THE AUCKLAND GOLDFIELDS.

Southland Times, Issue 1092, 18 January 1869, Page 3

THE AUCKLAND GOLDFIELDS.

The following has been communicated to the 'Wellington Independent,' under the title of " A month at the Auckland Gold fields":— Having lately returned from visiting the province of Auckland and its goldfields, a short account of the impression made on an impartial observer as to the future prospects of the Thames Goldfields may be interesting to you, and possibly to your readers also. During the early part of my stay in the North, the weather was of such a character as to entirely preveut any personal inspection of the various claims at the Thames ; and the contradictory opinons and reports given expression to by persons " well up to" the place are such that no idea can possibly be formed as to the best way of investing your money, where to go to see the most interesting and best worked claims, or whether it is possible at all to meet a man there whose opinon and word can be relied on in this respect. You hear on all sides reports of the enormous quantity of quartz ready for crushing, but on enquiring personally at the various claims as to when the s.vid quartz is to bt disposed of, the working men say they do not- know ; that at present most of the claims in the neighbourhood have a great quantity on haud, but that they are expecting to strike a rich leader shortly, and will then have a crushing. In proof of this, you are shown two or three specimens about the size of small nuls, which are undoubtedly very rich ;_but the suspicious part of the business is, that the exhibitor of the specimens has, as a rule, a part of a share to dispose of. Having visited many of the claims which are at present considered as second class, and which have nob yet been formed into companies, I cannot fail to be struck with the lazy appearance of the miners, who, with very few exceptions, had their mouth adorned with the indispensable pipe ; and where the claim is worked by a shaft, the result of a day's labor is very small, a small bucket made out of a nail-can being hoisted to the surface about every halfhour, those below waiting for the said nail-can during its ascent and desceut. The men who present this appearance are generally wages men, who work for the real owner of the claim at a rate varying from 30s to 40s per week. The claims worked by the owners themselves, or those worked by joint-stock companies, present a different appearance, and miners are seen more diligently engaged in their labour. There is, without doubt, a great deal of swindling going on ; claims are " salted," and specimens are exhibited, in order to entrap the unwary speculator ; yet there are, at the same time, a great many claims which are honestly worked, and which promise a rapid fortune to th_ir lucky owners. The majority of claimholders have not been paying wages for many months, and for the outlay that has been expended on them, no return need be expected ; consequently, I think there soon must be a " smash" among many of the too-sanguine Auckland speculators. Numbers of small traders who happen to have a few pounds on hand, buy part a share, without calculating what the continual drain of paying wages will amount to ; and this is the class of people who, owing to their small means, will be the keenest sufferers. It cannot be denied, and must be apparent to every person not wilfully blind, that the goldfield has been overrushed ; but, at the same time, I believe there is a more promising future in store for it, and that, with a fair amount of capital and plenty of honest labour, a man may safely calculate on making a good living, and probably a fortune, at the Thames. Tne population on the ground at present is estimated at sixteen thousand persons, and for the last six months it bas been about the same. When the Customs return of gold shipped during the months of June, July, and August is consulted, it will be seen that the amount is inadequate j to give anything like fair wages to such a population. The returns for those months I have quoted are, as near as my memory serves me— 2ooo, 10,000, and 3000 ounces respectively, being in value about £45,000 or about £L per month per man. I do not vouch for the correctness of the figures but they are suffiiciently correct to prove that Thames Goldfield must have been, to a great extent, working on imported capital during the time specified.