23 July 1851

DISCOVERY OF GOLD AND RUBIES AT THE DEADMAN’S CREEK. Mr. Davies, who has been superintending the party fitted out by Mr. Samuel Davis of the Australian Stores, for the purpose of searching for gold in the district of Goulburn, returned to town yesterday afternoon, with the happy tidings that he had found the precious metal in the Deadman’s Creek, a water-course which divides the Great Southern Road, about six miles east of Gunning, and flows by a circuitous route into the Fish River

The part of the creek at which the specimens Mr. Davies brought to town were found, is only a short distance above the crossing place ; but it has been stated to us, that every spot that was tried upwards, produced more or less of the metal. The distance from Goulburn is twenty one-and-a-half miles, a pleasant ride through a remarkably level country.

NEWS FROM THE INTERIOR. GOULBURN. Another Gold Discovery. Yesterday afternoon, Mr. George Parfitt brought in 35 grains of gold, obtained by him, Mr. John Cartwright, and Mr. Adam Taylor, at the crossing-place of the Fish River, some distance from any place where it had previously been obtained. The portion brought in was lodged in the hands of Mr. N. Mandelson, the treasurer of the Gold Discovery Committee.

Police.-We are happy to be able to state that two additional troopers have been sent here from Sydney by Mr. Commissioner Spain, to reinforce our police ; he has also sent in structions to purchase four horses for the use of our constabulary. Those just sent, and one called in from Braidwood, with the two at present here, are to proceed immediately to the Crookwell, and from thence to the Bur rowa and the country around Gunning, for the purpose either of securing or driving out the gang of bushrangers which infest these place»s.

APPREHENSION. – It will be remembered that one Heffernan was bailed up about two months ago, and robbed of a considerable sum | of money, and that one of the party, named Grant, was tried and convicted at the last Quarter Sessions. Another of the party was lately apprehended, called Murphy, who, at the time of the robbery, was known by Heffer nan, and reported as such ; he is now identified as the man he meant when he reported the robbery. About two weeks ago, a man named Cane, of Lake George, having been to Sydney to sell some fat cattle, was returning, when he was stopped at Bargo by Murphy, and robbed of £20. He is said also to be the man who lately fired at the constable at the Burrowa. Our Chief Constable has six charges against Murphy.

Bad State of the Southern Road.-We have travelled on the Great Southern Road more or less for the last ten years, but never did we see it in such a bad condition ; in fact, every year it is becoming worse and worse. The partial repairs made from time to time only serving till the first heavy rain, when these repairs are all swept away. Between Goulburn and Marulan there are several places where the mail sinks up to the axletree ; but the worst part of the road is that at Paddy’s River, and between the apology for a bridge there and the hanging rock at the foot of Cordeaux’s, it is also in a fearful state ; the bridge there, and those along the whole line of road between Goulburn and Razorback, are in a most dilapidated state, many of them fallen down, and every time a vehicle passes the loose saplings and pieces of fencing have to be regulated, to prevent the horses and the vehicles going down.

It is said that £80 has been voted by the Executive for the purpose of repairing about as many miles of the road; no doubt it will, as far as it goes, help to stop up a few of the ruts, but twice eighty could be spent on one hundred yards on each side of Paddy’s River to make anything like a job of it. Repairs are being made at the Ploughed Ground (Grey’s). Unless they are proceeded with in places equally bad, Mr. Justice Dick inson’s carriage may be left in some of the sloughs of despond through which his way passes when coming to the ensuing assizes. many places the road has been ploughed eighteen and twenty-four inches deep. The whole line of road is discreditable to the Go vernment.

16 August 1851

GOULBURN. Much has been said of the various discoveries of gold in this district, but the quantity hitherto obtained has been so very small that there was a danger of losing it while being inspected but we have now to record a sale of the precious metal obtained at the Abercrombie by Mr. W. Payne and two lads named Douglas.

The gold is very superior, Three and a half ounces were pur chased from them by Messrs. Benjamin and Moses, of this town, this evening. They were about twelve days in procuring it. Mr. Brown, son-in-law to Mr. Maurice, of Binda, has come in this evening, with about 7 ounces, also obtained at the Abercrombie, about foi ty miles from Goulburn, and in the police district thereof, It was procured, not from the bed bat from the banks of the river ; he has earned, with all the disadvantages he had to contend “with, more than 15s. per day.

He intends wait ing on the “Gold Reward Committee’!-to . morrow to claim the reward. Mr. Brown’s ‘ sample eonsihts of small nuggets, granular pieces, and dust. Therojs a. distance of 35 . miles between and Mr. Brown found their respective portions. ; The latter says that he prospected 75 miles, and found gold in every direction.

Not only is it found in the Abercrombie, but also in all the tributary streams. Some portion of that now brought in was obtained 900 f-et | above this water mark ! The gold excitement ia incrcas’ng ; one of our townsmen, Mr. Daw ‘ son, has Ju&t; returned from Summerhill, where he and another mau have, in the space of eleven wettku from the time they left till their return, and each of them have earned £-50 over and above their expenses.

They have brought one fine nugget of 13J ounces ; it is a very surpris ing lump. Dawson’s hut is regularly besieged by visitors requesting a sight of his prize. Dr. Nicholson has arrived, und, in per ambulating the town, went into the stores of Mr. S. Duvicb and inspected the specimens of precioitB stones obtained by Mr. W. Davis at ‘ tho Dead Man’s Creek, and the Doctor’s opinion is that one of them is an amethyst.

8 August 1851

MUDGEE. Within the last fortnight some hundreds of people have passed through Mudgee on their way to the diggings at the Turon and the World’s End. Gold has also been discovered in and around Mudgee, and some beautiful specimens have been exhibited which were taken from the Cudgegong River.

I have no doubt but gold will be obtained in very large quantities from the bed of the river; the spe cimens I have seen (and also myself obtained) are very fine, some of which nearly a quarter of an ounce. I saw a party this day who had just arrived from the “World’s End,” about eighteen miles from Mudgee ; he has been working there with his son and another man, his success has been very great, he tells me that there are about three hundred people at World’s End, hard at work, and most if not all are doing well, fresh parties are arriving every day.

Mudgee, I trust, will shortly be a thriving and flourishing township. Mr. Hargraves has been in the neighbour hood for some days past ; he has seen the gold taken from the Cudgegong River, and has also examined the spot from which it was taken. I have had the pleasure of making Mr. Har graves’ acquaintance, and I cannot speak too favourable of him. He has visited the diggings in the whole of this district, and wherever he goes, his kind, gentlemanly, unassuming man ners, instantly gains him many friends ; to all who wish it, he is ready to point out the indi cations where gold may be found ; and when found, how to dig and wash it ; he has also given instructions to the aboriginal natives, which, from their eagerness to receive shares, no doubt they will take advantage of, and prove first rate diggers.

Mr. Hargraves was invited by the leading gentlemen of the district and others, to a pub lic dinner in Mudgee, as we all felt most anxious to do him honour, which he so well merits ; but unfortunately, he was pressed for time, and could not accept of the invitation, however, as a testimony of the respect with which he is held by all parties in the district, and as a small acknowledgment for the great public benefit conferred by him upon the country, as the first discoverer of gold in Aus tralia, a subscription list has been opened in Mudgee, and I have no doubt we will be able to present him with something handsome, and sincerely trust that our example may be fol lowed by other districts.

18 August 1851

ORANGE. The mountain is again in labour, and not as in olden times, when a mouse was the production, but with a full, perfect, and complete delivery of gold. Frederick’s Valley has now become a gold field, not with the flimsy discovery or yield of places much more celebrated, but with that substantial and certain offering for toil and industry which few localities possess …

I had in many previous communications spoken of this place, not only from personal observations, but from the assertions of many well able to judge, and from what I ha’l also believed to be the declared opinion of Mr. Stutchbury, that on Mr. Wentworths land was the matrix of the gold. On several occa sions lately, I found persons working, in search for gold ; tho«e I knew had neither license from the Government, nor permisson from the owner of the soil ; but now matters are changed, and some forty licenses have been granted by Mr. Wentworth to his tenants, at a charge of thirty shillings each, and subject, of course, to a similar charge from Go eminent. The pri vilege of digging is only granted to the tenants for the present, and so positive has Mr. Wentworth been on that head, that he has refused, in more instances than one, to allow strangers to work. A party of fi»e offered him £15 for the month, and would risk, as they said, the Commissioner coming down. Some two or three favoured individuals have had special permission, and are working ; and it is to be hoped, the patriotic and spirited proprietor will soon make the in dulgence general.

