Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Saturday 17 August 1867, page 5


ROCKHAMPTON.

THE GOLDFIELDS.

FROM our files of Rockhampton papers to the 17th August we abridge the following items of news respecting the gold-fields in the neighborhood of Rockhampton :

Mining matters at the Crocodile ore, says the Bulletin, assuming a better appearance with the " spell of fine weather with which the diggers have of late been favored. The holders of claims on the creek are commencing work, and with a continuance of fine wcathorhavo sanguine hopes of doing something worth the while of their labor. A few left for the Dee Rush, but it appears to have created very little interest among the miners at the Crocodile. Some of those that left for the Dee returned, and do not give a satisfactory account of their travels. No gold from the Doo has as yet been purchased by the gold buyers at the Crocodile. A parcel of gold, weighing 140 ounces, was brought in yesterday from the Rosewood diggings, by Mr. Joseph Pattison. Of this lot there were fifty ounces of nuggets, one weighing twenty-two ounces, and fourteen, one cloves, and one nine ounces. The nuggets were all got within the space of two days. The water has gone down considerably.

A letter received in town from the Raglan diggings, says the Bulletin, states that two men, for three weeks' work, turned out gold to the value of £114, which sum was paid to them there by a storekeeper. The diggers, it adds,

have plenty of gold in hand, but can find no J buyers, there being only a few storekeepers on the ground. Several new gullies have been opened, and diggers of experience have great confidence that this field will prove as rich as any yet discovered in this district. Some diggers who had no funds, and could not therefore afford to wait and give the ground a fair trial, have left for Rosewood. There are about

300 diggers on the ground, and perfectly satisfied

with their earnings.

The late rush to Herbert's Creek has turned out badly (says the Argus), and most deserters have returned to Morinish and Rosewood. Fresh discoveries of reefs continue to be made at Morinish, some of which are rich. However, it is the general impression that all yet discovered are leaders, and that the main roof is still to be found. The holders of such ground as the Alliance and Kennedy's are perfectly content with their lot and bide their time The Rosewood seems to be paved with nugg

Last week a party of men went to work in the bed of the creek, and took out 150 ozs. of pure gold. The late rains had swelled the creek,

and the man waited till the water drained off, and then went in and won. The creek runs for miles, and may be equally auriferous for all that can be said to the contrary. Parties are now busy cutting races, and seem satisfied of dropping on it. With the exception of racecutting, very little work save fossicking is attempted. The people are doing nothing but nugget-hunting. We yesterday BOW three very fine specimens, weighing 83, 14, and 15 ounces each of virgin pressure as the Pactolus. The people keep flying about, unsettled by the general richness of the diggings. They won't set in to work, unless for a pile. Prospects, unless something heavy, have no charms for them. The consequence is that we hear of a succession

of rushes to the Doe and elsewhere We ] can only attribute the apparent unattractiveness of our diggings to the impecuniosity with which the people south are afflicted, or to the opposite cause, their affluence, and that the working classes are sufficiently well off to remain satisfied with their position. If so, then let the upper classes come ; God knows they are poor enough, if we are to. judge by the amount of engineering it takes to tunnel a way into their pockets. We could do very comfortably with a few thousand diggers, provided they came by monthly instalments of 500 ; but we deprecate a rush. There is plenty of ground, and good ground too. Quite enough for each baton as it arrives to take up and work profitably. The Southern miners should meet and appoint delegates to come and test the diggings, which would be the surest way to avoid disappointment. What we fear is that a very heavy

find, of some monster nugget, a likely contin- ' money, will create a rush to an extent we are not prepared to meet To our knowledge, nug-gets weighing from 2 ozs. to 38 ozs., and plenty of them, the produce of Rosewood and Morinish,

are in the possession of the Sydney banks, and should be publicly exhibited.