LATEST NEWS FROM THE NOKOMAI.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue I, 14 November 1862, Page 3

LATEST NEWS FROM THE NOKOMAI.

AA-iA "iil-^rtVV-'-:. -.-:) : <\ ■ ' ■ ■ V*. '' A-ti '- '■- 'AAiA-. 'Hfj.v;-ut7f.^ ! ■•■ ■-' _ ; -- :- - ' -* '%- "•-•*■ • ■■■■'■■■■ ■■■ A :,i »^^7JDft^EK,'- .•':.■ ':'.:. - ; 7.. '-Vr^.-VWov. 8, 1862. Thq^.sr§at^resent' busily; at work, and iii payable claims op the Moa Creek', ab^ja-tmoheii hundred and fifty miners wnoirfe^ on the average, making good ,wag : os,y; ; 'a*^i r ll is ; . ; ' intimately ac- [ quaintedV with, 'Iwo parties who will be able, iri. |he course of say two months aftehclearing all expenses, lo save a few hundreds as the reward of their md ustryp" It Is scarcely Necessary to state , as most Afl your, readers are aware, that the nearest to' the Moa Creek, the Npkomiaj, and the Waka'apu goldbeariug country,- and onwasds/to the Dunstan, is; by* way of Invercargill. Within the last . six days a great rush has setin on the ;Nevi3 River, and so far as jis yet 'known, a successful one. The Dunstan gold-field is by this mean?: connected with the Moa Creek; From what has passed under my oii?n observations, from Lake Wakatip to Moa! Greek: a distance of some fourteen mi|es,.'Vand from Moa Creek, which . joins Nokomai river four mi'es above Mr; Cameron's home station, and from that point, tracing the Nokomai to< its source at the foot of the range of mountains which divides the Nevis river Or country running right into the Clutha river, the whole of the country may be termed auriferous, and no doubt will; prove a profitable goldfield. With regird to the nature of the country spoken of as a gold-field, it may justly be termed very mountainous and' rugged, and is almost impracticable to travellers on foot, at any rate for a miner to attend at the various rushes which take phce weekly, involves an immense deal of physical exertion, consdering that heFhas to parry his swag, rirovisio'is, &c|, from Moa^ Creek to thp NevisV or a*jffy •ctee^ln the immediate vici.itjy 'where' a rush may take pljae?>> frgmjliis part the gold obtainable* prejnts less attraction, and its /prospective value is certainly less. With regard to the character of the gold obtained [otf tlie borders of* th laric^-it is of At' course, nifegetty, porous ;d e|^rTjsf f^b-tnf , /j\aiid from 'm(s 3.ppkren tjjujk^eighi ligji^a'n^bears a close resemblanc^to^tT)a^fourid at'-Waipori in the • OtagO -S*rpyince. Ezpei tence teaches ms that whete the precious metal is found of that character in New %s&ss&* the, ground is,, very patchy and not of an average payable nature. Generally .tspeafcii) or. prizes are few but goodi and, therefore,, not a poor man's diggings, but where the gold is found to be of a fit er description, mining in New Zealand has as yet l?e*en of a more profitable nature. ' Although. the rush which lately tcok place to the borders of Southland and the Otago Provinces has turned out a !ailure, yet I do no' mean to say that it is altogether for the want of a payable juriferous country, it is an undeniable act, that out of the two thousand miners vho visited Moa Creekr'Troi*d..'tbe,Duni.ten and elsewheri?V not moire than teh tcjwork in right earnest ; they appear 'to have expected, to be able imn*^r^^|Ton arrival to~gather T up the precious met*' in pennyweights, ounces, and pounds without the slightest exertion oh their part: not having been able to realise those, extreme notions, in about ten days they all left Moa Creek and its surrounding gullies, — hence the present small population. Mr. Worthington, the Commissioner on Moa Creek, has been authorised by the Government to select fourteen or twenty miners .for the purpose of sinking several prospecting claims in tl;e wet part of th '■> Flat, where it is believed to be rich by the^niriers., he finding tje whole party in 'provisions during thlt period^ the product to be the properly of 'the minersy but, from personal observation, la-P of oparion that the bit and richest. gcj*' :^-bearing country will pc found on the?. -Sfevis and surround ing gullies, distar * from, the top of the saddle of the dividing Mpountain, between the River Mataura Und Moa Creik, only tweive milesto-the source of ihe Nevis, which rpns the; .very oppolite direction to ■ the River. <So much fo^Yfie a^^t^nich-Uhis-}»lxl-fiejd/presents to the mining community up to /.ae preaent^mev^i ,?- . ~~ ~» '^^^^A^^^o^A^W^S^^ NokorAAtf district, it hai not : on the yirhole' proved 'payable, ft*?* 5 *^ a " nedin folks, l/aving /feiuctantiy shared as the largest losers/the distance being against them;- and ot course rates of cartage being mucli higher that ufrom Invercargill' or Riverton j and I doubt |It|ot that were: thfe Mercantile community in tlie capital; qjt; Southland to bestir Ihemhlvesj&^dAiiltle more, they- would ibe able to command the whole «of the I'conjmeVciarmißing trade, and taat profrodrjAWs side of the Clutha River 'TMntfirigf right on to Mr. Ree's run an^jl'ike'Wakatip; but, before they can acccmplish^ihis, and compete with enterprising neighbours, jcartdge- must be cheaper, bridgci must (the ijn^e,ffppstal communicatioi must p jes&blishfed, arid the quickest of fall cpn ra tin tea tors must be erected, ? yiz., 'ihs'^erie'etric telegraph. If ten f najn.crs have the hardihood 'to 1 qui y'tntf". more sunny clime « Austral iai^^dtiflyiercome the difficulties of a moTJu%int»u^,Bnowy, freezirrg clime, -to exper/|3/tb|itl\ energies in gojd huntjtig'he*^iß^it|oo much to expect that reap tie benefit the many pardships thzinii?!*^

da£eV**re ? tKai ''all 4* /necessaries of liftT itoroltf -be .ii£ocurabld on 'th^Sgord-flplda im. sifficient- .tjuanhitieiA that' noneM Bholid be without. If the* p^opie*% '^thlan^d^'jjot rouse themselves, pc mercantile community of Otago wA carry away the laurels from their verjdoors.