What sets the Wentworth gold field apart from all the other major NSW gold mining sites is the fact that it was located on private land.

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. Wentworth’s 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 Government.

The privilege 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. Gloomy subjects are as much my abhorrence as gloomy days, and seem to impart a similar feeling, that is, ne*er scowling without leaving their likeness for company. Shadows in their way are also very fine sub jects for contemplation, to those who are fond of them ; but I hope it will be the sunny side of pictures we will have here for future consi deration, general good, and satisfaction.

It is a law in nature, that the mind can not bear more than a certain amount of pleasure or pain, an exaggeration of either may be productive of serious conse quences ; and to bear out the truth of this assertion, too many instances have occurred where the sudden accession of wealth has been followed by dissipation and death ; the reverse also with a similar result. Sombre subjects have never been my relish, but when in the course of my remarks I feel it my duty to make them, I do so for public good. The gold field has and will have a fatal fallacy with it; and like the serpent basking in the flower-bed, carries danger with it, and is not the less venomous from the beauty which enshrouds it.

I merely throw out the foregoing remarks that men doing anything like a good business in their usual accustomed pursuits, will not be allured from them by the hope of gain, which is, at the best, both visionary and uncertain. If a run is made by parties indiscriminately to the gold fields, ruin and destruction is sure to be the inevitable consequences to the now many comfortable , and affluent settlers. The Revision Court will take place on the 20th, and not on the 18th, as I had previously -stated. A. Kerr, Esq., of Welwood, and Dr. Bell, have been appointed assessors to assist m the revision of the lists. For the last two days the weather has been rather fine, though with a clouded appearance; and several times to-day we seemed threat ened with a thunder shower. The district constable yesterday made a seizure of two kegs of spirits, intended, I believe, for sly’ grog selling.

22 August 1855

The Wentworth Goldfield Company lately threw open their property at Frederick’s Valley to the public, upon apparently liberal terms; but although many miners went to the spot, very few of them ever commenced work, either from not fancying the Company’s regulations, or from want of confidence in the probable yield of gold.

5 October 1855

FREDERICK’S VALLEY.

A promising vein of apparently decomposed quarts with gold in situ, wss discovered last month on the land of the Wentworth Gold Fields, out of which I have been informed 80 ounces of gold were extracted in a few hours. It is intended, I believe, to sink shafts at intervals on the supposed course of the vein, and, if it continue as at first discovered, to work with ma- chinery.

Of the future prospects of the gold-fields in this district, I still believe that we have every reason to be sanguine. Taking the escort returns as the basis of my assumptions, although they are undoubtedly very fallacious means of estimating the yield of gold, it appears that a certain, nearly regular, number of men continue to produce, week by week, for more than twelve months, a nearly equally regular amount of gold.

A comparison of the licenses issued, and the escort returns of gold pro- duced will pretty well prove this; and I think it only fair to deduce from this comparison, that a larger number of workers would increase the yield in an equally average proportion. T

he escort invoice, however, does not give a correct idea of the quantity of gold produced, for many buyers send their purchases down by private hand. The rate on the field so nearly reaches the Sydney selling price, that even the eight pence per ounce escort fee has become of importance to the regular gold buyer; and, if an allowance be made for the quantity thus sent privately, in addition to that forwarded by the escort, I am convinced that the average weekly return for each digger would amount to one ounce per man.

The extent of our gold fields is also such, that, until a very much larger number of diggers be employed upon them, they will never be properly prospected. The known fields are already more than sufficient for the miners, and there is therefore but little inducement for prospecting in new localities.

Gold digging has thus become a more settled occupation in this district, and the residents on the gold fields pay more attention to their comfort now, than they formerly did. The population gene- rally is well behaved and orderly, whilst the license fee is collected with but little difficulty, and the amount of crime is wonderfully small.

Although much has been said and written on the prevalence of drinking on the Gold Fields, I do not believe that there is more indulgence in that vice amongst the diggers as a body, than would be found to exist amongst other classes of labouring men in the towns of the colony. The number of drunkards seen on the Gold Fields may appear large when compared with those in the towns, but it must be remembered that the population of a gold field is essentially an adult one, and that a town producing the same number of men, would afford a total of five or six times as many inhabitants.

The prices of provisions on the gold fields are moderate, and a miner can live very well for about fifteen shil- lings a week. The price of labour still rules very high, wages being from £2 10s. to £3 per week with-Fix this text out rations.

