The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-27 00:00:00

1 ope deferred, amid the throng of equally eager cora-
' etitors, to believe that at this very moment there
() xists a spot where the English tongue is spoken,
al There honest labour brings in the rich reward of
10 or 12 dollars a day, and even the humble toil of
c arrying provisions brings in a similar sum. Yet
t his El Dorado has its drawbacks, as may be seen
f corn the full and comprehensive account given of
i is lights and shadows by the correspondent of our
e hief morning contemporary. The one great quali-
f tcation for the colony is a willingness and a capa-
city for work, not mental work, not gentlemanly
eaiployment, not busy idleness, but real hard
:physical labour; labour that covers you with mud
and makes a dry shoe a thing unknown. The
:member of a mining company who has been some
;years on the spot, declares that there is abundance
.and variety of work for labourers in Cariboo, and
that those who can work and will work,
get work, except when the labour of mining
is suspended by flooding. Those who will
not work are beneath criticism, and those
who cannot have mistaken their vocation
in going to the mines. The golden fortunes of
British Columbia retain all their brightness.
liams's Creek, the chief mining fie
produced an immense quantity o
gold,fl dat present,
and continues
to supply the lucky miner witthhericlla visltloorwes.RiTvehre,
creek is supposed to run into
and is separated from Antler Creek, which was the
scene of the earliest operations, by a group of moun-
tains. Richfield, a small town on Williams's
Creek, is the capital of Cariboo, and boasts " 25
houses, besides tents." These houses, along with
which must be reckoned the Government office, are
all occupied, and the new, or lower town, has 16
houses finished, so that buildings are rapidly in-
creasing, not before they are needed, we should
imagine, by a population of 2,500 miners alone!
The last 50 miles of the road to this creek are in
such a condition as to be impassable to beasts of
burden ; the only trail being blocked up with trees
thrown down by the storms and horses dead from
fatigue. This state of things is favourable to the
carriers on the principle of the ill wind that blows
some good with it, for provisions have to be carried
on men's backs for several miles, and as we may
guess, under such circumstances, at heavy charges.
The rate of provisions is high, and makes a
large demand on the miner's wages; the
weekly board being 35 dollars; a single meal
21 dollars, and these sums being often paid in ad-
vance. The work is plentiful and the wages high,
10 or 12 dollars daily being ready for all who are
willing to work hard and able to " drift." Some of
the claims are very profitable; others, with the
variable fortune inseparable from goldfields, worth-
less and unremunerative. The work of some of

the companies at the time the narrative was written
was hindered by the freshets having inundated the
shafts. This disaster is common at this season, and
interferes seriously with the profits of the miner.
"The daily yield of the American Company ave-
raged," we are told, " 150 oz. The Black Jack
Company was doing well; but the Barker, at frst
the richest of all, was not yielding so much as usual
owing to the impediment of underground water."
This is one of those casualties that interfere with
the best calculations, and which render a miner's
life, in spite of its hard work, akin to that of the
gambler. Other companies, like the owner of a
run of luck at the gaming table, are making fabu.-
lone sums. One company, in their final operation,
the " washing up," gained in six hours 250 oz.
A nice afternoon's work, since the value
is about £B7O. This is no partial or exaggerated
statement, but is taken from the Commissioner's
report, in which we find also mention made of three
companies, whose claims were all situated within
half-a-mile, which had " washed up" respectively
170cz., 1600 z., and 120 oz. in a day's labour. At
the same time these amounts must not, of course, be
taken as samples of the average success attending
the miner's exertions. Two other creeks have been
discovered in the vicinity of Williams's which had
disturbed the ordinary state of affairs there by occa-
sioning one of those "rushes" unfavourable to the
miner. " They deprive the capitalist of labour at
a juncture when he most needs it, and the labourer
of time which, had he employed it in steady work
at high wages, he would have turned to good ac-
count instead of wasting it, as too often happens, in
pursuing a shadow." The whole labour of gold-
digging sometimes produces but shadowy results,
and notwithstanding the sudden gleams of success
and fortune which occasionally make a poor
man rich and crown a life of labour with
the wealth of an Arabian fable, there
can be no question that it is a hard, laborious, and
uncertain existence. One of its great annoyances
in Cariboo is the system of " jumping " claims,
or unjustly usurping claims belonging to other
miners during their casual absence. This produces
appeals to the Gold Commissioner, pending whose
decision one hundred " jumped" claims were lying
idle when the news left. It can hardly add much
to the wealth or comfort of the young fraternity
that it numbers six lawyers among its members !
The American war is producing unwelcome effects
in the North, the collector of Washington Terri-
tory having at the close of June forbidden the ex-
port of any live stock. As Victoria. and British
Columbia had before that date drawn the greater
part of their supplies of beef, this occasioned con.
siderablo inconvenience. However, the 'cuteness of
Americans and the gold of the miners have
so
the difficulty in some degree, as they now kill the
animals in American territories, and export the
carcases, as the high-sounding order for the "pre.
vention of the withdrawal of military resources
from the country" does not include dead meat,
Meanwhile the Governor of Washington Territory
has taken up the cause, and we shall learn by the
next mail the result of his friendly remonstrances.
Altogether the accounts from this new colony,
though showing that it will be long before the
rough edges will be smoothed down into conven-
tional shape, and that comfort and civilisation must
not be too quickly looked for, are full of hope and pro-
mise. Gold will people the north as it has the south,
and the vast fields of British Columbia will long
serve as a safety-valve for the superfluous energies
and unemployed labour of our older life, though we
must even retain the drones in the old hive, since
there is no place for them in the busy, striving
thriving, and laborious young community.

The Frankfort Congress seems to be progressing
satisfactorily, notwithstanding the very difficult
Itutiltely succeeddelicat in
delicate tasks imposed upon its members. Ii
coming to definite arrangements,
without any vexatious disputes, or awkward mis-
:
it
understandings
project of will be very fortunate. The
Austria
with regard to the Directorate,
has been adopted withsome modifications, The
six members who compose the body are taken from
several quarters. One
v
ovtaelieattoohwill appertain to
Austria, Prussia, and Ba
e vote inturnis
B
to belong to Saxony,ny. Wertemb ono
The fifth member will be named l andlec Hanover.byHesse Electoral
will be
s.eitie-
ment of the presidency of the Directorate v
and the seven Grand Duchies ; the sixth
selected by the other German States. The settle.
left to the decision of Austria and Prussia, so fbe
ar
this seems to promise fairly enough, and to bespeak
some chance of a fortuitous termination of the dis-
cussions. The Congress of Princes appear to work