GOLD AND PROGRESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 554, 12 July 1862, Page 6

GOLD AND PROGRESS.

(From the Daily Times, July 9.) The human mind is made of very elastic accommodating material, difficulties frequently seem to it greater by anticipation, but as these are overcome the mind reconciles itself to the overthrow of its preconceived notions with wonderful facility. There is in fact a constant ■war going on between the practicable, and the seemingly impossible and improbable, and the practicable is almost invariably the winner. Man has " lived through the centuries " to learn that whilst there is no apparent limit to the wisdom he may attain, be has yet but approached the sea shore of the vast ocean of knowledge that lies beyond. Science year after year compels nature to render up her secrets, andbriugs ■within the common-place and prosaic the wildest dreams of the visionary. If we have outlived the fallacies of astrology, we have learned to know more of the stars and planets than the astrologists pretended to dream. We can measure them and their distances, from ourselves and each other, and ■we have been able to map out the moon before we have even explored our own immediate I world. The telegraph has tanght us to " an- ! " nihiiate distance," and chloroform has placed I us on the taack of subduing the curse visited on mankind since its expulsion from the garden of Eden — pain. We have learnt also the art of preservation. The destruction or decay aow of no one nation, or half dozen nations, \ would entail the loss of the burdensome secrets to which knowledge has fought its way. , And whilst within the large circle of a worldwide view, there are always these constant victories of the practicable over the improbable and seeming impossible, so there are countless smaller circles in which the same drama i* unceasingly played. In small as in great things, we constantly have to sac our preconceived notions disabused ; reality, although cpmmonly characterised as stern, seems to love to make the wildest sport of all that reason oc . JUoagiaatioja can : devise or pro-,, phesy. Let any person draw on his own experience tto.4 Jae ww m bow wwtaatly results Iwyc

ccceaded his imagination. In no way, perhaps, will he recognise it more than in the early exhaustion though unceasing exercise of his wondering poweis. His own fate and the fate and career of his contemporaries, tho fortune and progress of the place or places which his experience have led him to attain a knowledge 01, all vary from what he anticipated ; and in nine cases- Gut of ten have read him the lesson that the greatest apparent difficulties are the least insuperable. If we would look to public incidents of our own lime, what novelist could have conceived a more improbable ronnnce thin thai the rotie hanger-on of the Gore House coterie who eked out a precarious existence by discounting paper drafts on the future, should, in a few years, become tlie most powerful Monarch iv .Europe, the arbiter to whom the eyes of the whole world would turn. Again, think of the almost bloo.lloss contest that united under one sovereignty divided Italy, and ot the humble agent j that consumatcd that great work ; "' The grand •' old man of (hiprercCs rocky Jsle." Has it not also been reserved to us of these times to see new nations and empires growing up, not by the slow process through which older countries have passed, but with a rapidity that mocks the attention of thos-9 who endeavor to follow their progress. India, ' Algeria, California, 13i itish Columbia, and the Australian Colonies, do they not each and all present to the consideration, previous conclusions upset, tho most liberal anticipations exceeded. When fourteen yeirs ago we first entered upon the present r.ge of gold, who could have conceived tho result-, to follow the discovery nr,ue by the liuinMc sawyer on the banks of the tributary of the Sacramento. Who would have thvm^ht, that wild gold fever then first kindled would run up and down the world, and simultaneously rear into peopled and prosperous colonies the scarcely before trodden wildernesses of Australia and California. Who would have dreamed that ie would extend further north and further south, that it would lead to the opening up of regions hitherto supposed to be uninhabitable on account of the rigor of the cli-r.ate. that it would carry its rapidly colonising inflreaccs I to the Southern Island of Ne>v Zealand.

