The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-07 00:00:00

"NERVOUS EXHAUSTION."

its cause and cure, decline of manly power and consequent
obstacles to wedded life, with an Essay on true and false
Spermatorrhcea, price 2s. 6d., by post 25.10 d.
Also a TREATISE on the DISEASES of the RECTUM,
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Likewise SKIN DISEASES and their REMEDIES, con-
taining the modern treatment (as adapted at the Hospital
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To be had of the Author, who is registeredunder the New
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The excitement produced by this sudden realisation of
wealth had the effect 9f unhinging the minds and of para-
lysing the action of many of the miners w,hose nerves were
not well strung. In August a miner writes, "The gold.
you receive in Victoria is the produce-of about 200 miners
only. The rest aro running about. the country prospect-
ing ' Besides the- glad tidings of " big strikes" " im-
mense hauls," " shovel-full" and "pans-full of gold,"
were mingled with complaints of the weather. " Queer
climate. Last week it hailed and snowed ; ice
half-an-inch thick, and it storms ablest every day.". The
ground was so saturated that the mud came up to the knees,
and men had to crawl on all fours in ascending hill sides.
Rheumatism appeared, and no wonder. On the whole.
however, I never heard of less sickness among an equal
number of men, even in far more favourableTircumstances
The country is eminently healthy. I 'never suffered a mo-
ment from roughing it in British Columbia.
It was estimated that one-third of the miners were Bri
tish. I think this an over-estimate. Whoever they were,
their conduct was exemplary. Peace and order prevailed
to a degree unusual in so mercurial a community ; all dis-
putes as to miners' rights, contested boundaries of claims,
&c., "were settled by the magistrate," Mr. Nind, who is
also gold commissioner, " with the assistance of a jury of
miners selected on the spot—a plan which gives universal
satisfaction." The majesty of the law was repiesented by
the magistrate,. who camped in A tent, and by two consta-
bles, until the judge arrived on circuit. He was accompa-
nied ex officio by his registrar only. An Indian half-bred
had charge of the robes, the wig, and the black cap. The
equipage is very simple, for his lordship cultivates sleep
under a tree. There were only two serious cases of crime
in the mines during the whole season—one the killing of
a notorious bully who had made himself obnoxious to the
whole mining community, and was shot by one of his vic-
tims, and who fled justice on the judge's approach; the
other a robbery, for which the, robber was tried, found
guilty, and sentenced to 10 years in the chain gang. There
was another case of shooting and wounding, in revenge, on
the road to Cariboo, but the guilty party escaped, and is not
Ike to trouble the colony any more. The judge had several
civil cases to decide, however, for frequent disputes arise
about mining claims.
Nelson's Creek was discovered by and named after a for-
mer servant- of the Governor, who went to the mines in
spring. The claims were yielding
20, 30, and 50 dols a-day
to the hand in August, and by last accounts the yield had
increased. Nelson remains for the winter in the neighbour-
hood. He has 1,500 dols., after paying expenses, and con-
siders himself unlucky. Next season he expects to make
up for his bad luck,
The account of September's work is but an exaggerated
repetition of that of the two previous months. Prodigious
quantities of gold were found in limited spaces, such as
650 z. from a crevice, 220 z. washed out of one panful of
dirt—all nuggets. . This is confirmed by a clergyman on
the spot, who remarked, " the best feature however is that
there are so many claims doing well, and giving good,
regular wages, over a large tract." Shares had been sold in
.some of the richer claims for 8,000 dols. and 10,000 dols.
each. The older miners, who had travelled over a great
space of the country, gave it as their opinion that Cariboo
would support 25,000 miners, while others affirmed that
would not even "prospect" it, that is, would not discover or
make known the resources of the district. As the extent of
the goldfield became better known this fact produced a
greater excitement among the miners than the big.
strikes" did,—because the fact gave " promise of good
things to come," I suppose.
One-fourth share in the best claim in Lowhee Crock was
sold for 4,000 dols after the owner (the seller) had realized
17,003 dols. A share in another and poorer claim was
" snapped up" at 1,800 dols., and shares in a newly dis-
covered creek, not even tested, were held at 1,000 dols. a
share.

