The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-10-03 00:00:00

THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOLD FIELDS.

The tollowiug letter published in The Times imparts valu-
able information to intending emigrants to the South African
Gold Fields— . .

Sir,—Having just returned from a visit to the Lyden-
berg Goldfields, I think I can furnish a few particulars
that may be of interest to any who are thinking of
emigrating in this direction. As to the means of get.
ting to Pilgrim's Rest, which is the centre of the
Lydenberg alluvial diggings, one has a choice of four
routes—firstly, from Cape Town to the Diamond
Fields by the Inland Transport Companies' waggons,
fare £l6, and thence by similar conveyances to Pilgrims'
Rest, fare 1:20 10s. ; secondly, from port Elizabeth to
the Diamond Fields by Cobb's coaches, fare £lB, and
thence to Pilgrim's Rest, as in the previous case;
thirdly, by post cart from D'Urban to Pieter Maritzberg,
fare £l, and thence on by post cart again to Pilgrim's
Rest, fare, I think, £l6 10s. ; fourthly, from Delogoa
Bay to Pilgrim's Rest as bent you can. An endeavour
is now being made to run mule waggons over this
short route. At present it can, however, be merely re-
garded as an experiment. There is no doubt that the
journey from Delagoa Bay to the Goldfields can in
summer time be only attempted at great risk, on
account of the fatal Delagoa Bay fever. One disad-
vantage of the last two routes is that the coasting
traffic from Port Elizabeth up to D'Urban and Delagoa
Bay is necessarily irregular, on account of the bad
state of the harbours on this at times inaccessible
cosat.
The fare by steamer in first cabin from Cape Town
to D'Urban is £10; from Port Elizabeth to D'Urban,
I think £5. On the steamers food is, of course, in-
cluded, but travellers by the transport waggons or
post-cart, provide themselves with provisions en s oute.
I have just indicated the quickest and perhaps, in the
long run, the cheapest way of traversing the routes
above mentioned ; but, except in the depth of winter,
when the grass is destroyed by the combined influence
of the sun and of the severe frosts, one has the
opportunity of travelling by bullock waggon. These
conveyances take at least four times as long to ac
complish the distance as the vehicles I have mentioned,
and theytry one's patience accordingly. The Lydenberg
Goldfields are distant about 30 miles from the town
of Lydenberg, and the country is not unlike some ,
parts of the Scotch Highlands. The district is situated
at the north-east corner of the great South African
plateau. Here the edge of the plateau is broken up into
steep mountains, separated by narrow valleys, and in one
of these valleys Pilgrim's Rest is placed. I was told that ,
the camp at Pilgrim's Rest was still nearly 5,0001 t. ,
above the sea, although surrounded by mountains.
This elevation will partly account for the climate. In
winter this is delightful during the daytime, as the 1
sun's heat is moderate, and as a rule not a cloud is to
lie seen in the beautifully blue sky. As soon, however,
as the sun disappears behind the hills the heated soil
rapidly radiates its heat through the dry atmosphere,
and by morning the frost is intense, especially in the
1 valleys and hollows sheltered from warm currents of
1 air. To a population living in tents this cold at night
is rather unpleasant, but I think if one had a good
house as a residence this winter climate would ap-
proach perfection. As to the summer climate I
cannot speak from personal experience. I learnt from
those who had spent the last summer on the fields that
rain was very frequent, sometimes continuing for a
fortnight together. The heat is described RS unplea-
sant, on account of the amount of moisture. There
does not, however, appear to have been much sickness
prevalent in the camp during the last summer.
With respect to the food, I may say that good beef
and mutton are to he obtained at l'ilgrim's Rest at 6d.
a pound, while at Mac-a-mac very bad beef costs 7d
Bread as the dearest item among the necessaries of
life, brown bread, made of Boer-meal, or whole meal,
costing ln. 6d. a Alb. loaf, while a white loaf of the
same weight costs Is. The following is a list of the
prices of a few other articles :—Fine Australian
wheat flour, is. ; brown sugar, is; and salt butter
35. j.er pound respectively ; eggs, 4s. fid. a dozen ;
ale, is. a bottle; foreign brandy, Bs. a bottle; vege-
tables very scarce, with the exception of sweet potatoes.
Digging in alluvial deposits is going on at Pilgrim's
Rest Creek; at Mac-a-mac, six miles distant; at
Waterfall Creek, 12 mita diateat ; at Pesch Tree Creek.