THE DUNSTAN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 323, 1 January 1863, Page 5

THE DUNSTAN.

(FROM THE DAILY TIMES CORRESPONDENT.) Hartley Township, Saturday, 28th Dae, 1862 My last despatch was closed yesterday at noon. No. thingl of importunes has since then transpired. Large numbers of people have arrived nnJ departed almost as rapidly for the Lake country. Very few are returning1, though a considerable number are expected down during the Race week. The few accounts received, there, still continue most favorable and'encouraging. The township on the Arrow promises, from all accounts, to become the leading one of the distiict. Mr Commissioner Branijan has arrived oa the field, and is engaged establishing an Escort, and forming1 a camp. Several gold buyers from this township are on the field, and the' Escort to leave the Ist January will soon establish the truth or falseness of the statements made regarding the large amounts of gold stated to be held by the miners on the spot. The population is reported to be orderly, and provisions more plentiful. I have received the following letter from SergeantMajor Bracken :— •' Arrow Diggings, aOth December, 1862. ! « si r —l hare again an opportunity of sending- you ! a few lirie>, and fome'further information in regard to these diggings. " The township of the Arrow is enlarging very rapidly ; a great number of buildings are being1 erected as stores, hotels. &c; regular streets are being formed, and a police camp is also in course of formation. Great numbers ot people are daily coming into and leaving the township for the various workincs on this gold field. " When parties are making what would be considered fair -vages they are quite dissatisfied, for tb,o diiily reports which are circulating; in regard to claims, and the " piles" people are making, tend to make them despise ground from which moderate remuneration could b.e got for their labors. " The diggings are extending to the" head of the Wak. tip Lake, and various parties are out prospectin}.' towards the West. Const. " The Escort for Invercareill is still hero I understand that it is like'y to leave at the beginning of next week. Three or. four thousand ounces of g Id are likely to be conveyed by it, beiner about the amount which the buyers were able to purchase with the money thvy brought up. "An esoort is announced to leave this field on the 2nd January, conveying gold by way of the Dunstan to Sunedin'. Some of tlie diggers seem not to be willing to trust their gold in charge of the escort; repur.s being circulate I here that many of the worst characters from Australia have arrived in the Province and are lurking' about on the roads, and they (the diggers) think that the few troopers who have i>een sent here are quite insufficient to resent any attempt at sticking up. ■ " A party who arrived from the Dunstan by t"e short road reports that Ihe body of a man islyyig on the banks of the Kaw.irnu, opposite, the junction of the Boaiing May Creek with that rivor. •' There }s gold to any amount here; parties bringing in as much as a hundred pounds weight at a time. " I am, Sir, " Yours respectfully, " 11. W. Bracked-" The body mentioned is probably the one referred to in ray last letter. Several other bodies have been seen floating down the river by several persons, and one of the partiis engaged by Mr Hill, th<> timber rafter from the Lakes, and tvb,o is stationed at the Kawnru Junction, states that he frequently sees dead bodies floating above the river. That it hai been a fatal river to many, none can doubt; but whether the loss of life has been so large as those reports would convey is doubtful. Some may be missed who will never more be heard of, and their bodies never found. The Molyneux may in many instances account for some of these missing men. Anxiety is felt as to whether some of these liave not been murderel, and their bodies thrown into the turbulent and rapid waters of tne river. Solitary parties working in remote and seclude I spots would easily become the pmy of desperadoes, and their bodies once consigned t« the river it -would probably be some time, before