Scarcely more than twelve months ago the Southern Province, Otago, of that Southern Island, possessed a population, then which few could be found less inclined to sudden or rapid transitions. Contented to labor industriously Coc a lengthened period for a steadj' reward, the people of Otago had less of the feverish element of gold -producing countries than almost any that could be named. Its sister Provinces, Nelson and Auckland, were straining to find the precious metal, neighboring colonies were offering lanrc rewards for gold discoveries, Otago slumbered contented with its agricultural and pastoral resources. That dream of quiet was rudely broken on, and although there has since been a golden salve applied, n.any of those whose previous notions were thus disturbed have scarcely yet become reconciled to the altered state of things. Like the recipient of the favors of the good fairy, they rub their eyes and ask is it ail voa'< — lhat gold will surely turn to pebbles, those notes to withered leaves. Yet it is all true, and judging from the analogy offered by other gold-producing countries. Otago is only at the threshold of its destiny. It has already lived down much slander, — its gold-fields have survived numberless disparagements, from the first prophecies that limited them to only a rich patch in Gabriel's Gully, to the same limitations made to each subsequent discovery. Its climate has pi'oved to be not unendurable nor its Gold Fields whoily unworkable in the winter months, and hundreds of miners who visited it with only the intention of remaining a short while, have returned to make it their permanent home. In the first heyday of its productiveness it has yielded its treasures as other gold countries have done without the persuasive influences of prolonged labor and capital. But who shall say what these auxiliaries nrvy effect, how much they may continue to surprise the pre-coneeived notions of Otago's capabilities? Only now, after ten years is the permanent and lasting richness of Victorian gold-fields beginning to be understood. Writing oC what is known as the metropolitan gold-field, tho Argus says : —

The news last wo;k from B',1! i,i'\U wouH «com to indicate that in lhat richest of ail our croM field ,, it is oniv now that the body of the g'olu L beiim miily aimed at. The new leal of the Great Republic Company (with wnshdirt ton frot ehf 1]),1 ]), and '• iro'i\ one and a half machines of which" '<i~>~> oz. were obtained in on? day, the heauc&t t' >ld ever Sjen even in that loealit 1 . ) created, ns the j Hirnali toil us, is appropriate ion s atiun iv Hurt ■■licet; ;md in tho consequent iUd in fie w'u.j of shares €10,000 charaml hands i:i the one aftvrnojn. Nor is the enhanced \a!uo of tlie claims, and Ilieh' improve 1 \ipli', in fmt as we'l as prospect confined to tho Oi'^.t*" Keptil-iic. Sha.c.for which £180 was a doubtful i\ uuv, io^e tv jCI.IUJ, while others of assured striding a*t naeJ it projio ■- tiona^e rise. The Groat Extoii led (Jompui'y, whoso declared weekly dividend on the previous Saturday was as high as £32, have their shares now valued ;it from £2,650 1o £2,700, Tno Nolv n Company, who c e dividend on the f)' f tu;<j;lit was ilii, have tluh' slnre3 quoted at £1,800 ; ;.ud likewise with the Albion, tlie Cosmopolkua. and a host of otluT,. Yet Baliarat wag rushed several times, and gloomier prognostications were indulged in withrespecttoitinitsearly (l.iys, than even detraction has attempted with the Otago gold fields. In the face of the winter months, these gold -fields arc extending ; in spite of the rigor of climate the miners on them are averaging larger wages than in Victoria. From one end of the Province to tho other auriferous indications have been found and every probability based both on geological features and on the theory of chances fc against the richest fields having been the first disdiscovered. Water, that indispensable -<uxiliary to gold raining exists in greater abundance than in Victoria, and gold can therefore be obtained to much greater advantage. Everything points to the supposition that the gold resources of the Province are yet in their very infancy, and we really expect that the wondering iaculties of the present inhabitants will be as vividly excited by subsequent events, as were those of the older sct- | tiers by the incidents of the past year. And now let us briefly see what gold has done for Victoria and what it may yet do for this place. Eleven years ago Victoria possessed a population of 77,345 persons, it now numbers 544,0G4. In 1851 not a single mile of Melbourne road was made beyond Melbourne and Geelosig ; now at an expense of five millions sterling some hundreds of miles have be<m made. Land carriage from Melbourne to Bendigo in 185-2 was £120 a ton, now it is £4. To Castlemaine it was £120, now it is £3. To Baliarat it was £120, now it is £2 10s. There are 1501 miles of telegraphic wire laid iv the colony. In 1851 there were 44 post offices, through which 504,425 Jetters, and 456,741 newspapers pissed ; in 1860, there were 311 post offices through which were transmitted 8,116.302 letters, and 2,683,623 newspapers. Such are a few indications of progress which we'pick out from stray remarks of the Argus, to which have to be be added, that from a little town, Melbourne has become a splendid city, and several large cities have grown up in tlie interior. Victoria may have been too go-a-head, may have been too extravagant in its expenditure, tntecoiiO'uv if it will only recognise the necessity of ir, will bring it round after a brief period of privation. Otago, avoiding many of the rocks on which its neighbor struck, has, if not so brilliant, a similar career, before it, and whilst its inhabitants should not be unduly elated, or indulge too much in a speculative future, they may rest eonteat that, with judgment and perseverance,

the road to honest independence, and comfortable affluence are before them. Bnt they should not linden alue the gold fioids, lor most assuredly they arc fortunate in possessing them, and would have much to rtgrct, if through negligence they tailed to properly develope them.

