NARRATVE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 278, 10 November 1862, Page 5

NARRATVE

CURRENT EV ENT S FOR ! TRANSMISSION TO MELBOURNE. Our last Melbourne narrative was published on the 24th ult. Si ace that date the accounts from the various diggings have on the whole been of a very satisfactory nature, and there have hot been wanting 'instances of sterling good fortune. At the Duustau two new rushes have taken place to gullies at some considerable distance from the original workings, and the yields" liave been, of almost unexampled richness. At. the Nokomai a steady improvement has been manifested, and whereas at the date of onr last summary great dissatisfaction and disappointment existed among the miners who had rushed thither, we have now to notice that a moderate population is quietly settling down to wort with fair chances of success. One effect of the improved prospects of the new diggings, and especially of the opening of rich new gullies has been that a considerable number of the miuers who had returned to the Tuapeka district with the intention of setting in there for a spell, have once more been tempted to roam. The escort, which is a tolerable safe guage of the suecoss of the miners, shows a very decided increase, the last which arrived on the Ist inst having brought down 15,505 oz 3 dwr, against 11,430 for the previous fortnight. This was from the Dunstan, Tuapeka, and Waitah'una., As yefc there has been no regular escort from the Nokomai, most of the. gold finding its way to . Itivercargill, There was, however^ a parcel of : gold from1 Nokomai bronght down by a. constable on the sth inst.* This has been dignified witK Jth"e title of the first escort, but the^quantity was only r 247.02. .Adhering to our usual practice we shall now, proceed to chronicle in their order the mining «y«snt« of &o period since 24th October.

i On the 27th we published an official report upon the new rushes at the Dunstan, of which a brief notice had previously appeared in our columns. The report in question- whieli was from j the pen of Mr" Jackson-Keddel!,the Commissioner, in charge of the field, was to the effect" that considerable excitement existed relative to two new rushes, one to a spot since called Conroy's Gully, about nine miles from the camp, and the;other at a gully leading from the westward slope of the Umbrella Ranges to the Nevis stream, and dis-. Jane about 23 miles. At both .very, fine samples of gold were obtained, but at the time of Mr Ked dell's visit the general impression of the miners was not favourable to Conroy's Gull?, b-ciuse of the wetness ol the ground. At the other.locality the' most sanguine hopes wera entertained, many ofthe claims having even thove pr)ved exceedingly rich. Two other gullies, also; leading down on the eastern slope of the Umbrella Ranges, were also; attracting considerable .attention. The roai to the Nevis from the Dunsian. was very difficult to travel, nevertheless there were about 400 men at work thereat the time of Mr- Kedddl's visit. On the sth November came, the startling news that two Germans in Conroy's Gully had obtained fifty pounds weight of gold, that others had also made very rich finds, and that there were upwards of a thousand miners on the ground, with plenty of disputes, and all.the other concomitants of a "thorough good rush. This came from our own correspondent's statement. Another account represented the number of men at work to be about four hundred, and that ill who had been so fortunate as to get on the lead were making fortunes. Two men took out sixty ounces in eight days, and others were doing equally well. One tin dishful of washdirt turned out' fourteen ounces ' The gold obtained from Conroy's Gully is large and nuggety, but considerably water worn. It is well colored and handsome looking gold, and oujzhtto assay high. Gonroy's Gully is on Strode and Frazer's station, on the opposite side of the Molyneux from the present township, at Coal Point. The gully runs from a high elevation in the Umbrella Ranges,and falls into the Earnscleugh at a distance of about eight mile 3 from the Manuherikia. The s nking varies from four to six feet. There is a considerable quantity of scrub at the , head of the gully, and the miners will therefore be able to supply themselves with fuel. At the other rush, on the Nevis, some hundreds of miners were at work—the greater number of whom were doing well. Another gully nearer the Kaw.irau was also looked upon as likciy to turn out something—a prospecting claim having bctn applied for 'and obtained. The river Molyneux still continues high, an! the river sinkings are therefore at a standstill ; but with the numerous rushes in the neighborhood there is no lack of employment for the mining population. Most of the river claims are now registered for three months. Provisions on the Dunstan have been getting cheaper—fiour being now retailed at'ls per lb ; bread, 4s per loaf; and other articles of consumption at a proportionate rate. The building of a regular town h;s been greatly impeded by the want of timber, but this desideratum is in course of being smplied by the rafting of timber down from the lakes- One raft has come down, but by some accident it broke, and a good deal of the timber was lost. In a former summary we mentioned that Mr Rtilly,one of theorginal prospectors of the Dunstan, had started on an expedition up the River Molyneux from its mouth, taking stores with him, with a vievr of opening up the navigation by de-

