The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-19 00:00:00

...4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

friend, and advised the audience to put aside local
politics until the Ist of November, or an earlier
date, when he should be quite ready for them. His
appeal, however, was ineffectual.

Mr. PAYNE persisted in his attempt to speak,
hat, ultimately contented himself by proposing a
vote of confidence in Mr. Digby Seymour. (Load
applause )

Mr. JAMES COCKS came forward and said-1 beg
to second Mr. Payne's proposition—a vote of con-
fidence in our worthy and esteemed member.
(Loud cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN then put the resolution to the
meeting. He said—it has been proposed and se-
conded that a vote of confidence be given to our
worthy member, Mr. Seymour. All who are in
favour of that proposition will signify it by hold-
ing up their hands.
Upon this request an immense forest of upturned
palms was presented, and upon the negative being
put only one solitary hand in the vast assembly
obeyed the will of its proprietor.

The CHAIRMAN then declared the resolution to
be almost unanimously carried, and an enthusiastic
round of cheering followed for the hon. member.

INDIAN GOLD-DIGGINGS.

A letter from Bombay, dated Jan. 27, says :

The telegraph must, long before this, have made
known to you the discovery of large deposits of gold
in the southern districts of the Bombay Presidency.
For years the puzzling question where all the gold
comes from that the natives are in the habit of con-
verting into ornaments for their women and their
gods, has engaged the attention of speculative men,
and the general belief has been that the Indian
goldfields, once so prolific, could not yet be ex-
hausted, but that they must still be worked secretly,
as the diamond mines have been ever since the
political troubles in the Deccan, and the grasping
nature of Mu ssulman and Mahratta rule taught the
people to fear their princes, and to conceal sources of
wealth which, if known, would only have exposed
them to ceaseless exactions and cruel tortures. The
Malabar coast, in particular, it was thought must be
rich in gold, for the geological formation of the coun-
try is very similar to that which led Sir Roderick
Murchison to foretell the existence of gold in
Australia. Moreover, tradition indicated the mine-
ral wealth of this part of India; and some enthu-
siasts set forth the opinion—an opinion, by the
way, which is strongly advocated by Mr. Max
Muller in his recent lectures on the science of lan-
guage—that Malabar is the Ophir of Scripture.
The first positive evidence of the existence of
gold on this coast was given, I believe, by Major
Wingate, some 15 years ago, when that officer was
employed in preparing the new revenue survey of
Bombay. But all the revenue officers of Dharwar
and the neighbouring districts have long, it seems,
been aware of the fact that native gold-washers are
in the habit of going out after the monsoon and
washing the heavy deposits of crushed quartz (de-
tritus) which the rains bring down from the Kup-
putgood Hills. What is more curious than all else,
however, is the fact that Dr. Clarke, of Australia,
wrote to the Bombay Government informing them
that, having studied a geological map of India, he
could point out to them with certainty where gold
must exist. This letter was answered by Mr.
Lumsden, the Secretary to Government at the
time, but by one of those mistakes, common enough
in India, the reply was wrongly addressed, and
nothing further was ever heard from Dr. Clarke.
The Government, however, appointed Captain Ay-
toun, of the Bombay Artillery, to survey the Kup-
putgood Hills, and report whether they contained
gold or iron. Captain Aytoun went out in 1852,
and found gold in the sand forming the beds of
nullahs, or streams which are mountain torrents in
the rainy season and almost dry during the rest
of the year. The particles of gold were almost
infinitesimal, and, on a specimen of them being
sent to the Master of the Mint here to have a
chemical test applied, the opinion given was that
there was no gold at all. Captain Aytoun main-
tained that a chemical test ought not to have
been applied, and showed that by simply washing
the sand in a saucer the gold could be discerned ;
he also took him some specimens of quartz, and
was assured by an eminent analyst of Glasgow
that the proportion of gold, though small, was
undoubted, and the quality excellent. Strange
to say, nothing farther was done in the matter, and
for seven years the gold was as much neglected as
if itliad been so much dirt.

A few months ago an Australian gentleman, Mr.
Le Souef, who had come to India on other business,
heard at the artillery mess table some mention of
Captain Aytoun's discovery. Having been a gold
digger himself, he was not inclined to laugh at what
he heard as the dream of a visionary, and he
straightway went vigorously to work and ascer-
tained all that was known on the subject. He then
offered to go on an expedition to discover if the
gold could be worked at a profit, the only point still
in doubt. A company of adventurers or promoters
was soon formed, and Mr. Le Souef, being guaran-
teed all expenses, and assured that he would not be
thwarted by Government, left Bombay for Dhawar
about two months ago. The result of his expedition
I will give in the words of his own report, which,
I should add, was purposely drawn up so as not to
excite too sanguine hopes. He says :
" I have found gold in payable quantities in the
bed of a small river, close to the village of Soortoor,
and bearing about west from it. This river extends
for many miles, and at every place—say every 600
yards, for about eight miles in the bed of the creek,
I adi in
h
te
bed rock, and from a handful of dirt taken from i one
e .
d
twwhoersehalftws,asthoed atkhmee
sure drift,tlha fotugnodldgoeld xis
of these holes I obtained gold. The other pit filled
with water so rapidly that I was unable to descend
tothe and profit it will be necessary to have it
dan otedb.ltonm. one'lo'of
mwyorlketttheersbferdomofDthhiosnreievelrstwatiteh
advantage
stated
thatri I had found a promising quartz reef, and that
in a few days I should be able to report upon its
gold-bearing qualities, but upon reflection I thought
it better to abandon the idea of opening up a reef
until I had made sure of the existence of fluvial
or alluvial gold. Now that I have ascertained
this fact, I would advise that one reef be opened at
Dhonee and the other at Huttee Kuttee. It is my
firm opinion that the part of this territory I have
surveyed for gold had not been ocean-submerged,
and consequently, that these quartz reefs will give
a more constant return of gold than those of Aus-
tralia. I may mention that the majority of the reefs
in the Kupputgood Hills run nearly north and
south ; all gold-bearing reefs in Australia and Ca-
lifornia run in this direction."
for pumps and other necessary tools for going on
e ltioe.vbees ,
the best
bdei
se
t.
with the works alluded to in his report. It will be
know certainly
another month before we shall
whether he is right in thinking th .at the deposits in
sha. Should the
Mr. Le Souef was compelled to return to Bombay
Dhawar are as rich as those of Austr
revolution in this coun-
try will work a greater
try than could be effected
.by
gold be really as profitable
a dozen American
be sufficiently
wars. Everywhere gold
coloniser, and while other and more favoured fields
• will cause English emigrants to hesitate
prise which
are still open for agricultural and industrial enter-
before coming to settle in India, the attraction of
strong to draw to this country thousands of vigorous
Anglo-Saxons. The new port of Sedasheghur may,
before many years have passed, become a second
Melbourne, unless Mr. Le Souef has dreamed
dreams. I may warn you that the Bombay Govern-
ment contemplates with alarm the possibility of
that universal magnet, gold, will
such a revolution. I believe it would rather have
given Mr. Le Souef £lOO,OOO to leave the country
and keep his secret, than it will give him £lO,OOO
for discovering a new source of wealth for the State.
Our civilians have not
horror of interlopers ; and, in truth, one cannot
wonder that the rulers of the country dread to
witness the irruption into India of a host of
strong-limbed Englishmen, who have no belief in