The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-11 00:00:00

WORCESTER FESTIVAL.

WORCESTER, Satnrday.--The festival of the three
choirs was brought to a close last night by a full-dress
ball at the Guildhall, which was attended by about 300
of the elite of the county.
The results of the festival in a pecuniary point of view
have been most gratifying, the receipts at the doors of
the cathedral for the benefit of the charity for the relief
of the widows and orphans of clergy of the dioceses of
Worcester, Hereford, and Gloucester having been as
follow :—First day, Tuesday, 2551. ; second, Wednes-
day, 3231.; third, Thursday, 184/. ; fourth, Friday,
2421. ; total, 1,024/. This has never been exceeded
at either of the three cathedral cities but on two
occasions.

The authorities have expressed great annoyance at a
statement made iu yesterday's Times, that " there have
been a great many robberies. The loss of watches,
chains, jewels, &c., is constantly proclaimed by thetown
crier," &c. This statement is utterly untrue. The
police superintendent of the city declares that not a
single pin's worth of property in any shape has been
stolen during the festival, and not one robbery has been
reported to the police.

FIRE AT GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL.—SATURDAY.—The
greatest consternation was occasioned in this city about
nine o'clock last night, by the ringing of the fire bell and
an alarm that the venerable and universally admired
cathedral was in flames. The rumour proved correct,
though happily the timely discovery of the catastrophe,
and the prompt measures adopted to subdue the flames,
the sacred pile has been saved from what at one time
threatened total demolition, Some parties walking in
the College-green observed a strong light in the cathe-
dral, which quickly extended, and presently every win-
dow on the south Bide was illuminated by flames. On
access being obtained to the building it was found that
the bishop's throne, and the seats in front of it in the
choir, were in a blaze, but that the fire did not extend
further. The engines of the city were quickly brought
to the spot, and a telegraphic message was despatched
to Cheltenham also for engines. In the meantime the
mayor,ne Mr. Walker, and a few of the respectable trades-
of the College-green, having procured a few buckets
of water, and some blankets, saturated the latter, and
threw the
means, and the burning woodwork, and by this
not improbable that
ceedeci in by the aid of a few buckets of water, suc-
names.
t°latell efir in g and finally extinguishing the
(which is full ofre happened later in the night, it is
would have been destroyed timber,at least the choir of the cathedral
plain and magnificently carved)
long drought, the city OfedGi for, in consequence of the
to-
tally unsupplied with water.
Gloucester is at this time
The cause of the fire is at-
tributedovfarsome workmen who had
at
tf
Worcester.t he holding
been employed in the day
in the choir, the cathedral service here the carved work
of
tbere,b,
Festival of
chapter are
tiva
makingthe
The
an investigation into the matter.
The price of bread has been lowered by the bakers of
Plymouth, Stonehouse, and Devo
Tinhere°ensCecihuoeirn:'?
Devonport, to le. ld. the
81b. loaf. The Union Bread Company and the Mill
Society ire polling at 2d. A loaf under the pries of the
lakero.

CONDITION AND PROSPECTS OF THE
MINI RAL DISTRICT` IN NAMAQUA-
LAND (CAPE OF GOO t. HOPE.)

The following papers have been presented by the
Governor of the Cape of Good Hope to both houses
of the first Colonial Parliament :

Wellington, June 19, 1854.

