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LATEST FROM COOKTOWN.

(From the Special Correspondent of tho Sydney Torn awl Country,) Cooktown, Endeavour River, March 2.

I was in hopes that tha wet weather had gone, but the rain on Saturday night (February 28) was the heaviest that I have seen yet. Sinoe then only a few showers have fallen, A large number of men are going up to the digging*, many without horses, and T ara afraid there will ho ft considerable amminfc of privation, osfing to tho wit of iwoviuionsi, I M assured that my Arab telegram. from

Townsvllle will turn out to be correct, that there was more gold taken out of one of the best claims on Gulgong, than has been taken out of the Palmer up to. the present time, or that there will be for some time to come. DEBILITATING EFFECTS OF THE CLIMATE. Camped within twenty feet of me is an old Gulgong miner, who left Oooktown with one of those heavy loads that I have mentioned before (about 801ba), arrived at the Palmer, worked'there six or seven weeks, and was one of those that was jammed at the Normanby Eiver—days and days without provisions, raining. the whole time,; could not swim, and had to wait until ohe of the last. He only got between two and three ounces / of gold; this, together with what few pounds he had before, he lost every fraction, of, in orossing the river, and it was only by aprovidential escape that he managed to save his life. He is at the present time recovering from the slow fever. In the short space of a few weeks, one would hardly credit the effect tlie climate has upon the constitution. I remarked to him yesterday," There are a good few_ going up. I fancy they are very foolish ;.no rations up there; and no telling when there will be any." The reply he made was,," Two or three months from this, those that do go up, will stand as good a chance, as tiiose going up now. There is no show up there of getting gold, only in the river, and that is flooded, and will not bo in working order for the next, two or three months. Almost all the little gullies and ravines have been well fossicked; what little gold is to,be got is in the river, and that is not much either." He further said, "Believo me, they will be sofry for going up. The load I carried broke my constitution. Men think they can do in a hot climate tho same amount of work as they can in a temperate one; but tkey very soon find out thoy cannot." No one would expect to see many of the class of men that are here. A great many of them never wew on a gold'-' field before in all their livos; and when they get a fow ounces they make a regular fuss about it, At the same timo I particularly remark that they look, upon the men from tho south,- as intruders. To | describe the physical qualifications of I flomo northern Quajnilandws, it is a raw

occurrence to see- an ordinarily stoatlooking man who has been in Northern Queensland any length of time. Thin as possible and sallow-looking, they seem in many instances much taller than they actually are, and in many cases so thin and fragile that you would think a puff of wind would blow them down. Their features have a decidedly cadaverous cast, and, as near, as I can learn, about three years is long enough to break down the constitution of most of them. It is far from my intention to say anything disagreeable to my northern friends'. lam merely letting the people of the south know the effect the climate here has upon constitution. For my own part, from the manner in which I have perspired since I landed, and the difficulty I have had in getting my head in anything like a cool place, I feel on the whole very poorly, and I cannot arrive at any other'''conclusion than that I shall soon be much the same myself as I have described the old residents in the North to be. I was sorry to see so many come in yesterday by the ' Wonga Wonga.' I overheard a person remarking to another, " Look, how fine

and healthy they look!"- And there is no mistake they did look healthy in comparison. NO WORK TO BE HAD HEBE. I wish particularly to impress upon the minds of those that will come—and more especially those that come without means —that there is no employment whatever here. There is any quantity of men here that would be willing to work.' There are numbers that would gladly go baok if they ■had the means. For my own part, I am not at all concerned to get up to the Palmer quiokly. Until provisions

are up there,! think it is madness to try 5 and did I know as mack before asl know now, I would never have left Gulgong to come here. ATTEMPTS TO FIND A NEABEB BOUTE. There is a considerable amount of interest taken in respect to the suooess of the Weary Bay expedition that started a fortnight since to find a short cut to the Palmer digging. It Is thought the road can be shortened considerably, and a great many are anxiously waiting the' result. A short road, with rations a little near the mark, men could prospeot. There is any quantity of country for the pick; but miners do not care altogether to let the whole of what they get go to the butcher and storekeeper, which has been the case up to the present. STOBES, PBICES, &C. To look along the street of a nighttime and see the public-house lamps would astonish any one.. lam positive one-half arelicensed houses; stores havepubliean's licenses without the slightest accomodation ; in fact, in some instances you have to wait to get served with stores, so many men are camped here. Two or three of

the principal stores are doing a large trade.and if the Weary Bay track does not disturb them, no doubt they will do a still larger trade. Pack saddles and horses are the dearest things to prooure here. Ido not think any miner need bother himself bringing anything else, with the exception, of a few light hammerheaded driving-picks, the lightest kind of all. All the picks I see here are Collin's, which are too heavy altogether to paok suck a distance. Wo are none too well off here for maize; 15s per bushel is how the price; 'in fact horse feed is very scarce'here. ,There is hardly an ounce of fresh meat here.' About a dozen sfieep came in yesterday; the owner wanted £2 each (weighing 401bs— a shilling per pound) by the sheep when alive. There is not much prospeot of meat getting cheaper for some time. A considerable portion of the men here are from Gulgong. I see" Old Bismarck" is among them. He was rather unfortunate one night when he was in town; some of the light-fingered gentry helped themselves to the contents of his purse,whioh he had unfortunately left at his camp; but some of his old acquaintances mustered a few pounds for him..

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THA18740411.2.16

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1786, 11 April 1874, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,219

LATEST FROM COOKTOWN. Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1786, 11 April 1874, Page 3

LATEST FROM COOKTOWN. Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1786, 11 April 1874, Page 3

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