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Um MERCURA.

m

TUESDAY, DEO. 20th, 1859.

F J N U A L.

Sa- many wild ßrsä contradictory rumours being in circulation relative to th« proceedings at tb» diggings and the

future prospects of Fingal v?e determined to visit the diggings ourselves ' and, by a personal inspection, to ascertain, as cor- rectly as we possibly could, not only their present state but, also, what pro- babilities they afforded of hereafter justifying our expectations with regard to them. This we hare done ; and our readers may rest assured that what we have now to say concerning them is founded upon what we ourselves saw. .

There are at the present time about sixty men engaged on the alluvial dig- gings. The principal part if not the whole of these arc prosecuting their search in Major's Gully, at Mangana, and in other gullies in that vicinity. Most of them have been earning a liveli- hood notwithstanding that their search has been merely of that cursory nature which has hitherto brought these diggings into bad repute with the public. Any one at all acquainted with gold digging visiting Fingal would be at once forced to acknow- ledge that in no single instance has the bottom been reached. And this is easily accounted for. Most of the men who have hitherto proceeded there have been in needy circumstances not having had the means, even if they had the inclination, to do more than " fossick" about the sur- face. This mode of working has been our bane. "We have looked upon the

amount thus obtained as the actual

wealth of .Fingal instead of being, as in reality it is, au index by which the larger deposits might be discovered. The whole of the gold as yet obtained has been sur- face gold. Men by scratching here and there have managed to collect sufficient to meettheir immediate demands, and with this they have been satisfied. They have ni.t the wherewithal to procure the machinery, simple as it is, necessary for carrying a hole down to its bottom ; and so tiny continue their search in the same unsatis- factory way or abandon tho pursuit altogether on the unjustifiable plea that the gold fields aro not worth working. We have stated before, and we repeat the remark, that up to the present moment the wealth of Fingal remains unknown. No effectual attempt has yet been made to ascertain that wealth, and it is a mon- strous injustice to the Colony therefore to condemn this gold field as unprofitable until this has been accomplished. We do not say that large deposits will be found there ; but it would be equally unjust, at present, to say thatlargedepositswillnot be found. We purchased, on Friday last, a nugget from a digger named John Con- nell which, with several other smaller nuggets, he dug from a hole in Major's Gully in the presence of ourselves, Constable Saltjiarsii, and several others. The nugget weighs two penny- weights sixteen grains, and may be seen at this office. A party, we are happy to say, has just arrived on the diggings under the management of Mr. Butcher. This party* iutend to work in Major's gully with a long-tom. Should it be found necessary steam machinery will be employed in order to thoroughly test its auiiferous wealth. 'Hie party is a wealthy one and we look, therefore, with some interest for the result of their enquiries.

The stupendous woiks of the Midland Company are proceeding rapidly towards completion. Nearly the whole of their new and powerful machinery has been erected. The engines were so far advanced on Saturday last that steam was got up to test them. There are two engines of twenty-five horse power each ; and w ith these two hundred and fifty tons of quartz can be crushed in a week. There are also three batten

each with twelve stampers of King and Howland's Patent, attached to the machine and six amalgamators, the latter having been invented by Mr. Mauduit the zealous and indefatigable Manager of the Company. To supply the whole of this magnificent machinery with water a shoot, or mill-race, has been constructed with a fall of only thirty-five inches which will bring tho water to the works from Hen Lomond Creek-a distance of about one mile. The shoot is two feet

wide by nine inches deep. This is, of itself, a great undertaking, and must have cost the Company a considerable sura of monoy. From the reef to the works an excellent tram way has been laid down which will greatly facilitate the convey- ance of the quartz to the machine. There are nine levels in the reef now be:

worked all of them connected with each other ; and from these levels the quartz is precipitated down a substantial shoot into the tramway carriages below. The Manager has now about three hundred tons of quartz ready to be crushed. The machinery will probably be completed by about the end of the current month and operations will be commenced with guat ceremony early in January.

Since we returned to town we have been informed, on reliable authority, that His Excellency the Governor has consented to be present on this auspicious occasion. The result obtained from this new machi- nery will now be soon made kuown. Mr. Mauduit, who has justified us in treating his opinion with considerable respect, is sanguine as to that result. Whether, however, it turns out advantageously for the Memberi of the Company or not, no one will deny but that they have earned for themselves by their energy «wd eon.

ige not only a rich remuneration for the I b ¡apital aud labor they have invested bat * ,be gratitude and thanks of every well wisher of the colony.

"We also paid a visit to the Aguacal cienta Mines belonging to the Southern Tasmanian Quartz Crushing Company and inspected the works under the super- intendence of the Company's Metallurgist

-Dr. Otway. The face of the reef into which a drive of five fathoms has been put was opened whilst we were there, and gives indications of a highly

auriferous character. The drive is six feet four inches wide and ten feet

height. It is shielded with massive timbers and entirely roofed in so as to give every security to the men engaged in working it. The reef is about four feet four inches in depth. A substantial tramway of one hundred feet long has also been laid down. The testing machine which lias been substantially fixed at a distance of about sixty yards from the banks of the creek, has been damned, and a sluice, with small flood gates inge- niously contrived by which a never fail- ing supply of water is secured to the machine. A temporary covering has

been thrown over the latter and at the back of it a self-acting hopper, another ingenious contrivance of Dr. Otway's, keeps it constantly supplied with quartz. A drain has also been constructed by which the whole of the refuse water is

discharged into the creek below the dara. Dr. Otway is now engaged in crushing about tea tons of quartz from the crown of the reef the result of which he intends to forward to the Board of Directors of the Southern Tasmanian Company. He will then im mediately commence vigorous operations upon the promising íeef which he lias just opened. This reef is not only of enormous proportions, but it is declared by good and competent judges from the indications it gives of the presence of gold to be highly auriferous. Should this prediction, when tested by the machine, prove true, the Company, we presume, will not lose one moment in ob- taining similar machinery to that of the Midland Company in order to develop and

realize its wealth.

Wo were sorry to find that little or nothing has been done towards erecting the bridge over the Esk. The presence of a pile driving rpnaratus is the only indication at present of any intention of carrying out this much required work. We would also.call the attention of the government to two or three very danger- ous culverts on the road .between Avoca

and Fingal which, if not immediately re- paired, will lead to some serious accident. The residents in these districts are already heavily taxed nor can they afford to make these necessary repairs them- selves. Before long there will be a large amount of traffic along this other- wise admirable road, and we think the government will be acting wisely by affording every facility for quick travelling. People who have never visited the dig- gings may say whatever their ignorance of matters at Fingal may prompt them to say ; but nothing will shake our opinion that before long this pretty little Town- ship with its magnificent surrounding scenery will become one of the most im- portant in the Colony. Had our advice

been taken this would have been the case years ago.

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