Sir,—His Honour the Lieutenant Governor having
expressed to me a desire to be furnished with a written
account of the geology of Namaqualand, from which
country I have lately returned, and that I should offer
any suggestions that might strike me as likely to be of
public utility in the altered circumstances of that remote
part of the colony, I have the honour to acquaint
you, for the information of his honour, that I most wil-
lingly comply with his honour's request; but at the same
time I must premise that my visit to the copper mines
was such a hurried one that I was precluded from mak-
ing such careful observations of the geological features of
the country as I could have wished. The following must
therefore be considered as v. very rough and imperfect
sketch ; yet, as containing the opinion of a geologist, it
may be of some value to the public at this crisis, when
so many conflicting accounts are in circulation respect-
ing that now highly interesting territory.
Having had some professional duties to perform in the
division of Clanwilliam, I took that opportunity of mak-
ing a hasty trip to the copper mines of Namaqualand,
now so much spoken of, principally with a view of filling
up a gap in my geological map of Africa, and the result
of my journey has been to me highly gratifying.
Leaving, the village of Clanwilliam, I proceeded via
Zeekoe Valley and Heerelogement, to Bakkeley Plants,
on the Lower Olifants River, the road being, all the
way, exceedingly heavy and sandy. At the last men-
tioned place the sandstone rocks, such as those that cap
the Table Mountain, Stellenbosch Mountains, Bain's
Bass, &c., entirely disappear, and a mica schist of a
very bright silvery appearance, with large milk-white
quartz veins,itake their place. After crossing the river
here, some hills, nearly entirely composed of pure white
quartz and decomposed clayslate, attract the attention
of the geologist, and I have been told that, in this neigh-
bourhood, some excellent specimens of graphite or
plumbago, and other valuable minerals, have been dis-
covered, but I did not see any of them myself, nor can I
vouch for the correctness of the report.
The whole of the distance from this place to Koke-
naap (16 miles), is a flat country covered with blown
sand, under which is the substratum of coarse brown
calcareous tuffs resting on mica slate.
From Kokenaap we enter what is called the " Harde-
veldt," which forms a marked contrast to the sandy
country, on the southern side of the Olifants River, for
here the roads are good and hard, and hence the name
of " Hardeveldt."
An hour's ride beyond Kokenaap, the first granite
hill begins to show its head above the extensive Karoo
Flats, which here bound the horizon on all sides ; and
as we advance to the northward these hills increase in
number and altitude, all of them rich in veins of white
quartz. Water begins to get scarce and brackish,
though there are many situations on private property,
well adapted fur the formation of dams, if taken advan-
tage of, that would contain water the whole year through.
At Zout River I found some fine specimens of porphy
ritic granite, and at Louis Fontein a beautiful red-
spotted rock, resembling in appearance the Egyptian
porphry of Znurberg, in the Uitenhage division, but
much softer.
Our route still continues through granite hills with
broad white veins of quartz (but no appearance of gold),
till we reach the foot of the Kamies Bergen, when they
suddenly become a confused mass of rugged and lofty
mountains—

" Hills over hills and Alps on Alps arise."
We are now in Klein Namaqualand and fast approach-
ing the copper regions. The roads become steep and
undulating, though of such a nature as easily to be con-
verted into good ones. Leaving the Kamies Bergen be-
hind, we descend a very tortuous route to the missionary
station of Kamaggas, a wretched-looking place, as far
as buildings go, there being only the missionary's house
and one or two other small walled houses, the rest being
merely a Namaqua kraal, consisting of a few mat huts.
There is, however, a beautiful little stream of fresh
water, the first I had yet seen in Namaqualand, which
will doubtless fix this locality as the future capital of the
mining regions.
Twenty miles' ride over a good level road, in a north-
easterly direction from Kamaggas, brings us to Messrs.
Phillips and King's celebrated mine " Spectakel,"
situated near the confluence of the Kousie and Schaap
rivers. Here the surface indications are very strong,
the green carbonate of copper boiling out, as it were,
through the gneiss rocks in all directions.
This mine, or rather quarry (for it resembles the
latter more than the former), has been worked to the
depth of about 20 feet, and on descending into it pre-
sents, on the Northern side, exactly the appearance
which geologists call an "anticlinal axis." It is one
mass of green carbonate, and brown oxide of copper,
with only some thin strata of gneiss intervening, which
latter distinctly show the shape of the anticlinal arch.
The bottom of the mine consists of a round mass of
gneiss without any appearance of ore ; yet the miners
told me that they intended to blast through it, as rich
beds of ore would be found below ; so that there is no
telling to what depth they may go. There are large
heaps of valuable ore thrown away at the entrance of the
mine, which, on account of the heavy land-carriage to
Hondeklip Bay, will not pay to ship to England.
The ore sent away generally yields about 45 per cent.
of copper on an average, and I was assured on the best
authority that one miner and two assistants will quarry
and. prepare for shipment a ton per day. This, when
worked on a large scale, ought to pay well, being worth
nearly 40/. per ton.
In this neighbourhood are numerous mines, many of
them rich in surface indications, but none of them has
yet been worked, except one of Mr. Daniel, who is No.
2 on the centre of Messrs. Phillips and King.
Mining in South Africa is so different to what it is in
Europe that many of the best miners frequently find
themselves at fault ; for when they imagine they are
working in a vein or lode, to their surprise they find
they are in a quarry of unbounded mineral riches.
Leaving the mining district of Schaap and Kousi
rivers, where Mr. J. 0. Smith and many others are the
fortunate lessees of the richest and most promising
mines of the country, I ascended the " Spectakel'
Mountain to visit the mines of the famed Springbok
Fontein, the property of Messrs. Puillips and King.
On the way I saw several indications of copper, and
from the mountain's summit had a beautiful view of the
surrounding country.
It has generally been reported that no other rock but
granite was to be found in Namaqualand, but from this
mountain I could distinctly see three different geological
formations -viz., granite, gneiss' and mica schist—in
regular sequence, the latter being different from any of
its contemporaries in other parts of the colony, as con-
taining massive beds of cellular sandstone, filled with
small quartz pebbles, and very distinctly stratified.
In speaking of the different formations to be found in
Namaqualand, I may here observe that all the copper
mines I have met with are invariably situated about the
junction of the granite and gneiss rocks, and never, so
far as I am aware, has any indication of copper been
found there in the mica schist. Unfortunately, the lots
of many persons whose leases of " Mineral Centres"
from Government were chosen because they were near to
those known to be rich, are in the mica schist, and
consequently good for nothing.
Springbok Fontein is situated about four hours' ride on
horseback beyond " Spectakel," the road being merely a
bridle path, very steep and stony, and the view not always
pleasing to the eye, from the great quantity of bare
amorphous granite mountains, which everywhere rear
their naked heads above their rugged bases of gneiss,
the former without a fissure or crack, and perfectly
destitute of vegetation, if we except some patches of
red and brown lichens, which only add to their dreary
appearance.
. _ _

