THE NELSO GOLDFIELDS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 93, 4 March 1862, Page 4

THE NELSO GOLDFIELDS.

(Prom our own Correspondent.) Nelson, February 22, 18G2. I lmvo been at considerable pains to procure reliable information respecting the various diggings ■in this province, and the following statement may be depended on, and will doubtless be interesting to your readers. The Bnllcr River diggings nm situated on the west coast, distant about two hundred miles from Nelson, reached by coasting vessels, cost of passage £2 155., freight, £2 per ton. There are about 150 miners at work there, most of whom arc making good wages, and some few occasionally coming across rich patches. The great drawback is in the fact that the work is principally in the bed of the river, which can only be done in fine weather and when the [river is low ; but frequent interruptions occnr from the freshets. The gold is distributed very partially and in patches, is of a nuggetty character and found in combination with quartz. One party of six natives a few days ago procured one pound weight of gold ; another party of Europeans have been making seven to eight ounces per day ; and three other parties were known by my informant to be doing exceedingly well. The opinion of those miners who have returned from these diggings is,-that, from the small area of the hitherto discovered deposits, and the peculiar nature of the operations, there is no inducement for any further number of miners, excepting for prospecting. There is another river, the Waimangaroa, distant about twelve miles from the Buller, in which gold has been found. It is approached by the coast at low water for eight miles, and then following a gorge up to the river. There are tljree store? on the Buller diggings and provisions are at fi v reasqnab.le pripe. Flour, £30 per ton, price of gold on the diggings.'^3 !-s PdThe river Waimangaroa is described as large, rapid, and unfordablc. The diggings are oa the banks. The above information was given to me by two miners who gave mo their names, Fernandez and Marck, as a guarantee for its correctness. The Collingwood digging, seventy miles from Nelson, have not many miners at work, but they are making fair Wages, the same remarks will apply to the Wangapeka.

