WARDENS' REPORTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 662, 6 August 1864, Page 16

WARDENS' REPORTS.

The Gold Fields' Wardens have reported to the Secretary of the Gold Fields as follow : —

UrPKR Bhotover, 23rd July,— The river has continued low all the week, thereby enabling the river bed olaims to he thoroughly worked— l am bappy to say witli good returns, in many instances, to the miners who have persevered in working their claims. Many parties have discovered that they have abandoned their claims too hastily previous to trying them thoroughly, because gold was not discovered where they bad made up their minds it should be, They have again taken them up and gone t> work them, assisted, as i* now frequently the caee. by the neighboring claimholders. The claims at Buti'her'ij Foiiit have become celebrated for the yie'di obtained, as much as 16iz to the tin-dish of wash.iirt having been washed out. Be ow :Shp!lb.tck tfeach a portion of one party at work had declared the claim " & duffer." Some of them insisted on persevering to sink to the reef. Their determination was well rewarded, for out of the first lot washed they obtained Poz The waebdirt glitters with gold. The shareholders compute that the yield of gold from the washdirt already taken out will be very large Many claims in other places are yielding handsome returns to the holder*. The Perseverance Company, for instance, in ground that; has been in work for 18 raontha, obtained 77 oz from a small paddock from the same claim. Over L 45.000 value of jiold has been already oD tamed. The claim is now being worked for the third time. On Shellback Beach the new channel company— known as Tyree arid party -are carrying out the greatest mining scheme at pre ent at work in the province. The original shareholders, eight in nuinhnr, after having persevered sixreen months, and diverted the siream on five different occasions, enduring privations which miners on the Shotover oalj could have experienced, found that flood after floo I, sweeping through the narrow gorge immediately above their claim, laid lpvel th'ir txtf'Bsive works, and blasted their hopes of extracting the rich deposits which they have proved lie hijden there, c»me t-> the determination to enlarge the company to 16 working, and 4 sleeping and furnishing shareholders. 'I his was done, and two months since they commenced to cut away a solid reef 200 feet high, forming a channel for the stream 50 ieet wide. The jength of the cutting at the base will be 300 feet. Since the sixteen workiug shareholders bavo Hen at work they have cut away, under great, dirticuit'es, 50f'. i i height by 58ft. in breadth. They are sangui >c of having a considerable quantity of the tilittering metal thnt they know to he th^re extracred previous to thft end of the year, so as to et'joy the festivities ot the Christina- season. Another undertaking of a different daw h.is just heen successfully completed at the Sandhills, namely, the extensive fluminp works carried on by ft number of miners who have bepn successful in this district. It has been erecte'l for the purpose of conveying water from a considerable distance with the intent'on of washing away the sand bills, it having been proven that there is goln in the deposits nil through the hills, which, if washed nway on the hydraulic '•ystpm, will pay handsomely, and erive employment for a lengthened period. This undertaking has been carried on under great disadvantages from the bcarcity of tiinbe'- and the difficulties attending carrying the boxes from one elevation to the other, bo as to get the proper level. However, it it successfully completed, and the shareholder ore sanguine of success. The best hydraulic Bysiem of working I have seen in the country is now at work on Weasant Creek, on which I shall report, at a future period. Estimated population, 1300.

Mawuhrjukia. 28rd July.— The weather this week has been favorable for the miners on the river, and everywhere they seeua to be busily at work. Dredging machines appear likely to i'ecotne a fworite method of worki> p the rivrr beacliea, Beveral new ones having been launched this week. The clftim occupied by Uedford, Butler, and Wood, on which w«s expende'l a large amount in labor and machinery, has this week yielded a handsome return of coarse and apparently very little water- worn gold of a rich color. They employ twenty-two hired men, and work day and night. For the week endiug to-

day (23rd instant), they took lo9oz 7dwt from tn« claim, and after paying Lll2 wages, have over L3OO to divide. The curious part of this is that their claim is in the bed of the Manuheribia river* where the gold obtained is, as a rule, fine. I have been unable to visit the works at the Falls. I have heard that before the miners received the marine charges, &c, they tried to blast without boring, by placing a large quantity of ponder in a crevice of the rock, which turned out a complete failure. I trust they may meet with better success now they have bo complete a set of tool* ana charges as those latelj forwarder] by tbeGovernmeut. E-timated population 1910.