The mines are situated in rather a pleasant valley (an
oasis in the desert) ; and here we already behold the
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feet the best of water has been procured ; and from the
geological construction of the country, I feel certain
that, by digging to a very slight depth, good water will
be sure to be found in every valley.
The mines here differ little, save in shape, from that
of " Spectakel ;” like the latter the external indications
are exceedingly rich, and only want common quarrymen
to work them, except for the selection of exportable ore.
Spee,imens of ore containing 75 per cent. of copper are
frequently picked up here on the surface. Malachite,
blue carbonate of copper, and minute particles of gold,
are also found here ; but the latter, when the copper
ore is so rich and easily obtained, is not worth looking
after.
On this farm is the celebrated Copperberg, which has
appeared on our maps for the last seventy years, and
whose riches are quite astounding.
From the "Springbok" I took a trip to the borders
of Bushman land, where several copper mines have also
lately been discovered.
The mountains here begin to diminish in size, until
the whole country stretches out into one interminable
bare granite plain, upwards of 3,000 feet above the sea
level. To this country the Namaqualand farmers inva-
riably trek with their flocks and herds after the first
rains of February, March, or April, where they find rich
pasturage for their cattle, which fatten in an Incredibly
short time. They return again in May or June to
plough and winter at their homes.
I next visited the mines of Prince, Collinson, Wat-
son, and Co., at a place near " Tweefonteitn," now
called Concordia. These are also exceedingly rich, but,
unlike the other mines I had visited, had something of
the appearance of immense lodes running in an easterly
and westerly direction ; yet, from their length, breadth,
and depth seemed inexhaustible. Here I saw some of
the richest and most beautiful specimens of copper
pyrites, peacock, and malachite, &c., that I had any-
where met with. For miles around this favoured spot
strong indications of copper everywhere appear ; and a
large village is in the course of construction, in which
hundreds of happy families may yek reside. Much
activity prevails here, as well as at Phillips and King's
mines, but more in the way of building than of mining,
as transport to the coast is not at present to be obtained,
even at very high prices.
I regret that circumstances would not permit me to
visit Steinkop and the Orange River, though so near to
both, as many of the richest mines are, I am told, about
those localities, some of which at the latter place are
being worked to great advantage.
Namaqualand has hitherto been considered by the
colonists as an arid, worthless waste ; but fortunately
for us, Sir Harry Smith, a few years ago, extended the
boundary from the Kousie to the Orange River, and
thus was this contemned country included within the
colony.
In an agricultural point of view, no part of the colony
surpasses Namaqualand, for in fayourablo mono 00 and