The Alleged Discovery of a Mountain of Gold.

Otago Witness, Issue 1875, 28 October 1887, Page 13

The Alleged Discovery of a Mountain of Gold.

THE RUSH' DKSERTRD.

A week ago (says th« special reporter of the Melbourne Argus) tho mining community was startled by the information published in the Melbourne newspapers thnt a mountain of gold had been discovered at Nowa Nowa, in the neighbourhood of Lake T.yi»rs, in Gippsland. A rush at once set in, and within a week (a unique went in the history 7 of luiuiiif,' rushes in Victoria) il has terminated. The Nowa Nowa creek ib a streamlet about 13 miles from Lake 'lyurs, ami it was on the southern bank that the outcrop of quartz which has caused so much excitement was discovered. The fact that the riches of Mount Morgan so close to civilisation remained undiscovered for years lent additional Weight to this story of a " mountain of gold/ and within a few days of the first information being published pegs, with the mystic words "applied for lease,'' were scattered along the supposed line of reef for a couple of miles. Bairnsdaie has been a victim of misplaced confideuce iv gold rushes before to-day, and express surprise at the arrival of a crowd from Melbourne. The coach to Bruthan is filled, and i -0 people are left to get there as best they may. Livery btables are emptied, and, with a few exceptions., all get away the same night, reaching Burthen by midnight or early next morning, "tre the residents were divided in opinion upon the importance of the discovery, and the most doleful accounts were given by a number of returning diggers. Over a month ago a selector in tha neighbourhood oauicd Ward, discovered w uat he believed were traces of gold in the stout*. A fow poumls of it were crushed with a pe-stal and mortar at Bruthen, and a pennyweight of gold obtained. Those who were alMWed to know the result pegged out the grouud, and a few days afterwards the news was wired to Melbourne that a •'•'mountain of gold" had been discovered. This penny.feigut is the only gold that has been obtaiued, notwithstanding that repeated trials have been

made by crashing and assay. In no part of the j reef does it present the appearance of gold- r bearing, and the only prospector now on the < ground, Jorgeusen, states that he has not seen ) evn the colour. He leaves the place satisfied that the prospects neither warrant further labour nor the cost of testing a fair quantity of the stone. The speculators and miners who visited the reef are very pronounced in their condemnation of the originators of the report, and condemned the warden's report to the Mining department. The cause of the rush was the unfounded rumour in Bruthen that a splendid prospect had been washed from so large a reef. Beyoud the residents of the solitary house by the wayside, there is not a soul now at the alleged " mountain of gold."