NEW GOLDFIELD ON THE CARDRONA RIVER.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 5, 25 November 1862, Page 2

NEW GOLDFIELD ON THE CARDRONA RIVER.

[The following, from the Otago Daily Times of November 20th, was published by us in an Extraordinary on Saturday last i—] HARTLEY TOWNSHIP, Tha Dunstan, 17th Nov., 1862. 6 pm. My last despatch wa3 dated the 15th instant, since which time further particulars regarding the new rush Have leaked out. It is situated abont 12 miles from one of Wilkinson's out-stations. The prospector's names are M. Grogan, P. May, and J. Mullins. Two of these are old California miners. The site is now asceitained to be the Cardona creek, emptying into the Cluthaon the left bank. The distance is given at 82 miles from this. At the time they made the discovery they were looking out lor the reported rich finds of Fox and party. One of them, on the 9th instant, accidentally (bund on a cattle track, on dark loamy soil, a four pennyweight piece of gold This led the party to think that it had been lost by Fox's party, but on discussing the matter over, at night, two of them, from their Calfornia experience, were led to bslieve that gold might be found in such stuff. They were accompanied by six

others, alto looking out for, ; the wber» abonts of Fox and hia matei In'tlM!* presencej&Grogan ■? and (party, -UD«g?nq liftn>ii tb)p»urfiS^the - v f^'rttj|@ip3;&liiii6 I heights i^pe.etively ; obtaining in all uin| ounces six penh) weights and a-half ; anfi they then stated that they, should. at- ©^ ! proceed 10 the Dunstan for a prospect-nj; ! claim. They describe ...tKje sgot/whei they found this gold as a kind flf sli<U o landslip. The word terrac€t3yill cpnyeyj better idea. : .High, ranges bound the^ r-ek and ihey believe that they haye discovei/ei one of the richest gold fields. inahe-wqFli There is no timber upon K, -but pjentj within a few mites distance. tJui-h is i short 'summary of the man's statement the original of .which is forwarded by Mi Keddell to Dunedin. It is supposed tha it is somewhere in this- iinmediat locality, that Fox and. party, are gettitij their gold. One of this party has latei left a rich claim on Potter's Gully; vfbr Ih place they are working,; but all endeavor to track them have so far failed. Afei days will soon lead' to more authentic in formation, regarding the capabilities of thi new and last district which is now like! to receive a fair trial. Gold has never s| richly been sown upon the surface of 05 gold-neld iv the world, if the statemejjj of these prospectors should prove true, j is almost impossible to realise them, b\ they steadily affirm its correctness, < an started bick immediate'y, accompanied b every acquaintance they could meet, i 11 lay on." If the gold in such-heavy pjeei was really found oh one of these icaoy-te races, common to the Dunstan gold-field, w 11 be impossible to define the .value 1 their past development, or the. increase resources it will open out to the distric If ever there was a. land of gold, in th sense it is often mentioned, thU field is on These are all the particulars at , preset obtainable. About one thousand persoi have already gone, and hourly others ai going As the scene of this and many of th other recent discoveries are beyond tlt^ boundaries of this gold-field, serious corj fusion will arise unless prompt action | taken by the 'Government.' Already til Commissioner. i& overworked; and if. i\slimits of the Dunstan gold-field i» extend! to meet the difficulty, further bssistanl must be rendered, in the shape of a depui warden, as is often done in Victoria. f It is reported upon reliable authoritf! that 200 ounces was yesterday washed cj df one tin dishful of siuff in Courojll Gully. The pocket looked so rich thl the holders of theclaiui thought they hi dropped uponiruinense pile. It is a namf crevice, and is running into the hill sid| In my next I sltall be able to give tb.3 fu| returns of this extraordinary find. It w| probaMy be the heaviest one yet obtain! on rhe Dunstan. . I The Fraser river isa!so going to turn oil spledidly, and three to four penny weij* hi per disli is the prospect obtained. ]i is|| miles from this beyond the Unsclough, alf was the Snowy Kauge as it was here call! Another discovery, that of lwenry-t«| pounds weight is announce'!. The" uo| having gone to Dunediu. Particulars ml no doubt, transpire first there. 'I he 1 cality is known to a few, and also to oj of the policrt force here. It will be di clared this week, but not till the parti acquainted with it have made some forty arrangements. They do not apply fot| prospecting claim, preferring a system & combination with those they haye '"la §- on." lam assured it is a genuine d;| covery, and that the gold has. been heif but having no more authentic inform | tion, and not being permitted to menu f names, merely give the news for what 1 is worth. f-A* . I Chappelle's party has succeeded><a luij ing t- c Manuherekia, in conjunction w| others and tue various claitnholdejra J in excellent spirits, anticipating-a^iSlJa return for their exertions. s^. The weather in these Snowy Rangel| j intens -ly warm and oppressive. The dJ . continues to fly about in heavy doul leaving a thick deposit on everything. f| filthy state of this manuscript will be sol slight evidence of its overpowering effei To carry on a correspondence of this kii I in a warm tent, surrounded by a continJ bustle and a series of interruptions isl easy task, and will partly atone for| abrupt and irregular style these commu| cations have assumed. A simple wriiij) pad on the knee has been the only-conf nience your correspondent has been able| obtain. The Commissioner has at last I a table, but wood is still too scarce| find them general. These two lettft have been written in Rowley's exprlf office, which is full from morning to nigfj by men like myself, sitting on a swag $? writing in the manner described. M duty is not, therefore a very enviable ojf The town is rapidly extending, and bui|| ings everywhere going up. It has \M crammed the last two days by parties f|l the outlying districts, "and new. arri\f| Business has been very brisk, every ppf being filled at all hours. I have seen !| thing like it in all my experience of goldfields in Victoria, of late times, if Back Creek rush is the nearest approach it, and by which readers of this in p* colony will be better able to realise it. v sums of money expended are very large ii. goods rule so high, yet very little grul lino- is hpard. Tie Vlolyneux and Kawarau still t* fnu s high, though some are working the high bank. The former is a noble rifand requires an article to itself. . ; The population is peaceable and ordefe but how long this state of thingß may c|| tinue in the absence of the Commissit|| being able to grant protection to new|| coveries beyond the defined limits || down of this gold-field, is difficult lolrf With a rapidly increasing population It putes will, arise, and any exhibitions of I|| lessness are always catching and takenfe vantage of by certain classes. 1$ A3 another opportunity will present ill by the post to-morrow, further details n| be allowed to stand over, and in ciosin?f| -_■ report it only remains to say that .if tlfem ' ture is a glowing one the greatest careff been exercised in obtaining authentic.% statements. The difficulty that exists isp • in giving circulation to rumors, but in e*l cising a severe discretion. J

