, u-Jiicli stated that 'the writer in brother of the recipient) got BOOyz of goltlin II weeks. ‘ '

The Kimberley goldfields, about which *o nmrh has het-n luanl lately (says the Berth Inquirer), arc aiuutfed neariy 4(K> miles troiu the port of Derby, and are also very difficult of .-vvess.' None lint strong nul ivvll equipped parties can liojie ", stumount the ,hjficn!ties of the journey Ijctwcc-ii Derby ritnl the new Eldorado. \n impression is abroad that tho goldfields are smiutnLnpon tiie banks of tha < led Fiver, biit this is a mistake. Mr H.inlni.m iirst discnvi-ivd the •• colour "on on the bunks of that river, but the diggers who pineoixlrtl to t lie* place at once left it to follow up the indications found in other directions. About r>son/K of gold have licen itwcartlied, nearly the whole of which have Ih-cji tnken friiin the gromai 111 the iivigUboiuluvid of the Elvire. In no case, as vet known', have tiie prns|lectors -uiik more Ilian three feci below tho surface, tlic major |x>rtbui of the gold ohtr.nuNi having been found Hinong tho roots of the 'tussocks -of spinifux with which the district abound--. The whole country is very- lightly timbered.with aspecie* <*f stunted white-gntu which is practically nsetess exec]it a* firewood. The gold is very widely distributed, “colour ’’ being found wherever.tlurearth loss “ panned ont,” hut “ jHickets “ i-md tlifcso at a very snull kimti have as yet Ixv-n fouu-i KPlvjn rlie beds of Hie gullies. In all ptohal.tlii v kilo wealth of llto district will depend ttjsm (he quuyt/.rcyts with which it is Ho thickly j itci-eetcd. Several diggers lately *rnl Ikuhy from the eastern eolmiica, but Uj-z— « ,;,b)}g out that they had still 400 miles to u-s, -i ; H ->fore- rcaeliing the u* vet reallv undefined 'g<.«d.';-lils. they 5.,1,1 si! fhsu bchuigiiigs-and. d; ]K,ro*d in disgs«i. f.V- i. then- i-; gold in plenty m tlje dirtrtcfc u ,is ;.;iii. l-nt it will take uiUeh capital •- (C.;,rt.(K - l»n‘ and fully devclcp the ourusioti* n-eua-ro ,i» the conntry. l’-Kir lie'll had le.-iler lie,.], «s-iy from Pcth). ,ir thev cvill anivo thei,- only to la-come hardens mxui a snull und <trugtouimmiHv.

tlo-« sm—.mil ‘poialetu of tl.r Per ti D uly \cw» i-.ii-.Wr .J.-;*!-5th alls! rejs-n----•b-it the «e-o*ior A’.i.v,,,. fr.>m JVrbv lironght the tdlownvg u,-w« rv>]«-es»ng flit Kimlierlrj .goldfieldsA man bn> arris L-d at Derby having in his possession h(J‘iz» vl g«ti?, Up fltc dote til (lie -Alhauy Kavimf Iterhy, WKkuui Jiml been brought in- At famUMgo Gulf com plaints arc rile- ouiug. ts, iW want nf xtuiva fox the digger*. The Albany bad on fasaril J-2Qaz.vefgolafrum.thi KimVcr-l-fv iligginjpss Large* numbers af..prof4« .e.i!itijt»o.to'ii»Tn«-sst lHa-by from all irirt.s. Tre »korokftt]ti>r!* and capitalists tltcre.Kw sjilhnilid• |tn>*i<.'-: 9, -Jt it U-lievosl large qiwntitiee of gold from tl|o hiitjkericy !mv* byeo ehutua-d by tfniH ditwttt Fr-«n llie tnsfcvn tiil.uitt.-s tuikiWWU |» the nnllyrritteii. up io date (t .(k Iciiti. meie.l ihdt npiV.irds of IUOUozI ll*( Wen sreotrod, nml tV.uu pre.-se-i.it ap)icuranee* there is evs-ry probability of til* digging* ]semng rive ii-c-st over diseovend in Au*. tval.ls;*. iu. Ihli.V land lias cvvn.qdcrubty iyercatsd in value, and ahe.-.dy a nuiUbcr •li louil bluvhz hill LtiUiigtiJ U-.lltlf.