26 July 1859

Ascending the broad ridge to the right of the mill, auriferous indications become perceptible; the surface is composed of the debris of a calcarious ferruginous schist, and at a mile’s distance, on the slopes falling into the basin of the creek, you find the works of the Wentworth Gold Mining Company.

There is here a fine steam-engine of thirty-horse-power, with a complete crushing machine, and several huts for the accomodation of the workmen, and a neat shingled residence, which is occupied by the manager. The works are not now in operation, and I wandered over the premises in solitude.

A partially decomposed quartz reef crosses the brow of the ridge, which has been opened for about 200 feet, and the investing schist appears to con- tain an unusual proportion of carbonate of lime, and are perishable in the extreme.

Fragments of this rock that seems to have been exposed for two or three years exhibit some very beautiful examples of the net- work of silicious veins by which they are intersected. the softer rock having entirely disappeared.

Immediately below the reef a large quantity of gold was obtained by ordinary diggers prior to the withdrawal of the licenses, and the establishment of the company.

The sinking was through a quartose debris, to a depth varying from three to six feet, when a hard trappean rock was discovered presenting the appearance of having been abraded and waterworn, as if a powerful stream had passed over it at some remote period.

All those who were fortunate enough to obtain claims here were eminently successful. The operations of the company appear to have been confined to three deep shafts now full of water, by which they seem to have penetrated the trap rock to a great depth, passing through veins of black iron flint, and under the trap they have come upon the schists, inter- mixed with carbonate of lime, that has probably filtered through fissures in the superstrata; their tunnels have been driven toward the creek, distant about a quarter of a mile; and these tunnels may have crossed many leaders similar in character to that at Burrendong, as I observed mullock attached to fragments of half de- composed quartz in some heaps of wash dirt.

It is not probable that at the great depth to which they have penetrated large accumulations of drift gold will be found. as at Ballarat and other places.

The overflow of trappean rocks which extended from the Canoblas to this valley was the result of a submarine eruption, as is evident from the superstrata of lime and ironstone which prevails in the district; those fluviatile accumulations that might reasonably be looked for in a country overwhelmed by a subaerial eruption cannot, therefore exist; but if the course of a subterranean current below the trap, and causing quartiferous schists from east to west, or west to east, could be discovered, it is pro- bable that gold would be obtained in abundance. Opposite to the Wentworth Company’s works is a small round hill, on which a fine reef shows itself; the surface indications are auriferous. Gold has also been obtained on the northern bank of the creek, and as you proceed towards Orange spots have been ex- posed by denudation where the digger might set to work with advantage; but all this district is the pro- perty of individuals, who will naturally object to have their lands disfigured and rendered dangerous to their stock.

21 May 1864

At the Wentworth mines, near Orange, things are materially improving, even on the promising prospects held out by previous reports.

The number of claims that had sunk on to payable gold have increased from four or five to seven or eight, whilst the old claims that have been paying richly during the last nine or ten monthB still continue to turn out as much gold as ever, without any sign ef exhaustion.

The quantity of stone crushed by the Phoenix Company during the fortnight ending May 10th was as follows;-”The Persever- ance, 90 tons of dirt, realised 378 ozs. of gold, being an average of 4 ozs. 4 dwts to the ton ; Crinoline, 20 tons of dirt, gave 77 ozs., or at the rate of 3 ozs. 17 awts to the ton ; Spicer’s 25 tons of dirt produced 229 ozs. of gold, being 9 ozs. 3 dwts, to the ton ; Happy go-Lucky had 21 tons of dirt crushed, but it was not quite washed out ; it is expected to give about 1 lb. weight of gold

The actual amount of gold realised from the ton of quartz taken from the new reef dis- covered near Mr. W. Dale’s residence was 1 ot. 3 dwts.

The Industry Rewarded seems to have been named ia a lucky hour ; a prospect got on Thursday is expected to yield about 3 lbs. to the tub. After being pro- nounced a duffer times out of number, Nome’s claim at last has established its right to the name given to it, the Golden Gate ; a prospect was washed this week which gave 70 ozs. to three buckets of stuff.

In Stewart’s they are raising some fine dirt, which looks capital in the paddock. A small quantity of stone got directly from “the lode was thickly veined through and through, and studded over with minute specs of gold ; it was a most beauti- ful specimen, and perhaps the richest piece of stone yet got upon the Wentworth,

This week they ob- tained a prospect of about twenty-four ounces to the tub. The copper claim at the extreme eastern end is still being worked ; they are down 114 feet, and have put in a drive about ninety feet in a northerly direction.