WmSsttwetat-'tKe/pdi.stan-.:^^ ;.:.•.,;■.■,. ; - - <SmT " • tJoldißeldi' Department; *V m l , ? Warden's Office, / y-ff ... r . Dutoßtan, 15th-Nbvenaber,ll^62v y; nil ;S «< gir^lltave the Jipiiortoireport, for .your,; ii« Lformation, that on -,th.eu-12th instant two tjLhiners, , w hase namps .appear in. tht. margin JriE/gTichael J. Grogan r and : James ... Mullins), »5f waited on. me. and tjpqrte.4 that they, had 2! discovered payable gold in a tributary of the Upper Clutlia, neat the Cardrona, about 20 kJ miles south-west' of Wilkinson's station. ■ Their written jst'atements of the fasts of the p discovery If |&ward herewith' attached. f\ ' I authoris^' the barty of tirfee" (one t»f them ™ being left in chaise of. the' ground) to mark ■\ 'out suteh an area as they we^e entitled to I* under; the GoldfieUs' Regulations, i.e., quar ' drupie ihe area of an ordinary claim> the a ' earn* to be confirmed in the event of its being comprised in any proclaimed goldfield* <■■ The amount of gold exhibited by these men vas of a very coarse description, consisting «f flat irregular nuggets, in weight 9 oz. 6* dv«B..Out of this 1 selected seven pieces, ; «na their weights were as follows !■— Ist. «. , 16dwt8 > 2nd - » ° 3rd - ltJ i 4th •• 6 do sth - n do • • - €t h -. 4i dO It 7th ... 7 do The sample has been left -with me, and I tnirpose taking it to Dunedin, should my 'i magisterial duties peimit, at the end of next « -week as I anticipate. tH The statement of Grogan has left me little M to report on the matter, save as" to the distance M from this, which i estimate, following the m route taken by the prospectors, at about J 75 miles from the camp; but I imagine a ■I shorter track could be taken by crossing the ,|- £luiha at the junction of the Kawarau, and J striking across the ranges to the right of the 1 Pisa. The prospectors followed the western I bank of the Upper Glutha until they reached 1 Wilkinson s stati m ; then proceeded up the '1 Cardona about 12 miles to a shepherds hut, il and the scene of their discovery is about 8 I miles further up that creek. }| The'greatest excitement prevails respecting l| this discovery, and I have had repeated aprj piicatious for particulars. A party under I the guidance of a miner named fox, is 1 reported to be doing well in the neigh borjj hood of this discovery, and many lumors 1 nre in circulation respecting the richness I of their woi kings, and it was while enI deavoring to tra«e Foxe's party thai Gro--1 gnn found the prospect, the subject of this letter. I have the honor to be, Your most obedient servant, Jackson Keddkll, Warden. The following is the statement referred to.— Gorgan's Diggings, Wilkinson's River, Card i ona Ri v er, On the 9th, while a crowd of diggers ■weie camped on the banks of the Cardrona Bbout ten miles from V\ ilkinson's station, this young man and myself took a walk to *cc how that part of the couniry loosed. And on walking along the bank of the river, upon what I call v slide, where there had been a track formed by the cattle, 1 being a little furthe- up the creek, sat down until he came up ; and he immediately t)l<lmethat some persons must have lust [some »old,and produced iibou> fourpennyweiuhis that he had found on this eatile track. We still continued up until we thought it lime to return to our camping ground, and mi the way he showed me the place, and on searching for more we could get none, and by the appearance of the black soil both of us certainly thought it must have been dropped by Fox or some other person. However, when we came home, and after supper the matter beins -well disoussed.it was the opinion of all, 7 l ith one exception, which is my mate — h& name is Patrick May. Then he reUfcWkfd that he got gold in California in . uuch black soil ; stid J also remarked the . same, thatl had worked ground in Cali-f-V&rnia that was regular loam.

J On Tuesday, the lhh, after receiving some information as to whereabouts Fox was working, myself and mates were ahead of the others, and on coming to this place, I look my swag and laid it on the bank. •* There." said I. is where the gold was got" Then I walked to the spot, and in breaking up the surface, the first thing that 1 discovered was a bit of about 3 dwts., and that afternoon we nu>jgetted out 9 (izs. 6 dwts 12 grains, which all hands that were there could 6ee, and 1 believe all hands were looking on after I showed the.in the gold. As soon as they came up, " Gentlemen," said I, " I wish to get a prospecting claim, and here is my authority," so 1 started on the following morning, and acquainted ihe Commissioner ai the JJunstan of it. "Michael J. Grogan." " The appearance of thecountry. It certainly looks remarkably well for creeks and gullies, and 1 do not know but there is gold in abundance in all these slides. There may be, and there may not be. It is very hard to try theguilies, as the gravel is very loose and water scry plentiful.