NELSON.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 6, Issue 287, 27 March 1862, Page 3

NELSON.

TBB r e news " from the various, gold fields will be best given in the following letter from Qiir.intelligent and.-■; indefatigable correspondent, dated Collingwood, Feb. 15 TAITAPU DIGGINGS. ...... - In my last ; -letter I’ alluded to a reportthat the Maories had discovered' gold hear the Wanganui West; Inlet, .and in ;payabielquantitiie^ ; -oh ’the invitation ot two' of the Maories, Riwaiahd Pirimoaa, I agreed to-accompany'them * and prospect the river. I started the mud-flat to Pakhwacfl -thence through ! the pass to Wanganui West* 'reaohingttKe- pa itf the evening, .arid there camped. Bad weather coming on, delayed me until Sunday evening, January 26, when I again J started in ' Riwai ! s oanoe across the inlet,. and. reached Tini. Early bekt morning With niy three; mates 5 and. eight Maories, started • across a n ar- : row heck }.of land, -and :ctnssed?the ihud-: flat, beating S. S; W. course. Rehched.' at the head of the inlet, - a 'flat fern spur j crossed a large raupo swamp, about • two and a half miles long” reached a large

creekl called pah .Tpngata, which rises .from three '■'lirge Lakes in the raupo , fewSTipt; Thte ; *3sabHuiJ tuSe this plfioe as a fishing fetation, eels of large size abound- ; ing here; we camped here for * the night, , aud fished with pretty good success. .‘--The Maories sunk ; two ' holes ' and: obtained gold, Next mprniug. : we .crossed a long manuka flat, entered the bush, and reached the “Patarau river, some three . -chains yvide,; with numerous bjars. talked np "the river "bed for'about a. 'mile, . when ..we. again struck into the bush ; put, : two Holes down in this river, but : cduld hot reach the bottom on account of the water ; got no gold. Pushed on over some! six thickly wooded spurs; .pursued a S.S.W. course, and reached a large hill called Bald Head, from the barren pature it showed, being composed of a dirty white sand stone, mixedwith quartz; at this point we entered into a manuka flkt of sotne extent,.hemmed in on every side .by fern spurs, forming a complete amphitheatre ; and reached the Taitapu a small river about of chain in wMth, With flat* land side. This liver flows in a S.S.W. d*_. rcction; and haa large trees 6f rimu; pin and ..'bixbli on each .side. We. foliowe®j up tlie beckof ahodt half a mile and camped for the night. ~ , We noticed gold on. every bar. THe . Maories river claim tHe right to work, the bars, and have commenced with good success. Next dav we erected a sawpit, and made two sluice boxes, and a small false bottom and ripple, stripped a paddock, and. be-. gah working in the bed of : the^ riyer ouy first day yielded erne. ounce _ : of bright gold, ’ resembling that from Appbo’s Greek I noticed here a total absence of black sand; the fine sand intermingledjwith the gold is iron pyrites, the same as gob - - ' THe Mabries are working with the old . fashioned tom, and are doing well. - ; .Some of' the Mabries are prospecting two miles up. the river, and are getting nuggetty: gold, covered with a black as some of Slate River gold. Some of the fiuggbtsf; “will weigh three or four pennyweights. Gold is obtainable in every dish. ... . \Ve prospected the' river "fof ■ three miles to the entrance of the gorge, and never failed getting . gold. TliOre are also forks in the riVef, and ohe b&M'ing E.N.E. is very stony at the entrance ; I did uot ascend this branch.— Colonist: '

We extract the following from the Examiner of March 12.

Since our last Monthly Summary business, has continued much as then £eported. Stocks of bottled beer, loaf sugar, brandy, geneva, old tom, pickles, white pepper, and many other articles, are either getting low or have becoiHe quite exhausted, and further arrivals from England 1 "are much required. If the I 'avenscraig. sailed on or about ; the 27th November, as was anticipated,, we may be able to advise her arrival in our next ; her cargo, we have little doubt will meet ready sale. The Sir g George Pollock having completed her cargo (about 1,740 bales) at Port Underwood, has arrived here to clear for London, and is expected to sail early next week. She will take . several,-pas-sengers home and a parcel of gold. dust. No other vessel is at present leading, but It*s cx]?ee>ed enj will commence eie long.