<lee:ls of u'olenco wouM be marie Itnown. At an ia-. quest hold the other daj it was found that, the body mu^t have been in the Wnt< r from I lie beginning of last September. The flesh was quite denuded from the bones. •These thing? portly norount for the anxiety felt.'Wg.inliriß. tticse reports, but I; believe that they are exaggerated fears. > ...AU.'.lastJuglit n.i-iuncl.heavily .aW] "continuously. Tth sbeen i\ gpi er'-fsnlijo tof congnitultiton. and it was hailed with' tho muiiq iniiusimm us chaiaetorisi'a tl.e expre.'-ti.>n of feeling wh--n tho rain ernes afc la-tin thorny up* count v distiicts of Victotia. 'eoi 1.; enjoyed tluiaih as if th y Jisid been punt tig foritns.wn nctr.al necessity and to me I to revel iv the jil"MMi eit pave. Mv; emli.ri- a f»r a my, t'i or t^oth- payc.iiiiig.'choVi'K effect <)f the fine micnous dn t lh:» fejli pr wi 1 fmil a r wly solution. So unic'i lift's bren siii.l fiom 'imp to t me about hi-" said iln-t, that n. few• wnnl< of dus-ii^tion regardi'ig it may noL. now he out of place. It i< impa'palily tine, it pe!;etTa(e« ev.rywhore and through nil precautions, settling tliiekly on every resting place. Heated by the sun, blown by the winds in clouds, it must stroiurly resemble thoss sand storms so dreaded by the Arabs in Africa's sandy plans and often mentioned by travellers. With nn intense scorching sun; pjrtpiring in evcy pore, the effect is most distressing upon the system. It penetrates inti the lungs and produces an irritating, hacking1, hareh cough, difficult, if not impossible,'to g.;t rid of. Every one rough?, and all dread the found of the rising wind. This is why the rain has been hailed with a so gi'nnino heartfelt pleasure. In the hills the dust is very little felt; it is on the road?, in the gorges, and the townships, that it becomes a thing .detested by all. " The meeting to petition for the immediate opening up of the loads to the Lake District is appointed to tiikc place on Tuesday. Grant interest is i'elt in the matter, and several resolutions are to be moved. The limber and other materials for the new postoffice have anive'l. Tho building1 is to tie erected in. ■ the north end of the main street, about half a mile fi-nm the camp, but in that part of the street in which. .til tho large stone stores and the hotels are situated. The situaiioii is n very g-oorl one, and the building, whon once completed, will no doubt allow tiie Postmaster to give more general satisfaction than he has late'y been able to do in his dog-kennel of an. 0 lica. Abaut a fortnight ago mention wai made of a peculiar sample of Hold having been sold.to one of the Hanks. The men then st-ted that they intended to apply fora pioneering claim. They did Dot do so, but departed suddenly and quietly, and those who had '•liiiiik" on found themselves completely sold. ' It .vnsnlso mentioned that from the formation and shape of the #o!d, and having seen another sample like it, I presumed it had oome from the Carrick Obelisk Itango. Two men yesterday sold Messrs D. Solomon and Oo upwarJs of one hundred ounces of fituilar gold, and tuM another tale. They said on this occ'ision they would not apply for a prospecting clmin, as it would be no pood to do so. and they expected toon to have half a bucket fall of the same kind of gold, which would do them, and then they would not care fir any ono Strange to say these men have npaiii baffled those watching them, butin consequence of an acfid-utiil remark made by one of them, li'tle doubt exists but that it comes from, near the Obelisk. This is the third rime tho same party have sold similar go!d. always abo t the same aimmtit, and always to different parties. Without exception it is the finest gold found in the Province. Coarse, heavy, bright, strange iv its shape, square, and flit, and yet fretted in a way that defies descrip+ion. -It resembles a number of minatuie dice joined together, ready as if to generate: still it is solid and Viroigli3 bett' r tlian the usual water-worn gold. The men candidly stated it was .the produce of v fortnight's work and that they ha:l a good deal more on hand, but they bound the storekeeper to seeresy for a few hours." Some of.the pieces arc a little allied with a fine white quartz which adds considerably to their beauty. The vivcrha* suddenly risen several feet and the effects of the late rain is noticeable. It has changed iv pale sea-green hue for a murky yellow dingy color. Many parties will take a 1 vantage of this rise to rush in for protection claims for the-purpose oC getting away to J. ox's. It is probable that the river will fall again as rapidly as it has risen, and it therefore seams a doubtful question whether it is desirable to re-register claims for a long period. Already, during the last few days, the fall of water had tended to cause many disputes about the position of claims, and a comylication of difficulties seem inevitable. Ths river workings promise to be the cause of innumerable disputes and to give much trouble ,vhen it "returns to' its natural boundaries. A Half frontage system, with an imaginary middle water line and a surveyor to lay' down pegs on the banks, is the only lixely and ready way by which the intricacies of the present blo.ik system of claims will be solved. • Most of she outlying'gullies are deserted. Potter'u Conroy's, and' a host of others have yielded for -the present, to the attractions of the Shotover and Arrow. They are worked out according to all accounts; but 1 liavn no hesitation in sayin^.that before many months, they will again be peopled by a population who will prove a different result.. Several here abanr doned claims paying four to six pounds sterling, pep week—for superior attractions, and some of these will no doubt gladly Teturn to the ground they now despise. It h not every one that will succeed in the rugged' mountainous regions of the West country, or will L->. disposed lonarto endure the privations and hardships entailed in prospecting this part of the Province, rich '.; as it may be in particular portions and on some of the rivers. . ' Since the last Escort closed, about 1,930 ouces of gold have been deposited, and every known circumstance btill points to the Escort of the Bth January next, reaching my estimate of twenty thousand ounces. Some large parcels from Adam's gully the only ona almost not deserted, have come in. They have contributed, very largely to the deposits the past week, and during two days of it, upwards, of six hundred ounces were lodged in' the Treasury from this now famous gully. The rise ia the river may interfere with the total of the next escort, but still confident hopes are entertained that it will reach the figure named. We have Dunedin dates to the 25th' instant, and the rapidity of communication with the metropolitan oity is hailed with satisfaction. The mail via Waikouaili is anticipated by that of the Tuapeka line, bat!i up and down. Unless this is remedied it i» » useless expense, to the country, as no one will send knowingly by a route that occupies four days, while the other is only rwo. and by which it can always be anticipated.