West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11 19,1866.

West Coast Times, Issue 387, 19 December 1866, Page 2

West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, DE CEM BER 11 19, 1866.

Tlie arrival of the Phoebe and Rnngttoto ' has placed us in possession of Sydney and Melbourne papers of late date, from which we have extracted as largely as our space will permit. The long expected letter from our Fox's \ River correspondent (which we are compelled to hold over until our next issue) has at last arrived, having taken no fewer than «ix days ' to reach us. It has, however, passed through ihvee fost Offices, which fact will account for its detnvion. A considerable decrease has taken pla^e in tho population of Tucker Flat during the last fi r nighr, as the miners there were utricle -n wiih the F<>x's River fever, and d.-part.;d in s.ioivs for the ncwru-Ji. At present th re are not more than one hundred remaining, and they ar« ci.hr forsaking iho old •• round or sluicing lermeo claims. Prospecting is at a stand-still, excepting in the <-ise of t ie Extended C impany, who are still bo ing for tho deep {-round, but have not y-.t succeeded in reaching it, great difficulty b in^ ex^erienceil m pe.ietra.ing the large bouldow met with in the lower drifts. A depth of between sev nty and eighty feet has ban reached, anl it is expe.'te I that ihc wash-dirt will be pricked into by the end of this week. Th • aigg'ngs in the Big Pad iock are s,ej,dily ext ndirtg, and the holes lately bottome I give very goodprospects. New stores arebein n 'built, and two n-w pu ilu-h mse^ will soon be o,n nod; and, taking the place through ul, it may be pronounced in a very nourishing conuiion, wiih n cheering futu.o before it. No intelligence has heon received Irom the three parties of miners who are prospecting iu> the Hokitika and Kanieri rivers, but as they are known to be tr.cl and goo 1 men, great f nth is entertained that the resu.t of tiieir researches will prove succes ful. Travelling between Fox's River and Greymouth 13 attended by great danger, as in many places the country is exceedingly rugge I, bi ing intersected with deep ravine-, which are bor lered by nearly perpendicular cliffs. Several lives have already been lost in the attempt 10 scale them, and no later thun Monday last another was sacrifice I some few mLes couth of Fox's Eiver. We are _ mfoi-med by a gentleman thence by the Bruce, that a p-irty of miners lelt Fox's River en route for Greymouth on Sunday, and on arriving at a place where a high cliff must be crossed to avoid tho sea, one of their number lost his footing, was precipitated to a depth of sixty leer, and k lied on the sp >t. His companions immediately returned to Fox's. \ A ru-h has set in to the junction of ' Black's and Redman's Creek, about five miles from Koss. A party has been working there for »ome time, but it does not seem to have been thought that tin y were doing any goo.l, as others who tried the ground around abandoned it. It appears, however, that the I large gold occasionally brou.ht into Ross was found there, some of the nuggets bein^ as large as soz. Only two claims are as yet taken up, but information has been v\hispere.l among the digger-*, und ninny have tramped off, some by candle light. From what we can learn, and we consider our information reliable, a prospect of H dwt. to the dish has been obtained insh iliow gronn 1. MacU*O{jaml p iriy have sunk a pa Idock, but. had not wa.-he I on the 17th, the date of our informal ion. The paJdoek is 10 x 8, and at fourU-on feet is on four feet, thickness of -washdirt, out of which nineteen dwt3 of gold were picked. Anderson amlUo. have a c aim next this one. Tnere is plenty of sluicing ground about, an J i pr .bah y deep sinking. The country is similar to Jones' Creek— a flat throo and a half miles long aud about a quarter of a rude wide. A pubiiean'b license has been applied for, and protection for a roaJ from th.- b 'ach. The workings on one of the tributaries of ' ' the Taipo nver, which joins that stream a few I miles from the Ilan^iriri station, are still being prosecuted, an I with ivcry chance thai they will bo even'uua ly proved highly payable. Thirty men are biuy iluming the cr.eu, and sever d ..tray patches of gold which have been taken out lately e\e.ite the .most sanguine hopes that the bed of the creek contains heavy deposits, ihe sample of mrttal is very superior, ihe gold beiiy Jouud iv pieces heavy and much water- worn. Ye-terday morning a corpse was observed by a poison named Keid, a gardener, resiiling at the Snuth Spit, float ing seaward, and an attempt was made to recover iho same, but without succes, owing to the livsn running, wnich made it hazardous to approach too near tho entrance of the river, Informal ion was then forwarded to the Police Camp, Hokitika; but late in the day thi>attent ion of onstca ble Hames was di awn b> Mr Dean to ihe fact that a body haJ b -en thrown up on the beach between Lagoon Town and the entrance of the river, and assistance was obtained in order to remove it to the hospital morgue, where it now remains. The constable searched the body in the presence of Mr Dean, but only tw o empty chamois-leather bags and a clasp knifis were found. The corpse was that of a man, aged about 30, 5 ft. 10 in. iv height, of Htout build, dark auburn hair, with a few hairs of same color on either side of chin, small ears, mo.lium forehead, snub nose. The left jaw and nose was apparently broken, both were turned to tho right, and tho upper lip was swollen and turned up as if from a violent blow. The body was in an advanced stage of decomposition. It was dressed in moleskin trousers, grey shirt, Wellington boots, with a red handkerchief tied tightly round iho throat, and a narrow leathern strap round the waist. Wo understand that an inquest t,y'i!H be held t'O-dny on the rwnatynbytho Digtriot Coroner,

