NELSON.

Wellington Independent, Volume XX, Issue 2218, 13 June 1865, Page 7

NELSON.

Dr Cusack has been elected Governor of Nelson College. GOIiD EX POET. The Examiner of the 7th inst., Rives the following account on the gold exported from Nelson to Sydney, the produce of the last month. It says : — " The gold shipped on Saturday last, by the Tararua, for Sydney, the produce of the preceding month, was forwarded by the banks as follow : — ozs. Bank of New South Wales ... 8,200 Bank of New Zealand 5,6'il Union Bank of Australia 5,341 Total 19,182 The quantity of gold exported in the preceding month was 1(5,395 ounces, which gives an increase of 2,787 ounces for the month. Considering the season and the weather which has been experienced, this return of gold must be considered satisfactory. The gold obtained on the West Coast during the last month considerably exceeds the returns in Otago. BODY TOT7ND ON TIIE GREY. The Colonist of the GLh inst., says : — Captain Holmes, the master of tho schooner Nautilus found the body of a man stranded on the beach on the 7th of May. It was in the last stage of decomposition, and could by no possibility be identified. It was evidently the body of a digger, probably a man past middle age, as his teeth were greatly decayed. It was that of a person about five feet ten inches high. In the pockets were found one sovereign and gold dust to the value of £■!> 2s Gd tied up in a small bag, a wooden match box, and a pipe. It is supposed that the deceased had been prospecting in the Grey, and been drowned. Ho had been some considerable time in the water, for the flax with which his boots wore laced was quite white from the action of the water. The body was buried by the police. LATEST EROM TIIE IIOKITIKA. OVER 10,000 OUNCES SENT TO DXTNEDIJT BY THE OMEO. The Colonist of the 6th inst., contains the following latest intelligence from the West Coast Gold Fields. It says : — Tho s.s. Wallaby arrived at Nelson from the Hokitika on Sunday morning, having called in at the Buller on her way up. She brought only 500 ounces of gold, although there was a very large, amount in the hands of the bankers. But gold in great quantities is only shipped when the steamer sails from Hokitika direct for the port of consignment ; and the delay and increased possibility of danger through entering the Buller, prevented shipment by this trip of the Wallaby. A gentleman who arrived in tho Wallaby informs us that the a.s. Omeo, which was to leave Hokitika an hour after the departure of our local steamer, was to take between 10,000 and 11,000 ounces to Olago, going South about. Both vessels left on Friday evening, but wo shall have full particulars as to the quantity when the Maid of tho Yarra arrives. Tho same informant says, that from all appearance, tho Hokitika and the district along the coast will be found to prove the richest gold-field New Zealand has ever produced. Below we copy further reports of successful prospecting to the Southward of the present principal township of the West Coast ; and according to the advices we receive from the Five Mile Junction up the Hokitika, the diggings there continue still to improve the further they are prospeeled, and are attracting a largo and increasing population. THE GOLD COUNTRY SOTTTII OF HOKITIKA. THE WANGANUI, IIOKARITA, AND SOUTHWARD. The following communication is from Mr IT. Or. Hankin, of J Fokitika, who has just visited these districts to which we alluded in our last. Tho letter is addressed to tho West Coast Times } from which we copy it : — 1 have just returned from a trip to tho Southward of Hokitika, and as any matter bearing upon tho mining interest, invariably receives the support of your journal, I feel it a duty to submit any information that may benefit tho mining community through that medium. My travels extended as far as Iho Waikukupuka Creek (distant, 1 believe, some seventy miles south of this town), in which I obtained a very fair prospect, but was prevented from thoroughly testing the locality from want of provisions and the wet weather combined. It is needless to particularise anything bearing upon the general features of the country on this side of tho Wanganui l\iver, it having, [ believe, been subject to a very close examination by the miners in the vicinify. 1 will, therefore, begin from that river ; a.ul in passing, mny mention thsif provisions can now be obtained (here at very reasonable price's, taking into consideration the cosl and trouble of packing — Hour being one .-hilling per 11)., and other stores in proporlion. 1 may nK> si. tie that Mr J. Murray, the enterprising storekeeper, has supplied a boat i'oi' crossing tile hut — a jrreai. boon to travellers. The river,-! appear to be from six lo ten miles, iipnvl, none of I hem very large, with the execep- ■ lion of the Hokariln (the (ifth river south of the Wiingiinui), Avhieh hiis a very good entrance and good shelter on iho inside, wilh from 8 io 10 feet of \v:iler at high tide. It would be a good position for ;i store, being distant, about o0 miles from the Wanganui. .Krom that point, the country changes, and anilines nil I ho gold-bearing features of (he Waknlip district, (i c, slale wash, and an abundance of quart/.), a true index of the exist- j once of gold in or about tho vicinity. Gold was obtained by a puvfy of three in tho Waikukupa

