NORTH AUSTRALIA.

Colonist, Issue 99, 1 October 1858, Page 2

NORTH AUSTRALIA.

THE NEW; GOLD FIELDS.

By the Ocean Queen, we- have received intelligence of, a New Eldorado discovered in the country lying north-of Moreton Bay. Tjie accounts are startling a,3 to the abundance of the precious metals. Gold, it appears, is found in masses which are not only large in size, but abundant in quantity, . These reports will no doubt induce many to venture for success there. In Sydney, vessels are being daily laid on, and. by our latest news, fourteen were already on the berth. The gold fever now, is not what it used to be when, the first announcement of its discovery was promulgated; but it is sufficiently active to cause many no doubt to.leave their homes; It is but right that they, should, before starting, have some description given them of the country to which they intend journeying. "The climate of the" Fitzroy Diggings (as they have been called) is in the first place trophical, and the very necessary adjunct of water scarce; the aborigines'are numerous, and, it is said -by those who are acquainted with the locality that though scant the supply of water now, in a few weeks it will be next to ( nothing. Disease has, it seems, fixed upon the's^K iphere the gold is, and hangs like ■ a'; heavy''oloud^over tho whole district. Of the numbers that go, how many" will return we cannot prophecy ; but they who undertake the journey should well weigh the perils of disease they will have to encounter, and the hardships of drought they will have to

endure,

The. following are extracts from letters received, in Sydney, and published in the Herald :—

" Rpckhampton, August 13.—1 have ridden over to the new gold-fields, lying on the northwest side of the Fitzroy Riveiv I saw 10 ozs, of the gold, ah<3 one nugget weighing 2\ ozs. l.believe it will turn out a very rich fieldT There are about 100 men <on the diggings.—James Atherton."

". Gladstone, August 28.—1 am happy to inform you our gold fields are turning out even better than my most sanguine expectations.' Every one is doing well, and people are passing through the town by hundreds. The place is likely to become of immense importance in a very short time. I forward you by the Jenny Lind, 27 ozs. ,11 dwts. 12 grs. gold. I shall send you a larger parcel by the Uncle Tom.—HJ Hetherington."

" Gladstone, August 30.—8y the Jenny . Lind, I have shipped 10 ozs. of gold, for you to send it to the Mint and get it assayed, and let me know the value. The nugget weighing 2 ozs. 8 dwts. 16 grs. was found five inches under the surface by Charles Day and Charles Lavis, from the Canoona Diggings, Fitzroy. River.—Henry Friend."

Gladstone, August 24. —Gladstone this day is quite empty. 30 or 40 men, with their wives and families, have left here for .-Rpckhampton by the Uncle Tom. Captain Hardy arrived, last night, bringing down several nuggets. Water has been found by sinking, and they have commenced washing the'top stuff. I took off. two inches, which- appears to me richer. than that near .the clay. Two nuggets weighed-over two ozs., andl one has been found since I left weighing three ozs. nineteen dwts." • . y, "East Maryborough, September 3.—Knowing you feel interested in the.Port. Curtis Gold-Field, I send you an extract of a letter I have received on the" subject from my friend, Mr. Walsh, of Dejelbo. 1 aur glad-.. r i iwent/ to Gladstone, for I now know what is; going on there—much better than I could have comprehended otherwise. There is, of course, nothing but gold to be. heard of, nor talked about. Every one looks and feels as though his or her salvation had arrived,: and so different in this respect to what they seemed when I was last there. From the best authority—that is, of the diggers who had returned for their families—l learned that the diggings are. very good. The gold is got on the clay near the surface, and not-far below. Any man can gather from 10s. to 20s. worth a day, and some as much more: water is the hindrance only to their making too much, so William Young, of Mount Lavern, says. I have bought a lot of the gold; some I shall send to Brisbane for the gratification of those amiable neighbours, and some for inspection in your town ; the diggers are very loth to part with it yet .Mrs. Brown, of Gladstone, is totally without servants, and so are all the squatters in the neighbourhood. The Uncle Tom came in while I was there, and had on board lots of miners, and took away from the town all but about.a half a dozen of the male population. Women and cradles are only to be. seen now. At present'the gold-is found dissociated with quartz, not a particle of that rock haying been noticed except four miles off, where there are mountains of it. About seven'ounces of the gold goes down by the steamer, under the care of Captain Knight. I understand about" 25 lbs. of, the precious metal has already been raised, which, I suppose, will find its way to Sydney by the first steamer from Gladstone.-r-E. -B-'U."