This claim is most interesting, in a geological point of view, from the many strata cut, and which, from their variety, would indicate the presence of almost any mineral. Copper and iron have been already obtained; but gold, although the indications ore good, seems as far off as ever.”

21 December 1864

From the Wentworth mines at Lucknow we learn that gold has been struck on the new alluvial diggings on the Chapel Hill; only a small indication was at first discernible, but on bottoming the shaft (now upwards of 100 feet down), the prospects are considered quite satisfactory.

In the Greek’s block claim, to the east- ward of Chapel Hill claim, they have already driven 150 feet in a westerly direction and are getting excel- lent stuff. This alluvial lead will effect a very beneficial change, as there ia greater certainty of procuring gold than in the old sinkings.

Many have registered for claims,! and nearly half a mile is’already taken up, but until the ground is properly marked out they will not set on to open it up. The Golden Point have dropped onto rich stuff.

A sample of conglomerated quartz-stone has been exhibited by the proprietors, of remarkable richness-streaks of the precious metal are apparent throughout-indicating a lode of extra- ordinary richness ; the shaft now being paddocked is very lieh, and likely to produce when crushed seme sixty or seventy ounces to the load. On the whole, things have a cheering aspect, and the diggers are very sanguine of the future.

Some new ground ia being purchased about half-way between here and Orange. Gold, it is said, has been found on the surface, but not in any large quantity. A shaft is norn being sunk with a view of testing the ground. Ä telegram from Tambaroora informs,us that forty five tons of quartz from the Perseverance claim, John sen’s Reef, have realised, when crushed, an average of two ounces of gold to the ton.

6 September 1865

Of these, the most important is the Wentworth gold-field, Lucknow, although it is on private land. The workings hitherto carried on have been on the side of hills rising up from the western edge of the Fredericks Valley.

This valley is bounded on either side by fine bold hills, and is cultivated very nearly continuously throughout its whole length; the work of the ploughman extentling in many cases up the sides of the hills, until they become too precipitous to allow of tillage.

The creek that runs through the valley joins itself to the Summerhill Creek close to Luck- now, being joined afterwards by the Blackman’s Swamp Cicek, running through Orange, and subse- quently by other tributaries, until it becomes the beautiful stream of water that washes the base of the lofty mountains of Ophir.

On the western side of the valley the hills are not so steep as on its eastern border, but rise up from the plain below more gradually, and reach to a less elevation.

It is here then, as I said before, that the diggings are estab- lished. This land was proved to be auriferous many years back, in fact almost immediately after the discovery of Ophir.

The yield from the trial shaft was so satisfactory that the land was purchased by an English company – the Wentworth Gold Mining Company.

‘ The work was carried on by a manager, but somehow it gradually languished, until the land fell into the hands of the present owner, who, instead of working it privately, took the wiser course of throwing it open to the public.

The main road from Bathurst to Orange passes along the foot of the ridge upon which the line of claims is marked ; and border- ing the road on either side is the town, such as we always see springing up, no matter how out of the way the spot may be, wherever a body of diggers is assembled. At the back, or westward of the township, and not fifty yards from the line of houses, is the rich lode of gold that has turned out so hand- somely.

I use the term lode, because there is no other that is applicable to it. It is not found in narrow veins or gutters, nor mixed up with earth dirt, or flood , debris, as in alluvial sinkings, for although some may be washed out, by far the greater portion is found in ; the stones that form the greater part of the deposit, not in veins through the stone as is seen in quartz reefs, but forming a component part of the iron stone, and so intimately blended with it that break a stone in as small pieces as you will, you will always see the gold through the m0st minute of the fragments.

In many instances it has the appearance of being smeared upon the stone, and you could almost fancy that a person with very fine gold, or gold beater’s metal, had drawn his finger over, and left his mark upon it, and it is only when you try to wash or rub it off, that you find it is really an integral part of the stone.

