WEST COAST GOLD-FIELDS.

Colonist, Volume VIII, Issue 779, 11 April 1865, Page 1

WEST COAST GOLD-FIELDS.

The Canterbury Government Gazette contains a Proclamation of the Gold Field, as follows : —"That part of the Province of Canterbury bounded on the north by the Eiver Grey, and the southern boundary of the Province of Nelson ; on the west by the sea ; on the south by the Eiver Wanganui and a line dpawn from its source to the nearest summits of the dividing range, or Southern Alps, to be a Gold Field, within the meaning of the Act, to be called ' The West Canterbury Gold Field.' " Captain Gibson, the Port-officer of the Province, has gone to the West Coast. He had previously forwarded by the s.s. Waipara, the signal and semaphore gear for the entrance of the Okitiki river ; and he takes with him a proper pilot boat, so that everything which can be foreseen as likely to be wanted may be ready in four days after his arrival. The boat taken is that which has been in use at the Sumuer bar, and its place will at present be supplied by one of the harbor boats; but steps have already been taken to provide a proper life-boat for Sumner. The river Grey will also receive attention.

Speaking of the excitement in Christchurch and elsewhere, the Lyttelton Times says : —" The gold digging mania has reached to a very high, pitch of excitement in port among the j)ersons employed on board the coasting vessels ; seamen are asking, and in some cases obtaining, £10 per month. Several clerks, and others employed in hotels, warehouses, and shops, are leaving or demanding increased wages. Should favorable news reach us, no one can forsee the result. Many who are inexperienced will rashly leave comfortable situations for an uncertainty. The stevedores on board the Dona Anita struck for wages the other day, and would not accept reasonable terms, although she has got the last hundred bales of wool on board to stow to complete her loading; they are off to the diggings. And a sharp look-out will have to be kept to retain the hands on board the ships."

The Canterbury Press of the Bth March, says: —" The stream of travelling to the West Coast is greatly on the increase. To-day, upwards of a hundred must have crossed the Victoria bridge on foot en route to the diggings, and the coaches certainly took as man}'- more. The steamer Wellington also took away seventy passengers intending to proceed via Nelson, and yesterday it was impossible to procure a passage by any of the sailing vessels advertised for the Okitiki. Several small mobs of cattle have also been despatched, and the demand for freight is brisk. Gfoods have left town by drays to proceed as far as possible by this means, and it is intended to pack them from the termination of the dray track on the nearest diggings. Yesterday it was announced that gold had for a certainty been found on this side of the saddle, but we have not been enabled to procure any reliable information as to the precise locality."