OTAGO GOLD FIELDS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1616, 10 September 1861, Page 2

OTAGO GOLD FIELDS.

(From our own Correspondent.),. ; -"■ Tuupeki, August 28,1861. ( V A, After tramping for six days,' our party f '-ar- Arrived safe at the gold-lields oh Thursday .last* v A The roads are in v very bad sUte, and it is very-A* difficult to travel on them with drays. \Jfsfcy-y, engaged a man with a dray and: two hbrseSsuiAVDunedin, io convey our 'things. to. ihe AiliMrHL ._>., and were obliged to pay himatU^e,rat^|gl|A \._. per ton, (although we armnge-^-wiU^ ftra^vA-. take the things at •SlOO' p^Mo!^ that they charge by the lOOAlb^fb^t^^ There were al together., tquneep;p|^ ■'.. up with .the dray, and : w<? bi^eti**^^ it, having beeu .■uWigedV,tQ;«i^^^ (wilh only about half atonoii^fwM^ drag the dray out of ih]B 'ihfrd^Nj^^ was over the! axles. Tl^^U^;^t%jrtiift^' vffg mud aboul nine liuies,and.w„s *capsi^d:;^^Asp. on one occasioivwe had* to cany the ; good^* (orAlfA near half ainileA The roads tire passiabli^KS^. A you get ■on<the ? ranges from off the plains, heai thirty-live diiles ;*frS^/ f Pift|tijji?-* i .*;v; We capped out ou the-road t^tWi-p^^f^j^J -y/-i

suoh that very insufficient accommodation oould alone be provided. But little has been done, or could be done in road-making. A few creeks have been made passage. The Wniiahuna hasbeen bridged, and measures have been taken to put the Taieri ferry on a more satisfactory footing. The erection of a house of accommodation on the West Teira road has been commenced by the Government, and encouragement has been given for the establishment of others in different localities. The chief efforts ' of the local Government have been <. irected towards the establishment of an efficient police foroe ; and, with that view, the services of Mr. St. John Branigan bave been secured. This gentlemau has had long experience in the polioe of Victoria (the most efficient body of police in existence), and is highly spoken of by Captain Staudisb, the Chief Commissioner of that department. No expense has beeu spared by the Local Government to put this department in working order, and we trust that shortly we shall have such an efficient force as will effectually guard the community from any evils which may arise from the influx of questionable characters, who are sure to be tempted by our gold fields, and who might have been encouraged by our weakness* to commit crimes, which, from our isolated position, the difficulty of escaping from the colony, apd the almost certainty of detection, we may now hope to reduce to the minimum.

Owing to the excitement consequent upon the gold discovery, the ordinary business of the country, or at least a large section of our community, has been neglected. The progress of agriculture will, for a time, be slow; that important branch of industry will, in fact, retrograde. Land will go out of cultivation, and, as a matter of course, less land will be purchased, and the land revenue will fall. It has done so already. The present month wiil not yield more than £1100 of land revenue. — Colonist.

The following vessels with passengers and cargo have arrived during the month :-— •

Passengers. Aug. 1. Gannet, from Lyttelton, cargo 0 5. Prince Albert, .s.s. from Lyttelton . . 43 7. Brothers, from Wellington 5 7. Cosmopolite, from Hobart Town, with horses and general cargo .0 8. Dunedin, from Newcastle, with coal '() 9. Velore, from London 23 9. Omeo, a b. from Lyttelton. 58 13. Emerald Isle, from Heathcote Eiver 30 13. Emu, from ditto 4A -, 13. Storm Bird, s.s. from Wellington. ... 79 14. Ada. from Akaroa 7 14. Margaret, from Heathcote River.... 3 14. Midlothian 2 14. Pirate, s.s. from Melbourne ........ 28 15. Lyttelton, p.s. f from Lyttelton 57 15. James Daly, from Akaroa 4 16. Petrel, from Wellington 4 - 19. Mary Jane, from Nelson . . '. 4 19. Airedale, from Northern Provinces . . 89 19. Salopian, from Wellington 12 22. Wonga Wonga, s.s. from Wellington 5*4 22. Henrietta, from Newcastle ........ 1 23. Eeliance, from Lyttelton 22 23. Pryde, from Heathcote Eiver ....'.. 10 24. Fanny A. Garriques, from Auckland 23 27. Oscar, s.s., from Melbourne 191 28. Matilda Hays, from Lyttelton 0 28. Lyttelton, p.s., from Lyttelton 68 29. Gil Bla^, from Newcastle 0 I " 821 —t Witness, August 31.