THE DUNSTAN.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume I, Issue 28, 5 August 1863, Page 3

THE DUNSTAN.

(From the Dunstan News.) THE HOGBURN RUSH.

Tiie news from this rush is not of a very promising nature. The population is estimated at aboni —the greater portion doing but little. Thi probability that water will soon be procurable induces many to stop till the various races in course of cutting are completed. A large tract of ground is doubtless payable, but until water is plentiful, nothing can be done. Ground will go 2 to 4 grains to the dish, which will pay well for sluicing when water becomes plentiful. Prospecting is being carried ou with energy in many gullies in the neighborhood. In some about the same prospects have been obtained. A lead was discovered running into the flat, consequently a rush took place, but with no decided results. Many were shepherding in the hopes that something would shortly be struck. Many—as is always the case at a rush— have left, calling it a " duffer." The rush appears to have been on too large a scale altogether for the district. Gold in payable quantities doubtless exists, but as to the extent of this auriferous deposit, it will take time to bring that to light. The whole surrounding district is proved to be slightly auriferous, which would tend to the belief that many more payable spots will shortly be discovered.

The sinking is very shallow, two and three feet before they come on the washdirt—all being payable throughout, after the surface is removed, in those gullies first opened. MANUHERIKIA. Mining matters are almost at a standstill in consequence of the rise of the river. Several stores at the lower end of Victoria-street were flooded right out. Luckily the owners took the precaution to remove their goods before the river entered, or a serious loss would have been the consequence. An iron place belonging to one of the boatmen, situate on the point 011 the opposite side of the river, was completely swamped, only a small piece of the gable end being visible above the swollen torrent, --any parties were busily engaged on Monday in picking up logs and succeeded in collecting a goodly pile. Business is stagnant, many leaving for where they imagine brighter prospects may await them. THE MOLYNEUX. Last Sunday night and Monday morning rain, fell in almost a perfect sheet, causing, as was anticipated, the river to rise again far beyond the former flood. There was again a repetition of the former scene, logs and sawn timber coming down in almost endless succession. One man avers he distinctly saw a billiard table floating down, as also the bodies of three horses.

The flooded state of the various tributaries of the Kawarau has rendered communication between the Lakes and Dunstan almost impossible. The Koaring Meg, not generally a difficult river to cross, was so much flooded as to render crossing extremely perilous. Several pack-horses are reported to be washed away, and both load and horses lost. It is not known if any human lives are lost in this locality, but it is greatly feared there is.

Not only the districts above this township have suffered, but at the Manuherikia and Mount Benger districts. Much loss of property and, in some cases, lives, are reported.

Two men at the Teviot were endeavoring to pull a large log out of the river, when the stream suddenly caught the log and pulled the two men into the current, where they sank to rise no more.

These are not the only cases. Rumors have come in from all quarters of similar casualties, and we fear, when the total is arrived at, it will show how wide-spread has been the damage inflicted by the flood in the Molyneux. Miners, who Had made themselves snug for the winter, having built sod huts with thatched roofs, are completely washed out, and so disheartened have most of them become, that even good claims have been left in utter disgust.

The scarcity of fuel is beginning to be severely felt, and " curses both loud and deep" are being hurled against the Government, the contractor, and all who are presumed to be more or less connected with the supply of coal to the township. The unprecedented rise in the river has completely flooded the old workings, and, in consequence, the contractor will be compelled to sink a shaft to reach the bed of lignite. This will, no doubt, take some time to accomplish, and in the interim the inhabitants may keep themselves warm or cook their food as best they can. There are few, if any, who laid in a stock of fuel, all being dependent on the supply of lignite. How miserably they have been disappointed, let the anxious enquiries as to who can sell or lend a bag of coal testify. Timber cannot be obtained except at such prices as places it beyond the reach of the poor, and we know of several instances where children have been kept in bed because their parents could not get the necessary fuel wherewith to make a fire. The Government are most deserving of censure in not making such provision, in the terms of the contract, for the supply of lignite, as would secure its being prolurable at ail times, irrespective of the rise or fall of the river.