ARTHUR'S POINT, SHOTOVER.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume I, Issue 21, 11 July 1863, Page 10

ARTHUR'S POINT, SHOTOVER.

(from oub own correspondent.) July 10, 1863.

j This place was visited on Thursday morning at daylight by a destructive flood which has entirely changed the appearance of the I land abutting on the river, To say that such a flood has not occurred within the memory of the oldest resident here is too tame an ! assertion for faithfully representing the feari ful deluge which tried in vain to force its I way through the narrow gorges which occur at short distances from each other along the whole course of the Shotover River. And after careful enquiries made by your correspondent, he is of opinion that such a ! volume of water has not passed through the I same channels for upwards of one hundred | years. This he is led to believe by kinformation he has gleaned from some of the best miners this Province can boast of, and whose experience has been gained by the numerous mining operations they have been engaged in on the banks of rivers in various parts of the world. To let your readers understand the true cause of such an accumulation of waters in a river which has a very rapid fall, I must describe a locality known as the Long Beach, about two miles below Arthur's Point, and where chaos reigned supreme. Here the river issues from a narrow gorge into a large basin, in which is spread a beach of from sixty to one hundred acres in evtent, and after winding in a horse-shoe shape around two-thirds of the beach, passes out through a still more narrow gorge than that at which it entered. It was at this point that the true impediment to the flow of water occurred, which, finding no sufficient outlet between the perpendicular walls of rock that form the gorge, rapidly spread over every part of the immense beach. Then it was that stores, hotels, tents, and other dwellings, became submerged, and men, women, and children, all alike, had to take shelter on the surrounding hills, in some cases with barely clothes to cover them, whilst they viewed the contents of their various erections floating about, a prey to the rapid current. Arthur's Point now received its full complement of the pentup waters, for the outlet being once impeded the angry element rapidly rose to an precedented height, and stores, flumes, bridges, boats, dwellings, and mining implements of every description rapidly disappeared, together with the thousands of tons of debris which had accumulated from the labors of the enterprising miners. The loss of individual property is too numerous to be specified, I shall therefore here just enumerate a few of the well known and most valuable properties which have been totally lost or injured:— The Falls bridge, together with its mile or so of well constructed flume (all of sawn timber), have been swept away. Of the lower bridge, together with the toll-house, built high up on the rock, and the attendant boat, not a vestige remains. Arthur's race is completely filled up by the land slips on its eastern side. The Victorian Hotel and Rowley's express office are now partly filled with mud, whilst the coverings have almost disappeared, and the frames are perfect wrecks. The United Beach-holders can scarcely recognise the site on which their labor has been so long carried on, and the lower race again presents a smooth beach on which to commence future operations. At the time of the despatch of this communication (9 a.m.) the river is rapidly falling, and before its publication, there is no doubt the river will be passable both for man and horse.

In conclusion I would mention that after diligent enquiries, I was able to meet with one man only who had actually seen a body float down the stream, notwithstanding rumors to the effect that numerous deaths had occurred by drowning.