These stones, with the accompanying wash dirt, of which they form the most valuable portion, are found at a depth of from 120 to 140 feet from the surface, lying between two vast rocks, in a reft or dyke that separates them. It is of course broader or narrower as this reft widens or contracts. Into this main lode many small but rich tributary leaders are found to descend, sometimes coming down from the very surface of the ground, and hav- ing their inceptions actually in the roots of the grass ; sometimes commencing at different depths, but all finding their way after many turns and doubles into the main lode. Some very curious cases have occurred, in which men in sinking their shaft have actually cut through a very rich auriferous leader without noticing it, on account of its proximity to the surface. As an instance of this I may mention that the Shamrock claim holders sunk their shaft to a depth of between 120 and 130 feet, fighting hard and work- ing night and day to keep down the water that came in on them on their getting a little below the 100 feet. Ultimately the water got the best of them and they had to give in. Worik was given up, and the shaft was about to be abandoned until pumping machinery was procurable, when accidentally a rich leader almost on the surface, was found, and the party have had profitable employment for the last three months. There is a precisely similar instance in the case of the Golden Point claim which I shall have to allude to further on. These leaders are very numerous as well as very rich, and, commencing as they do at different depths, enable the miners to make their work remune- rative whenever, as in the absence of machinery is often the case, the water, at the great depth to which they have to go, gets the best of them. The wash dirt is of a very coarse character, and utterly unlike any wash that I have ever before seen, although it greatly resembles the descrip- tion given to me of the auriferous deposit hit upon in the Rise and Shine claim at Forbes. The gold-bearing stones, or ironstone clinkers, as the miners term them, and mixed up with some few quartz and other pebbles all very much water-worn, are headed in a rich dark chocolate-coloured alluvium. The clinkers vary in size from the ordinary gravel pebbles to the largeness of a man’s fist, and are all richly studded with gold throughout. The alluvium contains only a very small proportion of the gold that is returned, whilst the most minute of the pebbles is rich with the valuable metal. Thus the whole of the stuff is sent to the crushing-mill, and dirt and stones are promiscuously passed under the stampers, re- turning yields that in some cases seem almost to be fabulous. From the description I have given of the gold-smeared appearance of the stones, you can fancy that the gold is very fine, and as it could only be saved hy means of quicksilver, there is this object gained in passing it through the stampers. The stones themselves, however, are often so small, or so thinly mixed with the alluvium, that to enable the stampers so do their work properly, large quantities of rough quartz, often as much as the washing-stuff itself, have to be mixed with it. The first shaft put down was on what is now the Phecnix or Engine claim, but from the pros- pectors being unacquainted with the pecu- liar nature of the deposit, and from their looking for alluvial rather than lode gold, the claim, as I said before, gradually languished, and little or no good was done. The property then changed hands, and for some time little but surfacing was done, until in 1863 the Perseverance party, whilst sluicing the side of the hill for surface gold, struck one of the minor leaders I have referred to, and followed it down to the lode. A large number of claims were now taken up along the line of the lode, and a most singular circumstance in connection with the lode is that the line of shafts that have struck the lode, and every one put down has done so, is perfectly straight, and running from north to south. Soon after the Perseverance had got upon the lode, the Homeward Bound, about one hundred yards distant, and in a straight line from the original shaft, also hit it. This gave so much encouragement, that shaft after shaft was put down with varying individual success, but returning in the aggregate an immense mass of gold. I perhaps better understand the position of the field if I allude to each claim in the succession in which it comes. Commencing at the north end, the firrst claim on the gold is the Happy-go-Lucky, although there is a prospecting claim beyond this on the summit of the hill. No 2 is the Phonix, or Engine claim, pre- viously referred to. It has been very rich, but just now is water-logged, not having been worked for some time past. No. 3, Kinghorn’s, never got upon the gold in any quantity, and is now given up. No.4, the Sawyer’s, has also been given up. It was a very rich claim, and