Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 - 1893), Wednesday 28 May 1851, page 4


Sydney News.

THE GOLD FIELD.

The Sydney papers continue to give a great quantity of news from the gold diggings, and information respecting them. We give below condensed and selected extracts from these papers, comprising we believe all the informa-

tion of value and interest:—

LICENSES TO DIG AND SEARCH FOR GOLD.

(From a Supplement to Friday's Government Gazette.)

Colonial Secretary's Office,

Sydney, 23rd May, 1851.

With reference to the proclamation issued on the 22nd May, instant, declaring the rights of the crown in respect to gold found in its natural place of deposit within the territory of New South Wales, his Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has been pleased to establish the following provisional regulations, under which licenses may be obtained to dig, search for, and remove the

same:

1. From and after the first day of June next, no person will be permitted to dig, search for, or remove gold on or from any land, whether public or private, without first taking out and paying for a license in the form annexed.

2. For the present, and pending further proof of the extent of the gold field, the license fee has been fixed at one pound ten shillings per month, to be paid in advance ; but it is to be understood that the rate is subject to futtre

adjustment, as circumstances may render ex-pedient.

3. The licenses can he obtained on the spot, from the Commissioner, who has been appointed by his Excellency the Governor to carry these regulations into effect, and who is authorised to receive the fee payable thereon.

4. No person will be eligible to obtain a license, or the renewal of a license, unless he shall produce a certificate of discharge from his last service, or prove to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that he is not a person im-properly absent from hired service.

5. Rules adjusting the extent and position of land to be covered by each license, and for the prevention of confusion, and the interference of one licensee with another, will be the subject of early regulations.

6. With reference to lands alienated by the crown in fee simple, the Commissioner will not be authorised for the present to issue licenses under these regulations to any person but the proprietors, or persons authorised by them in writing to apply for the same.

FORM REFERRED TO.-GOLD LICENSE.

No. 1851.

The bearer having paid to me the sum of one pound ten shillings on account of the territorial revenue, I hereby license him to dig, search for, and remove gold, on and from any such crown land within the county of Bathurst a» I shall assign to him for that pur-pose, during the month of 185 .

This license must be produced whenever de-manded by me, or any other person acting under the authority of the government.

(Signed) A. B., Commissioner.

(From tile Herald, May 23.)

The intelligence which was received in Syd- ney yesterday must have convinced the most sceptical that gold does exist in considerable quantities in the vicinity of the Summer Hill Creek, about one hundred and fifty miles from Sydney, and although hundreds of persons were not obtaining more than ordinary wages, many were getting above an ounce a day, which is worth about £3.

A letter from Mr. Stutchbury, the govern-ment geologist, was received yesterday; it is merely a preliminary report, but it is fully con-firmatory of Mr. Hargraves's statements as to the presence of gold in the soil, and its being obtainable by those who are able to bear fatigue and hardship, and can use picks and shovels. On the receipt of this report the government issued the proclamation which appeared in Thursday's Government Gazette. It is stated that large quantities of gold are now in Bathurst waiting for safe conveyance to Sydney. An extra mail from Bathurst to Orange (the nearest post town to the diggings) has been ordered, and we hope the government will en-deavour to have a mail to Bathurst every day, instead of alternate days, as at present.

We need hardly say that the greatest excite-ment prevails among all classes in Sydney, and many persons are going to dig for gold who are yvholly unfit for such work; men who would hesitate to walk the length of George-street in a shower of rain are going, at the beginning of winter, to a district where the climate is almost English, and where they will not be able to get -shelter in even the humblest hut. AVhat can be .the result of such reckless conduct but that

which has happened in California-ruin, misery, disease, death.

Mems. about the Gold.-Mr. Alderman

Fisher, who went to the gold district with an eye to their mercantile aspect, a few days ago, ^returned yesterday, bringing yvith bim a piece of gold weighing nearly two ounces, w hich he had the good luck to find while doing a little amateur digging. Three yonng men are said to ha' e .been out from Bathurst onlythieo days, when they returned with seventeen ounces "of gold, .which they sold to Mr. Macbatti for £55 It is said that there is a large quantity of gold at the diggings, which the holders are afraid to send to Sydney for fear of robberies. It is understood that the government will be prepared with pro-per escorts in the course of next week. Several of the Sydney jewellers received small quantities »of gold by post jesterday ; they pronounce it to he good gold and very pure. The number of persons actually digging on Thursday last is .variously reported at from four to seven hunhred; probably about midway between these mumbers would be correct. They are said to be remarkably orderly. They are all at work yvithin a space of a couple of miles. Both the magistrates residing at the nearest place where sessions can be held are said to be gone to the diggings. Our correspondents from Bathurst, Orange, and Carcoar, all tell us something about the gold, and all agree as to the extravagant Îrices at which provisions are charged. We

believe that many shepherds in the neighbour-hood employ themselves in searching for gold while their flocks are feeding. Various reports about gold having been found in the immediate neighbourhood of Sydney are, so far as we can ascertain, unfounded. Above thirty persons, who were proceeding to California in the Johnstone, have forfeited their passage money and come on shore, preferring the Bathurst to the Califor-nia diggings.