."Fitzroy River,' August 28.—1 would willingly write you something about the gold diggings here, "but have not time. The diggers say the gold is of a very rich quality, and refuse^3 10s. per ounce. As' yet they are only surface diggings. Some experienced men have lately gone up, so that perhaps a development of the richness of the ground may take place. It is as; you may say, even without seeing it, that there may be a very valuable goldfield here; but I know the ranges and plains over a tract of country here of 100 miles in length from north to south, and averaging 30 miles wide, and can certify them to be entirely of the rock system which yields gold, and if it is found in one water-course why not in others?"

" (To the Editor ofthe Sydney Morning Herald.) "Sir, —I have from time to time given you casual information relaitive-.t^ fields, and will now, both with a view of authenticating their,great productiveness, and also answering many enquiring friends, enter into a more detailed account pf them.

"The diggings were first opened about the middle of last month by a, party of some five or six men fat this date the workers number about eighty, with a rapidly increasing population. These men, uritil the • last few days, have from drought, worked under great difficulties, having to carry their earth in bags andbuckets nearly two miles to wash it; their means of washing being also very primitive, having no, cradles or appliances,—yet under these disadvantages they have realised good wages—-the largest quantity that lias been obtained in a day's work being above four ounces, and the lowest average of the least fortunate of the diggers being 12s. per day. They seem all agreed that from 15s. to 255. is the general average per diem of the mass.. • "As regards available gold realised, I have had reliable information of upwards of 23 lbs., weight having been actually in the possession of the diggers, and indeed have seen some. 8 or 9 lbs. weight of it myself. -, The largest nugget yet found weighs four ounces, another two ounces, another one and three-quarter ounce, another twd ounces two dwts.

"1 am aware that doubts have been entertained upon these points, in consequence of no tangible amount of gold'having reached Sydney; but the reason, of this is—that there is no one on the diggings' in a position to purchase up the gold, and tlieir only means of disposing of it is in exchange for stores and other requirements of a trifling nature., But Opportunities will now be offered for its inspection, as-I understand that some few pounds weight go down by this mail with instructions for its exhibition, * * -

: " Within the last few days there has been much rain at.the diggings, and this with sinking .(lately,y; fried), and water found at seventeen feet, will . afford an abundant supply of water for their re-, quirements. I am unable* to give any estimate of * the result of their labor under these improved cir- .. cumstances. All the gold that has been procured has been from surface soil, nor am I aware that . any efforts have been made to search further for. it, the men being apparently contented with the present gains. Nearly all the nuggets were lying on the surface, and one or two picked up. - . 1 "Any person viewing these tacts dispassionately , must be forcibly impressed with the fact that we -• are in possession of, I may say, the most easily worked and most productive' gold-field in ,the r colony, for if men with their rude appliances and under such difficulties can obtain the present- rates • of remuneration, what cannot be realised from energy and capital combined and well applied ? " These are, I think, the chief, facts that will interest the public generally relative to the gold- ,' field; at a future time I may trouble you with a .- few lines upon the natural productions (mineral-;, and otherwise) with which this favored district - teems. "

"I remain, Sir, yours obediently, "Henry Hort Brown. " Gladstone, August 22."

"(To the Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald.) ■ " Sir,—Some short time ago it was brought under the notice of the public that a paying goldfield was likely to exist at the Fitzroy. " In these golden days the public are not easily satisfied with regard to.the .truth of such reports. From What has come under my own observation,-* I do myself the pleasure of placing it before the public. That a paying gold-field exists at the~ Fitzroy is now past doubt,''large quantities of gold having come in from there., .A friend of mine halt now in his possession 2£ lbs. "weight ofthe precious metal; many others living smaller quantities; one person here has some 40 ounces. Tlie Jenny Lind, which vessel will leave here in a few days, will bring; down a very considerable quantity. On hei; arrival, I trust, the public mind will be fully satisfied. * By inserting the above you will oblige.

"R. E. Palmer. "Gladstone, Port Curtis, August 25th."