is celebrated for having on one occa- sion given 5 lbs. weight of gold to a bucketful of stuff. However, the leader that had been such a mine to the shareholder suddenly closed on tkem, and they had not the fund s necessary for opening the rock and fol- lowing it down. No. 5, the Industry, has been a very good claim throughout, and their last crushing gave 800 oz. to about twenty loads of dirt. It is still working and promises further dividends, from the leaders that are being struck in the shallow ground. Between the Homeward Bound and the Engine claim, the whole of the claims, No. 5 included, are unable to work at their lowest levels on account of the large quantity of water that comes in on them, and which it has been found impossible to beat without machinery. Thus, such of the claims from No. 2 to Ne. 12 as keep on working, are engaged in looking for the leaders before alluded to, in the ground above the water level. No. 6, the Hard to Find, was very cor- rectly named by the shareholders, for they never got gold in any quantity, not even to a payable extent. No. 7, the Perseverance, has been a good payable claim from the time of its being first opened. It is still working. No. 8, the Uncle Tom, has been an excellent claim, and has turned out a very large amount of gold. It has been frequently troubled with the ingress of water, being the lowest claim in the dip of two shoulders of the main ridge, and procured an engine to keep the water down. The engine, however, was only of 6-horse power, and was too small to make any impression upon the-underground stream. The shareholders are now in treaty with the proprietor of the ground for the employment of a large engine capable of keeping the whole of these lower claims clear of water. When the engine is erected it has been arranged that all those who derive a benefit from the work will be assessed towards payment of the costs. In this matter the proprietor of the land has acted very liberally. The charge now made for mining is £1 per month, and he purposes to put up an engine powerful enough to keep the water down, on a payment by those bene- fiting by the pumping of 30s. per month in place of the present 20s. No. 9, the John Bull, has not been anything in particular, and is now amalgamated with the Uncle Tom. No. 10, the Baker’s, and No. 11, the Alpha, have both been given up; the parties working in them never got gold enough to buy salt to their porridge. No. 12, the Homeward Bound, has been a very rich claim indeed – one crushing of only 20 tons gave 1059 ounces. It is still working. No. 13, the Undaunted, and No 14, Devlin’s, have been amalga- mated and are still working, although they have obtained no gold as yet. No. 15, the Golden Point, has proved a wonderfully rich claim, something like 700 lbs. weight of gold having been taken out of it. At one of the ciushings from this claim twenty loads of stuff gave the remarkable return of 3416 oz., or over 170 oz. to the ton. A rather remarkable thing about this claim was that the shareholders had worked and spent their money during twelve months without the slightest return, and without any prospect of any. They then held a meeting for the purpose of deciding whether it should be given up or not. They decided to give it another month’s trial, and then a leader was struck, which they traced up to within twenty feet of the surface, where they might have had it within a week of their first opening ground. No. 16, the United Miners, or better known as Spicer’s claim, has been a very good one. Whilst I was at the Wentworth I saw a crushing of sixteen loads which gave over 900 oz., whilst forty-five loads of seconds or refuse stuff gave an ounce to the load, or, to- gether, 950 oz. gold. No. 17, the Morning Star, as was amusingly remarked by a miner, has not yet risen. The shareholders have had a little gold out of the claim, but not much. No. l8, the Golden Gate, has had two very good crushings, one of over 1000 oz. from thirty tons. No. 19, the Shamrock, has been a very good claim all down. They were, however, ultimately beaten by the water when they came to the surface and got some small rich leaders that are paying handsomely. No. 20, the Crinoline, is only a small claim, having sixty feet frontage to the lode, or three men’s ground, but it has been an extra- ordinary one for the yield of gold. The shareholders have always been able to raise a crushing within a reasonable time, with a good yield to the load. Their lost crushing prior to my visit gave 105 oz. to ten tons. No. 21, the Albion, has only had one crushing. It went well, though not so rich as some others, and turned out 200 oz. from fifteen loads of stuff. No. 22, Milburn’s pros- pecting claim, has had a little gold, but none of any consequence, and there are again some few claims be- yond this that haye had some prospects, though they have been given up for want of’ funds. Besides these lode or frontage