ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 52, 7 March 1864, Page 3

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

TO THE EDITOR OE THE INVEROABGILIi TIMES . Sir,— l hare justreturned from a short visit to the new goldfield reported to be diseovered;by Mr Bass-, tian on the Hamilton Burn. I met with a party sent up .by Mr Basstian to test the field : but as Mr Martin Campbell, Accommoda- " tion, House Keeper .(to .whom those parties had a j letter from Mr Basstian), refused to show the locality of the discovery, they were forced to try the Hamilton Burn and 'some of its tributaries, as far as the almost impenetrable scrub would permit them. At every likely looking point or bend of any of the creeks, old prospectors have left their traces, in the. shape of heaps of gravel taken from the blue slate bottom. J assisted to sink and wash at several of the most likely looking places> and in sevefal instances obtained two or three specs of very fine gold, but nothing to pay ; and it is the universal opinion of all parties that as yet no payable goldfield has been discovered,, but -that if strong parties were formed, and. cut their way through the scrub into the basin and gorges lying between -.Mount Hamilton and the Takatimos, a payable field would be discovered. But then the great drawback against such an expedition is, that Mr Basstian, the squatter, and Martin Campbell, accommodation-house keeper, have put in claims and registered them for the reward, and both of those gentlemen have failed to show or point out a payable field. In fact, from the conriicting stories Campbell has told, no faith is to be placed in any statement he may make. The fact of it is, he gave Basstian the gold to report it, and then when the rush came he intended to sell his shanty, and if the diggings turned out well to claim the reward instead of Basstian. This state"ment he has made openly in the presence of several persons. Now, Sir, if you would be so good as to inform the miners whether either Mr Bassfcian or Campbell wonld get any reward — both of them having failed to point out payable gold — in the event of other miners cutting through the scrub to the sources of those creeks and discovering payable gold. By giving .the miners your opinion, you will confer a great favor, t ani, Sir, &c.« D. M 'DONALD. Dee-street, InvercargiU, March 6, 1564.