The rain that fell on Mon lay n-^lit and yesterday morning has ken attended by n most agnodble cifccl^ in huiu<{ the dtist.', which during the kot \Wok rendered walking in the street ■> exceedingly iliaagrceabl*. The rain was not lu-i.vy on the lo»v lands, p-ifc more must h lvo fallen on the mountains, as the river rose cmoi leraMy, an-l dis. hargo a heavy fresh.t all day. Towards evening it subsided, and at sunset there was evcrv appoaiuucii of a reiurn of that weather wliii-h stamps the climate of Wcsfclund as ono of the finest, in the world. The Ross folk are making preparations for Oiristrnua spoils on a gra-id scale. A public meeting was hel I at the Ben ligo Hotel, on the 17th hist"., when it was announced that Ll5O would probably be raised for the purpose, neany LIOO having been promised. A committee was appointed, and it was ciccMcd that tho Alain Road should He the place foe the sports. This road lias lately been re-formed, and is now in very good order for racing, jumping, and other sports, and is tho best that could have been chosen. The Dunediu " Evening Star" of the 11th instant says: — "Averv distinct shock of an earthquake was felt at tho Bluff this afternoon at 2.21 p.m. The weather there to-day has been very sultry-, the ihermometer being 7" ° in the shade. We leai v tuat a slight shock was experienced by several persons in town at about a quarter to 3 o'clock. ' Messrs Robinson and Lilly, the former owners of the stt-amcra Titama and Maid of the Yavr.i, both of whi. h wore lost at liohit'ka, have liad n screw »t am v comhrnr.toil on the Cly ie for thu trade of the nor h co.ist of Tasmania, in whii-h the Titania originally tra le>!. The vessel, which is named the Helen M'Gregor, was bui t under the supervision of All- it LiikL.ll, formerly enj.'iiii'er of" the Titania, who coiuts out in that capacity in the new vessel. Chinese immigration appears to be an accomplished fief in Otago. as we kurn that on one day (11th in3t ) no few, r than 110 Celestials left Dum-din for the various goldfield-', about forty goin^ to the Dunstun. and the leinainder to the Like district. The Europe m mini rs still nppear to re^ar.l the newarrivals with disfavor ; and though no r'of ha-i yet occuiTed, we re.id ot rev era! instances of John being compelled to " save lvU bav;on" by a hurr.ed retreat from some spot destitute of police, into which he h.td i-icautioualy penetrated. During the week en ling December 16ih, 3 I prisoners were added to the hard lab.>r i guig at the Revell street g.iol, and 2 lunatics placed under restraint ilire, w lil-t 4 prisoner?, vhose sentences had expire I, were ] discharged, and 1 lunatic forwarded to the j Hospital for medii-.il treatment. Tlio nutn- . ber of confinecs remaining in the gaol at the 1 above date was 21, chissifi das follows :—: — j I hur.l labor gang, 12; imprisonment only, 2; j J on remand, 5 ; lunatics, 2-. | The following are th'i district fiaol returns | for the week ending December 16 — -Admitted — F >r trial at the lvxt ses-uons of the Supreme Court, 3 miles ; discharged — from the hard lab >r gang, 1 female ; debtors, 2 males ; remaining in euatodv at the above date — uu ler 'co.iiniiual, 17 miles; hurJ lihoi*. 22 malean 1 1 ffiuale; debtor*, 4; total, 43 maleiand 1 female.