106

COLONIES ANGLAISES—NOUVELLE-GALLES DU SUD.

Class I.

Mining andMetals.

Rose Hill.

\. Washing stuff: — yellow slate; quartz; sandstone; andgrit cemented by gold.

2. Ditto, ditto :—Pebbles of coarse sandstone, cemented

by hydrate of iron ; small shingle and pebbles hold-ing water-worn gold.

Tiie Tambarooka Gold Field.

The following, with the specimens illustrating theseDiggings, is furnished by A. D. Broughton, Esq., GoldCommissioner :—

The Gold-bearing district of Tarifbaroora has the Mac-quarie River on its west side, the Turon on its south, andthe Pyramul Creek on its North, the two latter beingtributaries of the Macquarie. The district is an elevatedplateau, made up of spurs and gullies, branching off fromone of the westerly spurs of the great dividing range of thecolony. The valleys of the three rivers named above, areat least 1000 feet below the township of Tambaroora. Theflanks of the ranges are very steep ; and the passes, ordescents from the table land into the valleys, are mostlypracticable only for foot and horse traffic.

The rocks of the district are mostly clay-slate, in verticalor nearly vertical strata, intersected by veins of quartz.Bald Hill, the highest point of the district, is formed ofigneous rock; and there is a bold outcrop of granite nearit. The view from the summit of Bald Hill is very exten-sive, having a radius of upwards of thirty miles in everydirection ; but the scene is sombre, barren, and monotonous,presenting only ranges of grey-brown forest, deep valleyswithout visible water, scrubby trees devoid of cheerfultints, and long mountain ridges without picturesque out-lines.

The soil of the district is thin and poor ; the vegetationdry, harsh, and scrubby ; the climate, as might be expectedfrom the elevation, severe in winter, but mild in summer.Fearful storms of wind, rain, and hail, are of not infre-quent occurrence in the summer season, sweeping away inthe space of a few minutes, the results of many weeks’work, and rendering the operation of the gold-digger ex-pensive and uncertain. The Commissioner gives it as hisopinion, that immense quantities of gold would be obtained,if the beds of the Macquarie and Lower Turon could beworked for one or two summers continuously.

“Western District generally.

In addition to the foregoing collections, which illustratethe more important of the Western Gold Fields, there isexhibited a variety of interesting specimens from otherdiggings of the same district. Among these may be men-tioned the collections from Burrendong, Mookerawa, andOphir, furnished by J. Buchanan, Esq., Gold Commissioner.Burrendong is on the east side of the Macquarie River, nearthe junction of the Cudgegong. Mookerawa Creek is atributary of the Macquarie, about six miles from Burren-dong: it has proved a rich gold-field. Ophir is situated atthe junction of the Lewis Ponds and Summerhill Creeks.It is interesting as being the place where Mr. Hargravesmade his first discovery of gold on February 12th, 1851. Itis at present very little resorted to by diggers.

Charles H. Green, Esq., Chief Gold Commissioner for theWestern District, has supplied (along with a Geologicalcollection) specimens of gold from Brown’s Creek, abouttwenty-two miles south of Bathurst; and from Caleula Creek,a northerly fork of Brown’s Creek. The Commissionerstates, that although few miners are at work on these creeksat present, yet, from the yield obtained, and the extent ofapparently auriferous ground, these localities, when morefairly tested, will afford profitable employment to a largapopulation.

The Louisa Creek and “ Great Nugget Vein ” (both onthe Meroo), are represented by many very beautiful massesof gold and quartz. Some of these are contributed byMr. Spence on the part of the Colonial Gold Company.The Turon Golden ltidge Quartz-Crushing Company havesent, through Mr. G. A. Lloyd, a block of auriferous quartz,weighing nearly one hundredweight; and the WentworthGold Company have contributed five specimens of auri-ferous ironstone, through Messrs. Ferris and Arkins.

Southern and Northern Districts.

The diggings of the Southern District are represented byspecimens of gold and strata from Major’s Creek, and Bell's

Paddock, transmitted by W. Essington King, Esq. Thespecimen of washing stuff from Major’s Creek, marked C 2,is very rich ; a bucketful of it having produced ten ouncesof gold.

The South-Western Gold Field is represented by a col-lection from Adelong Creek, furnished by Charles Lock-hart, Esq. Four specimens, taken from different points ofthe Creek, show an interesting gradation from large roughmasses of gold, near the source of the Creek, to small andwaterwom fragments farther down. The specimen No. 1,was obtained five miles below the source of the Creek, andabout eight feet from the surface of the ground. The Com-missioner states tiiat there the average gains are 4/. a dayper man. No. 2 is from a place three miles below No. 1,and about six feet from the surface : average gains 3/.daily per man. No. 3 was obtained three miles below No. 2,and about eight feet from the surface : average gains about30s. daily per man. No. 4 was procured from a party atwork fourteen miles below No. 3, and twenty-five milesfrom the source of the (’reck. This gold was found on thesurface of a hill sloping gently to the Creek, about fortyfeet above the level of the water: average daily gainsabout 25s. per man.

The diggings of the Northern Districts are fully repre-sented by a collection of gold and strata from the HangingRock, furnished by C. McArthur King, Esq. ; and a similarcollection from Bingern, by Richard Bligh, Esq. The lattercollection has been examined and tabulated by the Rev. W.B. Clarke, as on the following page. There is also a speci-men of gold from the Rocky River, but its exact historyhas not been supplied.

In regard to the number of licenses issued on the TuronMr. Johnson remarks that many individuals take out asmany as four, or even more, in order to cover ground. Heestimates the number of working-men in his district, at 700during October, but states that they have since largelyincreased.

The total number of licenses issued in the Western Dis-trict during October, was, according to Mr. Green, theChief Commissioner, 2,770. The whole quantity of goldconveyed by escort to Sydney during the same time, ac-cording to Treasury returns, was 5,868 ounces; Mr, Greenestimates that at least 4,000 ounces had been sent by pri-vate hand, lie has also supplied the following comparativestatejnent of the number of licenses issued for ten monthsof three consecutive years :—

Years.

1852

1853

1854

Licenses issued from January)to October inclusive . . j

22,705

21,468

26,279

In 1852, and to October in 1853, all residents on a gold-field paid the license; since October 1853, only actualdiggers have been required to pay the fee. Licenses haveto be renewed monthly. Mr. Green estimates the totalpopulation of the Western Gold Fields at from eight to ninethousand.

Diamonds have frequently been reported as occurring onthe Gold Fields; but, on examination, they have generallyturned out to be aluminous minerals, probably the u Dia-mond Spar ” of Werner. They are of groat hardness, andossessed of considerable lustre. In the present collection,owever, there is an interesting specimen contributed byMr. A. F. Tompson, Wellington, which appears to be ntrue diamond, ft was found by Mr. Tompson in the bed ofthe Macquarie nt Burrendong, in a conglomerate resemblingthe specimen marked F. No. 2,in Mr. Buchanan’s collection.It is apparently a dodecahedron, with curved rhomboidalfaces ; of a pale straw colour, and great lustre. It weighsabout three-fourths of a grain.”'

Gold exported.

The quantity of gold exported from the colony of NewSouth Wales during the last twelve months (according to areturn obligingly furnished l>y Licut.-Col. Gibbcs, M l’.,collector of customs), has been 233,547 ounces, of which theestimated value at 3/. 15s. per ounce, is 875,801/.

* The New South Wales collection contains n second diamond foundin the same locality, on the estate of the exhibitors, “ The Great NuggetVein Company.’’