The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-15 00:00:00

GOLD FIELDS IN NEW SOUTH WALES

(From the Sydney Morning Herald of Dec. 21.)
The brilliant anticipation in regard to the success of the
Lachlan goldfield, have not, we regret to say, been realized ;
and thus disappointment has been encountered, and heavy
expenses have been incurred by very many but ill able to
bear the latter, however much they may have become ha-
bituated to the former. All accounts agree as to the yield
being extraordinary—equal to that of Ballarat in its palmies:
days; but the payable ground is confined only to a very
small area, being not more than a quarter of a mile long and
100 yards wide. This piece of ground is held by some 300
miners, who, out of the whole population of 6,000 or 7,000
persons, are the only persons who are making anything, the
sinking there being either a fortune or nothing. This
check, which is now fully admitted by the miners, has had
the effect of once more bringing Lambing Flat into notice,
and accounts from all quarters inform us that miners are
flocking there by dozens.
The greater part of those diggers who left Burrangong
for the Lachlan have now returned, a very brief inspection
of the work having convinced them that fortune was only
for the few, while at Lambing Flat there was an equal
chance for all, with a certainty of good wages and a possibi-
lity of a " The result of the temporary cessation from
toil has been that work has been renewed on all sides with
more than the usual activity. New ground has been opened
in one or two places, and very promising results have been
obtained by those who have bottomed their holes. In addi-
tion to the old hands who have returned here, a very large
number of Victorian miners, who, tempted by the accounts
respecting the Lachlan, had visited that field, have now set
in upon the Burrangong ; while the Chinese are concen-
trating upon this point from every quarter of the country,
in such numbers that it is anticipated by some that there
will be at least 10,000 of them assembled here before the
close of the summer. Already the escort returns from
Burrangong are beginning to mount up to their old figure,
and should the seeds of discord not be again sown among
the miners, we may at last hope that this promising field
may have, what it has never yet had, a fair trial.
" The Braid wood diggings have been rather dull during
the month. The long continued drought has operated un-
favourably in many places, preventing washing up, unless
at a ruinous expense. At the same time it has been favour-
able to the wet diggings, which for many months past
could not be worked on account of the water. The miner
has now a chance at these, of which be is not slow to avail
himself; and in such spots there is some activity. Nearly
the whole of the Chinese, who formed so large a portion of
the mining population of these diggings, have left during
the month for Burrangong, the accounts received from this
place from their countrymen having drawn them away en
masse.

"From the more southern diggings—Gundagai, Tamut,
&c.—no news of importer ce has been received, except that
many of the few parties working on them have been tempted
away by the accounts from the Lachlan.
We have received no definite intelligence in regard to
the Snowy River, though the escort returns would imply
that matters must be progressing favourably. In fact, the
miners seemed to be engaged in a feud with the resident
commissioner there, and of course this local difficulty ex-
cites more of their attention than important matters that
would interest the community at large.