News from the Diggings.-The following letter from a person well known to many in Syd-ney has been handed to us for publication, and is worthy of a careful perusal :-" Bookanan, 19th May. Dear Sir-I have yours of 16th inst. It is a had job that flour especially is not to be .bought ; bat it is folly too on the part of the holders, for we cannot have more people on account of the gold than are in the Australian colonies already for some time to come, and if people come from South Australia, or Van Diemen's Land, or elsewhere, there will be more flour to spare at these places. Prices will be awful at the diggings, and I doubt not that many will come from Sydney to be sadly disap-pointed, if not starved to boot. I dare say we must keep a. sharp look-out hereabouts for some whom you can well afford to spare from Sydney. If anybody should be considerate enough to spare a trifle of flour, be pleased to send me half a ton and a bag of good ricé at any rate. We shall soon run short Yon may make it as public as you can in Sydney, that none but robust, hard-working men can do any good at the gold field.

The exposure to wet in the day, with winter ap-proaching, and no huts or comforts of any sort, will break the constitution of all but iron frames, besides which the work requires skill. Many have tried and left the diggings sick enough. The weather is rather wet-beautiful for vegeta-tion, but not for camping out at night with a hungry stomach. I have sent two loads of ore only since last Monday, and am daily^ looking for the coming of more drays. My miners are at 5resent at the gold. One of them told me to

ay that 10s. per day each was what he thought they earned. It will cost nearly half of that to live there, to say nothing of hinderance from floods, &c.-I remain, dear sir, yours truly, J.

Glasson."

(From the Herald's Bathurst Correspondent.)

The Diggings.-Various parties have come from the gold field yesterday and to-day (Mon-day and Tuesday) with parcels of gold, varying in weight from four ounces to seventeen and a

half ounces. Still it must he remembered that there have been from three to six persons in each of these parties, consequently the indivi-dual gain cannot be considerable. I hear that many persons have already suffered much from cold and hunger, having taken yvith them only two or three days' rations, and not being pro-vided with any shelter from the inclemency of the weather. The inspector of police and the commissioner of crown lands, accompanied by the chief constable, and constable M'Clure, pro-ceeded to the spot on Tuesday, with the inten-tion, I understand, of ordering the parties on the ground to leave off digging until licenses are ootainod by them. The pay of the consta-bulary has been raised from two shillings and sixpence per diem to four and sixpence. I have made strict enquiry as to the lump of gold taken down by Mr. Austin, and I find it really was obtained at our diggings ; I could procure

affidavits to the fact.

(From the Empire, May 23.;

We have been favored by a gentleman, who returned from the Ophir mines yesterday, with the following outline of his excursion, which cannot fail in greatly interesting our readers :

"Left Sydney on Friday night by mail; arrived late on Saturday at Bathurst; hired horse and proceeded to Mrs. Lister's Inn, Guyong district, twenty-three miles from Ba-thurst ; fell in with Mr. Hargraves, the dis-coverer of the gold there, who kindly offered to ac-company nie at day-break to the diggings at the creek ; rode down about twenty miles, through Perrier's estate, along the foot of the Three Brother Ridges, to the bend in the creek called Ophir, where we found located down the creek, from 500 to 700 people, divided into parties from three to eight each, busy dry digging, also washing the earth from banks of creek ; in all instances procuring, by means of cradling and washing, more or less gold dust, many picking lumps of gold about one foot from the surface ; and on Mr. Hargraves questioning them as to their success, found some had been very suc-cessful, others obtaining only small quantities ; met with Mr. Piper, who had just opened a bed of soft slate ; stood watching him gather from crevices several small pieces of gold, and one piece weighing If ounce ; also two pieces about half an ounce each ; removed the dirt from the

