NEW SOUTH WALES.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue II, 24 December 1858, Page 3

NEW SOUTH WALES.

From the Sj/'lney fterakTsSammiwy for England we take the subjoined graphic account of the rise and fall of the Fitzroy Gold-fields :— Considerable excitement has been felt both here and in Victoria, lest destitution should prevail amongst the unlucky diggers, to such an extent as to cause either disturbance or mortality. The Government of either colony, therefore,-at once took means to relieve absolute distress, as well as to provide passages home for such as were willing to return. In alluding to this, our reporter being on the spot, takes the following view ':— " There would seem to brc a regular competition between the representatives of the Governments of New South Wales and Victoria, the one vicing with the other in doing as much as possible for the destitute diggers. Rations are served out, passages are provided, and comforts are supplied by each ; and you may hear in our streets the poor miners discussing the relative merits of the colonies, prior to making their decision as to which they will patronise with their presence. The movement that has been made in Sydney in favor of the miners has, I know, had a very great effect in influencing a decision in many cases, and many will now proceed to Sydney who would otherwise have taken passage to Melbourne.l "In addition to the rations served out-in Roekliatnpton there are supplies issued to fifty-two persons who are camped on Curtis Island. These •are all stowaways, who have been taken by the commander of the Victoria, at the request of the masters, from on board different vessels, prior to leaving the bay Captain Norman will provide these men with passages to Melbourne." And again he says^- ■ " I have been credibly informed that the Victorian Government have paid the passages to Melbourne of over 2000 persons, the expense having been £5 10s. per head. A large number of rations have also beeen issued, so that the Fitzroy rush will cost the Melbourne Government a very pretty sum." r Every letter forwarcJed' by him declares the fact that the tide of population was ebbing as rapidly as in the first instance ifc had flowed In upon this new country; and yet, despite all this —despite the little encouragement received from the yield of gold, we find the land selling very 'high:— : *' The safe of town lots toolc placed on Wednes-. day and Thursday, 17th and 18th November. The attendance was numerous, and the bidding very spirited, especially for the lots that front the reserve quay which runs along the river edge. These were sold in quarter acres, and very high prices. Only nine of them were offered, the others having "been withdrawn for the present, owing to the land having "been'taken up by permanent buildings or under occupation licenses!. The nine realised £572 10s., the; highest price "being ,£B2 10s, and the lowest £54, making an average of £63 12s. per quarter-acre, or ,£254 Bs. per acre—rather a high price for land in a locality such as this, and taking existing 'circumstances into account. The blocks next to the riverfront-age also, commanded high prices, and were sold at ■prices ranging from £70 to £90 the half-acre. The remaining lots, all half-acres, fetched from i>lo to £25, according to position. On the first day (Wednesday) 131 lots were advertised.; of these 13 were withdrawn, and for 36 there was no offer, leaving 85 actually sold; these realised the sum of £1185. On the second day (Thursday) 127 lots were advertised—B were withdrawn, and for 6 there was no offer; 113 were therefore sold, and they realised £2923., The gross product of the two days' sale was £4108."' There have been some very near approaches to disturbance on.several occasions, but as they never absolutely resulted in a breach of the peace they arc not worth recounting at this distance of time ; and we allude to them now only to remark that the,conduct of 'the officials at Rockhamptoh and Canoona has been marked .by fchfr greatest, iact. There has been considerable forbearance, yet at the same time there was a firmness demonstrated whenever circumstances rendered it necessary to be shewn, that not only deterred the disaffected, but also gave confidence to the well-disposed. Of Captain O'Connell, the Government Resident at Rockhampton, our reporter says1:— " Despite all the disappointment, Captain O'Connell has rendered himself exceedingly popular with

