THE QUEENSLAND GOLDFIELDS

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 27, 15 August 1868, Page 5

THE QUEENSLAND GOLDFIELDS

Those who are unwise enough J to lVa^gfair prospects and rush off to Queensland in the' hope of beaeatting themselves, would do well to read the- following warning furnished to the " Ballarat Star' of the 20th ult. :—

It has been by telegram thai large numbers' of Victorian miners are leaving for Queensland. We, therefore, warn them from rushing madly from their homes to an Eldbrado erroneously represented by the Queensland papers for the pmpose of getting capital into the country. It is now ten days since we arrived on Gympie. We have travelled over a large portion of the supposed auriferous ground, visiting the reefs and the alluvial in turn, and the more we have visited them the le^s we think of there. According to the accounts in the papers, there are about, eighty reefs dis covered up to this date, and the tnajoiity are represented to be looking well. Now it ia quite the reverse, for out of the socalled eighty reefs, there are only about foUr or live in which the gold can be seen in the scone. The remainder are leaders, and some of them very small ones ; and in some place two or three of these reefs or leaders are within twenty yards ef each other. The gold obtained in -the few rich reefs is found in the casing, and in patches almost clear of quartz, so that the grentet.l part of the gold is obtained in sinking. Throe or four hundredweight of specimens from these rich reefs sometimes yield 6 or 8 hundred ounco.3 — the papers representing it as much greater ; and perhaps the remainder of the stone would not yield one ounce to the ton. We do not believe that-one out of ten of these so-calJsd reefs will pay for crushing, and it is our opinion that aa soon as the crushing machines which .are on the way here commence crushing, there will be as great a smash -among some of the reefers as" was at Wood's Point. There are thousands prospecting for reefs in all directions, and in all kinds of places, without either judgment or indications. The storekeepers give the prospectors a half share and LI per week, a great many go out prospecting ; and if they get a leader they think they are all right, no matter whether there is gold in it or not. The width of the majprity of these reefs is from two inches to twelve inches ; there are two or three of them from two to four feet in thickness ; the sinking, in general, is through" hard bluestone ; there is no alluvial here at pie:c7i£ but what is occupied and worked out, i& old ground is covered with Chinamen from Rockhampton and the Cape Kiver diggings, so that a-poor man has not even i the chance of ~ fossicking in the old ground. The accounts given in the papers of Yabber, Kilkeven, and the Cape River Diggings are .also incorrect, for several have returned here from these places this week, and gave a very discouraging account of them. They say the ground is limited, and'it is expected, if no new ground be opened up that the present will soon be worked out. It has also been reported in the papers of the good prospects obtained and the great excitement on the deep lead at Gympie. Now, there has been no satisfactory prospect obtained as yet, and all are shepherding, with the exception of* a few claims. We have spoken with many who would be glad to return to Victoria if they had the needful _to pay their passage. This is not the place for a man to come without money, for the people here are very different from the people in Victoria. They would not give you a feed if you were starving. Among the last batch that arrived " here this morning, we aaw some old faces from the Corner. If new ground is not soon opened up, there will be as great a rush back to Victoria and New ' Zealand, as there was from them. However, there is a wide field for prospecting, but it requires men with^. money, for a man without money has ntf chance only for wages, which are "very" hard to oMnin. Those miners who have comfortable homes ab€m£ Ballarat should remain in thorn, unJ,eSs'"they have plenty of money,