TOKOMAIRIIIO AND 'THK WOOLSTIED. (NOTES BY A MIStXG IIi:I'OKTUK.) March 2nd, 18G2. The really beautiful -weather of the jrnwtcv portion oi' last week and t!ie prior one, !);is disappeared, and we arc now having a foretaste of winter. Lii.st Friday tlic clouds, gloomy and dense, settled heavily on the hill tops ; the v.-illeys were choked -with their dank vapors ; the wind, sngged and moaned through the finjni'l-siiaTied ravines ; and cvcntuallv down came the rai:i with, the celerity so peculiar to mountainous regions. Up to this time the atmosphere has been more or less obscured by threatening storm clouds, aiirl bad weather continues to hang about with uncriifortablc obstinacy. Eiemental inclemency often induces serious cogitation. Tlie chances of kojournment in Otago during the winter season have come freely under discussion, and tlie decision is a very dubious one as to whether we shall "move on" or not. Ocrtes, the sapiency of the amended mining regulations is not smoothing matters much in favor of those who might have contemplated remaining, nor does it evince a disposition on the part of the officials to retain us amongst them. The rule * affecting the loss of a miner's right is expunged, instead of renewing the right at a cost of ss. Henceforth we shall be compelled tt> pay the sum of £1 for another one, if desirous of legalising our position as miners. Every facility for the loss of the document is thrust upon us by the drivers of the State chariot—a machine that, before the discovery of gold here, would have been aptly symbolised by an antediluvian sledge or primitive bullock-dray trailing in travail through the slough of ami-progression. We are commanded, under penalty of forfeiture of claim, to carry it on our persons, and keep it like a dressed mummy .in a drapery establishment, always "on view." Owing to this perpetual hawking about and exhibition business, many ltights will be lost. It is vexatious to be at the beck of every one who chooses to annoy you by demanding to see your right, and as the Government have decreed that it must be shown, it is mean and parsimonious on their part to annul a law enabling a poor man to procure a duplicate one at a reduced charge. No alteration is made in surface alluvial claims. An area of 64 square yards means exactly 24 feet by 24 feet, per man. So in this respect the Government is like the " The King of France that went up the hill, And then came down again," or, iv military parlance, they have left us "as you were." 80 yards where the stripping exceeds twelve feet is too limited a spacu, particularly on river working, where, as here, the depth is ;often in excess of that standard, and where also the bank works are as wet as the bed stream itself. It appears that wet sinking is intended to designate only such ground as is worked by machinery ; therefore, sluicing claims— bank ones—on the Tokomairiro, though very wet', necessitating the constant labour of one, anil sometimes two men, for the removal of water alone, cannot embrace within theirscope more than 80 yards. Many parties of 8 or 10 men are not in a position to erect machinery right off; they are therefore, obliged to hold no more than this unprofltably small piece of ground. The only mechanical aid available, and, comparatively inexperienced in this colony, is motive-power from the rivers and streamlets ; it would be directed to bailing the claims. California pumps suffice so for very well, and are within the reach of nearly all diggers, when other appliances such as wheels, &c, could not be procured, owing to pecuniary causes. I do not understand, then, how in justice, wet claims, worked by hand labor, should not be on a footing, so far as dimensions go, with those that are to be worked by machinery in prospective. Is the toiling, struggling poor miner to be always kept with his nose to the grindstone ? and the successful adventurer, tho' since the era of Australasian gold mining, prosperity is not always a sure indication of industry and rectitude—to hare, owing to his money respectability the " open, sesame" to the hidden treasures of mine and mart. These amendments have given general dissatisfaction to the miners of the " Woolshed." Men of education,acumen,and practical miningknow ledge denounce them in toto. They say, when every inducement should be held out to us to stay during the inevitably approaching inclement portion of the year, the Government, with singular dunderheadedi)cs»,are aiming to drive us away. There are fair.gold-fields, and remunerative ones, if we have ample scope for our energies, but the miserly policy that withholds from us a fair-sized claim will ultimately leave no occupants for those of any size. It may be urged these regulations only remain in force until a mining board is elected— admitted. But do they not foreshadow the liberal? policy the Government would wish the Board to adopt ? and may it not he inferred that the Government^ would only ratify regulations emanating therefrom that were in consonance with their own ideas of mining legislation. Besides, too, a considerable time may elapse before the election of a Mining Board takes place ; and then again another interregnum ere their legislation comes into operation —these govermental absurdities holding good through a long period. Much more could be said but no doubt other parties will well sift the subject. No wonder we have so many restless spirits amongst us. But yesterday, so* to speak, seeing that Tokomairironians (pardon the word) were only working under sufferance, being outside the boundaries of a proclaimed gold-field, and supposed to have no legal status as miners, the fate of the " Kilkenny cats" was regarded as a probability, and dreading to have such a catastrophe entailed upon them as would result from being left to themselves without the intervention of warden or other mining officer, many contemplated hybernating in the Chatham Islands, whers murphies and mining might be had a discretion. Today, owing to the amended mining regulations, British Columbia is in high repute ; and abFOlutely, after the perusal of a leading article in the Times, two diggers shouldered their swags and sloped to Dunedin, intending to sail for that f.ir away El Dorado, others preparing to follow. Men of such energy and determination should be secured to this colony. Liberal mining laws, liberal land laws, cheap provisions, will accomplish much towards so desirable an end. The Government have all these things within their power. Good roads produpp cheap food ; the rest is easier of consummation; This gold-field for, notwithstanding its non-pro-clamation, so it must be called, is splendidly situated. Gold has been obtained in various directions from the river, as far as 5 or 6 miles on every side except plainwards. lamin a position to state that Mr. Cosgrove, storekeeper and postmaster, has purchased, during four mouths, upwards of 1200 ozs. of gold. The gold buying trade has been shared by four other storekeepers, who have no doubt also purchased largely. A good quantity has been sold at various stores on Tokomairiro Township proper, and also a portion sent to Waitahuna, for transmission by escort. " Facts are chiels that winna ding," says Burns. I think we have on these grounds a fair claim for recognition as a gold-field. To the right and left is known to be auriferous country ; gold has been found in many gullies in the " hundreds." Beautiful' agricultural country environs the mountains, whose mineral treasures are but slightly tapped. Coal, and timber for building purposes are not difficult of access, —the forest skirts the plain, and fuel ('coal) is adjacent. Tokomairiro proper and the surrounding mining district might be to Otago what Ballarat is to Victoria, —the first mining and agricultural town in the Province ; and yet we are not made a part of the Provincial gold-fields. This should not be allowed to continue longer. It cannot be said that the miners here are politically apathetic ; upwards of 50 forms have been sent (registration for electorship) since I wrote last, and they are taken up with avidity ; more should be sent, as I think the supply is nearly consumed. I hope the fact of not residing within the proclaimed goldfields district will not disqualify us. Qur rigjjts, however, fire issued "for the Tuapeka District; so \ suppose that on tliat basis we arc safe. It would be a snd disappointment to find ourselves in the wrong box at the eleventh hour ; perhaps you will consider the matter and say if we are right. The long race is now being farmed out •''l We have been given to understand that the object of abolishing this rule is to allow duplicate" Kigiite " to be provided gratis when the loss is proved,—instructions to which effect are to be furnished to tho Commissioners.] •

