Untitled

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 64, 27 October 1864, Page 3

: ; , Jibet^pSPpwoSpectl "of 'Wix&fvai; and ? five-d*t«-'" v to the dish, got on thejfeefrt Th'e v lead tseeins difficult to -be got at,^ and, verji undefined.. Great confidence, is entertained in the future " showing up" of this^grouncL ' '"''''"': V " .""'' ' T\ At DonrieCcoefcjOU the' left Ixaucl branch,' the i ' ~ i^inerß^av^met with; many dMoulfciesvTae mature of the rvf&r bed «jok, providg "bo Very accidental aod"*i&^l^r £ ibat s= 'b6it^m : >hai8 c iibt yet' been, waehed'xmsevaral iostancesv iThis creek- i» most, remarkably,, formed, jwindmg,, narrowing, .and dpenmgfbut aTTat ondCaiid'the Wef dipping suddenlyinali directions: As I Vaid before, boulders of enormous, size are to be found almost everywhere. A great deal of labor, and 'certainly a great iu blasting, etc., will- be incurred by the men on that rush ; the almost: unanimous opinion(is,,that .it will turn out first rate— at > any rate a I 'week or two/ if the holds, the ground- will be 'fairly tested^ large deposits of gold: are. expected to^be^.fqund in those great hollowb or dips above mentioned. As. several boulders of pure qiiiLvht laeais jiving* from fifteen to twenty feet-iri^diameter^ tare to be J found -at the head of Donne Creek;. ,ifc has been wisely inferred by some oldiiands, that quartz reefs' of large extent must' necessarily exist "not far off. ■'■ The dense and inaccessiblenature of .the countryrwiU, of; .course, render ; t any a matter of time, or of chance. \ * ;' "" ' """■' "' " " Tunnelling- is successfully carried out in.a great many .places, both on the Wakamarina banks and Deep Creek. The heaviest finds lave in fact been got'out'oftheseworkings. >T " '■■ H At startling fact, from' which I will let you draw I your own deductions,, is, that. the 600 ozs. composing the total ofthe'last escort, were actually the return of only three or four parties! It has. been ascertained, and I believe it to be true. Where can. the gold produced by the WaKainarina field go tb? is the general wonder. We hare » population' of at least 2,000 or more miners, all appearing to .be doing well, and the Government escort is actually fed by a dozen men. You wise heads in Picton, the fountain source, might explain this. . <..'■ Deep Greek township appears to be as busy as •usual. Many buildingi are gbing iip ; the court house is up, and we hear that' Government intends •hortly to sell the allotments in the new town adjoining the.camp. . To the surprise of many, the court house was found closed to-day : the Warden ;being away at Havelock as usual at the end of the week, the Gold Keeeiver gone to Marlbbrough, ' the mining officers usually attending the court house being all absent and away these last two days — reason unknown. . . The Hdveldch Mail, in alluding to the smallness of the escort, has the following : — ■ "The escort, under, the command of Sergeant Konseila, arrived yesterday afternoon. Six hundred ounces of gold only have come to hand this time. The smallness of this parcel arises in some measure from the change made in the gold receiving office branch of the warden's department— the Bank of New Zealand having undertaken and possessing entire control of all the duties previously connected with the gold receiver's position. Furthermore, the rush to the Forks has kept men moving about during the last fortnight, so that very little time for actual gold extraction has been allotted them. On the river, though most are prepared fully for actire operations, as yet they will not venture to go into work ' straight away," fearful of the floods and. freshets lately bo unpleasantly common on these goldfields. Though working vigorously now, 1 their labor is only r directed to forward matters for a grand onslaught on the. auriferous treasures of the Wakamarina, when they feel assured they can maka a fair start, without let or hindrance.