NOKOMAI.

Otago Witness, Issue 1630, 26 August 1871, Page 18

NOKOMAI.

A Xokomai correspondent writes : — "Tho Chinese form at present the greater part of the population on this (ioldtield, tho I'Jur'ipcaus not numbering much over a third of it. If the Nokomai were better known, or more easily reached, considering the quan-. tity of unworked ground, and the large returns obtained by .some (I personally know Chinese cl.inns returning from £7 to ■£!) per man per week), whilst all are making a living, 1 am sure the population would be largely increased, and many now undecided where to go would give this field a trial, Fancy a long narrow gorge bounded on each side by gold bearing spurs, all running out e\eutually into a large Hat between the Mataura ' River and the Xokomai (Jieek. This ground, for the want of a little assistance troiu the Invercargill merchants, has never been tested. It is a pity for us thai Dunedin is so far away --her men of busiucw and mining speculators would soon be on the alert to try so golden a prospect, Even now, perhaps, some may be tempted to ?l\e us a look-up. A veiy considerable hardship is experienced by the inhabitants in the fact that it is reported that no around is available lor side or selection m the ?Ni)komai district. M.my of the residents are manied, ha\ c large families, and have been settled heie for yeais; jet, although they have made homes for themselves, and nice little gardens and other improvements which they would be loth to leave, on application to the Waste Land Board through one of their number they were informed th tt there is no land for sale, There is no reserve oi common of any toi t for the use of the miners, and Mr 1). A. Cameron, the lease holder, will not allow them to run even a goat without paying him pasturage, I know one man who has to pay t'4 tt) -Co per annum to that gentleman for pastur- ; age. There is a fine Hat situated between the tw o lirst crossings of the Matauia (going from the Xokom vi), for part of which application has been made, but the answer from the Land OlHce was, that such land was on the pre-emptive right of Mr M'Neill, and not tor sale. This gentleman's homestead is many miles trom here. If it is truly the de.siro of the Government to settle the pro's inee, they should open up the land on and about goldlields especially, and so keep a naturally wandering population settled. Indeed, T' know of no other Held than the Xokomai where the laud has not been placed in the market, and 1 think that under thu Goldlields Act of ISo'G, the Superintendent has power to sell or reserve land for commonage or other purposes, notwithstanding any depasturing lease already granted."

A rather singular method of evading pa*--ment of toll is related hy the J-Jruce Jferald as follows" : — "The Fairfax toll bar, .since its erection by the Milton Boad Board, has been a source ot much dissatisfaction to the carters of timber from the bush, and coal from dov. n the river pits, who mainly use the road. This grumbling has recently increased more and more as the loads have grown less and less available for tiv.lhe. ami when anyone pays money aw ay they like to see some return cuiumeiisurdte therewith, and, as nothing is being done to repair the roads and make them more accessible, a well-known and respected lesident of Milton— as he come along the road on Friday last — got into grief with his team from the very bad nature of the road, and determined that until something was done to improve the road he would pay no more toll ; he therefore declined to pay the collector, repeating the decision come to in his own mind, just stated. Next day, as he came that w ay, he found the toll-bar closed in his face, and as he declined to pay toll, the gate was locked, and Mr Collector appeared as master of the situation ; however, this proud supremacy was but of short duration, as j|Mr Carter, who possesses Brobdignagian proportions, like a modern Samson, quietly seized the toll-bar and lifted the gate lroui its position and deposited it carefully on the road side, and returning ltd his team .safely through. We need scarcely state that Mr CaiLer has not since been asked to pay toll, and we further \inderstand that his action has. quite nonplussed the Road Board, who are at a loss how to proceed to obtain a eomiction against this modern Hercules."' The "Anglo- Australian," writing in the European Mail, says : — ''New Zealand mines I are groAving in favour, the Caledonian di\ ideiids having staggered some slow-coaches in that part ot the world. — In my notice of the J loyal Academy last month, 1 omitted to mention s very elloctive painting by .T. Gully, of 'Mount Cook and the Southern Alps of NeAv Zealand." -ThoTiehboino case, which is diagging its slow length along, promises to ListTa long time yet. "The -€100 bonds issued by him some time ago to raise money for his law expenses have, 1 am intormed, been offered at the clubs for t'l. A little time ago they fetched £40. Seigeant Ballantine, his chief counsel, must be making a pleasant thin" out of the suit, as it is reported that he refused a lakh of rupees (i 10,000) to defend Ameer Khan, in India, in the Waliabee case, as it would have prevented him taking up the cause of the claimant to the Tiehborne estates. The contents of the returns of the eoinuiissioneis sent out in connection with the suit to Xew South "\\ ales and Victoria alone occupy 232 large closely-piinted pages. "What a harvest for the lawyers !"

According to the New Zealand Herald, the northern pait of New Zealand ought by nature to be a wine-growing country.