to claimholdors at ig2 per week for a constant supply of water. Tlia proprietors had an eye to business wiiwi they undertook the job, and if it can be legally held (a query) it may, besides supplying their own claims, become a source of emolument. Many claims are employing hired labor at from 12s. to la*, per diuin, but it is very difficult to get a job. as tile number of hands as yet engaged is not very great, and mostly those employed are ncquaintani'i> who may not be doing' much. This fact, though, shows that the place is advancing. The wives of some of the diggers have come from Victoria, and a general desire to make the best of it for the winter is apparent. Prospecting would benefit us much. I shall call your attention to that object i;i my next communication —properly organised and carried out. it would be the savingand making of this neighborhood. The settlers should not :"'- tljl< zeal in inaugurating, in conjunction with t'le Government, such parties. They would be reciprocal benefits conferred. Everything quiet and -comfortable on the river ; we live withnit'occasfon for the policeman ; no peculation, no disorderly conduct. Well fed, and hard worked, with decent remuneration, men's thoughts nre oftennr bent on rest than roguery. Littlewonder, therefore, that " Olenore" is an "Arcadia." Our population still increases.

ROMANCE Es T KEAL LIFE. At the time of t!ie election for the Presidency of the French Republic, there was a young lieutenant of Zouaves serving with his regiment in Algiers. This regiment, as did a large portion of the army of Africa, voted for General Cavaignac and was conspicuous for its partisanship.' After Louis Napoleon had been : declared President, loud and dire were the expressions of disappointment, and the Lieutenant in question made himself so obnoxious by his fearless expression of opinion as to attract the notice of ;iie Cliief of the State, and the result was a disbanding of the regiment and a peremptory order for our hero to quit the French territories. He afterwards went to Belgium but was again involved in political trouble, and ordered across the frontier. S.oon after the gold discoveries in Victoria, our Lieutenant, who had incurred the displeasure of his uncle, who wa_s a strong Bonapartist, made his way to Melbourne, and was for some time In various positions in the Police and Escort. Subsequently he came over to New Zealand", and wns for some time working in company with an individual who now occupies an emin?nt position in the Native department, cutting timber, splitting shingles, &c. Having picked up the Native language, he succeeded in getting a subordinate office under Government, and was located as an agent of the Land Purchase Department, in the extreme north of the Island. When the late war broke out he rendered good service as a Govern-1 ment messenger, and was subsequently attached to the Staff of General Cameron, as interpreter. A short time ngo, an official communication was forwarded by the French embassy in London, to the effect that this sui diaant Lieutenant of Zouaves, policeman, sawyer, and interpreter, was the nephew of a nobleman high in the good graces of the Emperor, and this uncle hud recently died bequeathing to our hero his large estates and fortune. It is said also that the .Emperor had in an autograph letter expressed his wish to welcome to his Court the nephew of his friend, and to forget in the " Comte de Ville " the indiscretions of the Lieutenant of Zouaves. The Count proceeded to Europe a few mails ago, and before leaving, expressed his intention of again visiting New Zealand.