large piece and took it as a specimen, which I now nave in my possession. Mr. Hawkins's party produced several pieces, varying in size from one-eighth of an ounce or thereabouts, to an ounce in yveight ; and the average of this day's work, from the quantities seen by myself and Mr. Hargraves, was fully half an ounce a man ; every minute fresh groups of diggers arriving and encamping, all anxious to know if Mr. Hargraves had been commissioned by the government to issue licenses, and expressing their willingness to take out licenses imme-diately, and the majority in favour of £1 per month per man ; everything very orderly, each party taking to their thirty feet. I also met with Mr. Stutchbury on the ground, who ex-pressed an opinion, that without loss of time a Deposit Bank should be opened on the diggings, to be protected, of course, at the expense of the diggers, or from the license fee, and when re-moved to be under a proper escort to Sydney ; he seemed perfectly satisfied at the orderly manner of the diggers, but was apprehensive of a scarcity of provisions. It is fully antici-pated that eight to ten mille ounces will be gathered by next Saturday. On our return to Guyong met dozens of parties proceeding to-wards the diggings ; lett Lister's ; went into Bathurst on Tuesday. A party of three, who had only been out a few days, just brought into Bathurst seventeen ounces, and sold the same for £51 ; excitement on the increase hourly, nearly every one leaving Bathurst for the ground."

Several letters received also by yesterday's mail from respectable persons on the favoured spot have been obligingly placed at our dis-posal, from which we make the extract under-neath.

"Bathurst, 20th May, 1851.

" My Dear S******.-I have just returned from the diggings. I assure you the reports are not at all exaggerated. I saw parties (not one but many) dig an ounce of gold in a few ñours. I worked an hour with only a tin basin, washing in the stream, and I dug 13s. yvorth, at £3 per ounce. Those who have the proper apparatus are making from £3 to £4 per day. 1 spent a most pleasant day with Mr. Stutchbury the geologist. He scarcely knows what to think, but he says that from the formation of the country it will be found in hundreds of places even more abundantly than it is where they are working."

(From the Empire, May 24J

Several specimens of gold have been brought into Sydney during the last day or two. We saw two yesterday. The first was a specimen in the possession of Mr. Stewart of the Woolpack Inn. It is scarcely half an ounce in weight. The precise locality where it was found is pur-posely kept a secret, but we were given to understand that it is considerably to the westyvard of the Ophir diggings.

The second specimen which we saw was re-ceived by Mr. Harpur, of Bligh-street, who in-forms us that it was discovered about five miles this side of Bathurst-he supposes in a blind creek which is known to intersect the plains in the vicinity of Bathurst. The discoverer of this auriferous deposit states that it obtains in great abundance in the same locality.

We understand several appointments are in contemplation in connexion with that of Mr. Hardy, as Gold Commissioner. Mr. Hardy is to receive £600 a-year, and to be assisted by several sub-commissioners at various rates of pay

Migration to the diggings is still on the increase in Sydney. Go where you will, you will hear of persons in all grades of society either on the eve of departure or busily prepar-ing. A gentleman who has just arrived from the Nepean informs us that, while standing at an inn, a little the other side of Penrith, he counted no less than 90 men all armed to the teeth, and evidently bent for the diggings. Shortly after he met 15 drays in a train, all tolerably well supplied, and no doubt on the same mission. He also reports having passed two companies of mounted police in the course of his journey.

We copy a letter from a very respectable gen-tleman entire, merely omitting the name :

" Bathurst, May 21, Í851.

"Dear ****-I returned from the diggings just in time to receive your letter by last night's post.

"I am convinced from what I saw, that there is plenty of gold there, and that the surrounding country abounds with it. Some of the diggers have been very snccessful, and found large lumps;

many also have been unsuccessful, and found only small particles of dust. I saw some who had not earned 5s. in the day, at washing and dig

ging, and others who had picked up £5 worth in a few hours. I washed a great quantity of earth the two days I stayed there, and the produce was about 20s. worth of gold in small pieces, having only a tin dish to wash the earth in.

" There is a great uncertainty about finiling it, and I discovered that where one person found a large piece, fifty were finding only small dust, and earning from 5s. to 20s. daily. I expect to be in Sydney shortly, and will give yok fuller particulars, and in the mean time I shall feel obliged for any information yon can Jjve me with reference to the price of goods in Syclney.

"Yours truly.

* * 4«««*»

Another letter received from an old wd in-fluential resident in the town of Bathurst, states in unqualified terms that £8000 worth of gold was brought in from the raines dnrin » ttls week. The following is an extract from a letter from Mr. Hargraves just received :

"Wellington Inn, Guyoig,

"22nd May, 1851.

"I accompanied Mr. Thacker to th» mines yesterday. He was very much amused yrith the sight of some hundreds of miners at work.

"There will beat least £10,000 steding of the precious metal disembowelled by Stturday next. One piece weighing 1 lb. was talen out yesterday ; and a party of four took out thirty ounces the day before. The excitement of the people exceeds anything you can possibly con-

ceive."

The following is from a letter addressed to a merchant in Sydney.

«O'connell, May 21.

