Letters from Wellington Men. Miners Must Have £150 Clear.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 160, 10 July 1886, Page 3

Letters from Wellington Men. Miners Must Have £150 Clear.

"Wellington, July 5 A gentleman, a native of Wellington, who recently left bore for Western Australia, writing from Freeinantle, says: — "I warn intending diggers not to go to Khnberley unless they have something like £100 to £200 on landing. Thero is no doubt about the gol«ifields being payable, and of great extent, but the difficulty and expenee of reaching thorn is a serious drawback. They are about 350 miles inland, and a great part of the distance is mangrove swamp In Freemantle and Perth the men mostly in demand are carpenters, and there is no demand for clerks. The weather is very finej equal to summer in Wellington The land is pretty good, but very little is cultivated, 1 suppose- because people find other eafier ways of getting a living. Potatoes j are worth £9 per ton. Cheese, bacon, j hame, and other produce dear. The colony is literally governed by England, but the people are wanting responsible government. The beat information ia to be got from Government note book. Albany i 3 a quite littlo place with a fine harbour, and will, I think, &o ahead when railway works start between it and Perth." Another Wellington man, formeily in the Constabulary, who left heie two months since for Western Australia goldfield*, writes that the climate there is about the same as Wellington midsummer. Vegetation is rich and plentiful." Regarding Kimberley goldfields., he sajslhat no one should attempt the job unle?s he has from £150 to £20J available on his landing at | Perth. The principal class of people in requeet are carpenters, who are earning good wages. The distance to the goldfields from Derby is about 350 miles, and the charges for horses and ocher conveyances are almost prohibitive. Some > motnb<n*s of the Wellington Armed Constabulary force in Wellington, who came'here recently, got billets at £150 a year and found. They are mounted men. They are quite satisfied' with the change. The Government is virtually worked from.' England— is, in fact, a Crown Government '■ Everything ia pretty dear here, but wages are good. % Of course, when the country is opened up, v% things will cheapen with competition,. An endeavour is being madeto frighten intending miners from visiting the district. From what I can see, there is very probability of Kimber- j ley goldtields turning out trumps, and you may depend that I shall have a shot at them before I next write you "