RMIGRATION RETURN FOR THE PORT OF DUNEDIN, FROM JANUARY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 16,1862. THE NOKOMAI D I G G I N G S.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 234, 19 September 1862, Page 6

RMIGRATION RETURN FOR THE PORT OF DUNEDIN, FROM JANUARY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 16,1862.

THE NOKOMAI DIGGI N G S.

ByjtliaGuiain^Stacfrom Invercargill_wa are Jn receipt of further information respecting the Nokonui Diggings. The intelligence may be considered 'favorable, although up to the present tiinp'bat few miners had arrived ou the spot. Tlie Southland News published an Extra on the 15th,' containing a report from Mr. W. H. Pearson, the Commissioner of Crown Landj for the Province of Southland. The -following is extracted from this report:— The diggings are at present at the head of a oonsiderable gully, about four xailes ia.lenfrih. varyiitp; iii breadth fioni a quarter of a mile' to 20 or 30 yards. Through thisrunsagoodsiised creek, into thf.easi bank of the Nokomai, with a pretty fair supply of water,—the breadth of its shingly bed indicating (bat at times it must'coine down iv a considerable voluiao; probably with a long continuance of dry weather it might ceasQ to run on the surface, though, it was the opinion ot the diggers there \wuld always be a hiijiicient under-current of water to serve all the purposes of sluicing,. &c. The digging up to the present lime is confined (o working the bed of the creek, v/luVh in some places almost fills tho gully, while iit others there are small flats on each side; the hills are steep and high, with occasional email gullies breaking into the main one- I was told that hakl been found in the sides of the hills where prospected, though the lew who wore originally theje did not'try: much, being deterred by want of proper ap- - 5-:''..V. . ; : Iplißnces...:.':.V,:;-'-.:. rV.-/i '■■ -■}■'--- '■■'■. :'~-:-. :" .'• V.;-^ When I was th'er£ therewereonly three claims at all worked, that of Laiab's parly, being the most so; thb depth of sinking varies from two to five feet— where |he rock is within a loot or two of the surface, the detritus to ■nitlsin a codplc of inches or so is removed, the rock is chipped up and washed •:. where it is deeper, tvb.ifeetof grave] next 'the' bottom is also washed: tho bed rock is a softish slate, the cleavage of which runs east and west across the gully, which rvuis northward fiom thfe Ka&t Dome—the cleavage -of tho slate -was* intersected by thick denies of quartz, which appeared; to run down vertically; wherever thtie $eataa occur, the;yield of gold h heaviest. 1 was informed by one of Lamb's party that they had obtained forty-two, ouiieut altogether in about, cr raiher less than a month, out of that part ot their claim winch they, had worked, which \yas by no means a large piece of ground— that owing to the Iniuffi.cieacy of tools, only three could work at a time, they having _oaa pick, a shovel, and for a sluice, what looked hke a canoe with, the ends cut off, having a bit of wood nailed across the end to stop the gold, which would have proved most insufficlent,.had jt uot j)eeD ccai-se and : .heavy; from what I could see atid hear I would iiaagine uone of tltepartv had ever exerted theinselvfs. The claim cbove be longing to two men seems equally-good. I purchased iive ounces odd froui one of them, which he told me was bis uhare for a fortnight's work. I saw also nearly an ounce, which bad been obutiticd in two days by a man who was what is technicsli.v. termed; a "hatter." All the gold I have cccii s'otujrg from thy gully is coarse, ths very finest tehiu shotty, nor ts if waterworn in appearance. There»i3 a good deal of scrub all filong the guliy, aiid ft patch of some thirty acres of bitch bush at the head of it. This bash I muiciv stand is fit for rawing purposes; there was one pair of sawyers iiHt before I lest. The Nokomui.from its juiJction with tke M6a, towjvrds its source, is very slmilarin appearance to that creek, and there are, I\yas told other .'creeks nearly as large as the Moa run. mug into it, it would not be unreasonable to suppose that all of. them will prove equally rich. Most of •the diggers seemed to mink that the hills would afro turn 9uf well if properly prospected. Califoruiaa pumps were considcml by *oine a3 . indispensable, though the most efficacious method of drying tlie claims in the creek bed, and one which is uidversalfy adopted, is by cutting tail , races. On the Bth inst, there were only nine uien in the gully ; on the 9th these had swelled to one hundred—and on the 30th. . the day I arrived, to about one hundred and fifty,— which must have since been gi-eatly increased by arrivals from Otago, there l>eing,;l understand, numbers on the road. However languid the original prospectora-may have been, there seemed to be no lack of energy on the part of the new arrivals.: 1 saw men who. had. arrived, the,,day.btfore.,me, bard at work cutting; tail races, marking claims, and in one instance*awing; tiipber; all seemed in good spirits, The st6ck of provisions on, or rather in the vicinity of the diggings, is byrio means large, though as most of those "who went from InvercavgUl took a good supply up with them, the want, perhaps, will not be felt before a fresh supply can pet np, there bang, I understand, drays on the road from Uiverton, though of this I an* by no means sure. The most advisable coarse would ba to fake up a fbrtnight'a supply nt the leasf, the stockowners alongthe roarf being-pretty short provisions. I learn that, Mr. Branigan, Commissioner of Police for Otago, has gone up with power to declare a {rold-field and itsue miners' ri jhw;' I left Sergeant Mo.'ton, in accordance with your Honort instructions, at Mr. Cameron's, to re^nain till relieved by the Otago authorities taking eh ir^e. Ibrought down about thirty -two ounces of Wl.akatipu gold, and five of the Moa Creek. Mr. Donald Cameron, wlto started the day before my arrival, brought some nine ounces of.Whakatipu and geven ouiicea of Moa Creek; a mau named Bixon, eight ounces of the latter, and a Mr. Dauiels five ouneeg, amongst which I was told there were some fine specimens of quartz and gold mixed—the god not in the least watenvorn, andthe quartz looking as if fresh chipped off; I could not learn the exact spot from which these pieces were obtained.

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