BODKIN'S BKATLVG ADVENTU U53. (From Hie People's Jonni'tl, Dundee.) Maistor Editor, — Jeames an' me made it vi. between us, that ive wad sei oot for Vu"dci]enu''ubhie,on the buck oMimiPi- time, in orler that, a- Jennies s-ug gnstit, we illicit liae the alternoon afore oor hand, an' e^p'.c'ally thai we migth hac an our or twa's sltntin' on J'udd ie\ mill-dam, until m;; time as Mis. Swingletree sid !>et her brow .t brown. So Jca.nt.s brooht H1- 1 iuvim»emvnr before Tibbie mi' i\fr-\ ■\Viilierepoon, whcreimto tlu*y b.iitli °i^nified their a .herence, only the mention o' a mill-dam was to Tiubif a source 6' sao muokle tcirificarion, seem' what lmpjien.-d at Powbumi' tlio sumi'iPi' time, that she made a stipulation wherein sin was ibrtitiod l>y the deliberate opinion 0' Mrs. Withei^poon, that on no account were we to be allooad to ti\i\el by the dog-<\irc, le-it, P'-ra Ivonture, a similar pata->lioplio, or 90m 'riling w.iur, nv'oht happen to us on oor voyajo 1.1 Puddiemadiibliu 1 . Jearat ; an' me were prof.me ciuugh *d inak' ftame o' their Invers, but, of coor^o, after some arjiie-bargsin', we were obli^vd to yield up the point, iLii ' consent to a pedestrian expedition. A*, we had abojt four miles o' „'iite to gang, Mrs. Witl'oispooa proposed that Jeame* an' me sid carry a little pro vendor alang wi' tia in her r.idicic basket, for sir.tiiieii:? by the Wity.but as Jeames demurred to that proposition — \tny properly, as 1 thoeht — setiu' thai, o\\i:i' to tlio c.iuid weather, it wad btinove him an' me to walk wi' <.or bauds iv oor punches, I cut the (ii.i-Jiau knot, aY so squaircd up the difueulty, by frilppiu' Uvi o' Mr. "^ohn'" M'Nab's puddms into the tid punch 0' my top co it. Jeauus voiy coiioidorat^ly t'.ii-e>% oot the hint that a^ there v. -is afar^rvratuv liivi.iihou-1 6' oor bein' dry than hungiy, it wa<» at least quite a 3 new^ury that wo sid lute the' means 0' slack<'nin' OL,r J.n )tu as 0' satisiyin' oor hungei by the way, a \' so he i':c! c 'lits the cutter Ov>t 0' t'll3 " North Port" a" claps it into his oxter pooch, Uein'lhu.s equipped for 001 campaign, we ta^n an early dinner, eoiiaiiciu' 0' the reversions 0" the previous niohtfs supper, wt 1 a eO'icki'lhi' cuilker to siu> - pau 001* iwlis w^ainsl the niriin' winds ihrit we to comiu' .soughin' an' howlin' doon the sn v chid glens o' the (jiarapiaiij, aud so. aft°r Airs. YVlcherhjjoon h ul gien her final orders t > the servant lass to see lhat the reil-kaimed cock <!i Ina fa foul o' the white hen's chickens, an' p.it their spunk oot; that the f«ino\v-,soo recehed htr prescribed do^e o" loowavm whey, wi" a teat o' meal ua it, at six o'clock ; an' that tho ill-deedy bruckit stot di h.a lv ak his baikiV, an' butt the onwee) be it>tis in )he stall behind tl.e <luor, tlie v' ty he did 0.1 Sabbath \va>- audit tfay-. ; we sot oot ior Pudulemadubhio about ane o'clock i' the ai'tei nor.n, exploring oor way tinounii " mus^s, water ■„ .sl.ip.;, and Miles," lor Jeames was clear for gacu as the craw iic.s, as we wad theivby shorten oor vt)\\i,<e by a mile an' three quavtei-, accordiu' to his computation. N 1. tiii ie? noteworthy happened by th" way, only Tibbie, v.'iien attemptin' to scale a p iliu' that int^rruptit her proves*, had the mWortuuc to let heicrcenoliue get entangled thereon, insjmuch that she could neither advance nor rolivat, but oniy ny quarter, au' appeal to Jeames an' me to deLv'-r her out the gl-jd's haiuU. Sj Jeamos an' mj 11 >w to tba rescue, Je lines grippin" hor roond tl!