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

hope deferred, amid the throng of equally eager com-
petitors, to believe that at this very moment there
T-N-FUN, This Week, One P. ejairnyratOtuerw
IL Essays—Name of the "Wmtn ra,
.1-tidley, M.P. ; The Frankfort
exists a spot where the English tongue is spoken,
where honest labour brings in the rich reward of
lt
10 or 12 dollars a day, and even the humble toil of
smoke, &c., s,cll3.4itzt sP
carrying provisions brings in a similar sum. Yet
this El Doredo has its drawbacks, as may be seen
from the full and comprehensive account given of
its lights and shadows by the correspondent of our
chief morning contemporary. The one great quali-
fication for the colony is a willingness and a capa-
city for work, not mental work, not gentlemanly
employment, rot 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. unesof
British Columbia retain allithneeirgborlidgehntnfeosrst.
Wil-
liams's Creek, the chief mining
field
produced an immense quantity of gold,
c a
at
npdr
continuespresent, laa
to supply the lucky miner withriclhvisitloorwes.RiTvehre,
creek is supposed to run into the
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 Gonrnment office, are
all cccupied, 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
ou 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
23- 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 first
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 fabus
lous 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
1700 z., 160ez., and 120cz. 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
con 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 !
Tne 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-
siderable inconvenience. However, the 'cuteness of
Americans and the gold of the miners have solved
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 intosmootheddown
conmveunst.
tional shape, and that comfort and civilisation
not be too quickly looked for, aro full.t `gasofho hpteae south,
and Gold will people the north as s
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.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE;.
Lessee, Mr. George Vining.
Under the Management of Mr. Walter Montgomery.
THIS EVENING, KING JOHN. King John, Mr. Walt,
Yr
Montgomery.
To be followed by A ROUGH DIAMOND.
Commence at 7.

N"V THEATRE-ROY AL, ADELPHI.—..
Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster.
THIS EVENING, at 7, a new comic drama, entitled TUT
TIEN AND CRICK ENS ; or, A Sign of Affe,tion. Messrs.
Killington, R. Phillips, Stephenson ; Mrs. Stirling and Miss
11. Simms.
After which, at a quarter-past 8, the new drama of Trill
HAUNTED MAN; uIL, T E GROSI"S BARGAIN, in
which wiil be exhibited Prof essdr Pepper's adaptation of
`he Great Spectral Illusion. Messrs. J. L. Toole, It. Philips,
efton C. J. Smith; Mrs. Alfred Mellon and Miss (I. Simms
Followed by anew Burlesque, ent fled ILL-TREATED
IL TRU VATORE. Messrs. Toole, P. Bedford, It. Phillips
Eburne, C. J. Smith, Romer ; the Sisters Nelson, Carry an,cl
and Miss K. Kelly.

OYAL STRAND THEATRE,
Manager, Mr. W. 11. Swanborough.

7rnis EVENING, HIS FIRST CHAMPAGNE. Mr.
Leigh Murray.
Followed by (34th time) THE MOTTO, " I'M ALL
THERE." Messrs. Honey, Turner, E. Danvers, Collier,
Clifton ; Mesdames Ada Swanborough, F. Josephs, Maria
Simpson, Wallace, and Jenny White.
To conclude with TURN HIM OUT. Mr. Turner, Miss
Thorne.

Commence at 7.

rrHE THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN,"
Containing the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE,
can be had Every Evening of

G. R. GLENIE, NEWS AGENT,
No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAY.—Morning, 12h. 15m.—Afternoon, 12h. 45m.
To-monnow.-Morning, lh. 12m.—Afternoon, lh. 40m.

The Frankfort Congress seems to be progressing
y Succeed -
satisfactorily, notwithstanding the very difficult
and delicate tasks imposed upon its members. It
the
project of AngstBrii
withoutanin coming to definite arrangements,
underatand?' vexatious disputes, or awkward mis-
has been it
will be very fortunate. The
adopted with
with. regard to the Directorate,
six members who compose some modifications. The
several quarters. One
the body are taken from
a, one vote in turn is
Austria, Prussia, and eßrvte
.each will appertain to
to belong to Saxony. Wurtertma.
.bg, an d Hanover.
'file fifth member will be named
Statees.allTth will be
and the seven Grand Duchies ; Ythieetoral Hesse
selected by the other German
settle-
ment of the presidency of the Directoratheev
left to the decision of Austria and Prussia. sill
fbe
this seems to promise fairly enough, and to hespeal:
some chance of a fortuitous termination of the die-'
eugione. 115, CollgtesB Of Evinces al pear to work