GOLD-DIGGING IN THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 238, 16 April 1869, Page 3

GOLD-DIGGING IN THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND.

By the last mail it was reported that goldV had been discovered in the Strath of Kildonan, on the east coast of Sutherlandshire, Scotland. The discovery seems to be one of importance, and there has been a regular rush to the locality, and to streams in the County of Caithness, in the bed of which gold has been found. Several of those at work on the ground are returned diggers from New Zealand. The event is of such importance that the local newspaper, the John O' Groat Journal, despatched a special reporter to the diggings, and from his account we have the following particulars : — Our first impressions of the goldfields were very favorable. The gold workings at present are in a burn, or " creek " as some of the old hands call it, leading into the river of Kildonan, some short distance to the north Mr Rutherford's house. We travelled up the burn until we came to Mackenzie's Point (called after Mackenzie, a colonial digger from Lybster), when we came upon a gang of diggers from Wick, Avho were easily distinguished in the distance, by their colonial appearance and " rig." There could not be fewer than a hundred and fifty men work'ng on the creek that morning, and the gross amount, judging by what we saw collected at night among them, would not be under fifty pounds in value. The largest amount collected by one man in a day was about 20s. worth. Some gangs, however, make much more, and others, : again . green hands, barely make wages. The average yield to each digger seems to be about five shillings a day. The majority of them have only tin dishes to wash out the gold, and we saw only one cradle on the flat. It is the opinion of the experienced diggers that, with proper machinery, the gold workings would give handsome returns ; but at the present there is no encouragement for the diggers to spend money in machinery, tjs they will not be allowed to break ground on the terraces of th:' river. We counted as many as nine colonial diggers on the flat, including Messrs Gilchrist, the discoverer ; Southerland, from Latheron; Murray, Farquhar, &c. Some of these men were merely out prospecting, and informed us" that they had seen better prospects that day than; they had seen in New Zea'and after ;three days working. The greater number of diggers return to Helmsdale at night, where many of them reside, and proceed out again in the morning, those owning carts and horses driving out and home, a distance of twentytwo miles. Some of the diggers from Wick came down with us to Helmsdale to sell their gold, and buy provisions. They sold a halfounce, for which they received two pounds, which is considered very fair value. The largest piece of gold yet discovered is about the size of a sixpence. It was found by Little and his mate, the owners of the cradle. Such is the demand for the indispensable wash-dish that were a tinsmith presently established he would drive a roaring trade of it. One poor wayfaring follower of his craft was worked and bought out of his entire stock-in trade in less than no time, whilst our brawny sons of Vulcan have been turning out night and day like mushrooms the iron implements required. The morbid impatience of some, however, will not brook any delay, in spite of the increased exertions of those obliging craftsmen, and, accordingly, we find them making use of all sorts of queer substitutes, from a four-corned shallow wooden box to a soup tureen. On Wednesday last an experienced gold digger, recently returned from Australia, succeeded in finding traces of gold near the Dunbeath River, in Caithness, a short distance above the bridge. Since then several persons have been searching the strath of Dunbeath, and have found gold in such quantities as can leave no doubt of its existence there, though whether it may be found

in such quantities as will pay working expenses, remains yet to be seen, as a proper trial has not yet been made. It is added that a petition has been sent to the Duke of Sutherland, praying him to afford facilities for working the auriferous grovnd in the country.