NELSON.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 614, 25 September 1858, Page 4

NELSON.

We have the' Nelson Examiner 'of the 15th and 18th insts. by the Francis. The 'Examiner' of the 18th alludes to "the recent discovery of new and highly-promising beds of coal in a most accessible situation at the mouth of the Takaka, in Massacre Bay; and to the works now carrying on close to Nelson, which have already resulted in finding at a lower level coal of a very improved kind, both as to density and burning qualities; which, if it still improves as we go deeper, as -we are justified in believing it will do, both by analogy and experience, must settle the whole question. We shall then have, what Melbourne offers £10,000 as a bonus to be assured of possessing an available coal-field."

The same paper contains the following from a correspondent:—

Collingwood, September 11, 1858. We were glad to welcome by the last trip of the steamer a number of diggers returning to their work, the arrivals and departures being a very good test of our progress. She had a few storekeepers as passengers to Nelson, with a considerable quantity of gold; but, from the nature of the chief diggings in the Slate and Rocky rivers, wet weather not preventing the men working in the banks, I am glad to say that this week only four diggers have left, and three of those are returning shortly. The yield of gold at Rocky river is very satisfactory, and when warm weather sets in, I am convinced this and our branches of the Slate river will take the lead of the Nelson gold-fields. To ensure a cheap and safe conveyance of provisions to the diggers now at Rocky river (about 140 in number), the Government should expend a portion of the £1,000 voted by the Provincial Council Jfor roads to the gold-diggings. This sum was certainly not intended for making trunk lines of road through the available land in the district, but, in the words of the resolution proposing it, was to make bridle-tracks to the diggings. Now some storekeepers have, at their own expense, cut a track from the Devil's hill to Rocky river, a distance of four or five miles, and this track requires widening. At present, from the nature of the land it passes through, it serves merely as a drain for that land, and the packbullocks are at almost every step up to their bellies, in a stiff, cold soil; were the tall manuka trees cut down for a space of about fifteen or twenty feet each side, so as to admit light and air, this would not be the case, and the diggers would get their provisions conveyed to them for considerably less than thenresent price, £25 per ton of 2,000 lbs. . ■ ■ *

Nearly all are of opinion that the diggings this summer will be on both sides of the Slate river; the by-roads expenditure should be at once commenced. We don't believe in money being voted for this district being applied to beautify your town, or any other part of the province. I believe Massacre Bay contributes double as much to the revenue of the province as any other district in it; and unless we get our supplies as voted, they "will, as in other cases, be spent elsewhere. ■ .