NORTHERN TERRITORY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 1319, 10 March 1877, Page 8

NORTHERN TERRITORY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

, (prom our own correspondent.) ' January Ist, 1877. , After leaving the Stapleton, we come to the Britannia Reef. There was once £20,000 offered for this claim, and the three or fourshareholderswanted £40,000. Now, anybody can have it for the taking up. If it were on the Carrick Range or Bendigo Gully, it would be a pile yet. It has gone its 7oz to the ton, and there is payable stone on the claim yet. It ia now a forfeited lease, and can be worked by miner's right— los— or taken up on lease. Then we have the John Bull— another good reef, but badly managed. It is working at present, and doing fairly. It has five head stampers. Then we have the Fountain Head claim (prospecting), forfeited on- the same date as the Britannia. This reef shows gold freely on the surface for two miles. Very little work has been done. A trial crushing was taken to Yam Creek, and went 15dwts to the ton. Any quantity of stone to be got easy. Had not the leading men in. this reef gone down in the ill-fated ship, the Gothenburg, there would have been a good battery here. As it is, everything is deserted, and where there might be 100 men profitably employed, there is not a living soul to be seen. I hear, however, that a battery will be erected shortly. As you come along the road from Palmerstown or Southport, towards the diggings, it' is astonishing to see machinery, wheels, hammer drills, anvils, timber, lumber, drays, waggons, tanks, and bulk-heads and shoes, &c., &c, strewed over the ground everywhere, without owners. The white paint mark "X Y. E. C 0.," "T.G. C 0.," &c, showing them to have been all. the property of swindles — all good money squandered by reckless management.. The waste is enough to. sicken, a saving man. Further on, we come to the Howley Creek. Here has been both alluvial patches, reef,' and ' mullocky. ;>" leader patches — very rich. Fromloz.to 50ozs to the ton have been got here, and a battery is erected on the ground, but is almost idle, Another'palchy piece for the China-/! men. Then we come to Sandy Creek, j Yam Creek, Here is. the old Kapurida Yam Creek G/ol.d ,Mmmg' v Company,'s ,10 stamps, with splendid Kbrizbntjti'engine, 1 25-horse power (now the Grove HUlCb.'s •property, under W. K/ Griffiths' management, an old New Zealahder, better known as California Bill) ; and furtherdown the Margaret" is J Newman's'battery of 10 stamps. Both' these ■ batteries are lingering on, half -work half -rest, halfpaying, as the working population' is not sufficient to keep both batteries going. ,If one shuts up, the other becomes cheeky, and drives men away from the reefs altogether; and then they have such a large field to run to — up they go to the Union (30 miles from Yam Creek). This was the last and about the best find in the reef line in the Northern Territory. There are two more batteries down the Margaret River. The Union township consists of one public-house open, one public-house shut up, one store, 10-stamp battery, huts and tents for 23 white men, one woman, and four children. Another 10-stamp battery (Scott's), half or three-quarters of a mile off, down the creek, has been idle all the dry season, but has made a, fresh start, crushing 80 tons from No. 1 North Union, the refuse stone from two other crushings, of 40ozs and 7ozs to the ton ; the refuse will go sdwts. W. K. Griffiths is manager of No. 1 North. The' prospectors' claim, to whom the firstmentioned battery belongs, at their first crushing, went 77ozs to the ton. There has been over 5000ozs taken out of this claim in two years — all in 18 months. Now, it is idle. They are only crushing for the public. The next claim is No. 1 South Union. There have been three crushings taken out of this claim, going 2^ozs to the ton, 2ozs, and 2ozs. Messrs Harris and Tennant, who took out the last crushing, are now raising some very good stone. The gold runs in shoots, dipping to the north, and the ground is very hard to work. This is one of the best specs on the Union or in the Territory, but the work is hard. The depth at present is only 40ft. Then comes . No. 2 South Union, on which two men are working. On the spare ground a white man and coolie are the only workers. Then comes No. 3— M'lnhill and M'Grath —getting good stone. No. 4is also working by coolie labour ; and then we have the workings of Pink Que, who has No. 5 Lady Alice, and employs 12 or 14 coolies. Here is the best defined reef on the Union. It has run l^oz to the ton ever since it started. Coolie wages are £6 per month, and found ; crushing stone £1 per ton ; cartage, as per distance from this claim, 7s. Then we have No. SA, worked by coolie labour; and No. 7 South Union, by Wescotte aud party. Then No. B— J. Knott and party of three men. This went 3oz to the ton ' last crushing, and they have another crushing to grass, looking well. This is the last working on the south side of the Union. We have No. 2 Lady Alice, worked by Mr Otto and coolie labour ; then No. 1