Paying a visit to the scene of operations yesterdav, I was enabled to see what was doing. There were about seventy people on the ground, and some tents already erected ; there was a slight resemblance to a butcher’s establishment, in the shape of two forks with a cross stick embellished by some shoulders and legs of mutton. At the time of my sojourn there, it was feeding hour, and the principal work done of courso was in the grubbuig line, so that I had not an opportunity j of seeing a cradle washed out. ‘This, however, I ascertained, that from last week’s work, 156 ounces were «old. Mr. Grocott, who is one of j the favoured individuals now digging, bought | about 50 ounces, and tho refet was puuhased bv a Mr. Forbes, from Bathurst, mid Mr. Woodword, of Orange. The price the digger* obtained was only I believe, about £2 per ounce, and they all” expressed dissatisfaction for having sold at eo low a figure ; in fact, I think that both buyers and sellers were nonplussed as to the real value of the gold, from its admix ture with earthy matter.

Mr. Daniels was on the ground, and fairly bothered with applica tions from persons to dig, but from the injunc tions or restrictions imposed by Mr. Went worth, he could do no otherwise than refuse. Another gold field on Mr. Wentworth’s pro perty has been discovered at Emu Swamp, and many persons ‘aré at present working there. Gold has »Iso be*nJdiscovercd in diffe rent other places, and there is no doubt this district is the very centre of the gold country. To «peak of the consequences this gold finding will entail on our community, I enter on it with j a dread.

AU the hitherto accustomed pur istùts of both employers and employed will, for a _ time – God knows how long-be diverted from their natural channel, I and with the stream either sink or swim during the existence of the mania. Anticipa tion was high in the ascendant that this dis trict at least would not lack labour, but the tables are turned, and despondency now usurps the place where hope seemed to wear such a flattering aspect. To get any work done, by the day or job, or enter into any new con tracts, is a work of impossibility, and even matters in domestic affairs will have to be per formed by the members comprising the family. The time has not yet come when we will feel it most severely.

At present there is no need for labourers, for “ the harvest is not yet,” but when lambing time, shearing, and the usual pursuits of agriculture demand the ne cessity for help, the want will then be felt when no relief can come. Spring is fast ap proaching, but to bring with it but further in ducement for men to seek for gold, and in this thirst, as in a vortex, will every other lesser consideration be swallowed up. Such is the infatuation, such the positive idea in the minds of many, that though they are not making a shilling a week at present, they are quietly awaiting the subsidence of the flow of water to pursue their works, and it is notorious that many, both at Ophir and the Rocks, would not sell their located ground for even hundreds of pound”.

I have heard one man say }ie would not take £800 for his place, and I knew, another to refuse £200 for his right. But, however, I must watch attentively the progress of affairs, and when circumstances arise to call for remarks, either successful or I otherwise, I will faithfully relate them. There are instances’ of prosperity in our neigh bourhood, and where people from a state of actual indigence have became possessed of comparative wealth ; there are many others scarcely knowing where to get their daily bread, and who will be re duced, if not ruined, by the unavoidable cir cumstances tho gold discovery will place them in. I could relate numerous instances of in dividual suffering, but prefer rather to speok of the merriment thon the melancholy of this life ; the smiles, even as my native hard h;is ex- , pressed them, “ which might as well betears.” aro more welcome than the temporary shadows of despondency.

20 August 1851

THE VICTORIA GOLD FIELD. THAT gold has been discovered in our sister colony is now ascertained beyond all doubt. Of the quantity, and the prospects of working it successfully, it is yet too early to predicate …

From the various accounts, obviously dealing in many exaggerations, with which the columns of our contemporaries are filled, we select the following from a letter addressed to toGeelong Advertiser by Mr. G. A. Wathen, who dates from Mr. Macullum’s Station, five miles west of the present diggings : “Clunes Diggings” are on the Deep Creek (a tributary to the Loddon), a few hun dred Tarda from Mr. Cameron’s station.

They havtt been comm inly supposed to bo situated Iii too Pyrenees, but very erroneously, as they ate fifteen miles distant from that chain. The existence of gold at this locality has, it seems been known for the last eighteen months to the neighbouring settlers. Mr. Cameron distinctly asserts that he led Dr. Bruhn to the spot, and pointed out that gold wai imbedded, in the quarti vein. Dr. Bruhn has, however, the merit of first making the public acquainted with the fact.

The gold is found disseminated in several parallel quarts veins or dykes, which pass through this mass of trap, and protrude from it on the steep banks of the valley. There is no tr.ict of auriferous alluvium. The gold is almost entirely derived from the quartz vein itself. Hence the works here would be more properly characterised as Mining than Dig gi’g

About fifty men and a few women and children were already at work, and the Local Government had sent up a party of mounted troopers, under Captain Dana, to preserve order. Of the results of the miners’ operations there are no authentic accounts be fore us, very little of that obtained having either been sold or weighed. Of course, exaggerations, both as to success and failure, were rife, as with the Ophir digging-j ¿wing the first month or two after their dis covery.

6 August 1851

ADDITIONAL GOLD REGULATIONS. His Excellency directs it to be notified, that the licenses issued in accordance therewith to dig, search for, and remove gold found in its natural place of deposit, will in future be limited in their operation to alluvial gold, whether consisting of dust, grain, scale, or lump gold, and will not extend to matrix gold combined with quartz or any other rock, remaining in its original bed or situation …

Pending the establishment of regulations for the working of gold of this latter description, which will speedily be pre pared and published, a Royalty will be charged on the quantity obtained of 10 per cent., if found on Crown lands ; and 5 per cent., if on private lands.-These rates will be computed on the actual produce valued at £3 4s. per oz., if procured by separat’on only, and £2 8s. per oz., if by amalgamation.

2. Previously, however, to the working of any such matrix gold, notice must be given to, and a written permission obtained from the Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner of the Gold District, who will require such se curity and make Buch arrangements for the protection of the public interests as he may deem necessary. If the parties concerned fail to give the required notice or security, or to observe the arrangements as prescribed by that Officer, all such matrix gold and also all alluvial gold of every kind procured without due authority will be seized as the property of the Crown, in whose possession soever it may be found ; and the persons offending will render themselves liable to be prosecuted for the offence.

3. In conformity with the principle laid down in the provisional Regulations of May last, above referred to, no person will be, allowed to work matrix gold on private lands, except the proprietors thereof, and such per sons as they may authorise in that behalf, but in other respects these Regulations will be held to ‘apply to all such private lands. By His Excellency’s Command, E. DEAS THOMSON.

27 August 1851

NEW GOLD FIELD. Much excitement has been created here for some days past by a report that very valuable diggings had been found on the Maroo Creek and one of its tributaries called the Louisa Creek …

Mr. Hardy, who went over on Friday, returned lost mght, and has been perse cuted by such a constant succession of miners calling to ask information, that he has been all day engaged doing nothing elso almost but repeating the same story over and over again.

I knew that the information would be most interesting to the community, I applied to lum also and ho repeated it again. The Maroo lies thirty miles to the north of this, and twenty mile* south of Mudgee.

You have to cross the line of rangea between the Turon and PyramiL and then the range between the Pyramü and the Maroo. Upon reaching the Louisa creak he looked for the miners in the bed of the creek as usual, but could see nothing of them until ho left his horses and climbed up the rocks to the table land at the head of tho creek, and there he found them hard at work.

Instead of digging deep into the bank and finding gold only in the stratum of day next the rock, the gold was found in an alluvial deposit from four to six inches thick laying upoa * bed of yellow greasy clay.

GOLD NEWS.THE WORLD’S END DIGGINGS. THE information from the World’s End is rather scanty as yet. The ground said to be so productive is a black alluvial soil, upon the Meroo Creek, about a quarter of a mile from the spot where the hundred weight of gold was discovered and is entirely free from rocks and stones of every description.

A chain of water holes, known by the aboriginal designation Gon dourra, supplies the miners with water for washing purposes, to which many of them have to convey the auriferous soil 200 to 300 yards. On Saturday last about 200 people had taken up their quarters there, and were many of them doing extremely well. The number has since increased to about 500, and arrivals by scores are daily occurring.