Money was also made by other industrial pursuits besides
mining. Packers- made large sums, and so did traders, of
which we have ample proof in Victoria, for these parties
brought their money here, and I know two cattle dealers
who made £lO,OOO profit in the season.
A young gentleman named Stamp, a son of Captain
Stamp, now settled here, and well known in London in the
mercantile community, past last season in Cariboo. This
is his statement :
" Three weeks ago I saw 292 ounces of gold taken out by
three men from one claim. It was Steele's claim. This
was their day's work. I saw the men at work getting out
the gold ; and I saw it weighed. It was large, in 'nug-
gets. Several men were getting out as much as I.ooodols.
a day latterly. Out of 1,500 miners 250 are in possession
of these rich claims. The others who are at work do much
less—from 100 dole (L2O) a day each man and upwards.
eegeenosuon
country
dole
prospecting,
claimssp et
in
The claims are spotted; some rich and some poor. No
miner of late would work a claim whichtourboeuklndowyinel.dmoannlyy
re-
jected as not rich enough to Pay; The extent of the auri-
ferous a day per hand, and
ally blbehogiruaevuttuentruhins
to Cariboo in the ao
nf
d then miners neuaner rtnrs3:wereearning
l runningar g large,
o anything.ii
be-
ginning of February."
A builder in Victoria, whom I have known for three
years went to. Cariboo in summer and returned a few weeks
ago. This is his account :--
country' as you enter it
fromheavily timbered
with extensive forests of dead, charred, and burned trees.
Th' 'e Tfbahel ell
eonw itreess general
barren,
icmhpa errdaoece character of the
dswampy,
progress
erribly. Mineral
indications abound everywhere. To the northward the
country is covered with a dense brushmost difficult to pene-
trate. On the way up from Lillooett the country is magnifi-
cent—mountains, ravines, rivers, and gorges, no end of
them. But the most marked feature in the landscape is
the lakes. Far away up in the interior thero are lakes that
would float a 74. At Keithley's there is supposed to be a
streak of pay-dirt, a rich gravekthree miles wide, and of
length,running up perhaps into the Rocky Moun -
miles off. Wherever he went he heard this
theorytae
gravelly auriferous streak' entertained.
unknown7o
of
fo
theoo
Twenty-five hundred miners in Cariboo, one half making
fortunes, the other half making nothing, but wasting their
time prospecting and getting starved in search of a big
strike.' Saw men taking out 1,200 dole a day to the hand.
Met one of my, former workmen mining, lie was making
150 dols a day. His wages from me were 3 dole a day in
Victoria. He doesn't mean to leave, Saw Nelson, the
Governor's servant. Expect his claim was good..
Was making 120 dole a day; but had a long way to
back provisions, and wages high-19 dols a day. Met the
three men he went to see, They were lucky—took out 35

T have-to-day procured a return of the assays of Cariboo
gold, made throughout the season by Messrs. Marchand
and Co., assayers in Victoria, which gives the highest and
the lowest quality and the average of the dust they have
assayed. The highest, which was from Pavis's Creek, is
918 fine, value per ounce 18 dols. 97c. 64. The lowest,
which came from Williams's Creek, is 810 fine, value per
ounce 16 dols. 74c. 42. Average of all Cariboo dust, 854
fine, value 17 dols. 65c. 37.
I could quote instances in which larger sums than I
have stated have been earned, and in which a fortune was
extracted in a few weeks by the labour of half a dozen men
—that is' a competency to each of them—from a very few
feet square of ground ; but it is idle further to multiply
cases. I have stated sufficient facts to justify the conclu-
sions that Cariboo is unrivalled for the wealth it produces
to individual labour, in a short period ; in the large propor-
tion of men who have been successful—that is to say, those
who in one short season have made fortunes, those who
have made considerable amounts, and those who have
earned high wages ; and, finally, for the universal satis-
faction of the miners with their past earnings, and their
confidence in the future.
Victoria is the mart of commerce for British Columbia
and Vancouver Island. Here are all the merchants and
other business establishments ; and here naturally should
the assay-office be placed. Had it been so, nearly all the
gold which now goes in dust to San Francisco would be
converted into bars on the spot—a circumstance which
would greatly facilitate general business, and which to the
success of banking business is absolutely essential. I
could prove the injury done to general commerce by the
misplacement of this Government office, and shall do so in
another letter, but at present need only remark further that
the absurdity of putting the assay-office at New West-
minster is as great and as palpable as it would be to place
the Bank of England or the Clearing-house at Gravesend.
It ought to have been in the Victoria, and this colony ought
to pay its cost of erection. Here it would leave a profit.
There, in the wilderness, it leaves a loss.
We have in harbour her Majesty's ship Topaze, Captain
the Hon. John W. S. Spencer, and the surveying vessel the
Hecate, Captain Richards, returned from San Francisco,
repaired ; also, two gunboats permanently stationed here.
A gentleman holding a high office in these parts made
this remark to me lately:—" We owe to a foreign Govern-
ment our protection from the Indians. We owe our lives
—the people of ,Washington Territory and Oregon do—to
the English Government administered by Governor Dou-
glas. Did he not restrain them by his moral influence, we
should all be murdered, sir, every man of us. But," he
added, what I knew to be correct, " do you suppose I would
darn to admit this fact to our people? Why, they would
be ready to Lynch me if I did. They fancy that a few
dozens of them—Hoosiers and Pike-counties, &c., would
whip' all the Indians on the coast and the Britishers into
the bargain. No, no—you mustn't tell our people these
things. They won't stand to hear them."
"people" should have proof of the truth in a manner more
practical than agreeable. I agrweehednwhitih
the judge, and trusted I should not see the days