SYDNEY DIGGINGS. (From the Bathurst Free Press.)

Otago Witness, Issue 28, 29 November 1851, Page 4

SYDNEY DIGGINGS. (From the Bathurst Free Press.)

-Since I last wrote you my party has been doing pretty well, some days getting three to four ounces. Many are doing much better, and hundreds not a twentieth part so well. Although subsiding gradually, the water is yet much too plentiful to admit of many of the holes being worked. By Wednesday's paper I perceive that some little fault is found with my last report. I half suspect that the writer is a storekeeper, who would be happy to see a vast-accession of population to whom he could dispose of his wares, caring little how they fared after their arrival. Very much of my time, as you already know, has been spent in traversing the Turon. I may venture to say, that scarcely an individual on the ground has travelled so much of it as myself. My object in so doing- has been to procure as much information as possible, and enjoying the advantage of a very extensive local acquaintance, my opportunities in this respect were all that could be desired. Being myself a digger, my chances of ascertaining the real naked truth are very much superior to those of the Sydney tourist, -who pays a flying visit, asks a hundred questions, learns ten facts, hears of all the great gun diggers, and rushes down to the metropolis big with golden intelligence, or if unfortunately addicted to writing gossiping letters to his "friends, who may be vain or foolish enough to publish them, may do more injury than he can atone for in a lifetime. Supposing the principal cause of failure to be, as your correspondent asserts, ignorance of the art of extracting the gold from the soil, my position is not controverted, nor my assertion disproved. No matter if the Turon hills were built on precious metal, if the hundreds whom I have represented as not clearing their expenses by their labour cannot discover exactly wTiere it is, and procure their share, they might as well be based upon sand. It would afford me poor satisfaction to underrate the productiveness of the Turon diggings. I have as strong a desire to sec my own district go ahead and prosper as any man ; but am satisfied that its progress in wealth, in civilization, and the arts, can never bo accelerated by either misrepresentation or falsehood. It was never my intention to deny that the Turon was rich and exceedingly rich in gold ; but it is not reasonable to suppose that people, entirely ignorant of everything connected with gold mining, many of whom have been accustomed to wield nothing heavier than a bodkin, a yard-stick, or a grey goose-quill, can come and fil* their pockets with it by performing a certain amount of labour. My candid opinion is now that not more than one in ten is doing more than an ordinary business ; and I am quite sure th.it hundreds are not earning their license money. Whether erroneous or not, such is the result of my investigations ; regardless of contradiction I take my stand upon that statement. It would be sheer folly to deny that great numbers of the miners have done well, are doing well, and will most probably continue to do well ; but I feel satisfied that a little time will show whether my object has been to mislead, or whether many of the gentlemen from below J have not shown themselves much more expert at manufacturing sentences and rounding off periods than making themselves acquainted with facts. The " Sydney Morning Herald," Sept. 12, says, — " There can be no doubt that the intelligence of our gold discovery will arrive in England, at latest, this da)-, September 1 2th ; and it is more than probable that letters would reach there -as early as August 20th. We quote the following account from the '• Straits Times" of the reception of the news at Singapore : — | Sydney. — Exthaordixary Excitemext. — The brig Golden Spring, which arrived here on Tuesday last, has brought accounts from New South Wales, from which we learn that Sydney, in fact the entire colony, was thrown into a state of the utmost excitement, in consequence of the discoveries of vast quantities of gold at Bathurst, not far from Sydney, and which promises to yield the precious metal in quality and quantity equal to the great El Dorado — California. The mania in the colony is indscribable ; artificers, shepherds, labourers, tradesmen, and others, had quitted their wonted avocations for the diggings. One of the lumps of gold (purchased by the firm of Mort and Brown) weighed no less than forty-six ounces, and another about twenty ; it is described as nearly pure gold, having but a very small portion of quartz attached. After quoting some extracts from the "Sydney Morning Herald," the Editor says, — We may expect that as soon as the news reaches Europe, a new and overwhelming tide of immigration will set in, and thus add a thousandfold to the present excitement. The latest news from Europe had reached Sydney via Panama; the vessels from England which left in December had not arrived, although out nearly 160 days ! The gold excitement offers a good inducement fox the immediate laying on of steamers between this port and Sydney, for doubtless on the news reaching Europe there will be an overland current of emigrants eager to reach the new El Dorado. Let, then, the Peninsular and Oriental Company, and the Eastern Steam Navigation Company, " stir their stumps," or the Americans will be the first in the field and run steam vessels between Panama and Sydney.