THE GOLDFIELDS OF SCOTLAND.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 65, 8 May 1869, Page 6

THE GOLDFIELDS OF SCOTLAND.

|^^^81863, Dr. Lander Lindsay, a wellgeologist, read a paper before Society, Edinburgh, in which attention to the probability existing in payable quantities Dr. Lindsay had traovdf and examined the goldojvthis province, and he was Mgw&tta^truck. w jth the resemblance E2j£JjH&i Otago and Scotland in pbysiand geological formation. examination, he found the rocks of similar- to those of most countries — the metaniorphic extensively found in Scotland sPS identical with the auriferous °f 8 province. The inductive of the man of science have y£ftfied by the practical exof the working miner; for Hfgold in quantities sufficient to cause a B rush has been found in the extreme ■ north of Scotland ; and, strange to ■ say, in one of the localities pointed P'Vout by Dr. Lindsay as probably aurifishing village of HelmsjjßHfflHi^iated at the mouth of the Dpnan, a small stream, emptying itself I into the German Ocean. It is in the ■ county qf Sutherland, and is owned by fk the Dukfc of the same title. Between f the valle|r of this little stream and the b^"Tlogburo| diggings, a miner namedD Gilchris^iscovered a remarkable ref., semblanq|. He resolved to try a ' prospect* and was rewarded by the f " colour.'"' The news spread like wild- '- fire, and from north and south, east * and west, men and women thronged to take advantage of the golden opportuuity. Very few had any more idea of Rthe modus opwandi than a pig has of W \an oratorio, but the gold fever raged ■ gfc>o strongly in their hearts to yield to iJiiliug an obstacle as inexperience. A resident near this Gaelic Ophir writes as follows : — "Such a mania has taken hold of the people, that nothing is talked of hut the goldfields. No less than thirty men from this place have taken the road for Strath Kildonan this morning, armed with picks, shovels, and tin basins, eager to try their luck at the ' diggings.' A squad of- upwards of fifty from Wick have also pitched their tents in the Strath, besides about two hundred from Helinsdale and the neighbouring parishes. - Nor is the search for ore confined to Kildonan alone. Anywhere that a stream is found among the hills (and Ben Bhraggie itself comes in for a large share of digging), there are found old and young men, some armed with -. .picks, spades, and tin basins, and others with-masons' trowels and sacks, working as if for very life, but as yet their efforts have been unsuccessful. Hills on which a month ago the trace of man could^ scarcely be found, are piiKr^wa~-Tmilig with men, digging and I re-digging iv the vain hope of finding the precious metal. It is really amus--iug to see the specimens which some of them bring home, fully believing that they have discovered gold. And they are not at all disconcerted at their want of success, nor when they do find some substance resembling gold are they discouraged when reminded that ' all is not gold that glitters.' On tlie contrary, before daylight in the jnorning they are again away to the Julls. No one can imagine now this mania has possessed everybody almost without exception. Nothing but the cry of ' Gold, gold,' from morning to night. Even while I write, squads of fishermen are passing on their way to Kildonan, hurrying as if the loss of a moment were the loss of a fortune. However, there can be no doubt gold is to be found in Kildonan Strath, and it is said that the average daily find per man is from ss. to 20s. worth, and even as much as £3 worfh has been got by some lucky diggers. The value .Os said to be from £3 iOs. to £3 i7s. " 6d. the oz. Gilchrist. the discoverer L~~*of the field, has got five beautiful nuggets, varying from £ oz. to an ounce. f) He has gone to Caithness, to the neighbouring estate of Dangwell, to try some hills above Berriedale called the Scaribeens, where there is supposed to be another field. I don't know whether any steps are taken to preventthe diggers from working, if it is prac- ; ..-ticable to do so, but it is said that any-^tfeemjrß- of that kind be they will resort to violence l^frather than stop digging. I have seen l-|" some of the ore which haß been found. * The gold itself is of a deep rich colour, , partly in flat scales, and- partly round- , like very small gravel, varying from the size of a pin head to twice that .; size. The earth is of a dark brown ■'? colour, like coarse snuff." m The absolute ignorance of anything r connected with mining displayed by i: : the greater number of the adventufers '<[ gives rise to many amusing scenes. ; One man, it is said, came with a tub a , distance of ten or twelve miles, and having filled it with gravel, he placed it on his head and returned home, fully anticipating that he would have at least as much as would pay him for his journey. A fisherman walked all the way from Golspie to Kildonan burpf and tried his fortune for a few hours, but not meeting with the success he expected he soon left in disgust. On his return he was asked if I he nad got anything. "O, not much," I* he replied. " What was it ? " " Oh, ■j^nly a sore foot." He was further to go back to positively induce hiii*

his luck at the diggings again. Some of the fisherwomen, it is said, took creels with them to carry home the gold. Of course, many of them had no idea of the value of gold, and it was amusing to hear the prices which they would sometimes ask. A small quantity of gold dust, hardly visible at the bottom of a tin dish, and worth about Is. or Is. 6d. at most, would be valued at ss. or 10s. ; and the owners would be quite indignant if they were offered •its real value. Others who had been more successful were prepared to do business, and found a ready> market at from £3 15s. to £4 an ounce. The experienced hands are regularly mobbed by a crowd of admirers who rush every spot of ground the Victorian or Otagonian puts spade in. Still it is those who have seen most who appear most confident of the ultimate prospects of the goldfield ; the only thing they want is some security for their claims, and they will go in big licks. As it is, they confine themselves to prospecting and fossicking, averaging about £1 a day even at that. An amateur digger writes as follows :—: —

