THE WOOLSHED DIGGINGS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23, 11 December 1861, Page 2

THE WOOLSHED DIGGINGS.

[by ax old mining reporter.] Tokomairiro, December 7 th, 1861. UflE, the old adage says, is second nature, and the force ofhabit ouee more compels me to return to the ' n frno"i fhc/i seriben'll. I therefore venture my lucubrations ,'inent the prospects of Oia,uo as an auriferous district, in tho hops that you will give publicity to tlvm, and so bo the medium of dissemination to your numerous ani interest.. 0/! rea lers. I will premise by slating that I have a thorough practical knowledge of g >M-mmintr, initiated and ma fured during* ten years' delving1 amidst the world-renowned mines of sunny Victoria —in wo*t and dry sinkiux, in deep an 1 shallow ground. What I sha'l state of my New Zealand experience may be vaiied on a> th\ te:?timo!iy of one who has spent betw-een two and three months toiling and prospecting in her iunura-rrable ct'ceks and ravinsa in search of the yellow god, —of one who is well conversant with all "the chances that await the adventurous digger in this far-south land, with its brown, bleak, treeless mountains. Some tenor eleven weeks back I landed in Dune--! din, and, without any procrastination, our party con--1 listing of four —after'a "hearty feed " ou shore tack, 'c soft'tomrny and fresh beef"—V.arted for the Tuapeka gold-fields. ' Ere a. couple of miles of the journey hfi,l been achieved, we met scores of men wending townwards, gloom and despondency sat heavy on their brow, and dire were the denunciations heaped on the country; had we been inclined to "funk on our luck/

as t)i;; p;ir-'.:-e goe?. wj would doubtlessly now be do" hig v.[Ki " (jov;.'mment srroke " for five "Roberts^' and perquisites (:') p;;r diem. v Nil despcrandum,'' however, was our motto, iind tliroug'h ill report, ex- , tortionnte charges, and discourtesy, we still stood on '•and iivjnly arrived at tho Tokomairiro'River. Be'(ween. the homestead of a Mr. Cameron and the I homesteads of Messrs. Murray &. Musgrave, the ! physical features of the country arrested our 'attention by their evident auriferous nature, and after '■ resting- from the toil of tramping and swigging- it, we i essayed a paddock next morning in the bank of the [stream. Our labour was rewarded by a payable proIspectj and although the yield held forth no indications of a " pile," nevertheless it was such as to induce us to settle down with determination to stick to it—even as unto a matrimonial engagement, for better or worse. We freely accorded to our shipmates the knowledge we had obtained ; many of them set jin to work, and in no instance has their toil been ! unrewarded. There is a good depth of wash dirt, ■varytug' from two to six feet in thickness, the stripping from v' to 14 feet, an abundance of water rbr tommirig and sluicing purposes —the principle means of washing adopted here; an ordinary handpump, or at most a California pump, will work the wettest of the ground,—and some of the indefatigable Balaarafc miners have two waler-wheels at work —the first instance of the application of machinery to mining* pursuits on the Tokomairiro. The gold is very light, fine, and scaly wlien contrasted with the precious metal procured in Victoria, —no water-worn or shotty gold luib been found here yet. The country in a ra.tiiH .of five miles from oar habitation has been slightly pro.jp.-'cted, and a portion of every gully and wax'i-cotirse of any extant, capable of affording' wages of ,£3 per man per vv,:ek. The scarcity of firewool, the uncertainty of the climate, and the rapacity of the stoi'ekoi'.'piug1 tribe, are however great drawbacks csn one's industry. There are scattered along about three inile-j of the Tokomairiro River some 300 or upwards of diggers, and 1 confidently assert that the average earnings of each man is not Jess than £3. per week ; unfortunately, the likely fiat valley of the .Tokomairiro is private property, and the workings consequently restricted to a narrow slip by the water's edge, where a Government reserve remains.

Mr. Musgrave, one of tie proprietors of the auriferous land, on whose ground a number of diggers are located, Inn, however, up to this time been unobstruc'.ive, and i do not doubt but that he would meet the diggers on easy terms, should their mining involve any infraction of liis rights. It is pretty currently rumoured that another land-owner, not far distant, * has been charging freely for permission to mine on or about his location, the reserve notwithstanding. It will be well if the Government take steps to prevent the sale of auriferous land, else the same difficulties will origiuate here, as in Victoria, where the question of mining on private property is a most knotty one, full of legal intricacies, confusion, and pecuniary loss to the horny-handed miner. Wisdom should be gathered from the history of other colonies, raid the inheritance, the people's grand capital, not be permitted to pass into the jaws of land sharks, and such voracious fishes.

The Government here, as wherever ignorance, imbecility, and their concomitant circumlocution influence their action, prove the most effective break upon the wheels of progress, owing to the absurd milling regulations lately issued. One would have imagined some amount of common sense, some conversaucy with the codes of mining- laws, promulgated during 'the past decade in gold-producing countries, would have been brought to bear in the construction of the precious legislation for the Tuapeka Gold Field. Bui;, alas, such is not the case; and these, ! ignoring as they do all ratiocination, will serve to mark [the utter unfit ness of the trainers to lay down rules for the working miner; children might be ashamed of sue.li a monument of stupidity as these rules impersonate. 1 shall dilate on these bungling bye-Jaws ia my next communication. I think it is high time the diggers oi-gaui-e a raining board for local legislation. ItVou'd be well, too, to "devise some clause to enable parries to register and hold a claim in reserve during the inclement portion of the winter season, when work cannot be done. A Post Office ought to be established on this river ; the population warrants such an expenditure .; it is a great inconvenience to walk six or seven miles to the Government Post Office at Mansford's Store for a letter. The mail here is a very slow animal, only once a week from Bunodin, distant only 40 miles, on an excellent road, and any amount of vehicular communication; there ought to be, with such facilities for conveyance, at the least tri-weekly communication between here and your rising metropolis for the sake of the Victorians who have given a fillip to your worldly prosperity, and thrust"greatness on a Superintendent and Provincial Assembly which would never have been theirs under the old regime.. Do something in return; let us have srood quick postal arrangements, generous and utilitarian mining regulations, honest and reasonable storekeepers who will practice the principle of live and let Jive, assist us in getting rid of the cliqueisin and clannislmess with which the old settlers, are leavened, and there is hope in the future for this erstwhile poverty-stricken clime. By the way, I never could procure a postage stamp at the Post Office. I have, written some half-dozen times to friends far away, but I fear me much, despite the paym» of the postage, as the stamp was wanting, though the letters were marked paid, tliat they have miscarried : a delightful state of things —no stamps at a Government Post Office ! The Postmaster, his wife, or his shopman, though their honesty, like the virtue of Cesar's wife, may be above suspicion, still, 'midst the bustle and business of a crowded store, their though tfillness may not be immaculate, and the wants of a customer being- supplied may cause one's epistles to be mislaid. M.