THE KIMBERLEY GOLDFIELD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5617, 13 May 1886, Page 4

THE KIMBERLEY GOLDFIELD.

♦ I WHAT THE COUNTEY IS LIKE. THE ALLUREMENTS AND THE DIFFICULTIES. {South Australian .Register, May 1.) A good deal of excitement has been ; caused by rumours that have recently reached the Colony of a discovery of a very rich goldfleld in the Kimberley district, Western Australia, and numbers of men from South Australia and the neighbeuring Colonie3 have been induced, by the ] hope of finding the precious metal, to try | their luck. From accounts published in i late Western Australian papers, it appears ■ that very little that ia definite is known •with regard to the field. It is in the Kimberley district, in the vicinity of the Ord river, in the far North. There are no conveniences for getting to the locality, which ia quite unknown, and unless persons : leaving for the diggings take with them a j I supply of provisions adequate for several ; • months, there is not much prospect of their j ! doing anything. The nearest settlement i ' to Mount Barret, the reputed centre of I ; the gold district, is Derby, which ia ' situated on the north-west coast of the \ I Colony, at the mouth of the Fiteroy i : Biver, which runs into Sound. It i is supposed that the auriferous district is i between 300 and 400 miles from Derby. | i There ia of course not the least semblance j ' of a road or track, and during the wet i 1 season many miles of the country between j the Fitzroy and Ord Eivers are impassable • to heavy traffic, the ground being very - • boggy. The only use to which the country ] is put is pasturage*.' It abounds in streams j which are the resort of alligators, Ac. j • That gold has been got in the district there • is no doubt, over 400oz having been taken i to Derby this year j but until some steps j are taken by the Western Australian : Government to open up the district, it ! • would be" unwise for persons without j capital to attempt to reach the diggings, j The discovery appears to have been made j by a man named Hall, who reported to the ; local authorities that he had found gold, j He asked " the Government to assist ( ' him to develop the field by supplying ! I him with horses. The request waß com- : plied with, and ten old survey horses were given the party in January last. Since , thep nothing has been heard of them, but, '. as they expected to be away six months, it ; is probable news will be received of the. party shortly. The Government Resident 1 in the Kimberley district also fitted out a ! party to go to the field, but Messrs Malet i and M'Ewen, who were the prospectors, 1 only took six weeks' provisions with them, 1 and had to return to Derby. Since the , rumour of the find has been cir^ulated,^ • several steamers and sailing vessels have \ j been put on the line for Derby, but ! i previous to that the commerce of the | place was not sufficient to warrant a regular service oftener than four times ' a year. The first information of the discovery that ' was made public is contained in the Perth Inquirer. The news respecting the operations of the prospectors i 8 necessarily brief, compressed | into a telegraphic message from the Government Besident (Mr Lovegrove) at Derby to his Excellency Sir Frederick Broome, and dated probably about Friday last, as follows : — " I have very great pleasure in informing your Excellency that most j favourable reports have reached Derby from the goldfields. Five parties are down, all bringing alluvial gold, some more, some lees. There are now something over 400oz in the town. The professional diggers speak highly of the field, and predict one of the largest rushes that have been seen for years ; they also predict rich reefing as a future certainty ; field extensive." The Register is allowed to publish the following extract from a private letter received in Adelaide, from Mr C. E. Deeley, for whose special reliableness a gentleman in Christchurch vouches : — We are indebted to a member of a prominent firm in this city for having allowed us to peruse some letters which have been received during the week from Mr C. E. Deeley, of the firm of Adcock Brothers and Co., merchants, Palmerston and Derby. Mr Deeley is stationed at the latter place, and gives some interesting particulars relative to the Kimberley Goldfields, and also to the town of Derby itself. Writing on March 30, Mr Deeley says :— " About eight men have'niade their way in from the supposed goldfields. They report about 40 men up there. They have come in to buy rations. It ia going to be the largest field in Australia in our opinion. All the men who are in have gold with them, but they are keeping dark, and have only brought in enough for their wants. I bought 84oz from two men yesterday, 220z from, another, lloz from another, and 7oz from another. We hear of another party close here who have 2400z with them, one piece weighing 19oz. It is a beautiful sample of gold, quite as good as the Palmer. What we have runs froie fine to loz pieces, all water-woin, except one parcel, which was evidently got on the surface from a rough leader. All lam afraid of iB a big rush, with a lot of men with no money. This is the nearest port, and the best road is from here, but the field is 300 miles inland at least, and poor men cannot get there. It never will be a poor man's diggings. They must have horses. I send you by this post a piece of grass, which is a fair sample of the grass round Derby. It is just as thick as a well-sown field of corn, and one can hardly walk through it." In another letter to his wife Mr Deeley remarks that in Derby the mosquito, ant, and all sorts of inbecte are very troublesome. The .labouring white man demands 15s a day fbr ordinary work, and it is very difficult to obtain the services of blacks. Chinese labour is also scarce at present, but this difficulty will be overcome shortly. There are very many blacks in the neighbourhood of Derby, but they are not dangerous to associate with. On that side of the Sound the native women all wear bones through their noses. Mr Deeley says the gales that are sometimes experienced there are terrific. They come on very suddenly, with accompanied loud thunder and rain, and it is almost impossible to hear anything round about you -while they last. The native rat 9 are a serious trouble. They are very large, and have a tuft of hair on the tip of the tail. The common name applied to them is the "bottle brush rat." Everything they can get near enough to they destroy. A few miles from Derby Mr Deeley saw a number of alligators in a river, and snakes are also frequently seen, Boine of them being very long. He says that 150 miles of the 300 which divides Derby and the diggings ia over a boggy track. The pearling industry is also an important one. The shellers were then commencing work. Only four boats had arrived, but seventy others were expected shortly. . Speaking of the goldfields again, he adds : — "There is going to be an awful rush. Ido hope the papers will warn the poor men — I mean the impecunious men. There will be heaps of gold found, but there will also be a lot of misery." Recently in Derby as much as 15s was paid for 50 gallons of water. The grass forwarded by Mr Deeley grows from 7ft to 14ft high, but the sample received was some 4ft only in height.