Dunstan, 23rd July.— For the past week mining operations have continued to assume an aspect of perhaps a more cheering character than hns for many months past appeared amongst them The applications for extended claims (aluicine) are becoming more numerous, while bank claims are being taken up for that purpose in great numbers. Indeed, it may be said that this work is presenting an appearance which cannot fail to create in the minds of those who possess a fair knowledge of the diifts nn opinion favorable to our future progre-s and the permanence of such workings. Until a comparatively recent date few of the heavier gorge drifts were tested, the (rigsntie boulder* having been viewed in the light of insurmountable barriers. Now, however, some or the richest claims are worked amongst them. for the past week, the Kawarau and Clutha rivers have continued to ebb slowly and steadily at an average of about three to four inches per niein. Some of the richest claims in Hartley's and Hilpy'a benches will be workable in a ttir ■Jays, should the frosts we have la'ely ha I ', continue. Miners on the Ciutha, between Cromwell' and Alex mdra, are beginning to mark off their claims, and in many instances making fair wages by working in the water. We have bew» visited by heavy fogs lately. The weather yesterday and to-day in somewhat broken, but as yet it has not affected the river. Estimated population, 3000.

Wattahona, 23rd Ju y —I visited the Waihola diggings this week, and found some twen'y ra«n at work in a gully at the back of the WaihoJ* mound, and distant from the Waihola Lake about one mile. The lower portion of the gully » almost 100 yards wide, and is litt'e prospected. Thi returns obtained in the upper portion hare not, I think, been sufficiently remunernliee to induce a population to remain ; and lam afraid that, if nothing more in discovered, the few miners now there will leave for a more settled place. The weather has been remarkably firm during the past week, in fact, no rain has allea bince the < ommenceman* of the month, and the miners hnve consequently heen busily employed* f hear that the Molyneux has yesterday risen mx. inches. Estimated population, 1152.

Mount Bknqek, 23rd July. — There has bee* a very steady influx of population to this districbihroughout the week, and along the river a nuay scene now arrests the eye. The weather has btett everything that could be wished, and a large quantity of dirt haa been landed ready for waging on some of the beaches. The miners areworking both night and <!ay where p< ssible, » great is the anxiety to improve the time ; and the season being advanced, they tear the harvest may not. last long. Tt is difficult to give an ide* of the general yield of gold where there is bo little washing up done, but I may safely state thpt LlO and 1/20 and even L3O a week per man aw not unc-mraon returns. At present qaietaess and order prevails, and mininir disputes are not numerous. Estimated population, 1750.

Nokomai, 23rd Ju'y. — Severe frosty weather has continued, and but little work has been dorse in consequence. The reported low water at tlv. Molyueux is cnusinir uneasiness among thfr miners here. Estimated population, 300.

Arrow, 23rd July.— ln cmsequence of the severe frosts, neirly all 'he water wees have been frozen up, and the miners have therefore been unable to get to work, which will account for the very small escort returns from the c'istrict turing the la^t fortnight. Indeed, I may almost say thnt during that time mining operations have been at a standstill. TheAla'mma Company, on the Arrow Kiver, have struck gool gold, and it is confidently anticipated that the shareholders will realise very bandsorne returns. Population, 1345.

IlAßiir/rON's, 23rd July.-— Another rush has takei place to a gully near the Pigburn; depth of sinking from three to nine feet; bottom pipeclay. In consequence of the quantity of water in the shafts it is very unsafe for driving. The gold is of fc coarser description than the Hamilton's god. The weather ha-» remained very fine (luring the past week. At Hyde they have come upon the real bottom at a depth of from 80 to 100 feet, and in one claim 14 dwt to the diih was obtained. The place still keeps gradually increasing, and both the Union Bank and Bank of New Zealand have new branches there. Population, 2970.

Wakatipu 23rd July. — The weather has now completely broken up, without, strange to say, effecting the dyer in any perceptible degree, principally owiug no doubt, to the fact that very little biiow has as y<*t f o!en as compared with the previous winter. I have to chronicle the most complete succets in river working in the neighborhood of Butcher's oint. une party there has taken out of a paddock 20 feet by 16 feet,. 25lbs weight, or 300 ozs, of gold. < ther claims are also yielding very large returns. The old river ground at Arthur's Point will soon be nil occupied as extended ground, and will, doubtless, pay well in such claims Sluicing is progressing favorably in the vicinity of the various creeks emptying into the Lake on its western shore, and the news from those localities is most cheering There appears at present to be some reluctance to try systematically the ground in the neighborhood of Qaeenstown. The races are. now in a state of read'ness for those who are prepared to spepd time and labor on such a work. Estimated population, 2200

Hamilton's, 30th July.— At Hamilton**, some 50 men have now set steadily in to work the gully near the Pigburn, behind the Gamp : and a party have already commenced the coa-r-truction of a race, lor tot* purpose of supplying the miners with water. We hid a slight fall of snow on Thursday and Friday, but the weather bus again become fine. At Hyde, everything looks lively ; and although these workings havenow been in operation ovtr 18 months, the plac» presents all the activity of a sew rußh. At Hirtdon, one good parcel of gold was got out of Frsser's Creek last week ; but the population still remains limited. Estimated total population, of the held, 9270.