/> waist, to preserve her equilibrium seoin' as tioo ilka bl.ist o" wind threatened to turn her libels uui.iit, while I male an investigation into the causes o' her detention, my researches bein' rewarded by the discovery o' a bi^ roo-ry nail (the name whei"of, accoivliu' to Jeaines's dictionar', beiu' a " uoubledouble''), that bad penetrated bet-veen twa hojp-j o' her creenolins, causin' an ill-faured rent i' the garment an' stickiu', wi' its crookit neb i' the ciaitli, (ike tlie fluke o' an anchor. It was a dreigii undertakin' to separate the steel hoops fiuo the embrace o' the roosty nail — there b j in' a sort o' amnity between the twa— but after nae tint little pechiu irae Jeames, fly tin' frap Tibbie, an', no to mention the s-kirliu' o' Mrs. Witlicispoon, patient peisuverance an' heroic ruggin' an' rivm' on my pain, Tibbie \va« at lasu an" lung restored to " terry finny,'' a 3 Jeames remaike.l, but sauly oot 0' humour ut the mis^ugali'Uient 0' her gude creenoline. Hoosomdever, unither half-oor's travel brocht us to Puddleinadiibhie, where Mrs. Swingtetree, Mrs. Withorspoon, an' Tibbie sut for aboot twenty minutes "in secret session' 1 ou the creenobne, an', on the public bein' admitted, it was announce.!, that though the garment wasua a' the i>nher pa?t redemption, it wad yet be advi-nule— "indeed absolutely necessary,"' as Tibhi-i Slid in giein' her verdict — that a new aae si 1 be p-'ovidit on oor return to Dundee, espeelii'y f>r Sa 'willi-d ly's wear, as, owiu' to tho iUthiiirs-u' the strut. r-> iuvaiuy weather, it wa I behove her to baud \\\ her goontails, when, of fooiv», tlie scve'l \v I bj viable 10 a' the toon, an' be mair pictuivbque than pivtty." Leavin' tlmnvomen fo'k t) their oiu uu- UtiUous, Je'imes, an' Andrew, an' me .;jt wA to £\,i a \isie 0' Puddleinadubhie, ixn." a' tut psit-iimvl inoreuncj. Of coorac, Jeaiiicb aa Andrew were cli iu^ih un sots, an quoya, an' turnips, ,111' pjLuvfcih, an' tiiough I've got nae that little in^iolu ab ) >t rur.il ii'Tuu durin' my sojourns a u Oru'uinichillo^k- ju L'uckiir. ,aue, I cousdna pretend to hull up ln^ic wi them t\v;i, an' t>o I let my words 1)3 few au' weel cho-en. H-ivin' bin voy i;d the byre, the pi'-,'3tk', an' the licn-1i0.;.-c, v, r e atla-t liinded in the sLiole, where Jeamos, at Andrew's invit uion, in'-peckit the niuii' o' a man*, th-tt lia l been c u'c short syuefiaean Aberdceiishiiojocke^, aboot whose youth Andro'.v enljrlaiueJ nni' doots at vari.iiice to the \ ,iriand ; ee o' the •- dd jockey. A, J \imes an' Andrew wore perlectly a,. reel ou the pui'it. f clou btna but his jouko\'hip' has hcird o % the busiinu^s lan 1^ ai'ore this time, for Andiew decLu'el he wad rather wair the haill worth 0' the b^ast than be victimised, an' Jeames said he vas lii'vkie 0" the i.tino spirit liimsel'. The j ickey's conduct, havin' been dulj (Misidoie 1 iv a' its v:u ions aspens, an' \c:iwcance vowed a^aiust liioi, Jeame; sijtyeslit