As usual, since the increase in the numbers, the fortunes of the miners are becoming more varied, and many are now said to be doing moderately well. There arc no well authenticated instances of success except that of Fitzpatrick’s party, who generally contrive to make the best of any new diggings which may be discovered. They procured 12 ounces in one day since their arrival, and others are men tioned as having been almost cquolly success ful.

A letter from a well-known gentleman addressed to a friend in town states that seve ral parties were making from six to twelve ounces per day. A number of blackfellows were obtaining gold in large quantities some where in the neighbourhood, which they ex changed with the pale faces for white money, at a very considerable profit to the latter. The great drawback to the place for the pre sent is the want of provisions and other neces saries.

Mr. Keele’s is the only store on the ground. One man gave 10s. for as much flour as would make a damper, and except from the Mudgee side, there was no prospect of a speedy supply, as the road from Bathurst thither is extremely rugged. Since the above was written, we have heard it reported in several quarters that many par ties are returning to their old diggings on the Turon, not having succeeded to the extent they anticipated.

TURON. In my recent prospecting tour, I was ac ompanied by my neighbour Shortill, of the Coach and Horses, who followed in my track for a few days, until, what with blisters and disappointment, he got sick at heart and re turned to the Cross-roads to console his cus tomers -with ramin:s:cnccs of the toils and drudgery by fljod and fi J.1 which ho had undergone at the Turon. What must be espe cially gratifying to him, will be to learn, that the “hole vacated by him to go a prospecting, has since been wovked by four men, who have procured their twelve ounces a-day. Satisfied with ti e “nducements of such a locality, I have secured the next claim to it.

Convenient to the place, Cook and his pariy of four made nearly £100 in one day. Ther good fortune has “been uninterrupted ever since their arrival. That many and very many people here are doing, some well and others exceedingly well, both on the Turon and its tr.butaries, it would be useless to deny ; but you may inform the readers of the Free Press that that the information given you by Mr. Dargin, which was published in a late paper, is quite correct.

There aro hundreds whose labour is not paying their expenses, and it would be cruel to hide this fact from the public. It is true this chango for the worse has not token place long, but it is high time you announced it, so as to give those who intend trying their fortunes at the Turon a fair opportunity of making their election.

The discovery of rich deposits on the Me roo Creek is causing a great ferment here. People are rushing there by hundreds, and a visible thinning of the digging population has taken place in some of the richest points of the Turon. The intelligence appears to have acted like magic upon the constitution of the miners, and reminds me of the midnight flit ! tings from the Wallaby Rocks to Golden J Point, when the lntter locality was first disco vered. Tents are struck by the dozen, and teams are leaving by the score, so that for a time at least I expect we shall have a little moro elbow-room.

A Mr. Davidson, late of Wellington, and party have been doing very well of late, and you will no doubt be surprised to learn the origin of their success. The spot where their golden earnings were procured was discovered by what you newspaper paragraph wrriters denominate a “serious accident,” but which, as the event showed, proved a lucky one. Whilst riding along the river Mr. Davidson’s horse stum bled, und threw his rider. The stone was displaced by the concu-sion, and the richness of the spot at once stood revealed. The party availed themselves of this accidental discovery, and I am respectably informed that Mr. Davidson’s share of the accident was £74 worth of gold, and a “burster.” Now that a regular Post Office is established the people at the diggings will no longer h«ve to complain about having to travel the rounds of half the stores on the Turon for their letters and papers. Mr. King, the Assistant Com missioner, is appointed Postmaster pro. tem., and the Post Office is held at his tent.

30 August 1851

OPHIR. All digging for gold is at an end here for sometime to come, heavy rain having come down for the last two days, and it is still raining heavily. The creek, which on Sunday was almost as low as the diggers could desire, is now covered with foaming waters, and all the late working holes are consequently filled and invisible …

Some few favoured spots on the slopes of the numerous bars may yet be worked at the expense of a thorough drenching ; but I fancy very few would venture to rock a cradle during the present unsettled weather. All is silent with the exception of the roaring of the water down the creek.

In anticipation of great things being done in the summer, Mr. Coomber, of Carcoar, is erecting a large and substantial slab house, for the accommodation of visitors and amateur miners, to which will be attached good stabling for their horses. Such a building is much required, as there is now no place for “prospecting” gentlemen to shake down and feed in, but at the hut of those who have located themselves here for a season as storekeepers, or gold purchasers ; and it comes veiy epe isive to these gen tlemen, who, to say the least of them, are ex ceedingly hospitable to respecable strangers.

A meid of tea, damper, and mutton, costs something more than it would do in Sydney. Since my last communication, several par tics have started for the Turon, nnd about as many have arrived here to fill their places. I have been credibly informed that many who left these diggings in hopes of doing a better stroke at the Turon, regret when too late, that they did not remain at their first chosen loca lity.

One or two, dissatisfied with their luck here, have gone to Frederick’s Valley, hoping to do better ; in other words, in the anticipa tion of procuring the precious metal in buckets ful, and without material labour. Such cha racters are doomed to be disappointed ; for to get gold you must work hard. The kid-gloved and Spanish-leather-booted gent will not make salt to his porridge or his damper.

In the course of a short time -we expect to have erected in the immediate vicinity of our quartz-veined hills, crushing machines, for which purposes several licenses have been taken out. There is l’ttle doubt but that the parties interested will derive considerable pro fit for their venture, provided the quartz gene rally should yield the same per-centage of gold as the parcel sent to Sydney for assay.

Mr. Assistant-Commissioner Green has com menced erecting a habitation near the junction of the Summer Hill and Lewis Ponds Creeks, where are also in course of erection quarters for the troopers and their families, and where will be erected the Police Office, lock-up, &c.; On the return of Mr. Green, last Friday, in company with Captain Batty, they proceeded up the Summerhill, and issued about eleven new licenses ; but two or three managed to shoulder their cradles and scamper up the ac clivities where they had been rocking, thus evading the payment of tho license for a sea son.

It is no easy mutter for a horseman to pursue these men, as in some places the moun tains are nearly perpendicular. Great complaints ure made of the early hour at which the mail hence for Sydney leaves on the morning after its arrival, sometimes late the previous evening, thereby preventing correspondents replying to their letters by return of post. It is thought, that to ensure the arrival of the mail in Bathurst in sufficient time for transit hence to Sydney, that eight o’clock in the morning would be quite early enough for it to leave Ophir. At present it starts at daybreak, and the office closes about nine on the previous evening. It must be admitted that the postmaster here is by no means disobliging, and that at any rea sonable hour, after the time of closing, he will not refuse to take in letters,-it is therefore to be lamented that he has determined to discon tinue the office. We may get a worse, or less obliging public servant. Certainly, the remu neration is by no means adequate to the duties, he being in the receipt of no more than £5 per annum. It is scarcely worth a man’s attention for so trumpery a salary, for he must be con stantly on the spot. The salary ought to he at least equal to that paid to the postmaster in the minor country towns, for his duties are quite as onerous as theirs.

In consequence of the price of gold in Sydney having fallen, some say Is. 6d. in the ounce, the precious metal here does not meet with ready purchasers for more than £3 -Is. per ounce, which considering the escort charge, &c;, is even more than a buyer con afford to give. I expect that next week few will bo found liberal enough to give more than three guineas.

The quantity of gold forwarded by the last escort, was trifling compared with the amount sent by that conveyance pre viously. This is to be accounted for by the fact that many parties prefer the risk of taking their collections to Bathurst, and disposing of it there, in the hope of making a few shillings more, not taking into consideration the expense of their journey, and time lost, when it might have been profitably employed at tho head of their cradles. No saving is effected by such procedure, as only one per cent, escort is charged, whether from Oplúr or Bathurst to Sydney. The escort is the only safe convey ance, nnd as it is supported at great expense, parties should not be “ penny-wise and pound foolish,” in risking the chance of being re lieved one fine morning by an armed band, of their hard-earned gold. It would appear that the Turonites are sadly off for provisions, for within the past few days Bevcral men have come to Ophir for provisions, and sold their gold in exchange at the rate of £3 4s.

There was a rumour in Sydney before 1 left that a mountain of gold had been discovered by Mr. Hargraves, and it is the opinion here that the secret has been discovered at a place some distance from the Turon, known as the World’s End, and that gold in large quantities was being discovered in a dismal spot, enti tled the “ Devil’s Hole.” I am obliged to close this short note as the postman waits.

