THE KIMBERLEY RUSH.

Bruce Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 1753, 28 May 1886, Page 3

THE KIMBERLEY RUSH.

Melbourne, May 26. Accounts from the Kimberley goldfield* continue satisfactory, over lOOOoz. of gold having been brought into Derby. Yesterday's ' Timeß ' says : — The Kimberley goldfields are commencing to oreate some stir, and in consequence ofapplicatione made the Union Company has decided to lay on the steamer Hero for Cambridge Gulf, Mr Ramsay will despatoh the barque Othello or the Splendid, should inducements be offered. At Chrißtchuroh last night, a meeting was held at which abont 300 were present, and many were not able to gain admission. It was decided there to despatch the Triumph fco Derby. From a long article on the Kimberley goldfield published in the ' Sydney Mail,' we extract the following items, which may be regarded as reliable : — Taking Sydney as the starting point, three weeks' steaming is required before the ports nearest the new goldfield are reached, and then follows land travelling for some hundreds of miles over a region but little known. By Messrs Howard, Smith and Co.'s boats the saloon passage is £20, steerage £10, and the charge for horses £10 per head. The distance between Cambridge Gulf and Derby, the rival ports, is about 420 miles. The former is the first which will be reached ; but as the road from Derby, the King's Sound port, is the best which can be taken to the field, it is likely that nearly all passengers will book for the longer distance. From King's Sound (Port Derby), a Government track of posts has been marked out direct to where the gold is being obtained. Reports from Adelaide, Perth, and other quarters, sbow that a rush has already set in, bufc there is little cause for alarm on tbat account, as most of the men are formed into parties, wifch at least £150 of capital each party, and horses and provisions. Diggers are flocking to Sydney from all parts, and about 150 are now waiting, undecided what vessel to go by. Cows, sheep, mining outfits, tents, stores, <_c, are being conveyed by steamers to both ports. The distance from Derby is about 400 miles. Fully 200 miles can he traversed up the Fitzroy River in a vehicle. The nearest stock are at Panton Station, about 200 miles from Mount Druitfc, where Messrs Panton and Osborne, of Melbourne, have a large holding. From inquiry we learn that the ailments which are most feared on the field are opthalmia and fever and ague. Intending diggers are therefore strongly urged to lay in good supplies of quinine and other remedies. The quartz reefs are said to be of a very promising character. Some of them can be traced for several miles. Minute Bpecks of gold have been noticed in a few cases, and the South Australian Government geologist has very little doubt that many of the reefs will prove to be auriferous. Concerning alluvial gold, the same authority says :— " The river valleys and flats are in many places covered with deposits, sometimes very extensive, of quartz gravel and drift, the quartz being derived from denudation of the reefs referred to above. I have prospected these gravels over many miles of country, and I have rarely failed to obtain good colors of gold in many localities of a very encouraging character. Very often good colors were obtained in every pan washed in different trials in the same locality. I have thus found gold to be distributed over abont 140 miles along the Elvire, Panton, and Ord rivers, Ac, as well as on the Mary and Margaret rivers, where the indications were very good and the appearance of the country most favorable. In several instances I obtained good colors of gold at considerable distances from the quartz-bearing rocks, from which the gold could enly have been derived. This, to my mind, seems to indicate that there must be large quantities of gold in the quartz bearing roks, and in the drifta immediately overlying them. The gold-yielding country is well watered by numerous livers, creeks, and gullies, which even in fche driest part of the year are never wholly without water. And, although in the dry season water is scarce, there would be no difficulty in conserving water anywhere in sufficient quantity for all mining purposes." The value of fche gold obtained is said to be £4 an ouncs. The Resident reports that several parties have been successful, bub the fiuds reported as yet are by no means phenomenal. The Police Sergeant reports : — The most reliable amongst fche diggers informs me that there is a large extent of auriferous country, but that; the gold is not in payable quantities in the localities he visited. It is said that water is scarce and the natives hostile. All agree that the most practicable road is from Derby, and not from Cambridge Gulf. 1 am informed thafc there are afc present about 150 men either on the field or en route to it from Queensland and the Northern Territory. Mr Carlisle, the leader of one fairly successful party, says : — I have not the slightest doubt that this will turn out a great goldfield. AU who have rations to stop six months longer are quite sanguine of making a good thing of it, bufc gold cannot; be fonnd everywhere. It requires an experienced digger to look for ifc, and it will require a man to have at least £130 to fit himself out with rations, horses, and tools for a six months' trip. There are about 30 to 40 men ou the fiold at the present time. He thus writes of the part of the country he has visited : — It is a hard country to travel in. Ifc is one mass of creeks, gullies, aud ravines, intersecting and crossing each other in all directions, and overgrown everywhere with spenifex. Nofc a blade of grass ia to be seen, except on the creeks and rivers, where, at the present time, there is good grass and plenty of it for a limited number of horses. Should there be a good influx of diggers* all of them with horses, I am afraid there will be some difficulty in finding grass for them. Tbe best time to arrive is the middle ot December, just before the rains set in and the grass is beginning to spring up. The great difficulty at the present time is to get

rations and other requisites. They can only be got at Derby or Cambridge Gulf, and either place is about 400 miles from here." From the above extracts it will be seen i that at present Kimberley is no place for I any but experienced miners, possessed of a fair amount of capital to start with.