The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-12-30 00:00:00

THE GOLD FIELDS

Vrom all quarters of Victoria the prospects of
the gold fields are most encouraging, although
from the combination of a variety of causes the
escort returns had fallen off.
The following is the weekly amount of gold sent by
escort during September, as compared with the corres-
ponding weeks in the year previous :-
1856. 1855.
oz. dwt. oz. dwt.
The week ending Sept. 76... 36,021 0 51,359 0
” 13... 55,254 0 47,553 0
ft If 20". 41,671 0 48,698 4
ff „ 27.. 40,483 0 49,126 17

Total ... ... 173,429 0 196,837 1

It will be observed there is a slight decrease on the
month, as compared with the same period of the previous
year. The average weekly receipts for the thirteen weeks
ending Sept. 27. is 44,805 oz., and for the thirteen weeks,
previous of the same year, 46,975 oz. ; or to take the
monthly average for that period, 145,616 uz and 187.900 oz
respectively. Or, taking the average •of the last fonr
weeks, we have 43,357 oz, and for the four weeks previous
of the same year, 47,257 oz ; so that whatever way we
view it, the month of September shows a decrease. The
total amount of escort returns for the present year, up to
date, as compared with the same period of 1855, shows,
however, a different result . _ _ _

Total to September 27... 1,941,391 oz 1,528,762 oz.
Thus there was a considerable balance in favour of the
year, though the monthly and quarterly returns were
decidedly against the Victorians.
Referring to these returns, the Melbourne papers
agree in stating that there is
No reason to be dissatisfied with the result ; however,
on the contrary, we have reason to congratulate our-
selves that matters are no worse, considering the adverse
circumstances we have been labouring under for some time.
The excitement about the gold discoveries in New South
Wales, that was mentioned in our last summary, and which
was diminishing our mining population at the rate of several
hundred per week, bad scarcely subsided, when a fresh
cause for excitement appeared, in the shape of new diggings
nearer home • and for one hundred that went to Sydney. one
thousand rushed off to Dunolly. This has been the most
gigantic rush we recollect of since the Ovens diggings
were opened, and throws far into the shade the more
recent rushes to Fiery Creek and Mount Blackwood
The population of Dunolly is now estimated at
between 30,000 and 40,000. There is no Government
escort from this place as yet, so that we can only guess at
the amount of gold forwarded by the amount of the escort
from Maryborougb, from which place Dunolly is distant
only 18 miles. And as that amount is still a mere trifle
compared with the immense numbers of people there, the
diggings cannot be considered very successful, and many
are leaving. The fact of our receipts from the diggings
still keeping so near the average under those circumtrances,
only proves the reliability of our resources. Our mining
population, estimated at 100,000, and 40,000 of these, or
nearly one half, have been perambulating the country, from
Melbourne to Sydney, and from Sydney to Dunolly, for the
last few weeks, all the time doing little or nothing in the
aggregate, and all the time our exert returns scarcely
affected, only shows to whom we must look for a steady
supply of the precious metal. One thing is evident,
—it is not the rush going part of the diggers that
help us much. Our supply must come from the
puddling machines, quartz miners, and those generally
engaged in operations that require the adoption of more
settled habits of life. But the chief obstacle to success on
the gold fields, and the immedia• e cause of the instability
of our mining population, is in the want of a system of
mining regulations suited to the times. The twelve feet
square claims, however suitable they might have been
when gold was more abundant, are now a great impedi-
ment to progress and en'erprise, compelling men to trudge
on in the old style, and causing needless waste of time and
labour. Oaily allow claims large enough to afford a
profitable investment to capital and labour,
and the yield of our gald fields will very soon be
doubled. One feature of the diggings which strikes a
European as peculiar is the number of Chinese located
there. Remarkable as this singular people are for their
plodding, industry, and perseverance, they are scarcely a
whit behind our own population in energy and enterprise
Tuey have entered largely into mining speculatims, and
invariably adopt the latest improvements in their mining
operations; they are to be met with at every ru.h from
Mount Ararat to the Snowy Mountains ; they sit beside us
in every caach to or from the diggings, and like fast
travelling as well as the smartest of us; they carry on a
considerable trade on the roads, are the owners of horses,
teams, and puddling machines. That they also obtain a
fair share of the gold raised on the diggings is well known
there ; but that they figure so largely at the Custom-house
as exporters cf that metal, is known only to a few."