17 September 1851

TURON. NEALE’S POINT, Yesterday evening Mr. Dawson the storekeeper on our point bought the nugget of gold found by Blackman as a specimen. It is something of the shape of a small pear, and weighed 8 oz. 14 dwts., with about an ounce of quartz mixed through it …

Mr. Dawson gave for it at the rate of £3 6s. an ounce, which I think was rather high. I understand that about three hundred persons have left the river yesterday and to-day. Some of the parties just below us are doing very well in the old bed of the river close up to the bank, one party of three made during the last four days upwards of ten ounces.

Firewood is getting very scarce with ns on this side of the river, and the diggers are ruthlessly cutting down the beautiful oaks with which the bed of the river is adorned. A great many horses are missing just now, and stragglers are every day getting impounded from the run on our side.

A person who stopped with me on Monday night, securely hobbled his horse and saw him late in the even ing, but the next morning nothing was to be seen of him, although three persons were look ing after him for about four hours, and he has not been heard of since.

Yesterday Mr. Com missioner Green took possession of a tent, and a quantity of spirits at Oakey Creek. It is as tonishing that people will persist in this ille gal trafic notwithstanding the repeated seizures that have taken place.

Prospecting parties are daily wending their way down the river, returning again in the evening. It appears to me that at least nine-tenths of the prospecting parties do not go the right way to work, for they generally content themselves with scratch ing a hole tlhree or four feet deep, and if they do not then find gold they shift to another spot. In most cases it requires a party of three to stick to a place for three or four days before they can give it a really fair trial.

In my rambles up the river I have noticed that mining is now carried on in a much more scientific and extensive manner than formerly. You will there see shafts sunk twenty-five or thirty feet deep; the basis of mountains bored to a similar depth -and tunnels cut into the ranges, some for a very considerable distance. By the end of next summer I have no doubt wo shall see the richest portions of the bed of the river, turned up to the bed rock, and also very extensive tunnels and cuttings at the bases of the moun tains and ranges, most of which are conjectured to contain very considerable deposits of gold.

The price of gold now on the river is conside rably on the decline, £3 2s. to, in some cases, £3 3D. per ounce being the highest price now obtainable here. Mr. Greer yesterday gave £150 for a claim on Lucky Point, and a party there was offered £10 per foot frontage, but re fused it.

At Monday Point £1200 was offered and refused for a claim ; but the diggings there are decidedly the richest as far as they have been worked, that have yet been disco vered on the river. On the bank of the range just beyond the Golden Point from here, several parties have been digging amongst the jutting rooks, and some have done astonish ingly well, Selling holes seems to be all the go just now; the next but two to me was sold to-day for £20, and a great many have changed hands within the last fortnight, at prices varying from £1 to £40.

29 September 1851

THE GOLD LICENSES. The sudden discovery of our extensive auriferous regions, and the rapid influx of population thither, bent on digging for gold, took the Government by surprise, and compelled the Executive to adopt some immediate tax for the purpose of meeting the increased expense occasioned by the discovery …

The appointment of a Gold Commissioner, with an assistant, at Ophir, and a proclamation levying apoll tax of thirty shillings a month upon every person engaged in gold digging, whether delver, carrier, or rocker, had hardly been brought into operation be fore the gold field at the Turon was dis covered, and a still more extensive emi gration was diverted to that quarter than had ever occupied the creeks at Summerhill.

The consequence of such migration was the requirement of a greater number of Assistant Com missioners to collect the monthly revenue, and increased protection to those engaged in digging. We are not going into the question of the qualifications of those who have been appointed to the gold district, whether as Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners, or Subordinate Officers. So also as we have no returns of the number of licenses which have been issued, or of the extra disburse ments occasioned by the discovery of gold around Bathurst, we are unable to i give anything like an approximation of I the balance of the funds in hand arising from the discovery.

But ive have been given to understand that with all the zeal and vigilance of the present staff of Collectors of Revenue the number of persons who take out “ licenses to dig” bear no proportion to the number actually work ing ; if this be the case, and we have been credibly informed that it is so, there is something radically wrong in the pre sent system of collection. We ha7c recently been informed by those who have traversed the Turon from one end of the diggings to the other, who have pioneered and prospected the creeks in its neighbourhood, who have ^ ¡sited the heights and the gullies, that the population there for the present month has been estimated as high as 16,000, and that the lowest estimate formed is 9000 persons.

If we assume that the latter estimate be about the cor rect number, what proportion does this bear to the licenses which have been taken out during the present month of September ? We have not official data to go upon, but it has been slated that tîie number of licenses which have been issued for the month of Sep tember does not amount to 6000.

Of course no one likes to pay tax-gatherers. There is the same aversion to paying the license to dig at the mines, as exists to paying the lax upon a horse or car riage at home. It cannot therefore be a matter of eurprtse that the appearance of the semi-military looking Commissioner with his subs and licenses should be the signal for leaving off digging, for appa rently prospecting in a well-worked hole, or shunning his presence, for being busily engaged in making clampers, for giving leg bail, or pretending to have just arrived on the Creek.

Such eva sions of and escapes from the tax daily and hourly occur, when the Commis sioner makes his circuit to obtain payment of the monthly revenue, and as the Commissioner is armed with no legal authority to do more than order a digger who declines to comply with his demand off the ground, an illegal system of cradle-breaking has been introduced, which the Commissioners can neither sanction by law or justice. Still it has happened that one, if not more, of the Commissioners have been guilty of this excess of duty, an excess not sanctioned by any powers which the Commissioners themselves possess.

Ihe Legislative Council, however, will shortly meet, and then something beyond Commissioners’ law must be made to pre vail at the Diggings A more effectual method of collecting the revenue might be easily accom plished. One method suggests itself. If for instance a tent or hut were placed every three miles along the workings, why should it not be made compulsory on the digger within the first seven days of each month to apply personally to the Commissioner for a license? and any person found digging without a license should be deemed guilty of felony, have his goods and chattels (including gold which he may have obtained) con fiscated, and the delinquent sent to gaol for any period not exceeding six months, and during his imprisonment kept to hard labour. A severe penalty, such as we have just mentioned, would prevent fraud, and produce’a considerable increase to the revenue. The machinery for the collection in the way we have suggested would be much less expensive than the costly and tedious way now adopted of the Commissioner visiting each digger separately.

And to save still fur ther trouble the digger should be com pelled to wear his fícense as a badge on his breast, so that after the first week when the licenses were issued, the Commissioner in making his rounds would, at a single glance, be able to detect the honest from the fraudulent digger. We have offered these suggestions be cause they are easy and practicable. Some amendment of the present system must be adopted, as nothing can be more unfair than that the digger who defrauds the Government, should be put on the same footing, and enjoy the same privi leges and protection, as the digger who is ready and willing to pay his monthly license.

4 October 1851

INFORMATION ABOUT THE MINES. In your leading article a few days ago, you stated upon what you seemed to consider good authority, that a very small proportion of the gold-diggers pay licenses, in spite of the exertions of the Gold Commissioners; but it is a most erroneous idea, though very generally entertained …

I have gone about among the diggers as much as most people, both as a digger and as a looker on, and I am satisfied that the proportion of regular miners who do not pay is very small indeed, not more than twenty per cent, at the very utmost. There are always a few among the workers at the regular diggings, such as Turon and Ophir, who bolt whenever the Commissioners appear, but they are scattered indivi duals, and bear no proportion whatever to the body of miners round them ; my wonder always was that there were any, for they must have lost much more in time than the value of thirty shillings, without counting the risk of having to pay at last, or get their cradle broken.

The Commissioner generally visits every part of the diggings twice or thrice a week, and the smuggler must be out of the way both when he goes and returns on these days, and often upon other days upon false alarms, so that a great deal of time is lost, not only to himself, but, as they always arrange so as to work into each others hands, to the whole party he belongs to. If even moderately successful and clearing say 20s. per man per day, they very soon lose 30s. worth of time, and must be very fond indeed of stolen waters to go to so much trouble and expense, for the sake of embezzling a miserable thirty shillings.