"You may believe all you hear about the gold. If I could leave home, I could earn from £10 to £20 in a week, or perhaps in one day, but if I go, all the men will do the same. I am putting in as much wheat as possible. Wheat will pay as well as gold, (wise and noble Englishman I say we.) ******

I intend to try the mountain about here, (namely, in the neighbourhood of his own homstead.) Gold has oeen fonnd within seven miles of Bathurst, and all through the mountains."

(From the People's Advocate, May 2i.)

Extract of a letter from Bathurst, written hy a gentleman on yvhose veracity we can place every dependence:-"Itis true that a mostextensive gold field has been discovered, and that an extraordinary abundance may be found at a place commencing at Swallow Creek, about 36 miles to the westward of this town. There are at pre-sent 1,300 persons at work ; every working man is obtaining gold, in value (at £3 5s. per oz.) to the amount of, on an average, thirty shillings

tier diem. Maior Wentworth arrived from Syd

ney in eight hours, he is now off to our " NewCalifornia," to read some proclamation or other, but it is useless for the government to attempt to crush this movement ; they cannot control, they must be content to direct it. Provisions are awfully, enormously high in this town, and hundreds of persons ¿"re daily, hourly, arriving from all parts, on their way to the diggings. Shepherds and others are absconding from their hired service in every direction. Several persons have returned from the diggings, to seil their gold and to replenish their stock of rations and materials, &c, &e., with which they speed off again to rock the cradle of the new bom gold. The gold field extends over 150 miles ; the dig-gings are scattered over 12 miles ; it is surpris-ing that the higher they ascend the hills the gold is more abundant, and to be found in larger and longer pieces.-Bathurst, May 20,1851."

The Gold Districts.-A minute survey of the gold districts is to be immediately made. Sir Thomas Mitchell and assistants leave town

on Monday for the purpose of performing that duty.-Herald, May 24.

Gold in Argyle.-We have this moment heard of the arrival in town of a gentleman who resides only a few miles from Goulburn, who has brought in a specimen of gild, which he dis-covered in the locality of Richlands, we believe. The specimen is evidently very rich. It is mixed with quartz, and the precious metal has evidently undergone the action of fire. Rich-lands is situate at the foot of the same range of hills as those described as containing the rich deposits near Wellington. Should further dis-coveries be made before the dispatch of our regular weekly budget of news, we will write you.- Goulburn Correspondent of Empire, May 24.

Hints to Gold Hunters.-Under this title, a pamphlet, by Mr. S. Rutter, has been pub-lished in Sydney, containing observations on probable gold localities in this colony, with di-

rections for the construction and use of the machines used in washing gold. The writer, who does not profess to be a scientific geologist, offers the result of considerable experience at California, and his brochure will be read with both interest and profit by those who meditate a trip to our own gold diggings. He assumes, in setting out, that the geological constants of

all countries are the same, and, therefore, that gold being usually found in California, in con-junction with certain minerals and in-certain situations, it will, in all probability, be found similarly circumstanced in the Bathurst district. He states that, in California, whenever he saw or heard of gold in any great quantity, it was either in the immediate neighbourhood of very marked traces of volcanic action, often in the detritus at the foot of extinct craters, or in ter-races formed on their sides, or in the plains formed between several volcanic hills, or on the banks of streams flowing from hills of the same formation Again, quartz was universally reckoned an indication of gold, and was found in rough masses-large and small-on the surface, and in smooth pebbles and large boulders under-neath ; the presence of gold being generally

more largely ascertained when trap rock was

found cropping up among the quartz. In some districts quartz crushing machines were exten-sively used. A third indication was gneiss, an unstratified soft rock, of a dirty yellowish green, which, when well wetted, was soft enough to be cut through with a spade. This rock, the writer describes as being near the upper part, full of mica, in scales and particles, having the appearance of fine gold, and only to be detected by the wash-pan. Fourthly, emery was always found where gold was present. Mr. Rutter's practical directions for washing the earth, and

his description of implements used, are very ex-plicit, and ought to be consulted by those who are proceeding to Bathurst without the least

idea of the arduous work before them. His de-

scription also of the more complicated quicksil-ver machine is very good ; and to those who are bent upon carrying out operations in a scientific and economical manner, this important branch of the subject cannot fail to be useful. At the present moment the publication of this little

treatise is most welcome. It is written in a

fair and candid spirit ; contains no exaggeration, and whilst the writer speaks in sanguine terms in regard to the golden prospects of the colony, he shows, in unmistakeable terms, that only by hard and constant labour, energy, skill, fore-sight and patience, can any man expect to suc-ceed as a gold hunter. We cordially recom-

mend Mr. Rutter's little book to all those who

are interested in the attractive subjects of which it so lucidly treats.-S. M. Herald.