THE GOLDFIELDS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 58, 22 January 1862, Page 2

THE GOLDFIELDS.

(From our own Currnxj/oiulunt ) Waitalnma, IStii January, 1562.

As promised I endeavored to lind out the whereabouts of oiij quartz reef, tor which an application had been made on Kriday last. On waiting on (Japtain Baldwin, [ found thai, liis visit to the spot had been delayed at the suggestion of ilia applicant, who, it appears, is working an alluvial claim in one of the gullies., and is desirous of finishing it before leaving. 1 saw, however, some of the quartz which was said to have bean broken from the reef. It is a dirty white color, with a fe.v sspjus it'fine gold discernible on the face, which had been broken from some larger mass. The quartz had apparently boon taken from the surface ; one of its sides being blackened by the action, probably of a bush tire. As I view with deep interest the discovery of payable quartz reel's, I shall take the first opportunity available to visit the place, and report upon it. To-day being Saturday, the miner.-; generally leave work about mid-day, or early in the afternoon, for the purpose of selling their gold and laying in their week's provisions. All along the line ot stores —for there is no street—you meet crowds of men laden with stores, many wearing that well-fed and contented appearance that distinguishes the successful miner : others again have a dejectad and woebegone look, as though they were mentally recording anaßhemas on their own heads for ever having come t:> tlie country. Drunkenness is by no means pi.vsva- | lent, the hotels are all closed at ten o'clock, and after : thai hour, it is not often you can hear any sounds of ) riot or laughter. Ido not attribute this to tlia absence of prosperity on the part of the miner-, but to tiie fact thai most of them are of a better class than t'ne first frequenters of the Victorian Goldfieids, and are besides, in many instances, married men, who are evidently saving in order to bring over their wives and families. I have convors-jd with many of them as to how they like the climate, and they till me, that butforthobroken weather, they preferittothe withering heat of .•Australia, and that if they can manage to live, they will remain. It is for the Government to see, that as line a body of men a? ever colonized any portion of tlu world, are not I'r'.ven from it by any parsimonious policy either as to the procuring of laud for cultivation or for mining purpose?. To-day I ascended what is known a=> the Hound Mountain, and obtained a magnificent view of the country. On the one side the ranges deseond by successive ridges to the Tokomairiro plain, and on the other they enclose Waitahuna and tiie country lying around Wotiierstons' and Gabriel's. 'Intersecting and dividing the spurs from these ranges are numerous | gullies, which do not appear to have ever been tried. Who can tell, therefore, but that the country which falls toward ; the Tokomairiro Plains may not be as rich in auriferous gullies as the other desceut, which hay its Waitahuna, Gabriel's, and Wefclicrston's ? Wherever the rock protrudes—and it is but rarely that it does so—it is of the same character and formation as that of the Victorian gold fields, save that the strata are not so regular. Alternate layers of blue slate and grey sandstone are constantly to l>3 mat with, here and there intersected by thin and irregular veins of quartz. The yield of gold for the week has, I believe, been about the same, and is not likely to show any increase until the claims on the hill are bottomed, when, if they should prove rich, you may confidently expect a large escort. There are numerous and frequent complaints •as to the non-appoint-ment, of Captain Baldwin as a magistrate. Cases of the most trilling and petty character have to be decided at Gabriel's, a distance of over ten miles, and bafore a gentleman who has more than enough to do in attending to his duties at Commissioner. I am of opinion that the duties of Magistrate and Commissioner of tiie gold field should be divided, and thattha Government should appoint some lejal gentleman as Polic'i Magistrate, who might hear and try all criminal and civil cases, devoting two days to Gabriel's, two to Wnitahuna, and two to the Wnipori. By this means the Commissioners would be enabled to devote their entire attention to deciding disputes and the management of the gold fields. Pending such an arrangement tiie appointment of Captain Baldwin to the Magistracy is absolutely necessary. Population about three thousand.

The National Gallery in Kiiiiibiirgh has lately rereived some valuable additions, consisting of 20 pictures bequeathed by Laity Murray from the Jate Lord Murray's collection, including a good example of Sir Joshua's and three specimens or Greuze. Mrs. Lizars, the widow of the artist, has also made a presentation to the institution—two of her husband's early pictures, " The Reading of the Will " and " The Penny Wedding.!'

Whan traorga ll£. wai i,jli thai, Wolfa was quite unfit to command, a:i;l was, in foci, a nia.lui.iii, the monarch replied. ' Mad —mad —mad ! Wolfe mad ! Wish he'd bite some of the other generals !'