THE NEW RUSH

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 103, 19 October 1863, Page 3

THE NEW RUSH

TWENTY-FIVE MILES FROM DUNE DIN. ' A DECIDED FAILURE. (From the Special Reporter of the Baity Times, 14th October.) On Monday morning., $t ten o'clock, in one of Cobb r s -coacfte^., which had been confided to the care 'efjthat prince of whips — Shepherd — I left for the new.goldfield reported to have been discovered by Nichol an'l party, between the Fortification Rocks and the Taieii River. The road taken was that leading to the Dunstan, -which we kept as far as Simmers 1 Accommodation House, at the Lee Stre.im. The only bad spot 'upon the whole of this road was between Dunedifl and Caversham. Soon after leaving Lee Stream, we took the open plains which are occupied as sheep runs, and over which there is no road or track whatever. With the assistance of a shepherd, and aided by his own sagacity, which Is said to be remarkable in tracing out new or nnfrequented routes, our driver, after crossing several rather difficult gullies and dangerous creeks, succeeded in getting within two miles of the new rush before sundown. The ride across these mountain plains, through the runs of Mr Harris and Mr Boyd, was very rough, owing to the clumps of spear grass and snow grass, with which they are 'covered. On Tuesday morning, at dayi break, we were off again, and at lialf-past six we pulled up within a few yards of the ■prospect claim at the new rush. In the immediate vicinity of the claim there were fifty lerits, and many others were scattered round in tlie adjacent gullies. The arrival of the coach— ihe first, vehicle which had ever ventured so far in that direction, caused no little excitement. No one could understand how it was possible to convey a coach over so rug»ed a. country. Eager inquiries were made for provisions, and one or two asked for bread, saying they had eaten nothing' for twenty-four hours. Their wants" were speedily supplied, and a hag -of bread, brought from the Lee Stream, was readily bought up at 4s. per loaf, no one being allowed to have more than a single loaf. There were some five

hundred persons o~n the gronnd,~and parties were momentarily* arriving; while many appeared lo be packing up and preparing to leave for Dunediu..^ No work was beinjr done, which rather- surprised us, as, fi om the flattering report 7 published by the prospectors, we . expected;*' to" find the miners, even thus early,' actively employed in working their golden claims. Upon approaching the groups of di'ggeis collec'ed around the -prospect claim, we soon ascertained that they considered themselves duped by the" prospectors. It appeared that ,the persons. who left Dun,edin on Saturday night, arrived upon the ground on Monday morning, and went immediately to work'above and below the jVsi.sct .claim. Finding no payable gold they, took possession of the prospect Icjairr, and met with no better success there. At about seven o'clock, five or six of the prospectors set to work, and others set :Vn along the gully. The wash dirt was reached in most cases by the removal of one spit of black loam, and as there was an abundance of waten, the testing of the ground was not a very difficult matfe:> I numerous dishes tried, and ihe prospe t obtained was from a faint "color," or a few " floaters," to a grain and a half. In one instance only was (he prospect anything like payable. In the lower end of the prospect claim a dish gave a good ha'f pennyweight. 1 must 1 mention, however, that two or three re markably -good patches were obtained — at least so it was stated. The gully-, where i the best prospects were found, is only some six or eight feet wide, and a sed hi ing removed^ left a slate shingle intermixed with quartz, and only a few inches in depth. The wash dirt was composed of this shingle, resting on slate, and only about four inches in thickness. There was no drift, or rather rounded stones, indicating a rush of waters. I must s y that the impression on first view of the . r mnd was unfavorable. The country we travelled over, between the Lee Stream and the Kush— a distance of twenty miles — is undoubtedly auriferous. It 'is all — with the exception of a belt of tvappean origin, some nine miles this side of the Rush, a quaitziferous slate, lying nearly horizontal. In places where this rock is exposed, asm the '* Foitifications," it is found to consist of alternate layers of slate and quartz, the latter forming probably one third of th<? whole. The debris at the new rush in which gold is found -s the result of the disintegration of this rock, and in it the gold undoubtedly had its origin. The district of country to which I refer has been very little prospected ; but I believe that throughout it, and for miles beyond it, the color may be obtained in any of the gullies. In many of those gullies there are undoulted y very rich deposits, but time will be required for their complete exj loratior. In Frazer's Gully, five mill s beyond the new rush, some really good claims have been worked during tire last winter, a.d there is no reason what ver to doubt that equally good diggings may yet be discovered in the region referred to. I should mention that within the last day or two several gullies in the neighborhood of Nicol's have been tried, but no remarkable' finds have been reported. In reference : to the assertion of the prospectors ihat the, country is "full of made hills," I must state that they a.ie entirely mistaken. There are no made hills whatever in the neighborhood. There is not the slightest doubt but if ihere were made hills the diggings would be very x'ich. The greatest fault I find with the country is that na-uwl ] agencies have not been exerted lo a sufficient extent to effect a more complete j disintegration of the metamorphic sink-, and thus separate the gold from the rocks wilh which it is associated. lam inclined to believe that the prospectors are men of j very little experience as miners, and they probably had not sufficient intelligence to foresee the consequences of their discovery. I will not believe the rumor which is prevelent on the Rush, that tneir object in making so flattering a statement was to draw custom to a boat in which they are ssid to be interested on the Taieri. I remained three hours on the KusSv, during which time I was employed in making inquiries and seeing prospects washed in various parts of the gully. I can readily believe that the prospectors struck goed gold, but I am confident that it is very p-.tc' ey.andl know that the entire gully might be worked out in a few weeks by twenty men Certainly there may be very rich deposits in the neighborhood, but they have yet to be discovered. Had I seen the slightest indication of the immediate openingof extensive workings, I woulfi have remained some days on the rush •, but the coach being about to return, arrst most of those on 'the ground apparently contemplating an abandonment of the field, I determined on securing a saat. During 1 the forenoon a crowd surrounded the s x prospectors, and it was feared that violent measures would be resorted to. Threats of violence were made, and as the coach was "e lying it was reported that four of the six had slunk away and matle off. The '■h:-ee who ha 1 gone to Dunedin to secure a pro peet claim, had not returr/ed. It was said that one of them was seen at the Ferry On the way down we passed many spring carts and drays laden with provisions and tools; and it was said that at least two thousand people from Dunedin were on the Silv.fr Stream route. The distance by this route is about 25 miles.