'North-r-Mr Tripp and party of thre§meni» This stone has gone its 2|ozs, 3oza, and, l^ozto the ton. Then A. Forbes has , taken up No. 4 North Union. for Mr,. Scott, of the other 10-stamp -battery, and; he is taking out a trial crushing, v No. r l* No. 2, and No. 3 North Union are not - working at present ; but there has been' good stone got and. worked on No. 3^ going over 7ozs to' the ton. r These claims' are all 10, 20, and 40-acre blocks, and the Lady Alice line is east of the Union. The Lady Alice runs straight, and the Union makes a sweep and cuts the line at No. 4 South and No. 7 North. We have now no more working, except No. - 12, which has gone its sozs to the ton twice, up to the Extended Union— nine miles along the line of reef. Here is the celebrated Bismarck Gold Mining Co.'s claim, which' has gone 62bzs to the ton, and 20oza and I^oz. It is managed by Mr Dey6ri' t 'l another New Zealand man. - All the claims under-mentioned here are now, open to be taken up, having, been forfeited. They are No. 4 North Lady Alice, No. 5 North Union, Noa. 6, 9, 3 South Alice, Nos. 5 and 6 North Lady Alice, Prospecting Reef Caledonia Nos. land 2; • and the others I have mentioned before in my letter. ', '• • There is no more to be seen 'on the Union, so we -must go south to "Pine Creek. , Here we r have two public-houses, one telegraph station, and the gods (the Police and Government men), one engine, and 20 head of stampers, randoneengineand 10 head of stampers. Only one r of .theseis working.' The company- is in the Insolvent Court ; but-Mr'Oruikshank,' J.PI, isworkirig one machine to' give ■ public crushing at £1 per ton. Mr^Cruikshank' deserves great praise for his kindness'to"' the public. He is very obliging^ and much respected. He is another old new iniquity, from New Zealand. There has been some, good results at Pine Creek lately." , Baig and Coady had 3ozs to .the, ton-; and,. • Mackloss and Fraser had a trial of 11 tojns, which gave 23ozs 15dwfs.- , .1 believe .there will be some good alluvial herethia ,wet season. A few parties are stacking ; wash-dirt,- and making boxes and forming 1 small dams, and purpose sluicing it.' : '-' If J water could only be got to our hill-sidp, there are miles of country would pay for sluicing ; but that's not' to be'doiie. .'The, cradle and trough is .the highest branch 1 ' of , alluvial working reached in jbhe Northern. Territory. Ihave now taken' you over, the « great ' Northern Territory, :goldfieldy andl'have told -you every claimi working ;r. but let any man of New Zealand be care- i ful how he reads any account io£ : the'Northern Territory. "He^'wilT^get no potatoes here, but' the- yam or sweet potatoe ; ri ,and ,no. t beef or mutton, but bquttie'; : .'everything is in tinSj "and^W flour will' only keep one •sea&oh;'' ' IMter" the'wet seasqn, you have 'm6re IJ magg6tS ' and weevels than'flour. ' 'Living, foremen- • who can pay dov^/sash" and -deal 'where i they think : fit^is'about 25s to £0L? 10s per , w,eek. ! Wages areJ£s or £3 lOs^and found ; r . -but what withi the heat andj<tb.e.->insect pests, this is a rough place, for. a man, and . no -places for a woman. , A single etaergetic, \ tough,- wjry, sober man, can do well, 'gutty raking, or\reefing.' H$ had better" have^qme cash. There is no use of aihan coming here without that. He must haye, enough to start, and £50 is not too much! ., I.do not write this letter to induce a rush.There is nothing to warrant a rush. I want the miners of New Zealand to be careful how they are led astray with reports of large finds. It was only the other ■ day that a paper said that J. William's and Ingham washed 37|0z8 to the trough. Now, it should have been 3|ozs. ~ So that a man cannot be too sure on these points. The day for swindle and excitement is over in the Northern Territory ; still, it must and shall, like the Phoenix, rise from its own ashes. It is about to rise^ but slowly. It will do it, for both the gold and the reefs are here, and all that is wanted is time and more population. I will probably drop a few lines some other time, just to let the miners of Otago know how things wag with their brother diggers in the warm Northern Territory! Any miner coming here need not bring long gum boots or skates — both, these articles of commerce are at a great discount here. Full-dress here is smoking cap and pair of pajams, and pair of white' boots. It is optional whether you wear a .shirt or not ; but necessity compels you to cover your head, and common decency (which, by the way, is uncommon here) compels you to cover your loins. Everything is Oriental, even the laziness.Jamet the Reefer, Late of St. Bathans.

A late number of the Grey River Argus says : — The amount of amalgam collected at the battery of the Wealth of Nations Quartz Mining Company, Keefton, for the week ending Saturday, 24th instant, was 59Sozs 3dwts, which, retorted with the former , amount in hand, gave a yield for the four weeks of 6160zs ldwt gold. At a meeting of the Directors held at the Company's office, Tainui street, on Saturday evening, a dividend (25th) of 4s per 6500 scrip was declared, payable on and after Tuesday, 27th instant. The Inangahua Herald says it must be' very satisfactory indeed to the Keepit-Dark proprietary, and to the entire district, that the future prospects of the mine are so promising. A crushing just .completed of 225 tons of stone yielded 1190z3. lldws.' 9grs. of melted gold, or very nearly lOdwts. 14grs. to the ton. Allowing for the amalgam permitted to remain on the lower plates, and the facts of a certain per centage of quartz not being so clean as the average, we may fairly estimate the reef now being worked as containing twelve-pennyweight stone, which will suffice to leave, after deducting cost of raising, crushing, and charges, a, very respectable margin available for dividends.,