Tbe non-arrival of the December Eu- . - ropean .mail-, has caused considerable inconvenience and anxiety,. and -there iis now reason .to fear we shall not receive Y it-nnfil the January mail comes to hand ; : this: is the more unfortunate _ at.ths present ; time, as, by the per last jnail, probability of a’ rupture with .'America, - an„event which would be exceedingly detrimental ttf the.trade of ,these colonies.; v? There is a probability .of ah extensive change being made ere long in the steam ■ -r communication between New Zealand and Australia, and involving, as it dors, the removal of all direct steam communication between this, port and. Sydney, .and-the loss of nearly all expenditure, both by the steamers themselyos and tl -o; passengers, has caused great uneasines s here. The fact that Auckland, the present seat of government, is the last of; ail the settlements to receive the mail under rthe.existing arrangements instead of tie first, is admitted, and, if some scheme..-• can be devised to rectify this' without' materially affecting the dates of arrhal and departure "of : the' mails at this and the other settlements, we do nut see tl.at this community can complain of the loss. Ameeting of the Chamber of Commer o has been held on this subject, and asuo- - committee is engaged in drawing up a report on tbe whole question. THe quantity of .chrome brought down by the Dun -Mountain tramway during the past month has exceeded 200 tons"' • and a larger quantity could be brought - down in,' a shorter period l if' necessarv. .Vessels about to load cargoes for the ‘ Ignited Kingdom or Australia can obtain a safe ballast which will pay a small freight instead^of having to pay -five shillings per toil for ballast.asihitherto.'' From the Gold-fields, - especially those of the Coast the news still continues ' Veiy and 't-helmeu who went latter fields from Otago - still’ ■ exiir - ■ themselves as. perfectly 'satisfied.- ! -There' ’’ ’ is- but litfcle r doubt that all steadily at work -there,, arc. doing well, and, further ground haying been ' fonnd during the ;past' month, there is every, reason to believe that,;' should there be an influx o£ diggers in the next few months, sufficient ground of a by ' .The Superintendent, Provincial'sc,,' a.party, -numbering-abouti -twenty-five, have gone to the West Coast for the purpose of examining and to gome

*' and. fljsa of ,extent »nll > cHai4di^'of?'t , of .thus; sion ftiTiyed'at qf the policy and. that tbe : Gold-fields as' wel 1' as .the Coalfields vyill;he opened’ op. T Money spent in this way will 1 return the Fix*yihco an annual're V'etfue of a .similar aindurit to what may nhw he expended within a short time, or conduce to the general prosperity in a larger;*degree than if expended on any other object. K , The harvest now .'finished is .not more thiin an average crop, and'wc anticipate wheat will have to be imported to supply the'deficiency. f Three Merino rams have been brought to this place'by Mr. Staffoid, at a cost of about £7O each; Ihey w.ere imported inth Lyttelton from. America, and one of them has clipped'3o‘ lbs. 9 oz. of fine clean wool. ’

A most interesting missionary meeting was held at ,the Odd Fellows’ Hall on the ‘2lst m February, which ; was • attended! by. the Bishops of„ New- Zealand, Christchurch, Wellington,; Nelson, Waiapu, Melanesia, 'and. Archdeacon Maun-, sellf all of whom addressed the crowded audience, and were utmost Attentiott-'-Tlie Bishop of'Nelson occupied the chair' until the arrival of thevßishdp of. New Zealand. Two lectures have been delivered to the members of the Mutual Improvement. Society." Mr. Dolamore, of Waimea South, entertained a goodly number of listeners by repeating his lecture on ‘ Happy Homes anti how to make them:’ ;'and a lecture on ‘ Political Economy as applicable to the .circumstances of "this Colony,’ was delivered by G. Heppel, Escp - . ~