THE CLUTHA COAL FIELD. The following interesting letter ha 3 been handed to us for publication :— Clntlia Co.il Field, February 22nd, 1862. • To His Honor Major Richardson, Superintendent. Sir, —I have at length the honor and satisfaction of being enabled to inform you that a quantity of from 20 to 25 tons of fresh worked coals is now excavated, and ready to be removed to the Jetty in a few hours, as soon as the necessary arrangements are made for a vessel to take them away; and as I understood the Government would wish to have a part of the first cargo for trial, I should feel obliged bj' being instructed whether a vessel will be engaged to fetch, or if I may forward them by the first who will take them, and, in this case, where they should be discharged, and into whose care. I entertain great hopes that they will be found of very superior quality to what is most generally expected, for I am aware an immense amount of prejudice has been, and I think very unfairly and unjustly raised against them, which will require some time to remove, but I feel satisfied so far as the Government is concerned, they will receive a fair and impartial trial. It affords me great satisfaction to be able -to report that the opinion I have always expressed, viz., that they would improve as the working advanced from the earth and sea beach, is most fully confirmed. The coal now presents a most promising appeara;ieo, with unmist."keable signs of still further improvement, but ■we cannot expect to see them in their true natural state till they are found reposing undisturbed on their own floor, and covered by their own proper roof. The present roof—quicksand, a very heavy and dangerous one—is a false one ; the true roof, bituminous shale and bind, is cut off liy a fault, but will, doubtless, resume its proper place within a" short distance. There are strong indications that this will be the case. The mine possesses some very important advantages, and, amons.it others, that it may be either worked on a small and limited scale, or opened out extensively so as to supply a considerable demand if required, but till the result of the trial of the quality of the coals is known, and the true roof regained, I do not think it would be either safe or prudent to open out more than a small gallery. I regretted having been unavoidably absent when the Chief Surveyor visited the coalfield. I would gladly have availed myself of the opportunity of pointing out to him on the ground tiie different strata accompanying them, and explained on the spot my views of them, and he would have had an opportunity of judging how far they are rational. I was> much astonished at reading the remarks made by Dr. Lindsay on the Clutha coal in a lecture at Dunedin, and the opinion he then publicly delivered that they were lignites of the tertinri/ formation, and I do not hesitate to say ho was not'justified, with the very limited amount of knowledge he could acquire in a visit (certainly not exceeding ten minutes)he passed on the coal, in coming to this conclusion. Had he carefully examined the strata for even half a mile along the beach, I believe he must have satisfied himself that the con I belongs to the true enrbotiiferous formation. A fairer field for examination no' geologist could desire; but he suffered to escape observation and passed over unnoticed, some most important and interesting features, although lying open nnd ex-; posed to view. I must apologise for making these ob-| •ervations. but I feel assured your Honor will give! me credit for feeling strongly in everything connected with the Clutha coal, and will pardon mo. I purpose sending by the vessel which takes away the coals a small box containing samples of coal from different portions cf the mine, nnd specimens of all the accompanying measures:, and I have no doubt your Honor will feel much interested in examining them. I consider them so decisive that no intelligent working coal lmnev could view them without immediately recognising in them those of the true coal formation of the old country. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient Servant, Jas. Gko. Lewis.

THE AMERICAN WAR. Commenting on the American news, the New York Hernld of the 10th December, remarks : — The rebel sympathisers in this State affect to ridicule the reports which continually reach us that tho blockade is seriously embarrassing the Confederate Government. They argue that the soil in as productive as ever, and that instead of cotton, tobacco, &c, the negroes can raise corn, potatoes, ami other necessities of life sufficient to keep boil)- and r.oul together. This may be true, but "man cannot lire by bread alone," nor can an army of half a million of msn be subsisted and maintained merely on the jn-oduce oi' the plantations. Had not this*immense army to bo fed, clothed, and kept in tho field, and constantly increased in numerical strength, it is possible that the people of the rebel States might continue to live in a condition of semi-barbarism, without the fear of being ttarved, notwithstanding the blockade. Bread, however, is only one necessity; a thousand other commodities are essential in sustaining this army and keeping it in a condition of eflicieney ; commodities which the South has no manufacturies nor resources to supply. Up to the present the rebel troops may have been fairly furnished with clothing, shoes, medicines, munitions of war, and other indispensables, but the stock on hand must necessarily, owinjj to the vas-t consumption, be gpeedily exhausted, with no prospect of being renewed. The consumption, again, will be continualty on the increase as the war progresses, since the materiel of the Southern army must be proportioned to

the equipments and materiel of the army of the North. It is idle to say that personal courage will supply the place of powder, that pride ia a better remedy for usjue than quinine, or that promises to pay can purchase as much broadcloth as ready money can command. Such ideas may delude the mind hi a first moment of passion, but ennnot long deceive. The present war is as much a test of the comparative resources of this two groat sections of the Union as of the courage of loyal and disloyal man, and the blockade lias cut the South oft" from supplies, without which, .sooner or later, its armies must become demoralised. Of the boasted independence of the rebels at this time, the Cleveland PlainttcaU-.r wittily says :—

