OREPUKI.

Southland Times, Issue 1047, 30 October 1868, Page 2

OREPUKI.

(FROM OUR OWN CORBESTO^mW^: Orepuki, October 24th, 18Q8.] Since my la£t there has been but' little alteration np here. At the presenM&e miners at'nearly every claim are emplpyed sluicing. A few have nearly completed washing up for the present, and are satisfied with the result. The principal claims will not up until Christmas. The repert which has reached us here, of payable gold at Waiau, hasnot had much influence, nor is it likely to have niuch. The fact .that, there is a ,, certainty . df obtaining good .wages,, and. the settled habits of the diggers taken into account as well, will prevent many leaving unless for somethieg really very good indeed. Most of us have been "sold "once or twice in our lives by " rushes,". and this makes us careful of throwing away a certainty. I must again beg of you to agitate the subject of a weekly mail; We have had no regular «na# for the last si± weeks. If we get a letter or riewsrjapeif its all chance. Hwe want to. send down; somebody must be sent off at great expense, who can perhaps be very ill-spared. The justice of the case only requires to be fairly put to convince everyone 'that it is not just a question whether the number of letters will cover the cost of the mail, but whether the necessity of so many of us up here should not be cared for, even though at a little public cost. The miners hold that they contribute more than their quota to the revenue in one way or other, and ought to have a little consideration. You must remember the population here is "settled," and: is likely to continue, and in the "gradual' growth" to become of far more importance than it now is. . It may interest you to know that nearly eighty ounces of gold was sent into Biverton last week. At Longwood, as here, the onfccry for tracks continues, and it is to be hoped the sum voted for this purpose will be speedily applied. You^ may depend upon it that track cutting in the district— known to be highly auriferous I —will do more towards the discovery of the permanent goldfieldi '&*' which the ( reward is offered, than anything else. That a rich field exists, I have no question, and my own experience tells me that from the character of the dirt to be washed. One party at Longwood will, on washing, net something like £12 per man per week for the thiie they navb been at it. One individual washed out with a cradle four ounces last week, and moderate success both here and at Longwood is the rule, and not the exception. Ihave no; news — there is Ijhe usual peace and good order in the community, and I suppose this is as satisfactory information as you require or desire. ■ V