all who have come in his way.: Always accessible, always ready to give advice or assistance whereeyer'it may be required, his presence in Rockhampton is the never-failing signal for the collecting of a large uuiubet: of persons round the police .camp., There ho may be seen; inthe midst of a vast crowd, explaining, reasoning,, urging, or entreating, aeeouling to the temper of the mas 3 amongst which he find himself. Anxious—l had almost said nervously anxious—for the success of the diggings, he did all that was possible to be done to discover a new gold-field in the neighborhood of Canoona. Thwarted in this, and shrinking from none of the l'esponsibility of the post he had accepted, he then returned to Rockhampton, where the gathering discontent rendered his presence necessary. How far he has been successful in his efforts, the peace and good order preserved up to the present moment will testify. The residents here are not blind to all this, and thus he will find very many to support.him, should any untoward accident disturb the quiet that has hitherto reigned here." Having described' Rockhampton, as it appeared on his arrival there, in the first instance, our reporter gives us a picture of the place in its palmiest days, at the close of October last:— "The constant succession of steamers at the A. S. N. Co.'s wharf, with the-many vessels in the river, discharging cargo, or working up and down, give an air of busy life to the settlement, which is, however, too soon belied by one, and only one, brief glance shorewards. Tents are spread far and wide along the southern bank of the river, the majority of the business premises being grouped round and near, adjoining to the A. S. N. Co.'s offices. Chief amongst these is a fine, commodious, and substantial store, erected since the rush by Mr. Craies ; near by, on the one hand, is the Branch of the Australian Joint, Stock Bank, the only one of our Sydney banking establishments that has settled itself here, though employe's of some of the other banks were down here for a brief space. On the other side of Mr. Graies' is a large wooden store, erected by • Hunter, Moodie, and Co.; and further on another wooden store, built by Mr. W.. Lloyd. The other places of business are mere tents, more or less extensive, from that of the humble retailer, who exposes his half-dozen herrings and bottle of sherbet powder, to that of the extensive speculator, whose canvas covers a cargo. Passing from the A. S. N. Co.'s store,"the landing-place of nearly all new arrivals, by the Joint Stock Bank, some, fifty or sixty yards brings us to the Government camp. Here are assembled the office of Captain O'Connell, the Custom House, Police Office, Clerk of Works' Office, police tents, stores, &c., forming of themselves a very extensive encampment,/but certainly not arranged with that due regard to order, that might have been expected from so semi-military an establishment as our police. These places I have described form a centre, from which the tents radiate in long lines, extending nearly half a mile over the flat that is.destined to form the township of Rockhampton, if men enough be left behind to people it, by the time that the land is put up for sale. At this present moment the number of tents, stores, &c, standing on the ground, cannot be less, than 1200, and reckoning four persons to each tent—a very moderate computation—we have a rough total of 4800 souls congregated upon this spot. And this number of persons is collected here without the slightest prospect before them of earning a single penny. Canoona, as a diggings, is done—confessedly and notoriously:; not even the pretence of rations is how held out to induce men to go there, and even the strongest friends of the Fitzroy diggings have only the hope that sup-j ported the celebrated Micawber—that something: will' turn up.'" ■ , '' And finally, on quitting it, to return to Sydney, •! he draws the following melancholy picture of the spot at the time of leaving it i— "I left Rockhampton on Friday, the 26th ultimo. That township was then in a.state of rapid collapse. Storekeepers, winding up their business as quickly as possible, in order to be off, and the few disconsolate diggers waiting only the means ief transit to ship themselves to more promising regions. There could not have been, when our freight of souls left the shore, at the very outside, '-. inwe than two hundred persons in the township, and of these, the majority were preparing to quit \ with the first opportunity that offered. Several; of the storekeepers were clearing out, in anticipa- • tion of the arrival of the Eagle, whilst some fifty! persons had secured passages in the Amherst brig,! which we left behind us in the river. In fact, all •have now become entirely dispirited, no prospect of any kind opening before them to keep them in; good heart." ! With respect to the diggings, he also Temarks,; in his last published letter : j " As to the diggings, there is absolutely nothing . doing, though the population stills keeps up to be-' tween tour and five hundred. This number, as I i believe I have before explained, consists mostly j of men who have neither the means of supporting! themselves in ■Rockhampton, or ©f .paying their; passage down to Sydney, and who are consequently ; compelled to hammer away, even at the little sur- , facing that offers, in order to obtain rations. Alt; ■this hard and unsatisfactory work they continue, j not so much in the hope of any payable gold-field ' turning up, as of a lucky chance occurring, to give ' them sufficient funds to secure a passage to: Sydney. As such accidents happen, or as men; receive assistance or remittances from friends, they come dropping in to the township, and shipping off." : * j The Sydney Rertilcl of-the 14thinstant furnishes the following account of the first successful balloon ascent in New South Wales:—The large and splendid balloon which, under the name of the Australasian, has already made numerous successful ascents in Melbourne, rose, with Messrs. Brown and Dean in its car, from the cricket ground in the Outer Domain, yesterday afternoon at five o'clock. A very large concourse of people —amounting to upwards of 7000 persons, attracted by the great novelty of the tiring—were present on the occasion, and hailed the. entire success of the undertaking with shouts, of pleasure and appro'batien. The weather had been dtiring the day of a somewhat unpropitious character, and the wind (which blew pretty smartly from the southward), was considered by mauy to be in every way unfavorable to the enterprise. The tedious and difficult process of inflation took place in an open space nearly opposite the Government offices, not far from the gate of the Inner Domain., It was'skilfully managed with gas, laid on from one of the mains of the Australian Gas-light Company, arid commenced at about two o'clock, in the presence of numerous spectators. After having been continued for about two hours, during which the enormous monster absorbed \ between -36,000 and 40,000 feet of gas, the " Australasian," beginning to oscillate somewhat considerably from the effects of the wind, was carefully escorted "by a numerous and eager number of volunteers to the arena prepared for the display <of its powers. To avoid the difficulties inseparable from the road, the balloon was brought by a short cut across the western corner of the Government Paddock, ahout one hundred yards %clow Sir Richard Bourke's Statue, into the Outer Domain, where it was temporarily moored safely -enough, a few minutes after four o'clock. About a half hour afterwards a salute of four guns, fired from a six-poutider by some of the corps of the Royal Artillery, announced the arrival of his Excellency the Gov-ernor-General and suite,: who were conducted to & handsome tent, decorated with flags, and standing within the spacious enclosure. Some apprehension was now excited on account of the wind, and, although held down and kept steady as far as possible, the Australasian swayed about a good deal. His Excellency himself left the tent provided Lr him, and having honored the balloon with a close and personal inspection, concurred in the opinion of other persons of high scientific attainments, that the inflation was quite sufficient. After a short delay, everything was cast" off,.and the balloon at once rose steadily and majestically from the spot'amidst loud and general cheering. Although the wind was strong not the slightest oscillation was perceptible. The aeronauts responded to the greetings of the crowd by waving their caps, throwing out bills, &c, becoming less and less distinctly visible aa the balloon took a northerly direction. Having reached a considerable alti-

tude, the balloon crossed the harbor; and after the lapse of a few minutes, .was observed to be slowly descending ■ near the .'gully, Neutral Bay, a short distance from Mr. Severn's residence. The.. baiidL. of the Xlltlr played several airs previous to the ascent, which, iin .'spite of the > one absorbing theme for thought, seemed. to be appreciated by many of the multitudes present, and everything went off with the greatest eclat. The arrangementsof the police were in every respect excellent, and by their lirmness and "forbearance the most perfect order was kept without officiousness. Of course there were discontented and impracticable grumblers on this, as on every other occcasion, but they seemed fewer and less bilious than usual. . ■ -. ■■■.-. ■• .i-' .■' :.