I " An iuH-Ui-'ent gentleman just up through the .Mississippi Valloy informs us that the demand for salt ' is beyond all description. They cannot, kill more fresh meat at a time than can' be oaten in six hours, for ' they have neither salt to cure nor ice to delay decoin- ; position. The fall fevers are upon them, and the cry • for quinine conies faintly up from thousands of parched • lips. Almost every day trunks are seized on their • way South packed with" quinine. They have no oil. A gentleman from Alabama informs us that batter is used to locmnoiives and cai's, and the railroad companies really feared the trains would have to give it up. "They have a little lard, but no ability or machinery to make oil out of it, and so they have none to burn for light, nor have they tallow or burning fluid. A gentleman passing through the Carolinas, found them burning pine-knots for light, so their independence is getting a lil-Je light on the subject. They have no leather for saddles, harness, or shoes, nor shoemakers to make it up, or thread, or pegs, or "awls to work with. Their independence must be shod with a preparation. This last gentleman, wishing for some shirt buttons, was told in a city about the size of Cleveland, that there were ' not a dozen shirt buttons in the town.' They would pin their collars and sleeves, but the 'darned' Yankees had stopped sending them pins, and they are out. They can't stitch them for they have no needles or thread. A spool of Coats' thread will sell readily for ten nounds of cotton, and oh! 'scissors,' what a scarcity of cutlery in the Independent South. " Newspapers stop by scores for want of paper. They have scarcely enough left to write the Declaration of Independence on, ami no steel pens to write it with, but they could use quills if they only had a Yankee knife"to make them into pens. The cry for flannel is loud, long, and useless. They have not sot it, nor have they ' woo" of the sort to spin, or spindles to spin it, or looms to weave it. What an independent web they are weaving. They have grates, but no coal, sewing machines, but no cloth, or thread, or needles. Common combs have nearly all lost their teeth, but they can crop the hair and occasionally shake their hatless heads. " They can ' make shift' on the plantations to do without many ordinary articles which _ are imported, but to maintain an army of half a million of men in a condition of efficiency the commissariat must be complete and equal to that of the enemy. " Still, South Carolina seems to be more insane than ever in her folly. Our dispatches of Friday state that the rebels in "that State were burning their cotton and rice, and were thus depriving themselves '•f the only means at their command to avert the calamities by which they are threatened. Was ever folly "more stupid ?

On Bnllaarat during the past week a number of children have been attacked by a complaiut, the symptoms of whic closely resemble those of the English cholera, attended by a distressing cough and .grrat difficulty in keeping any food upon the stomnch. "There is no doubt, says the Tribune, " that, the disease, if not caused by tiie large amount of decaying matter and stagnant wntes allowed to accumulate about the town, is gsaatly aggravated by the bad system of drainage free, and the little attention paid to removing the nuisances so rife in the municipality."

FiUGnTnn. MunDiiits in Italy.—A' crime of the most dreadful character (says a letter from Turin of the 31st ult.) was committed at Bologna, on the 29th. As Signor Grrasselli, inspector of thepoliee, and Signor Fremagalli, one of the officials of the corps, were leaving their oilice at one o'clock after midnight, they were fired at in the Strada Maggiore with a blunderbuss with such deadly effect, that the latter expired instantly, and the former, who was conveyed to an hospital" in the neighborhood, only survived two hours. Both the officers were Lombards, and they had been sent to Bologna in consideration of the keenness and energy they evinced in other parts of the country in tiie discharge of their duties. The tragedy of Bologna is not, L"7t\grieved to say, an isolated fact. The bloody affray: iftenza is too recent an event to be, quite forgotten.■■ At Lugo, as a carbineer was venturing alone in the midst of a noisy and turbulent group, he was hit to the heart by an unknown hand, the wound being inflicted with so thin a blade that he I feil to the ground a corpse without uttering one word or shedding a single dvop_ of blood. Nor is ltoinagnaj alone the theatre of startliug atrocities of that nature. In the wood of Vinovo, near Stupinigi, on the read to Pinerolo, a hnman head, smeared with fresh blood, I was found a few days ago. Upon further search, the body from which it* was severed was discovered under a heap of dry leaves, and recognised as the corpse of a luckless giinrdi/i cnmpi'Stra (rural constable), who had been murdered near the spot. The body had a bullet through the chest, and no less than 37 stabs. Not unfrequcntly tragic scenes of the darkest dye pass altogether unnoticed.*' Towards the close of the summer, for instance, a friend of mine from Aglie, in the province of Ivrea, gave me an account of a double murder which took place under his very eyes, and before the whole population of the town, which was still in the greatest state of commotion about the deed. A mean-looking, stunted, half-deformed boor, who had been slighted at a'rural ball in his own village of La Madonna delle Crrazie, near Aglie, by some rustic beauties, who preferred to him two tall handsome youths from the latter place, had sworn in his heart vengeance against his fortunate rivals. He met them on the meadow where the whole peasantry of Aglie and the neighborhood were holding their yearly fair, and walking up to them, suddenly stabbed both of {them, one after another, with such dire effectth.it both bled to death on the sward. Every ono of the assembled multitude witnessed the dee.l, yefc surprise and dismay seemed to paralyse the minds and bodies of all those hundreds of spectators, so that the murderer was allowed to run from the spot undisturbed.