an a<ljounitueat t'> the mill dam for an o'Ji-'s sk'ttin' juist co put aff tho tiiae an' itiiu»e a liUta vigour intj O'U" vein-, until Simon, an' l'inie, an' Suipic, an' Mr. lto-uier, an' the iett 0' them sid an ive. We hal ivie fc^.'it.ti. but Aiilrcw beia' ageniiio, impruvivjdsubbLitute.i for t ; iom by fttste.iin' auld hoive-^iioouto uor.sjlcs b/ me in jo' lwither thon"s, an' so to wark we gaol. The ii'o wa, in ci,)it-i! trim, an' the dam bain' nearly an audit o' a mile LIU2, we hid full st'ouUi to r.ic oor la an' cut a ) iiiony c ipers ■•,-, we coul I set a f.uvj till. Jeamo i w.xs iii awfu' haad o 1 the ice, an' Aiulrew was nao that far ahont hiru, but as for vie. I found it aduon-jdour job to keep my heal an' mj loet ou the p'uni, tlio consequence whereof was that I was as oft jn on my b.il.toiu 01 on a' i'uitra as on my twa feet. llojhomd -vor tint was lriethiu'i, fni- I found it to be as pkriMinfc slidin' in the hoi'i/.ontal as \a til" perpendicular &tylo ; an 1 aye \\ lieu. I cam' doon wi' tUc ither bump Andiew lau,'ho(l, an' Jeames lan^hei, an' I laughed, an' we a' lau^hsd tiirou-rliillier, au' je never heard r,ic laudiin'. We JriJ cavricd on at this r.ite for better than hiilf-an-c-or, v,"mi Mr. Saundevs Branks showed his nose owcr the tap 0' the feal dyke, whereby the dam was enclosed mi ane o' the hides thenjjf, un qaoth he— "Preset ve'& a', Mi: Rwingicti^c," quoth he, '•' hdi anc 0' yor burses ilrooued iUel' i'_ the dam !'" For yell observe that iv the pieeise monunt iirocadin"', by a wauchaucic dispensation o' Divine Providence, my head had come in violent contact wi' the ice, kuoc'dn' a round hole therein, rather larger than my bodY, wheieby my hiill corporation was submersed, wi' the exception 0' the soles 0' my feet. S maders, punbody, saw iiueht but the hort>e &110011 glowerin' up i' the air, au', therefore, hu naturally coucludit that the horse itsel' couldna ba far awu. Uoo«omdever, Jeaiwid an.l Andrew compreiieudit the true state 0' the c;ise nt a single glance, an" without takin' time to explain m itters to daimdeiy, they cam' to my assistance, seizei me by the heels, aud restored me to "terry finny," a.s Jeames sikl, juUfc as I was i' the dead tliraws. '' (Jiule guide us a'," quoth Saunder.3, comin' in bye an' lifrtn' ane o' Mr. M'iVab's puddins, that had slippit oot 0' mv pooch i' the midst 0' the collie-shaugie, li Gude Ruide us a', for the puir man's very inwards are comin' oot, 1" " Losh, au' so they are i" quoth Andrew, takin' a visie ci* the puddin'. •' What's sairest about y», Mr. Bodkin, my man ?" " Ou, ua," quoth James, "there's naethin;' wmng wi' Mr. Bodkin, only ane 0' Mr. M'Nab's puddin's— hat's a. Tak' you aet.hoother, Puddlie, a I' l'll tak' the ithc". Pirrie, rin you into the hoossan' t-ell Mrs. Bodkin no to be alarmed, tor thai; it's nae thing waur than a ease o1o 1 involuntary immersion. Canny, noo, Puddlie ; aye, that's the scientific plan— roou I hia w.iist wi' yer left arm, grip me by the shackle-Wine, an' baud up his shoother \\V yer richthand; there, noo — r/|jp sicrar, an' march."' Jeamea laid doon a' time directions withoofcfstoppin' to tak' breath, an' baith o' them tluew their utmost btren^th into the