It is dishonest, and the great ma jority consider it so ; the license money is paid for value received, in the shape of gold, the property of the community, and it is just as mean and dishonest to take that gold without paying the legal fixed price for it, as it would be to steal thirty shillings worth of copper bolts from the Government dockyard. The men who evade the license are either miserable lazy crawlers, flash men, or people of such perverted morality, that they will value that thirty shillings at three pounds, just because it is stolen. Besides the saving of time, there is another strong inducement to pay, and that is the certainty of losing their claim if they do not.

Whenever ground is disco vered to be productive, there is a rush to it, and the Commissioner is called in to measure out so many feet to each licensed party, so that any one washing without a license is ousted instantly. A smuggler is always known to the neighbours by his running off when the Commissioner appears, and if the party he belongs to have any frontage on ac count of him, it is instantly applied for, so that the competition for claims is quite sufficient to compel payment of licenses enough to cover all the ground worked. There i no check, however, upon parties with licenses employ ing men without.

The only way would be either to deprive the whole party of their claim and their license, or to license the cra dles at say three men, or £4 10s. each, the names of the men being upon the license, and so much frontage allowed for each cradle, or for each man if there were more than three to the cradle paying license.

If the number of the license was painted upon the head end of the cradle, large enough to be read easily by the Commissioner as he walked past, it would obviate one of the great faults of the present system, which is the almost impossibility of remembering every man in a constantly fluc tuating crowd of some thousands, and the con sequent necessity of going up to every man and asking him every day to show his license. Your proposal that the miners should be compelled to come for their license is good ; but it would not get over the above difficulty, and your proposal that every digger should carry his license at his button-hole is impracticable.

If of paper it would be worn to pieces in no time, and if of tin or brass they would carry it for ever. Licensing the cradles appears to be the only preventive, without a very large increase of the number both of Assistant Com missioners and police. If the districts were made smaller, say four miles each, with a policeman patrolling every half mile, the whole of every day like the city police, so as to identify every man washing, and to pass so often that no man could both work and keep out of sight, smuggling might be wholly pre vented ; but it is utterly impossible by any amount of exertion to get every license under the present system. Many people have told me that they considered the appointment of the five Assistant Commissioners a job, and that there could not be half work for them all ; but so far from that being the case, there are not half enough ; they are, without exception, the hardest worked and worst paid people at the diggings.

From the first dawn of day till bed-time and after it, there is a constant suc cession of callers, some complaining of en croachment, and others asking leave to en croach, some asking for advice as to where they should begin, and others for direc tions to new diggings, and every other contingencies that can arise among such a heterogenous collection of human beings. Between an early breakfast and a late dinner, all disputes about claims (and their name is legion) must be settled, at the same time that the licenses must be collected and the whole diggings visited so often as to make evasion unprofitable, involving a walk of about twenty miles a day over rough ranges and a cut up river bed.

At night the common police busi ness has to be disposed of, bad characters are to be looked after, sly grog sellers hunted up, and gambling establishments pounced upon ; interesting occupations which keep them stumbling about over heaps and pitfalls all night sometimes. In the course of it all about £20,000 per week in small quantities of gold has to be received, weighed, registered, re ceipted, and reports and returns made about it, and everything else. And what is the pay for all this labour and trustworthiness? £250 per annum.

A moderately successful digger would scorn a pound a day for the bodily tear and wear ; a clerk in a mercantile house pas sing half as much money through his hands would receive double the pay, and the tact and judgment which they must exercise, acting as they do in perfectly new circumstances, with out either law or rule to guide them, would get them on in any line of life. So that instead of there being too many of them, many more must yet be appointed, and I suspect at double the pay. Character and ability have hitherto been almost valueless in New South Wales, because there was so much more than there was demand for ; but now the whole circumstances of;the colony are changed. In the days of sheep alone capital was everything, character nothing : you might for £70 per annum get a man fit to be entrusted with the management of the most extensive property. B

ut now capital will flow in in un limited quantities. To apply it to gold dig ging with any chance of success, will require men not only of ability, but of such undoubted integrity that they can be entrusted with un told gold to any extent. Capital will be no thing, the man everything ; and if Government expect to keep such men as gold Commis sioners must be for such a pittance £250 per annum, finding themselves in everything at miners’ prices, they will be grievously mis taken.

The most numerous evasions are by people who first open up some new “diggings” be yond the regular beat of the Commissioners ; but it can only be done for a very short time ; vague reports soon fly about among the dig gers, and they at once go for authentic infor mation to the Commissioners, who are always among the first to hear of any new field. The only way in which there can be extensive evasions is where parties of one or two cradles find a small de tached spot in some back gully, away from the regular diggings, but these can be very few and very poor, for if any one had any re markable success there would be an instant rush to the place, which would betray it. Murder will out and so will any great success among the miners; they must come to the stores for provisions and will talk ; like Hadji Baba with his hundred sequins in his ragged jacket, they cannot conceal the feelings of pride at their concealed riches.

4 October 1851

ADDITIONAL GOLD REGULATIONS. His Excellency the Governor-General has been pleased, with the advice of the Executive Council, to publish the following further provisional regulations for the search of gold …

1. Persons occupying portions of the gold field by erecting temporary buildings, tents, &c.;, and carrying on business in any way, shall pay a fee of thirty shillings monthly for the use of the land so occupied by them ; and they are required to pay the same on demand, and in advance, to the officer appointed to re eive payment of license fees.

Persons desirous of establishing claims to new and unoccupied ground by working in the ordinary method for alluvial gold, may have their claims marked out on the following scale, namely :

(1.) Fifteen feet frontage to either side of a river or main creek, to each person.

|2.) Twenty feet of the bed of a tributary to a river or main creek, to each person.

(3.) Sixty feet of the bed of a ravine or water course, to each person.

(4.) Twenty feet square of table land or river flats, to each person. Every such claim shall be voided by the failure on the part of the claimant to work the same within ten days after the date of its acceptance ; and persons found working on such or any other ground without having previously paid the

License Fee to the proper officer, shall pay double the amount for such License ; and in default be proceeded against in the usual manner.

3. The License fee for private lands will in future be one-half only of that payable for Crown lands.

4. Persons desirous of working Auriferous Quartz Veins may make application in writing to the Commissioner or Assistant Commis sioner of the Gold District, accurately describ ing the locality. Such application shall be immediately recorded by such officer in a book to be kept for that purpose, which shall be open at all reasonable times to the inspection of applicants.

In case no previous application shall have been made as above directed, and should there be no valid objection to the pro posal, the Commissioner shall notify to the applicant his acceptance of the same. The applicant shall then enter into a bond, binding himself and two or more sufficient sureties, to the satisfaction of the Government, jointly and severally, in the sum of two thousand pounds, to pay a Royalty of ten per cent, on all gold obtained from any part of the land within the limits of his claim, to an officer to be appointed for that purpose by the Government.

He shall further be bound to permit such officer to re side on the land in the neighbourhood of the works, at such spot as maybe assigned by the Commissioner, and also to give to such officer access at all reasonable times to the buildings or premises, and to all books and accounts connected with the production of gold ; also to give all necessary facilities for the collection of the Royalty daily or weekly as may be found most desirable.

6. All buildings, machinery, or other im provements, erected or made on the land, shall be considered as additional security for the due performance of the conditions of the bond.

6. The above claim shall consist of half a mile, of, and in the course of, the vein, with fifty yards reserved on each side of such vein for building and other purposes. The right of cutting and using timber for building purposes, or for firewood, from adjacent Crown lands, as well as access to neighbouring water, shall also be conceded.

The duration of the claim shall be three years, which shall however be extended for such further period as upon receipt of instructions from her Majesty’s Government may be determined upon, having due regard to the interests of the parties con cerned. At the expiration of the term of their holding, or on the sooner termination of their tenure by consent of the Government, the par ties shall have liberty to remove all buildings, machinery, or other improvements erected or made by them, and a reasonable time shall be allowed for that purpose ; provided always that, the conditions of the bond shall have been duly fulfilled.

7. A claim, such as the above, shall be for feited by the failure of the applicant to enter within a reasonable period into the required bond ;-by his neglecting to pay the prescribed royalty, at the time and in the manner re quired by the bond ; by his not employing at least twenty persons on such claim within six months of the acceptance of his application for the samc ; by his ceasing to employ that num ber of persons on the works for the period of one month thereafter;-by obstructing the officer in the proper performance of his duty, or in any other way violating the terms of the bond. Such vein shall then be open to selec tion by other parties.

