ARTHUR'S POINT, SHOTOVER.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume I, Issue 22, 15 July 1863, Page 4

ARTHUR'S POINT, SHOTOVER.

(from oiir own correspondent.)

July 14, 1863.

On Sunday morning, a loud peal of thunder awoke the echoes of the hills at this point, and gave warning of more rain, which poured down incessantly until early on Monday morning, when the river again rose to a great height; this time, however, inconsiderable, when compared with its rise on Thursday last, as the Long Beach was not entirely submerged ; yet, if possible, the rain fell in still greater quantities than on the occasion of last flood. Through anxiety, and doubt of what might happen, a great many of the residents here and at the Long Beach kept lights burning in their stores and tents all night, and on looking out of my residence between two and three o'clock on the morning of Monday, I saw lights glistening across the river from many a miner's hand. During the night, noises, like the rumbling of distant thunder, could every now and then be heard, high above the sound of the pattering rain and roar of the waters as they dashed through the rocky gorges; which noises, I find, proceeded from the falling of immense rocks and earth, stones and timber, from many a land-slip. A number of these slips may be seen on the route (for I cannot call it a road), from Queenstown to Arthur's Point, as well as other changes, consequences of the rain. There, small rivulets, which but a few days ago were transparent to view and gentle in their flow, are now dirty and rapid, forming miniature " Roaring Megs," and in most cases diverted from their original course. About midway along this gorge, some plodding miners have formed an enclosure of about four acres for a garden, and there the trench which they had opened for sods to build a wall with, became the too ready channel for a large and now rapidly running creek, which has carried away the wall, and given the proprietors a water frontage of questionable utility. One of the proprietors indeed, being there alone, had to leave his dwelling at about ten o'clock on Sunday night, almost terrified by the fall of rocks and rush of water around him, believing that the Shotover River had burst its bounds and was rushing down the gorge to Queenstown. This morning, however, the river is rapidly receding from the adjoining beaches, and all is again activity, which, now that the elements appear to have shed their utmost fury, I trust will continue until the miners have unearthed the treasures which lie buried in the district.