enterprise, insomuch that had I been (j-oliah 0' Gith iustciid o' a jmir wurlie body o1o 1 a tailor, they wad has found nae difficulty iv transportin' my corporation roond to the front-door. By tin 3 tini2 I was beginnin' to recover my fiyulty o' as weel as my powers 0' locomo'ion, an' so tha iirdt words I uttered were, "0 Tibbie. Tibbie, but that water cure is a doons cuild job;" aud the first use I made 0' my legs was to relieve .frames and Andrew frae the weclit 0' my body. We h-\A jiut turned the cornet- 0' the noose when Tibbie an' Mr«. Swimjlotive, an' MNs Swinglctree, an' Mrs. Branks, an' Miss Pranks, an' Yettl'm ■nx his wife, an' the Snipemire folk (for they had a' arrived when ye were on the we), burst forth fr.ie tlie front-door like b^ei frae a bike, ilka fV" am'tu;? lliem wearin' .in <rpeat o' gi eater coiojrniu-'iib than anither, an' a' tlieu 1 tongues luin^lin' In .^, gran I od(,'j ;/,b v" , s :ioli'uo yellochin', Tibbie equally ai.alu^iiKhlu' Hor.^l' by the depth 0' her emotion, an' the height 0' hor articulation. "O, Tammis! Tammas !" quoth Tibbie, wi' an oofc-gush 0' atreetion that half-blindit her, aa' vushin' forward an' tikin' me a' in her airnn, " but yell be brecht in a corp to me fcoine 0' thao days yet ! What for are ye sac venturcjouae ? If ye dinua regard yer ]$$ Iqj; wk^ 0' yei; ai^Qgmfgrt, ye mich.t°at least

luie some respect for the foelin'.s 0' yer puir wife, wha hi\s mfteuistered to yer bo.lily comfort baith by uicht an' by day, for a space 0' in*u" nor thirty yeavs. O, Tamma^ ' Tiimiaas ! _vg maun promisa this very instant nev^r, never mnlr to talc' yer life i' yer hand, an' yin into dfln«er \u' yer very ocn open ! ' Tibbie delivered hbrssl' o' the toregoin' oration while .Teames an' Andrew were assistiu' me up stairs to a bed room, but as lor me, sceiu' that my tc»ih wero rattlin' in ny heail \vi' the cauld, 1 undo lias reply either glide, bad, or indifferent. Havin' by Tibbie's resistance divestifc mysel' 0' my cireejmi' ".uinents, I tumbled iuto bud, an' crap nwer the hesi.l auKing tlie blankets. Mh. Swingletree bein' n thochlfu' creature, filiel three or four greybcauls wi' boilin' water, an' bestowed them roinil my bo'ly, while Andrew brewed a tumbler v' doubLe-^tron? toddy, whereof he compelled me to souk up the la«b drap, an' never did I ken my.scl' uiair the b -Iter 0' sspiviLnal consolation in a' my barn day*. In tan minulca time the sweat brak oofc a' owcr my bolv, an' su I bpcime as comfortable an' co?ie p ■; a very pi';. A-. it was deemed puilenfc that I *H keep my bei for an oor or twa to consolidate my r^co'.ery, An>lvew prop,) -q I that my tea 4d be handed to mo in ray bed, an' that I could lise an' draw on a suit, 0' Ins cli"- as bJoiia-5 fheji\l the clatter 0' tho toddy ladles makin' ready — ruv roobt ban' within eaishnt 0' the panuy. An' so it cam' to pass lhat if I did receive an illfaured di-oiibiu', I was at leoM. snih'cl by that means the inflation o' Mr. Wiliia'u U'uisWs lansr "race, an' that was nae sma' consolation in the midst 0' a' my trembulations. What farther happened at Puddleiuadubhie that nieht, an' boo we fsot bxuk to Cmmmie-hillnckn. an' a' the lave o't, will be fully detailed next week by

Tahmis BoDiiis,