8. Persons desirous of working auriferous quartz veins on their own lands, shall be subject to the terms of the above regulations, with the exception that the royalty payable on the gross production of gold shall be five per cent., and that they shall not be compelled to employ any specific number of persons, nor be liable to any penalty on their ceasing to work.

9. Persons desirous of draining ponds or waterholes may make application in the mode above stated, to the Commissioner or Assist-int Commissioner of the Gold District ; and shall be subject, in all respects, to the same regula tions, with the exception that in the place of payment of a royalty, the applicants shall bind themselves to employ not less than forty persons for such undertaking during the period of their occupation, and take out a license for every person so employed; and such claim shall be voided by the withdrawal of such number of persons from the work, unless in case-of interruption by flood or other unfore seen accident,

10. Where more than one application shall have been made for any pond or waterwole previously to tho publication of these regula tions, or shall hereafter be made on the same day, such pond or waterhole shall be put up to tender, the advance being on the existing rate of the license fee. And it will be understood that such advance shall be paid on any number of persons employed in addition to the forty above determined. The Commissioner or Assistant Commis sioner is empowered to make such temporary regulations as may be necessary to prevent in convenience to other licensed persons from the carrying on operations of the above nature.

21 October 1851

ABERCROMBIE: (also ARRALUEN: SHOALHAVEN.) EVERY day is adding to our population, and amongst those who are arriving are many long practised in the art of gold digging and washing …

We may therefore hope that operations will be carried on more systematically than I heretofore, and that the groat drawback to I success, namely-acquaintance with the modus . opcraiuli of gold seeking, will no longer exist, i During tho last eight days several parties from the Turon have visited us, and they all concur in the opinion which has already been ex pressed of the richness of these diggings.

As I yet Tar^hish is the favoured spot, but for what | reason I know not, as the upper parts of the j river present more favourable indications of] mineral wealth. At the confluence of the I main river with the Bolong,_somc parties have been working, and considering thoy are new hands, arc doing very well ; they never get less than half an ounce a day, and sometimes a great deal more.

An old Ophir hand rode past our camp the other day, having been further up the course of the river : he says h is satisfied that the diggings will be more pro_ fitable than any yet discovered, but does no1 anticipate that much good will bo done unt. a large body of men come to work on tlii ground, and that will not be the case until thee water fails at the Turon, which in all proba bility will be about Christmas.

He had with him two small nuggets, which he procured by picking up the earth close to a large body of rocks^ William Payne and party have been very successful, having got about seven ounces in eight days. Evana party have alao been making £1 a day each man ever since they have been here. Mr. Macdonald, a publican, living in your town, has just arrived, and in the first two hours washed half an ounce ; at the next hole a party got in the samo time no less than two ounces.

Mr. II. Wilson, alio from Goulburn, is hero with two hired men; he has only just set in to work, but in the hour or two he has been at it he got two small nuggets. I wish I could i induce some more of yuur Goulburn people to 1 come up here ; there is now an immense field open for them, from which to choose eligible spots, and by ascertaining valuable localities they would be able to make a mint of money by selling claims when the crowds from the Turon arrive ; and come here they muBt, in the course of a few weeks.

Provisions are very moderate. Mr. Browne keeps an assort ment of all necessary articles, and retails them out at prices at which no gold digger can grumble. I will write you again by next opportunity.

ARRALTJEN. The miners here aro doing as well as ever. none making less than 10s. a day, and the major part upwards of 20s. On Monday last, a party of five procured ten ounces, and another party, consisting of a similar number* twelve ounces ; others are doing equally well. Three gentlemen, residing in the vicinity of Braidwood, lately netted £3G worth in three days, but they could not stand the hard work, and therefore were obliged to abandon their diggings.

There are about one thousand per sons here, and, considering the great excite ment of the scene, they behave with wonderful decorum. Major Creek, October 15.-These diggings aro proving good. There are about 400 per sons hero at present, the number increasing fast. Any who are willing to work can do well here. Some are gathering as much as from £4 to £5 worth a day. Many of the cradles arc too narrow, the gold being very fine dust washes out of them. A man named Kelly died here very suddenly on Thursday last, leaving a wife and three children to lament their loss. A liberal subscription has been made for them.

Gold has been found in another creek near this, and some aro doing very well there. Appleby and his party aro still successful, I know a party who, in two hours on Saturday last, got 6 ounces from two cradles of earth. Walker and Lemon, £5 worth in the same time. On Monday, two little boys got two ounces in a short time ; there aro many others doing as well. Those who are not doing much are either too lazy to work or know not how. There aro about 100 diggers’ at Arraluen, between the upper and lower dig gings ; they are doing very well, and will do better as soon as the water lowers.

I expect you have heard of gold having been found in the township of Braidwood ; it was only a hoax played on the inhabitants by two well known gents, who contrived to put some of the Arraluen gold in the dishes when they were« washing the earth at the waterhole. It set the whole township mad for a while, till the trick was discovered. You might have seen old and young, tailors and shoemakers, march ing to the waterhole with tin dishes of earth, but the water soon cooled them. Mr. Com missioner Hardy arrived at the diggings to day with a party of police ; he will issuo licenses to the diggers.

THE SHOALHAVEN. All the parties working here have left for the Arraluen, with tho exception of Gale’s party, who are still digging and delving, but I cannot hear with what success. Although de serted, I cannot subscribe to the opinion that seems to be implied, that this is not a gold field. Time, however, will show. On Tuesday last, J. R. nardy, Esq., Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Gold District, Mr, Assistant Commissioner M’Lean, and Captain M’Lean (Principal Superinten dent of Convicts), with a posse of mounted po lice, passed through Marulan en route from Sydney to Braidwood. Mr. M’Lean is to bo stationed at the Arraluen diggings, with a po lice sergeant and a body of troopers. Licenses will be issued on the 1st of next month.

28 October 1851

GOULBURN. ESCORT REQUIRED. – Considerable inconvenience is felt by the diggers and others interested in the conveyance of gold, both from the Abercrombie and Arraluen diggings … to obviate which a meeting was held yesterday, at Mr. Mandleson’s, Goulburn Hotel. Mr. Moss Marks was called to the chair, who, in opening the meeting, said, that it had been called for the purpose of devising means for getting in the gold safely, both from Arra luen and the Abercrombie, and said, the best and only way would be to obtain a Govern ment Escort.

He had been informed that £1500 was in the hands of the diggers at the latter place, but which could not be brought in on account of the many bad characters infest ing the road. Mr. Marks also stated, that the diggers were finding their way up the river, in the direction of Goulburn, and had found gold from ten to twenty miles nearer this town than at Tarshish ; the diggings at the latter place may be nearer to Bathurst, but the road is extremely bad; if the Government would grant an escort once a fortnight from Arraluen and the Aber crombie, they would both meet here, and one escort from this to Sydney would suit both places.

Apart from the interest of desiring gold to be brought into this town, it is evident that if a convoy was granted it would be attended with much advantage to the diggers, who would consign their gold to parties here, without being obliged to leave their work at the field.

The opening up of the Abercrombie is only one of the very many gold fields which abound in the southern country ; he had no doubt but they would be found to exist both at Maneroo and the Murrumbidgee. – Mr. Com missioner Hardy was of opinion that Goul burn was well situated in reference to the de posits of our mineral wealth. He saw a gen tleman from the Arraluen diggings present, who he was convinced would give what infor mation he possessed in reference to them, as it was also desirable that a post should be esta blished between Goulburn and the Abercrom bie.

A great number of the diggers belonged to Goulburn, and for the convenience of both places he thought a post once a week ought to be established ; a private post was now run as far as Binda, and he observed that the Govern ment had put up land for sale in that township.

The time had come when a Government post should be put on to that place, and a very little expense would continue it to the diggings at the Abercrombie.-The gentleman re ferred to by Mr. Marks then came forward, and said that the diggings at the Arraluen were going on prosperously, and purchasers to any amount were on the ground, but had con siderable difficulty to contend with in trans mitting their purchases to Sydney.

He be lieved that the efforts now about to be made to obtain an escort would meet with a respond at Braidwood. The day before he left Braidwood a communication had been received from the Government respecting the transmission of gold through the post office as a sample, or banker’s parcel, which stated that this was a contravention of the post office regulations. The speaker said he had himself sent by the last mail to Sydney 79 lbs. of gold ; it was a great risk, and the necessity of an escort was self-evident.

