THE MINES.

Otago Witness, Issue 37, 31 January 1852, Page 1

THE MINES.

The following extract from a letter addressed to the " Cornwall Chronicle" contains some very useful information respecting the Port Philip gold fields. The writer, after alluding to the discouraging prospects attending his arrival, and the conclusion he formed from those who were best informed of the uncertain gain, coupled with the certain discomfort and probable loss of health attending the search for gold at the diggings, continues, — '•' Subsequent information, from a great variety of sources, has quite confirmed the correctness of this conclusion. A thirty shilling license confers the privilege of digging for a month in a hole eight feet square. The depth at which gold is found is uncertain ; the deepest hole at the mines is said to be thirty feet, others are from twenty to twenty-two feet deep, and there are intermediate depths almost as numerous as the holes. The 800 persons at Ballarat are said to keep between 1500 and and 1800 cradles going; both these estimates are probably beyond the mark ; according to the depth of the hole, one or two persons are employed excavating and casting out the soil ; one of the party carries the earth, and another rocks the cradle at the edge of the creek. The carrifer is fortunate if his party possess a barrow to wheel the soiL to Jiis comrade ; a bucket or tii'dish carried. on his head is the general mod ; of conveyance. The washer has to keep the lard lumps of clay brought to him profusely sa urated, as unless they are completely dissolve 1, the gold will not separate from the clay, and remain behind in the cradle : the hands and arms of the washer are therefore constantly in the water, and the feet are never dryt The water in the creek, from the incessant " cradlng, is nearly of the colour and consistent of pea-soup, and those who wanV an y-, : thing better must travel beyond the- scene of ■" oper tions, and draw ,from the upper stream. * The* is much xeason to fear : l tha^'|il v a fe^v

weeks, the supply of water will fail altogether. Already the stream has much diminished, and the frequent use of the water is producing an amount of evaporation that will dause the stream to disappear long before the usual period. This apprehension exists so generally that no attempt is made to erect permanent buildings. Those who have stores or refreshment booths are content with the most wretched huts, and are prevented from erecting more attractive buildings by the conviction that the want of water will soon lead to the abandonment of the mines. " The agitation of the water by cradling not only renders it turbid, but . by dissolving the aluminous and other soluble chemical matters in the clays and earth, imparts to it purgative and other disagreeable qualities. Two passengers returned to Van Diemen's Land in the same vessel with myself, who suffered severely from the unwholesomeness of the water. "The- uncertainty of the pursuit, after all hardships have been encountered, is its most remarkable feature. The Cavenaghs took up an abandoned claim, and in a day or two procured gold to the value of £1600 ; they were, it is said, offered £1000 for the hole after their success, but refused the offer, and never got a shilling's worth of gold out of the same spot, although they sunk it to the depth of twentyfour feet. The case of an individual, not ten jrards from the jsame spot, was related tome, wlio^unSTwehty-two~feet~and got no gold^lSP 7^ all. No experience or skill will enable the miner to predict the richness of any given spot. At the Bathurst diggings it is said that the Burra Burra miners from Adelaide have been singularly unfortunate. " Hardship is distasteful enough to mechanics ! and tradesmen used to home comforts — but uncertainty and disappointment is worse than all. A man may gamble with a little spare money, but he does not like to stake his toil and time, nor to rest his chance of food and clothing on a hazard where the odds are so much against him. " The harassing uncertainty will always render the pursuits of gold digging a distasteful one to the English mechanic — it is the great safeguard at the present time to the agricultural and pastoral interests of Victoria. I believe that all operations connected with these pursuits are likely to go unchecked by scarcity or dearness of labour. Shearing is proceeding as usual, at about 2s. per hundred over Van Diemen's Land prices. The wool is coming into Melbourne rapidly, and there. will be as little want of labour for the harvest as for the shearing. The crops look well, and there is an unusual breadth of land in wheat, so that with all her great staples of production in abundance, and gold in addition, the progress of Victoria must be rapid indeed. It is estimated that there are about 3000 emigrants yet to arrive this season, from England, and at least 2000 will be over from Adelaide, so that there will be an abundance of labour as of everything else." Copper versus Gold. — "We beg the attention of our subscribers and friends to the report of the' South Australian Mining Association to be found in some /of our previous calumns. From this report it will be seen, tha.t 1000 men have raised in the course of the year 5000 tons of ore, which is worth to the colony £75 per ton, or the gross sum of £375,000. This is deserving of particular notice just now, in connexion with the discoveries of gold in ; the neighbouring colonies. At the gold mines from 40,000 to 50,000 men have been employed for months, and yet at the date of the last advices the whole amount of gold reported in Lloyd's circular was L.83,447, or only about one-fourth .of the return of the labour of 1000 men for a year at the Burra Burra. "Who will ( i say, after this, that copper is hot be preferred ' to gold ? Owing to the impassable state of the roads,, and the quantity of -ore on hand,. the Directors have not felt themselves justified in "declaring a dividend, but this, we have reason to believe, will be done at an early Hate.- 1 :- Adelaide-Tjemes. - , • ■' '