claims there is an alluvial lead running at right angles to them; along the hill known as Chapel Hill. Here, the sinking is something terrific, the depth being from 100 to 120 feet, the whole way, with the exception of some two or three feet at the surface, being through an immense mass of trap that overlies the bed of an old water course. These claims are given out on the block sys- tem, or forty feet square to each man, and at the period of my visit, three claims were down upon the gold. There is a depth of from two feet to five feet of wash dirt, and the prospectors have taken out something like 1000 loads of dirt thut have returned them fully an ounce to the load. The dirt washed by the other two claims has given a rather higher average than this. You will now obtain a better idea of the actual amount of gold realised from this field during the last eighteen months, from the following list of crushings at the Phoenix Mills. All the stuff raised passes through these mills, so that no better criterion as to results could be had than the return with which I have been so kindly favoured. Beginning February 20, 1864, or last year, there is the Homeward Bound, 45 tons, and giving 966 oz. ; April 20 : Uncle Tom, 250 tons, 1050 oz. ; April 29 : Perseverance, 90 tons, 378 oz. ; May 2 : Crinoline, 20 tons, 77 oz. ; May 4 : Spicer’s, 25 tons, 229 oz. ; Happy-go-Lucky, 21 tons, 42 oz. ; Shamrock, 42 tons, 165 oz. ; Homeward Bound, 20 tons, 1059 oz. ; Stewart’s, 10 tons, 16 oz.; Industry Rewarded, 28 tons, 448 oz. ; July 2 : Sham- rock, 15 tons, 370 oz. ; Spicer’s, 13 tons, 63 oz. ; Per- severance, l8 tons, 268 oz. ; Hard-to-Find, 4 tons, 87 oz. ; July 30 : Uncle Tom, 8 tons, 43 oz. ; August 3 : Golden Point, 37 tons, 270 oz. ; Golden Gate, 52 tons, 1250 oz. ; Perseverance, 25 tons, 532 oz. ; September 10 : United Miners (Spicer’s), 20 tons, 97 oz. ; Sep- tember 24 : Crinoline, 38 tons, 134 oz. ; October 12 : Perseverance, 27 tons, 106 oz. ; November 12 : Sham- rock, 50 tons, 214 oz. ; Uncle Tom, 38 tons, 113 oz. ; December 1 : Golden Gate, 43 tons, 271 oz. ; Parkin- son and Co., 13 tons, 53 oz. ; December 17 : Home- ward Bound, 25 tons, 108 oz. ; Crinoline, l8 tons, 94 oz. ; Golden Point, 27 tons, 1600 oz. ; Albion, 10 tons, 56 oz.; Golden Point, 36 tons, 3416 oz. ; Morning Star, 5 tons, 24 oz. ; January 11 : 1865. – Uncle Tom, 10 tons, 40 oz. ; March 1 : Shamrock, 60 tons, 175 oz. ; Golden Point, 30 tons, 1283 oz.’; March l8 : Albion, 4 tons, 17 oz. ; Undaunted, 6 tons, 39 oz. ; March 25: Uncle Tom, 20 tons, 80 oz. ; Sawyer’s, 22 tons, 71 oz. ; Chapel Hill (alluvial), 154 tons, 144 oz. ; May 6 : Spicer’s 20 tons, 905 oz. ; Golden Point, 20 tons, 1113 oz.; Uncle Tom, 20 tons, 160 oz. ; Homeward Bound, 7 tons, 60 oz. ; May 16 : Perseverance, 13 tons, 60 oz. ; Shamrock, 4 tons, 20 oz. ; Chapel Hill (alluvial), 103 tons, 100 oz. ; Albion, 15 tons, 140 oz. ; Industry, 10 tons, 800 oz. ; Chapel Hill (alluvial), 120 tons and 220 tons. 350oz.; Shamrock,17 tons 81 oz.; Chapel Hill, 176 tons, 180 oz , August 5: Crinoline, 11 tons, 103 0z. ; Angust 19: United Miners (Spicer’s), 16 tons and 15 tons, 950 0z.; Homeward Bound, 5 tons, 31 0z.; Chapel Hill (alluvial), 800 tons, 900oz. These figures speak for themselves, and, with the list of the several chums I have given, tell the history of the succcess of the Wentworth better than any amount of disquisition. Mrs. Partington is in New York. She went up from Boston as soon as she learned by telegraph that “ gold was rapidly falling in Wall-street,” but after several unsuccessful attempts to get into the shower, is going back a disappointedl woman. “

22 April 1868

The extensive and valuable Wentworth property, known as the Lucknow gold-field, has been purchased by a Melbourne company, and it is proposed to work the auriferous ground by means of a joint stock company. The shares have been some time in the market, and the Orange paper says it is expected that operations will be commenced at an early day.

12 August 1868

Mr. Frost, tho owner of the Wentworth estate and mines (Lucknow), has finally disposed of his interest in it to tho ?Wentworth Estate Mining Company, who took possession on Saturday, tho 25th July, ana are now making prepara- tions for commencing operations.

12 April 1869

The Wentworth Estate Company have commenced working their gold diggings at the Lucknow, near Orange. The manager has made his first rep0rt, from which it appears that the whole property is to be worked over in a complete and systematic manner.

20 April 1872

These valuable discoveries have given an impetus to mining operations in this district The last crushing at one of the claims on this held yielded about l8 ounces to tho ton. A company has recently been formed to work the celebrated Phoenix claim at Wentworth. Extraordinary rich yields of gold were formerly obtained from this field, and there is every prospect of success before the new company.