" Whenever gold is mentioned now in Sutherland, and probably elsewhere, you never by the most remote chance can depend on the reports — the exaggeration, not to put a finer point on it, is frightful. I have therefore followed, as far as possible, the safe plan of seeing and believing. So I started with my pick and tin disli (both of which now hang among the household gods in the gun. room, and have a nice, social, " culinary " look). Beginning at the souive of Aulb Smeoral, with tlie assistance of a digger, we tried the deposits carefully before us, bat found no trace of gold until we got well down, about two miles above Gordonbush, and then small specs of the precious metal began to appear amongst the black magnetic iron and garnets which constitute the end of such washing. The burn at this point commences to cut its way through a deep rocky gorge, and runs on a waterpolished bed of red granite, with veins of quarts frequently visible. A few diggers were at work — but apparently novices — one poor fellow had improvised a dinner plate, and another ambitious party had a cradle, out of which lie did not -seem to be rocking his fortune. Prom the little I have yet seen, I should certainly say there is not a suffidient quantity of gold to repay the labour; and" this I can assure you is the case also in Kildonan — but the general public will not believe it, and must try their luck. With all the mild winter, the amount of roughing and starvation which many of the diggers have undergone is great — in one case this week a man was found by his comrades lying speechless at the edge of the burn, having fallen in a fit, possibly from cold and i hunger, and was brought round with difficulty. Very many are daily re- ; turning home starved and dispirited, having made nothing ; but their places are taken up by fresh hands, and the supply of dupes seems for the present inexhaustible." Another letter, dated January 28th, says : — " To-day my brother and I went up to the Smeoral burn, in the banks of which gold has been discovered, and found about twenty men and boys j busy quarrying the rocks and washing the clay. We worked for about five hours, and on weighing the proceeds to-night we find that we have 2 and2| grains respectively. We inspected what the others found, and, with one exception, we had each more than any of them. The only one who had more •than we had was a very small boy, who had about 8 grains. In conversing with those engaged at the diggings, they one and all said that if any other work could be got they would never think of neglecting it for the sake of I the gold, but that in their present idle state, they were glad to have something to do. As compared with the Kildonan gold, that of Smeoral is of the same colour, but is found in fully larger particles than the other. There has been only one nugget found as yet, however, and it did not weigh more than 10 grains." In spite of the natural discouragement of those who from ignorance are quite unable to give an opinion, the accounts are, on the whole, favourable. The old hands are doing well, and some of the new chums have succeeded tolerably. Many of them must, however, be in the same predicament as a friend of ours who visited Gabriels at the first of the rush, and who never got a grain of gold, although he washed most industriously for a month. An old Victorian bought tvs claim for a song, and averaged thirty ounces a week while washing over the tailings of our verdant acquaintance. As it is, gold to the value of £200 or £300 has been purchased by one jeweller from Sutherland diggers ; and if the proprietor of the land deals liberally, there is every probability of our witnessing a rush home. The student of politics will watch with interest the effect of the discovery of gold on a settled country. It remains to be seen whether a discoveey which- proves ! a blessing^to a new country may not prove an unmitigated curse in one long settled, and where social life has not the same elasticity as- in a colony. The most! marvellous part of the whole affair is, we suspect, that canny Scotchmen should so long have remained ignorantyof the metallic wealth of their j

A Ghost Story. — A few days ago the Eev. F. Elmer, vicar of Goldenhill, w.is waited upon by two women, and his services requested to exercise a ghost which had been troublirig them for some time past. The husband of the younger woman of the two was killed at a coal-pit, and it was said that the ghost of the departed colliei' visited the scenes of his former interest. The vicar told the women he would be willing to stay in the house one night, to see if he could find out the meaning of the noise. To this the elderly female said that if the widow went away "the ghost would na' come." It was decided, however, that the house should be examined, and in the course of this procedure some one rapped upon a box which stood by the side of a bed that a lodger occupied, when both the women exclaimed that it was exactly like the noise which had so often disturbed them. 'Tjie lodger in question at length confessed that he had been in the habit of drumming on the box in the night time. Editorial Life in the "Far West."— Editing in the " Far West" seems to be a process of knifing as well as "scissoring." The editor of the " Owykee Avalanche" informs his readers that " the other day, while quietly seated in our sanctum, two villains, one armed with a hatchet, and the other with a bowie knife, made a violent attack upon our person." Nothing appalled, " we seized a knife about two feet long, used for cutting paper, and bled our assailants freely. They sued for mercy." One naturally inquires for the reason of so strange a rencontre ; and the editor tells us that it took place merely because " we lately referred directly to a ruffian lcnovra as Captain Praaeot, and incidentally to a guerrilla named Al. Lage." " New York Times."