He believed that £10,000 worth of gold had been sent down from the Arruluen diggings, but it had made very little figure in the commercial report, but he could name some of the parties to whom it was sent if ne cessary. £3000 worth had been sent to Mr. P. Hart, of Sydney; Mr. Wallace also took down £1000 worth with him. One Richardson had sent 17 ounces ; some parties had sent respectively 30 and 35 ounces, but no notice of these remittances were taken by the gentleman who makes up the report on gold ; he believed that about 100 lbs. had been sent to Sydney by the last mail. – Mr. S. Davis stated, that that day, a party from the Aber crombie had called at his establishment and sold him 19 ounces, and that those who had procured it at the diggings, from the existing insecurity, were carrying it about with them on their persons.

– Mr. Benjamin proposed, and Mr. S. Davis seconded the following resolu tion-” That the Government be petitioned to grant an escort for the protection of gold sent from the diggings at Arraleun and Abercrombie, once a fortnight,” which was carried unani mously. – Mr. D. Patterson proposed, and Mr. Ross seconded, “ That a memorial be presented to His Excellency the Governor, praying for the establishment of a postal communication between Goulburn and Abercrombie weekly.” Mr. Commissioner Lockhart proposed, and Mr. Riley seconded, “ That Mr. Marks and Mr. S. Davis draw up the necessary document for presentation.”

22 November 1851

GOULBURN. The success of the diggers at the several gold fields have been most encouraging ; we have it from good authority that Byrnes’ party of four, at Major’s Creek, (Braidwood diggings), got nine pounds weight of gold the first week …

Individual parties of four are getting two pounds per day. Martyn’s party are earning £5 per man, per day. Plumb’s party of four turned out thirty ounces per day ; in another case, a week’s work of five men obtained five pounds, being at the rate of £60 each, during that period. A woman and boy in Mr. Badgery’s employ, got sixteen ounces.

The Rev. Mr. Allan wishes it to be known that he preaches once a fortnight at each of the diggings, i.e.. Major’s Creek, and Bell’s Creek. New diggings have been dis covered, but the locale is not publicly known, a number, however, have left for the new place. The term, sly grog selling, is very in appropriate to the custom usually denomi nated so, at the Bell’s Creek diggings ; public grog selling is the more appropriate name. Two parties lately in the Queen’s pay are no-, torious for selling grog on Bell’s Creek.

Last Sabbath the half of those at that place were more or less intoxicated. Last Monday was spent more creditable to the diggers at Major’s Creek than were the two previous Mondays. It appears that drinks procured on Saturday, are consumed on Sunday and Monday. We hope the government will endeavour to put down so demoralizing a custom.

The in telligence from the Tuena diggings, (about sixty miles from Goulbourn,) is most astounding ; Douglas’s party of four got six and a half ounces out of one pint pot of debris, and that ‘was dug with a knife ; they got fourteen ounces the same day out of a two-quart can of debris, the total of one day’s digging was twenty-six ounces, and twenty-four next day, and the one subsequent twenty. It is said they cleared £400 in one week. Cramps’ party of four got eleven ounces on Monday last ; Evans offered them £50 for their claim and was refused. Stevenson’s party of three got ten ounces on Monday last ; all the holes were opened in one day.

Some are getting two and three ounces per day, some as high as five ounces and up to that just noticed. The road is excellent to that place from Goulburn ; it is the same road as was taken by some in going to the Turon. It is heavy coarse gold that is obtained at Tuena. One ounce of the precious metal has been brought in this evening from Turl Turl, by Dr. McKenzie of that place, which is the first specimen from that locality. Since our last report, Mr. S. Davis, has purchased sixty-six and a half ounces ; Messrs. Benjamin and Moses have purchased forty eight ounces from Tuena, and thirty-seven ounces from Braidwood, and one ounce from Turl Turl ; Mr. Emanuel one hundred ounces.

M’Collins, fifty-four ounces. The govern ment are very tardy in their arrange ments in reference to the escort for the southern mail. Are they waiting till some villanous transaction takes place ? We have been requested to state, in reference to the paragraph headed “ bushranging,” in your issue of the 14th, wherein it is reported, on the faith of a writer at Braidwood, “ that it was believed at Bungonia that there were fifteen bushrangers on the road between Bun gonia and the diggings at Braidwood,” that our chief constable has endeavoured to come at the truth of the report, and he states that there is no truth in the statement as far as he can learn.

22 November 1851

GOLD CIRCULARS. THE most Important piece of intelligence this week is the discovery at Louisa Creek, of a specimen of gold in quartz, weighing 27 lbs …

It is said to be almost pure, and while in the hands of Mr. Com. inlsBloner Bowman 1100!. was offcredand refused for it

We are not in possession of full particulars at present, out there Is sufficient evidence to justify an announce ‘tnent of the fact. No doubt next week will give occu lor demonstration of its truth.

Several new spots have been opened out since our last, and scarcely a dey passes without producing some .thing fresh in the shapo of neu- diggingt.

At Tuena Creek, which rises about twenty miles to the southward of the Abercrombie, and empties itself into that «iver, very rich deposits have been brought to light. ‘A considerable number of men were on the ground last “week, and the Commissioner had issued ISO licenses.

A party of three procured C2 ounces in three days, within two feet of tho surface one bucket of, earth yielding 6 ounces ; another Ïtarty obtained 163 ounces out of a hole about five feet one; and three feet deep.

We have already received Tuon a gold in Sydney, and a largo quantity is expected ¿n a few days; there is no doubt the place will be crowded with miners as soon as it becomes generally known. Letters are’also In town from respectable par. ties, station the discovery of a (told mino within 8¿ miles of Albury, on the read to Melbourne, and about 330 miles from Sydney; a sp’elmon of the gold, nblch .Was obtained only n foot below the surface, was placed in tho hinds of a cb.’mist yesterday morning to ascer tain ita purity.

In addition to this news from tbe Southward, we have letters from Armidale, in the New Enuland district, and from Mon ton Bay on t Wide B.iy, reporting the exist’nee of gold to the Northwnrl: in. deed, th> re ran now ho little doubt that the whole co. lony is one vast gold Held, and that Australia will In fu ture be considered the brightest jewel in herMaj-sly’s Crown.

The news from Braidwood is moro encouraging than ever. All are doing well; mid mtny are doing won ders. Two gontlemen last week purchased at the dig gings, and touk into Goulburn over ll’M) ounces of the precious metal ; and the quantity coining into town every dny Is proof positive of the richness of these dig. gtmrs.

The Government have advertised their intention of providing an escort to leave Braidwood on the 27th of this month, and if not a regular, there will be an occasional one, for the safe conveyance of gold to Sydney.

At the Turon a meeting of the miners 1ms been held, anda petition adopted to tho Legislative Council, pray« Ing for an alteration of the entire mining regulations, particularly with respect to the licenses. It would be «eil for the Council to adopt such measures as may oeem advisable, so as to strengthen the hands of Government before the present session closes. It is a very important and delicate ques tion to handle, and will require all the talent that can be brought to bear upon it.

A very large body of men wilt be congregated upon these mines before our Legislature is again assembled, and the most effectual means of controlling them will be by the adoption of such regulations as no sensible man can honestly object to. Let the

Legislature and the Government gain the confidence of the people by the wisdom and prudence of their measures, and a power will exist more thin sufficient to quell any trifling dis. turbanre that may arise Ironi the grumblings of disap pointed and unreasonnble men. A large bog of nuggets has arrived from Northwood’* party st Ophir, and miy now be seen at the Waterloo Warehouse, some of them are very beautiful and well worth Inspection.

At Victoria tho last escort had not wrought down so much as the previous one. but from the quantity pur. Cbascdin Mnlbourneand Geelong, itwasevident thatthe miners sent large portions of their gold down by private hands. The price had risen, lu eonsequenco of the operation of Sydney buyers. . Hr. Martin’s motion for the establishment of an Assay Office in Sidney wis before the House on Tues day last, but as this Circular has already extended too for, the remarks which were intended must be deferred tUi next week.