monstrating the practicability of taking goods up against the stream. He succeeded perfectly, sold his goods, and returned to town. He reports that there are comparatively few real difficulties in the way up the river, and some can be done away with by thf judicious expenditure of capital. In his own words, " Nature's highway to the Dunstan is now open ; " and he estimates that goods can be parried to the diggings by water at an expense of riot more than LSO per ton. From the Nokomai, a variety of accounts have come to hand, the latest and best being that furnished by Mr Worthington, who has recently gone up to the charge of the district, as Commis-

sioner. According "to his account, the majority of the men at work are satisfied with their earnings and prospects. The average gains he estimates at about L 3 per week, but in individual oases, as much as L 6 and L 7 has been obtained. The sinking is generallythroughloo.se shingle, and boulders, varying from six to twelve feet to thi: wash dirt, which consists of a layer of slaty gravel, of a thickness of about eighteen inches. The great drawback i 3 the wetness of the grou. d, and in Moa Flat, which is the lower continuation of Victoria Gully, it has hitherto- been found al most impossiole to bottom. In the valley of the Nokomai, a prospect of 3 dwts to the tub has been obtained. Prospecting parties are about being organised to fairly test both Moa Flat and the Nokomai Valley. Mr Worthington states that besides the 247 ounces sent down by the constable, there were to his knowledge about 200 ounces in the hands of diggers in Victoria Gully, and he was also able to trace about 500 ounces as having been forwarded recently to Invercargill, with which place most of the storekeepers at the Nokomai are connected. There had been a rush to the head of the river, about twelve miles north from the camp, but most ot those who went were disappointed. As already mentioned the old diggings were gain been drained of a portion of their population by the superior attractions of the new rushes. Nevertheless they have made a very respectable show in the way of escorts. The first sod of the Wetherstone's stormwater channel was cut lately by Mr Vincent Pyke, who happened to be at Tuapeka on a tour through the gold fields. It is expected that this work will be a great boon to the district. There is nothing of very particular interest to note in respect of mining at the old gold fietds. One effect of the rashes has been to take away several members of the Mining Board, and in consequence it has been found impissible to get a quorum. The Government has taken occasion from this circumstance to do away with the Mining Board altogether, by revoking the proclamation of the Mining Board district.

A matter of considerable importance to the s; ipping interest, and indeed to the whole community, has been the discovery of a new channel or entrance, to Otago Harbor. A short time back it was observed that a sandy knoll was lorming in the channel, and fears were entertained that the obstruction would be a serious detriment to the Port. Happily, however, a new channel has been found, which is better than the old one, its minimum-depth of water being at low tide 18 feet. A full description of the channel was published in onr issue of Oct. 29. The Claud Hamilton, the Inter-colonial Company's n°w steamer, arrived in Dunedin on the 31st October. . he is a fine vessel, and is likely to be a favorite with the travelling public. She started on her northern return voyage- on Saturdays . •-• ■■- ' :: ■ ■-■: -. .:■ .- ~,-,'

A fatal boat accident occurred on the 24th ult, at Waikouaiti, a seaman named Shepherd, belonging to'the ketch Challenge, losing his lite by the capsizing of a boat i a the surf. The first meeting of the General Marine Board of New Zealand is to be held at Wellington, on or about the llth inst. A new code of Harbor Regulations for the Port of OLago has just been issued. ,It appeared in full in our issue of November 7. , '■ :. ;■••-. •.:-,-..-; ,: ..:. ; Two elections are shortly to come off—one1 for Dunedin, to supply the place of Major Richardson j and the other for Hampden, to supply the vacancy caused by the resignation of Captain Frazer. ;■ -;;v " ( ,;- :;■ ■■*■ ;:; ;■' ; . ~;..,, Of noteworthy accidents,' or offences; there have been few. The most important has been the stealing of an iron safe from a store, in Rat 4 tvay-street; and the . shooiing of a police constable through the foot, by the accidental explosion of his own revolver. •

Soundness of Preserved Meat. - Whether.| cases or tins of preserved fish, s naeat ; &c, are sopijd; ance. ,Tt' the.sideVof square tins or the, ends ofround ' ones are concave, their corii&ftsW soujia; I>ut If the Bides or ends are, convex or bulged outfit; may be' conclu led that decomposition has bei?un, and that gas,1 I tor-.ff.ed by this deeompositioa is the expansive force which has bulged the tin*. This is % teat worth knowing. '