NELSON.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 591, 9 November 1863, Page 9 (Supplement)

NELSON.

(fkosi otjr own correspondent.) Nelson, November 2. Oa the 28th October the steamer Sturt arrived with intelligence that a nugget of gold, weighing lUS ounces, had been found in a small tributary of the Buller river, not f* from where Sa;nt Dizier and his mate, a short time since, obtained a nugget weiirhin£r thirty odd ounces. :"• 6 ' The Buller correspondent of the Nelson Examiner says :—. I believe a large nugget, weighing, so report says,; 108 ounces, has been found in a creek, above the Lyell. . . "It was found, as I was told (for I know nothing beyond what I have been told, as the nugget is said .to be still up the river) by a party of three Irishme , .who have for some time been working on the quiet They had been on the creek for some considerable time, and, when they came for their provisions seldom paid their bill in full, and always tendered small gold. In answer to every inquiry, bath at the store and near their daim, they .said, 'We are doin°nothing, scarcely making tucker.' One man did not believe this statement, because, he argued, they staid there so bne, and, besides, they had worked so.much ground. He; therefore mospected up the creek, aud obtained in several dishes, two or thr.°e pennyweights to the dish. Eh and his mate set in above the Irishmen, and, as it turned out very well they toll others, who also set in, and then, it is sad the Irishmen admitted the very rich yields they bad obtained, among which was the laree uugge'r. These three Irishmen are reported to hav<* <rofc upwards of 1000 ounces. Ido not believe it. I think it is ikelv they got a great d«al, but gold field yarns generally get magnified in passing along. If there is no truth about the large nugger, all I can say is that the tale has' been well put together, for it bears so great an air of probability, that backed by its generafcirculation here, you can hardly disbelieve it correspondent, of the same paper mentions thenugaret. As a confirmation of the many coinplaints I have made in my letters, that those who annually gorge a large' portion of our revenue do nothing la it in return. I would point attention to the concluding remarks of that letter—they are but too true:—" Another creek has been opened above the Lyell river; which promises to turn out very richly. It is reported that a large nugget larger by far than any of our former : large nuggets, has vbeen found in this creek. I have not seen it. I hear fro.n very gocd authority that, three persons got it who have been working quietly by themselves, airt that they have done extraorclinarly well; in fact the whole of the claims in and about the Lyell have turned out very rich. '■'■"' " The new creek is about the Lyell, a tributary of the Buller. To get to it, diggers have to drag their bodies through scrub *nd over precipices, because, above the Lyell, the Buller is dangerous for canoe navigation. • " One would think that our Provincial Government did not want this place to succeed! If they did they would certainly, long before this, have left some one resident here with authority to expend a few pounds whenever necessity require.! it. In the present instance, to reach the new creek requires great labor, and even then you cannot swag up any quantity of provisions. To get a track of the simplest character cut troni the Lyell to the Maruia will take enormous time, because some one must first ot all be appealed to in Nelson, and then, as usual, months •will be occupied iv considering about it before it is done. Of what use is it for men,, who will dare almost anything for the gold, to rush about the country aud find payable ground if the Qovernmsnt is not also prepared to venture a few pounds in track cutting ] What would be a man's position if he applied for the bonus] -The time within which the certain number of diggers should be on the ground would all be frittered away before even a track- was cut to the spot.'' .■"'..:■'." ''"■"' Of the Matiri gold field; for the discovery of which; the bonus was claimed by Alexander Campbell and his mates.; Campbell has written to the newspapers, requesting the diggers to bide awhile. In his letter he says:—On one bar we got from ffalf a grain to a grain to the dish out-of the top gravel; and thinking it would pay, we hewed out a small box, and three of us washed a small piece of the top wash dirt and obtained twelve pennyweights of gold, the other two getting six pennyweights. We then had to return for provisions, since which it has not turned out to our expectations, but eighteen men who accompanied I: ub found a little to induce them to return, yet we

woulil advise no ouo to venture until the place has I been oetter prospected, and a more tangiole proof shown; although we believe, if provisions were on the ground, a good gold field would-be found, as plenty of ground is open to be prospecterl, but should be sorry to see a large population sicrified to a disappointment." And yet upon this prospect the bonus was claimed. Wiil ridson ever possess a rich gold-field ? is a question frequently asked. The first. Province to hnd gold, the last to d- velope it in payable quantities. Something is certainly wanting—either the people, the energy, or the gold; which you possess so abundantly ! Uf our coal seams, I can say .nothing more than that they now lie as nature placed them. Nothing has been done to insure their development. Whether anything will be attempted now it is rumoreo that a scheme win be submitted to the General Assembh for settling the.whole of the West <;oast of the Middle Island, I know not; but 1 think it must nave been in consequence of Mr Domett's long ex- «* K»f& (? S >a ! nembfjr of <"« Provincial Executive) thl-. ,®f msJ atsses, faire mod. of government, that Assembly L IUIl UI' d bei" S- i >? all m™ in the «enel' fll LonJon havu,g luduced the director to request further shipments of chrome hence. There will also very^e shortly exported a specimen of our plumbago .^afSSSlt.^ discha^iu^wiu take -; Our races will be hel.l in March next, and promise to.yield us more sport than have those of the last three years. The stakes have been greatly increased, and will I think induce vints by horses from ether Provinces. _ Tae Maiden Plate has but one stipulation which, is that come from which province of New Zealand they may, they mu^t be maidens only at the time of entrance, the 31st December n-xt. A handsome cup, presented, by MrW. Uobinson, will hlso be contested for at our.. ensuing race meeting, and the stewards have resolved on giving to imported horses an .allowance for their age, which arises.in con sequenc of thair having been foaled at an opposite peri id of the j ear. ....-■■• A memorial has been sent up to the General Assembly from our Provincial Council praying the repeal of the New Provinces Act. It very truh states:—, .: •;■ ■ . - ..;,-.. ~,,..,_ ~ . ■. "Thatyour memorialists, having themselves experienced the great benefits derivable from local sell liovernment, are actuated by no desire to refuse similar benefits to those parts.of the colony which owiug to remoteness from the existing seat of Go verument, or from some other cause, may ba unanli fully to raiticipate in such advautages. But your memorialists- would respectfully urge that each de-nv-uid for the creation of a new province should be separately considered on its own merits, and should ODly be given effect to after it is shown, to the satis faction of the General Assembly, that the peoi.le seeking separation are, from their position* circumstances, and number, fairly entitled thereto." Our sapient Provincial Councillors have passed a Scab Act which,; among other things, enacts that sheep K-ouaht into Kelson shall not, within three month* last past, have had applied to them any Scab destroying preparation,.." nor been mixed with am sheep infected by Scab.'' As we draw a very largt quantity of our mutton from Marlborough, and as in every flock in that province as well as our own. there are at least five per cent, of the sheep infecteu with scab, it follows that the Act. if carried out means no more mutton for Nelson. Pleasant to think or. this. A pastoral country, plenty of sheep, but no mutton, because fivein 100 of the flock have the scab end can t be cured, as, from our impracticable country the sheep cannot all be got at, therefore are never all mustered, consequently never all dipped. How then can any one hold a clear certificate ? Without a clear certificate sheep cannot be sent to Nelson because the Act says they must not " within three months have mixed with any sheep infected by scab."