THE GOLD-FIELDS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 285, 18 November 1862, Page 6

THE GOLD-FIELDS.

TOAPEK.A. ] (FROM OUr. OWN ■COKRKSPrtNDBX'r.) , . November 14, 1862. It is somewhat surprising that notwi thstandinij the continued exodnsirom thi-s field to the i Dunstan, the amount of gold sent down from here continues to be on the inc. ease. The number of miner?, who are at work, cannot exceed 800, aud presuming the last Escort only took down such gold as had been actually produced on this field, the average earnings'of the miners would be at the rate of 3£ ozs per week, per man. I scarcely believe, however, that all the gold sold on Tuapeka, is the produce of the field. A considerable quantity is no doubt brought in, both from the Molyneux and tbe Waipori, still, this scarcely 'accounts for the continued increase. It can only be attributed to the fact, that those who have stuck to their ground are doing better than heretofore, and despite all the assertions that the place was worked out, are taking from the 01.l spots such quantities of the precious metal, as would do credit to the pristine days of Gabriel's. The head of Gabriel's Gully stil! continues to be the chief centre of attraction, the principal operations being confined to ground sluicing. The average earnings of those engaged in this method of washing auriferous esrtb, are very lirge, sometimes as much as £25. a week, for several woks together. In those claim*, where a suflLunt supply of wat^r can be brought to play on the earth, every portion from surface to bottom 13 put through the sluice boxes. By this means whatever gold is distributed through the stuff ia obtained, aud the expense and trouble of stripping off the supposed non-auriferous clay avoided. Again, as the entire strata are laid bare from the alluvium at the top, to the hard rock of the bottom, frequent discoveries are made of lost leads and payable ground formerly neglected, ! or not supposed to exist. A most valuable discovery ha^ thus b; en made on the I'iue spur at the head of G<b<iels. After washing off the various deposits of auriferous gravel, a solid substance was readied whic i had all the appearance of the true bottom, but on bting brok-.n showed rounded qu:utz pebl.Ls and detached pieces of shite, the whole bearing the same appearance as though it had been partially vitriried. This substance on being broken up with hammers was found to contain gold in payable quantities, and accordingly s >nic if the claim owners have resorted to gunpowder to remove and break it up. This method, although partially successful, still leaves the greater portion in pieces from the size of road metal to that of bricks, and in consequence much of the gold is lost. As an example, I may mention that one piece, about the size of a m;m's hand, after being carefully broken up and washed, yielded over forty specs of very fine gold. The piece was taki n at random, no gold being visible before it was washed. It nny therefore be taken a* some criterion of the value of the bulk. Of course it is impossible to extract the gold by any other means than those adopted to reduce quartz to powder—vi>;., by stamping mills At least one of the parties (Hughes and party) who hold ground containing this 'l cement" have resolved, if they can only get sufficient protection, to erect crush ing machines ot the value of from £600 to £700. They propose driving the machinery—a batten of mx stamps—by means of an overshot ■waterwhetl, the water to be used, being that at present flowing in their race. They are very sanguine as to the profitable nature of the speculation, but eeem somewhat doubtful as to amount of encouragement they are likely to receive from the authorities. I may mention th it this conglomerate, although known among.-1 the miners by tbe nam.j of "cement," is not of the same character as that found in , the White Hills, Bendigo, or on the Black Hill, Bsillarat. There, the cementing substance appears to be iron, and the cement has generally a brown and partially burnt appearance ; here it is for the most part uncolored, and the cementing substance is evidently silica. I particularly dwell on this matter, because hitherto this substance has been untried, although found inconsiderable quantities both here and at Waitahuna. Indeed, if lam correctly informed, the prospecting shaft undertaken by the Government at "VVaitalmna, has been sunk through a considerable thickness of this conglomerate, and it might be advisable therefore to have it tried.

Although the tl cement" is richer immediately above the bed rock, there is no stratum of washdirt between them to indicate that the true bottom has been reached-,, and consequently it is just possible that many valuable deposits of this substance have been discovered and abandoned, under the impression th.it the ground was worthless. The gold found in this "cement" is very fine, but is pinenilly distributed through the entire mass. If it only peLled a tithe of the gold taken from a somewhat similar substance in Victoria, it would pay handsomely, the deposit bang of considerable thicknes-', in some cases as much as ten feet. As the motive power for driving crushing machinery would, in most instances, be water, the cost of relucing the "cement" and extracting the gold, would be smaller here than in Victoria. The sale of allotments in the township of Lawrence, took place on Wednesday, the sth instant, and was, all things considered, a great success. Most of the allotments in the neighborhood o{ the settled portion of-the township were sold, some of them realizing at th ■ rate of Ll4O an acre, the upset price being LSO. I believe an average of about L7O an acre was obtained for the whole of the lots sold. This is gratifying, as showing a disposition to make permanent residences on the nold fields, and that, despite all the attractions of the-Dunstan, there arc t'.iose who still believe in the future of Tuapeka.; I observe that one man has commenced to build a house and dig a garden on one of the newly sold lots, and no doubt his example will., be. fol'owed by ethers. i^orne nineteen patients still remain in the hospital, but there are, fortunately, no very' severe cases. The worst is that of Father Martin, the visiting Catholic pviest of the district. It apeared that this gentleman was on his way to YVaitahuna from here, 'when his liorse stumbled, throwing him heavily. On being raised from the ground it was found that he had broken his arm above the wrist, and also suffered some severe contusions of the face and head. The arm was at once set by I)r Halley, the Resident Surgeon, and I am informed that the reverend gentleman, although severely shaken, is improving. Another Bomewhat serious case is that of a man nam<-d Kobert Harris, who has had a portion of his left hand blown away by thie bursting of his gun while shooting ducks, i' The accident occurred about ten miles from Tuapeka, and the suflerer was compelled-to -walk" that distance to the Hospital- in great agony. His forefinger has been amputated, and there, U' every probability he, .will have to lose his thumb, if not his hand. The hand is literally smashed, and the ■arm-is-' also slightly injured by the violence of tlie explosion:. \'A soiriewb^at stVan|e"ca§e oT posbn'ing'frbm. eaHng the leaves of the tutu plant, was admitted into: the hospital last week. From what; I can leara, the person poisoned was a new arrival, ilnacquainted Svith the dangerous properties oif the tutii plant; and that'

while waiting f.r his mates to bring provisions from Wetherstones, had eaten a'■'.few of the leaves'. S'larfly .afterwards, he -was5 seized with severe pains in tiie (iowelrf,. and as he appealed to be getting worse/"was removal by his mutes to the hospital, where he lingered unt.l the follow ng morning. An inqrist was afterwards held on the body by Dr. Samuels, the Coroner, and a verdict returned" That the deceased had died from eating the leaves of the poisonous tutu plants. A provisional committee has been formed for the purpose of collecting subscriptions on behalf of the Hospital, but they have, in my opinion, very foolishly agreed only to ask from the Government a subsidy equal to the amount subscribed by the inhabitants of the district. In Victoria, double the amount subscribed by the inhabitants is granted as a collected by the Government, besides in addition providing larue sums to erect suitable buildings. When it is considered that the Tuapeka Hospital is at present receiving patients irora the whole of the gold fields, something more should be given by the Government tnan an equal sum to that collected by only a portion of the inhabitants of the gold fields. It is to be hoped, when the Provincial Council meets, it will be found that more liberal views pervade the minds of our rulers.