THE GOLD FIELDS NEAR OAMARU, OTAGO.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 4, Issue 188, 27 April 1861, Page 3

THE GOLD FIELDS NEAR OAMARU, OTAGO.

Wb, (" New Zealand Advertiser,") hare much pleasure in making known the existence of a gold * region Buuatect in the ' neighbourhood of Oanmru, "-"We have been shewn of ore procured "oh these diggings, and have every reason to believe that its quality will rank with the best of New productions. We are informed : that -'there are not less than 100 persons-at woik^n the ground alluded to, all of whom are earning fair

wages. The labour market in Oamaru has, of course, been affected by " the rush to the diggings;" good hands are now earning £1 per day. We wish every success to this young and thriving settlement, and hope that we may learn a more detailed account of its gold country by an early opportunity, so as to give our readers full particulars as to its exact locality, and the prospects of the diggers. We may mention that the above information is derived from a thorooghly reliable source, and has only just reached U3. Prom a passenger by the Storm Bird, we learn the gold fields are a reality, and that 500 persons j were then engaged on the diggings* The road parties hid been broken up, aJd he had himself seen a nugget about £ in. long by § in. in diameter. One man, he reports, had collected 17 ounces in a fortnight, but we should imagine that he had been more than ordinarily fortunate. The Witness of the 6th insfc. contains the following paragraph with reference to this subject : — " The news from the Lindis Pass leads us to believe that the gold field there discovered will turn out to be a great fact. The discovery is said to have been made by the Government workmen whilst engaged in constructing the road across Mr. M'Lean's run. The men could only woi'k after the usual hours of labour, as they could nob procure provisions, excepting from the Government stores. It, is however, said that they rrude 10s. per day in the fe.v hours of aftertime. Ail Oatnaru is alive with the news, and considerable numbers of persons have left for the diggings ; drayloads of provisions have also been forwarded, but at this advanced state of the season, we do not anticipate that much will be done before the spring. A specimen of the gold obtained has been brought to Dunedin, consisting of coarse grains and nuggets, the largest of which is about the size of a horse bean. This news should give an impetus to the sale 3of land at Oauiaru and the north."