Creek, during my stay, equivalent to £1 per diem ; and I have no hesitation in stating that | much hotter prospects could be obtained were men ' in a position to devote more time to prospecting the neighborhood, but the absence of provisions retards the developement of (in vaj opinion) a very rich and extensive gold-field. We subjoin the following extracts from the West Coast Times of the 31st u.lt. : — IT. M. CUSTOMS. The Customs duty collected on imports at the Port of Hokitikii from the 13th to the 27th inst., amounts to £1418 Is 3d. The total West Coast gold on which duty has been paid at this port since March 21 — or ten weeks — is 38,741- ozs., giving a duty of £1-81-3. Besides which, since January Ist, more than 8000 ozs. have paid duty at Nelson — -giving a total yield of not leas than 4(>,714 ozs. in the first five* months of 1865, during half of which period the number of diggers was not above 3000. EVADIXa THE LAW. A parcel of 12J ounces of gold was lately seized upon a person named Antill, on board of the Miskin, just leaving port. As he pleaded ignorance of the law, and stated his intention to piy the duty at Nelson, the strict letter of the law was not carried out, which subjects the offender to fine and forfeiture ; but lie was allowed to retain his property on payment of the export duty. It cannot be too widely known that the law does not allow gold to be taken from the port under any circumstances unless the same is declared and duty paid. Any infraction of this rule will entail the inevitable consequence of forfeiture, and a heavy fine to boot. Progress of Hokitika Township. — The West Coast Times of 31st May has the following : — " The town of Hokitika assumes dailylarger proportions, and while a month ago it was limited almost to a single street, now it has developed into a dozen, and there are signs of its increasing still .further. The influx of business people and progress of building have not occupied a fiftieth part of the available allotments ; and yet, with all this addition of building ground, the difficulty of finding a site is as great as ever. New comers, or merchants desirous of erecting larger premises or forming a branch house, look in vain for a vacant space on which they may commence operations : the word ' Eegistered' stares them in the face at every turn, and if they require ground they must pay for it, for it is all taken up. That this is a result merely of a demand for land is out of the question, for few care about entering into great expense till the Hokitika gold-fields are more developed ; but the true reason is the ' fatal facility' with winch land can be held for an indefinite time at a merely nominal rate. A man has a business license : ho takes a section, puts up a tent, and lives in it, thus holding that allotment. He then takes another and gets it registered, on the same license, and watches liis opportunity to sell one or both. Others take half a dozen sections on as many licenses, and get them registered as long as they please, or till they can see an opportunity to sell them. The rule which limits registration to twenty days is a mere dead letter here, for we know of several sections that have been registered for a couple of months, and in all probability will continue so for the same period longer. No questions appear to bo asked if the necessary fee be paid ; and thus while some half a dozen cormorants hold the majority of the best business sites in the town, the bona fide improver — the man who would build if he could get a tolerablo site — is debarred from obtaining his right unless he chose to buy at an exorbitant, or at all events, a high price from monopolising harpies. If Mr Sale would insist upon building being commenced and continued within the twenty days, at farthest, and decline to register for a longer time, it would soon put matters on a levol ; but while the present system of favoritism and partiality — we use the words advisedly — continues, so long the abuse wo complain of will exists, and the town present the appearance of a piece of land in a state of mild eruption — just one building here— another a mile off, and the rest a more waste, with the exception of such evidences of civilization as the boards bearing the word ' registered' present, glaring from nine-tenths of the sections in Hokitika. Those who may feel inclined to doubt the correctness of our remarks, or who censure our warmth on the subject, may amuse themselves with taking a turn round the quay, Weld-street, Sewell-street. Ktzherbert-streefc and others, and try to find an allotment above water that is not registered or ' occupied,' and compare them with the number of buildings erected, in course of erection, or of which signs exist that they'ever will be erected. Then let them fancy to themselves the injury likely to accrue to the town by such a pettifogging system of landjobbing or swindling — for it is the same tiling ; and ask themselves should not that man deserve the thanks of the community, through whose culpability such system is practised?" THE NEW BUSH AT HOKITIKA. From the same paper we learn that the new diggings, about five miles up the Hokitika river, are turning out remarkably well, and were giving employment to nearly two thousand diggers.