"(To the Editor ofthe Sydney Morning Herald.) '. " Sir,—l have just returned from the Fitzroy gold-fields, and happened to be stopping in that part ofthe district where, the first gold was found..: I trust that a .few remarks may be acceptable to your readers. -.The 'diggings' are at present situated four miles from the head station of Canoona, (in the occupation of Messrs. Ramsay and - Gaden), and about thirty miles from the township of Rockhampton; and as the river is navigable by the coasting schooners up to this place, and I have myself seen a boat brought up within four miles of the diggings',* there can never be any fear of, provisions being raised by length of land carriage to the exorbitant prices which have been known at.other more inland spots. The .*diggings'are emphatically ' surface,' and in no instance at present has gold been found below a depth of two feet. It was at first imagined that water would become scarce,' and that the stuff would have to be carted a distance of four miles to the river, but sinking has brought to light springs which will, it is said, furnish an ample supply of the necessary element. The yield at present has varied from fifteen (15) to, in the.case of some fortunate diggers, forty (40) shillings per diem. Well, how- - ever, as the present field may be said to pay, I very much doubt whether the best locality'has yet been visited; and 1 anticipate that, as more experienced 'hands' arrive, and more prospecting takes place, still richer fields will be discovered. Many persons of over-sanguine temperament, who expect to be able to rush to the diggings, and become suddenly wealthy, will no doubt be disappointed; but yet such is the richness of the auriferous deposit in the upper strata of the soil, that; there can be no doubt of a good return being steadily yielded to the endeavors of those who come; with wiser and more moderate expectations. Such is a plain unvarnished account of the state of things at the Canoona diggings. I have, indeed, - been unable to chronicle the unearthing 6f any monster nuggets, but' I think I have shewn that every one may reasonably expect 'a fair day*, wages for a fair day's work.' "I am, Sir. your obedient servant, "A Disinterested Observer.

"August 28."

From tbe Morton Bay Courier of September 11, we clip tlie following :—

"I' have much pleasure in forwarding you further accounts ofthe success and th. richness ofthe Port Curtis Gold-Fields—a fact, which I doubt not, will be hailed with pleasuve by our new colony, (that is to be) and when I tell you that all,' who from experience are justified in expressing their opinion on its capabilities, unanimously con-; fess that as far as tbe field has been prospected, no other gold-field (with the exception of Bendigo) has exhibited so much gold on the surface digging, * and gold of so large a kind, and iirsuch quantities, I feel we should do tlie district injustice, by omitting to publish our ' mine in embryo.' .

■*' As yet' few have aided to develop - the field,' and of those, the greater part have been amateurs, few practised diggers; and all have had little convenience to work with facility or success,- and" their toils mostly confined to tin dishes, for washing, an,d tlieir conveyance bags and other -equally primitive means of carriage. " "There are now some 30*) diggers, and the average yield (I give from reliable authority— from those who have returned for their families and supplies) is about 255. a day. This, taking into consideration the absence of water accommodation from want of sinking wells at first, ha**, limited their daily gains ; but now they discover water some eighteen feet beneath the surface, and I doubt not the next intelligence you receive will prove the yield greatly increased. " I wish" to convey to you a dispassionate account of things as they are. I have been a dialer myself, and neither from notoriety nor enthusiasm do I wish to embellish the yield of the Fitzroy Diggings.; . " I have seen so much gold—whicli is now to 1 • sent to Sydney, and some to Brisbane, for exhibition—that, all statements hitherto incredulously received, may be authenticated; and I can safely state there are some 23 lbs. weight awaiting some safe conveyance to Sydney, and other large quatf-* tities I presume unknown. *. ," Men: are already arriving here from Sydney^ "and who bring with them, I trust, diggers' expi-1 rience, with their digging implements; and r I the A. S. N. Company has expressed their willingness to send a steamer here, the place already moves a-head.

"Some of the 'unemployed' have been charitably conveyed here, some have started for the diggings, and one of the most useless apparently has this moment refused £2 per week, for- shepherding ; this will give you some idea of our la-; boy market.

"An escort will be soon established to afford security and facility for transmission, and I feel ■■justified in saying I believe the gold field will prove as rich as the present discoveries indicate. " The gold, as yet, has,'been discovered from (? inches to 15, below the surface, but no deep sinking has as yet been tried, as there is little inducement to disappear under ground when gold lies so near the surface.

" From the great advantages'of Port Curtis as & shipping port, the recent discoveries of gold;, copper, marble, coal, and freestone, 1 fancy there is a future to the Northern port none need affect to despise." ' ' ' " " Of the copper, I shall be able to give you ar -more detailed account by and by. ■ - '*-.:.'■ " Those who in the eafly days of Gladstone parchased land, then supposed at fabulous prices, may* soon have reason to congratulate themselves that their investments still remain, though I must confess, that hitherto, their prospects have been' -anything but sunshine; but if the influx of'digger* continues even at the present rate, our population will consist soon of some thousands; and instead of a deserted village, our-magnificent barlessharv hour will prove to be.the entree to the capital of the North;'— Correspondent of Darling-^Jhtmt-Gazette: > - . . ■"..---, - v.->-•"._*