An amendment was carried appointing a Committee of Enquiry. The Escort brought down-from Ophir 464 ounces, the Turon 3714 ounces, and Bathurst SU ounces; and the Post-from Braidwood 1059 ounces, Bathurst J 818 ounces. Wellington 30 ounces, Mudgee 20 ounces, ‘ Goulburn 78 ounces, Queanbeyan 24 ounces. We also know of 14(111 ounces that came in from Braidwood by private hand-making in all this week 76il ounces, Worth about £.4,768.

18 December 1851

GOLD CIRCULARS. The intelligence from Victoria by yesterday’s overland mail is of so astounding a character that our pen refuses to write upon any other subject; the escort in that colony brought into Melbourne last week 23,000 ounces …

Such unprece dented success Is enough-tp startle reasonable man out of their propriety ; and’ yet there ara instances’ of failure even at Victoria. Gold digging is an occupation that doe» not suit ali alike, and it is unquestionably tbo greatest lottery that ever presented itself.

It might appear at first sight that Victoria haa com pletely outstripped this colony lu ihe yield of her mines, but such is not the case, when we consider that with little over 151)0 working hands our owu Turon is sending to market weaily 4000 ounces, while ia our sister colony the cities are almost deserted, and almost every man, woman, and child is tit tbo diggings.

We are quito willing to give Victoria the credit that she deserves, and we rejoice in her success, and wish her still greater-but “matt a wee,” our beds aro covered with water and we cannot work them, and we are informed that the great explorer is in town with intclligeuoe that the Government is afraid to pub lieh.

Albury and several other places are giving indi cations of richness, and we may yet stumble upon a Ballarat or Alexander. The escort this week brought in from Turon, 3859 ounces; Ophir, 3ÛU ounces; Butliurst, 282 ounces; Merro, 557 ounces ; and the post from Braidwood, 1164 ounces; Bathurst 217 ounces; Turon, 1329 ounces; Mudgee, 29 ounces ; Queanbeyan, 21 ounces, and Wel lington, 12 ounces; in all, 7782 ounces In value about .£25,291 IDs. The escort from Braidwood also, and the mail, brought in about 9(10 ounces, making In nil ¿30,000 for the weok. ‘The price has fallen slnco our last to 61s 6d, and is at prêtent stationary at that figure. Total gold shipped to this date,£329,797 16s 3d. Exchange on London-Drafts against gold, 6 per cent. Freight, one-half per cent.

27 December 1851

AUSTRALIAN GOLD. (From the Times, London September 2.) Gold is likely to prove a drug in the market. There has been a fresh discovery of this precious metal in New South Wales. Advices recently received from Sydney inform us that gold has been discovered in large quantities at Bathurst, 150 miles from that place …

It does not appear that the report has been set afloat in any loose and unsatisfactory manner. The news came with all the confirmation it can re ceive from the seat of government. Inspectors, Corporation, and magistrates and leading personages in the colony.

We are told that such was the credit attached to the rumour upon the spot, that people of all callings and denominations had abandoned their usual busi ness, and hurried off to the gold districts of Bathurst. Both sexes, all ages, and all profes sions^ had become confounded in the universal appetite for gold. The blacksmiths could not furnish picks fast enough, to supply the capti vity or eagerness of the adventurers*.

The gra vest personages wcie to bo seen trotting to the scene of action, their saddle bows laden with domestic implements which might, upon an emergency, be made to serve as mining instru ments, wash-hand basins, cullenders, tin pots, garden hoes -whatever, in short, came first to hand, was converted into a rough machine for turning up the soil, or sifting the same, which might be supposed to contain the precious dust.

Whatever of exaggeration there may be in the thousand rumours that were flying about, there can bo no doubt as to the impressions and feel ing in the colony itself. A blanket, a “ dam per,” and a pick axe, were reckoned an ample outfit for the future Millionaire.

All the usual avocations of the colonists had been entirely deserted in consequenco of the universal and all-absorbing thirst for gold. The question naturally arises, what degree of credit can we, living in England, attach to a report which is Ukely to exercise so important an influence Upon the destinies of mankind ?

We knew even before that the soil of Australia was teeming with mineral treasures of every kind. There is not a priori improbability in such a discovery. On the contrary, we should be led to expect, where other metals were found in so great abundance, that gold and silver formed no exception to the general rule.

When we come to look for positive evidence, .wo find it stated that the son of Mr. Neal, a brewer, had picked up in the Bathurst district, a piece of gold weighing «leven ounces, which he had disposed of for £60. An old man had found several pieces in masses, the united weight of which amounted to two or three pounds._ The manager of the Union Bank of Australia, no mean authority, one should sup pose, had met with a success similar in kind, although less in degree. He too had picked up some fragments of the precious metal, and the few handfuls of loose earth he brought back with hira from the scene of action had been properly manipulated, and from them a piece of gold had bden extracted, about the size of a pea.

The strongest testimony remains behind ; .in a case of such importance we need offer no apology for copying here the exact words of our intelligence:-”On Wednesday morning last Mr. Hargraves, accompanied by Mr. Stutch bury, the Government geologist, went to the diggings, and with his own hands washed a pan of earth in his presence, from which twenty-one grains of pure gold tccre produced. He afterwards washed several baskets of earth and produced gold therefrom. Mr. Stutch bury thereupon expressed his satisfaction, and immediately furnished him with creden tials, Avhich have since been forwarded to Go vernment.” However small the credit we might bo dis posed to attach to any mere popular impulse, it is undeniable that in the present instance the frenzy of the colonists has not been without some foundation, in sober reason.

It is all very well for us, sitting here in judgment upon the impulses of our antipodes, to hear such a report as this witli suspicion, let us ask what our own behaviour would have been, had the leading geologists in the mother country certified that scarcely below the surface of the Welsh moun tains, lumps of fine gold were to be had at no greater cost of labour than is involved in scratching the soil, and sitting the surface earth in our own basins ?

Ere a week had elapsed, what would have become of a large per-centage from two and half million inhabi tants of London? The wisest and most cau tious amongst us would suddenly have disco vered that the mountain air of Wales was pe culiarly grateful to the human -constitution. Some of us in first class carriages, some in second, some in no carriages at all, we should all have made our way to the scene of action, and endeavoured to moke our fortunes at one bold stroke.

There is no inherent improbability in the re port. It comes to us confirmed by the strongest positive testimony, Australia may yet put California to shame. It is said that from the mountain ranges to an indefinite extent in the interior, the region named is one vast gold field. If the expectations of the discoverers should prove true, and the tract of country in the neighbourhood of Bathurst produce the ox- ¡ pected crop of bullion, the exchanges will ero long be seriously affected, and all the commer cial transactions of mankind respond to the de preciation in the price of Gold.

We know but of one consideration which might, to a certain degree, affect the credibility of the report. For the last sixty years, if we arc not mistaken, the tract in question has been wandered over by the’ colonists and their conriot servants ; but .until the present moment not a syllable has ever been breathed of the neighbourhood of Bathurstas’a gold produc ing region. The ignorance of the settlers and their do mestics may, however, bo accepted as n sulrl ‘ cient counterpoise against this drawback ; and in the face of positive testimony we do not i know that it should be permitted to turn the balance.

Everything must have a beginning, and it would be hard to say that the value of the Mexican or Californian mines has boen ushered into notoriety under fairer aus pices. There .is, however, one thing to be guarded against, the discovery of this Australian gold field is the commence ment of a popular delusion. It must be remembered that under the most favourable circumstances a very small proportion of the adventurers will reap fame or fortune as the result of their enterprise.

Almost certain dis appointment, if not misery and death, awaits the great bulk of the actual adventurers. As far as mere speculators aro concerned, before this report has assumed a definite commercial shape, wc solemnly bid them to remember the experience of their predecessors, in the South American mines, about a quarter of a century ago.. Somo few men will make large fortunes ; the great bulk of the adventurers will lose their time and probably their lives in the pur suit of a sudden transition of fortune.

Mining operations pre-eminently require skill and ex perience; without these indispensable qualifi cations, for one prize there are ninety-nine blanks. These warnings apart, it is impossible to regard the discovery of so vast an amount j of gold in Australia otherwise than as one of ‘ the most important events of our time. It] would seem to be established as a law of ¡ modern development that when it becomes necessary that.a race or people must be spread, the soil to which they should be tempted is baited with gold. The impulses that bind men to their native country are powerful, but can not resist the glitter of actual gold thrown broadcast upon the surface of the earth.