The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1860-03-13 00:00:00

important, and, even if no more be made for some time,
will afford ample scope and occupation to a large
number of miners, who were previously in a state of
uncertainty as to where beat they might dispose of
themselves and their labour. And these discoveries are
not only important from the extent of the uew ground
thus opened up, but they give further indications are'
most unmistakable proofs that others must follow on
further explorations of the country. Thus one of
these new fields, on which upwards of 20,000 People
have already collected, and are earning 111010 money,
perhaps, than has been realised at any of the great
' rushes' of late years, is easily accessible, situate in au
open country, and was partly tried before, but with
little success. Here perseverance in the search has at
length opened up deposits of apparently almost bound-
lees extent and very tolerable richness, and such as
are eminently calculated to afford remunerative employ-
ment to the numbers of men driven off many of the
older fields by the want of water, and of ground also
suitable to the miners of limited means, lAmplough,
as the diggings of which we speak are now called, is in
the Avoca district, not many miles from where gold was
first found at the Pyrenees in 1851. The ground is
shallow and easily worked, the auriferous deposits being
reached at depths varying for the most part from 20 to
30 feet, but, like all the ground yet opened in that dis-
trict, it is patchy, and no clearly defined leads of gold
have yet been struck. The patches are, however,
pretty numerous, and no great distance apart, so that
although there are no superficial indications of their
position, the miners strike in without much hesitation,
especially as they so soon learn the value of their
claims. Good shallow diggings are • great boon to the
miner, and here he has them apparently of great extent.
The second new field, opened up about the same time, is
some distance to the north east-ward, and near Sandy
Creek, so famous for the yield of its reefs, and the pro-
duction of the heaviest cakes of amalgamated gold yet
in the colon. This tract of auriferous ground,
the Inglewood diggings, is in the midst of a dense
scrub, and little or nothing is known of its extent at
present. The nearest water, too, is five miles away, in
the Loddun, so that the difficulties in the way of
exploration are very great. Still, roads have been cut
through the scrub, several gullies have been proved to
be auriferous, quarts-reefs have been laid bare, and
much gold has been obtained from the picked wash-dirt
deemed worthy of being carted to the river. The absolute
want of water, even for drinking purposes, will prevent
the development of the Inglewood diggings until winter
comes round again; hut they are fully expected to turn
out exceedingly well, in regard to both the alluvial
ground and the quartz-reef. Of the third new field
little or nothing is known as yet, except from the dis-
closures made by the discoverer. According to his
account, it i.s situated among the dividing ranges from
which the Yaws, Gou'burn, and some of the tributaries
of the Ovens take their rise, and it extinds for a
distance of some 41) or 50 miles at least. So far le has
traced it by following the water-courses, but the country
is so densely timbered and impervious that the actual
extent of the auriferous formation will not be known
for years, even though a large population should be
attracted to the ranges. Gold was found by the
explorer in black sand, taken from the bed of every
creek which he tried, and the samples brought to town
yielded, on analyses, proportions of from Toz, to
upwards of 30Ib. of gold, and about an eighth of the
total weight of pure tin, to the ton. All the rivers
dewing from these ranges have been found at different
times to contain gold in the sands, so that this last dis-
covery only adds another to the many proofs already
existing, that the whole of the southernmost portion of
the Australian Alps is more or less auriferous.