The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-03 00:00:00

,Gold had declined in price sa: per on4og.owing
to the bank fixing the rate of exchange a par,
The labour market at Melbourne was improving.
Agricultural labour demands very remunerative
prices.
Rich specimens of copper ore have been found at
Mount
cics.
Black Wood, at the depth of 45 feet, eon,
taining three ounces of gold to the ton.
The last escort to Melbourne brought 57,000
ounces of gold, worth 755. per ounce.
Tallow, 401 to 421. per ten. Hides inactive ;
prices nominal.
__ _

- Sydney dates to Nov. 21. Nothing of interest
in the commercial circles ; dullness prevailed. hi
the interior the demand was pretty brisk, and
favourable anticipations regarding the future.
The Sea Nymph, and the Elizabetk, from Lou...dou, were .at Hobart Town: The Indian, from
Hartlepool ' • Adelaide, Auguste, andlielina,.from
London, at Melbourne.
The. Admiral to sail from Melbourne for Louden
on Dec. .1 ; the Statesman and lilackwall on the
20th ; and the Emma for Liverpool, Dec. 10.
We condense the following stunin.ary t.; Austra.
lian intelligence from tho Melbourne Aye of the
2Tth. of November :
State of Trade.—Since the departure of the
Champion of the Seas business had become more
animated, and the reports from Sydney being more
satisfactory there was increasing confidence. The
demand for the interior had greatly improved, and
.was very. lively. Largo quantities of. goods were
continually forwarded to the diggings, while.cart-
age cc ntinued very low—in fact, lower than had
ever been since the gold discovery.
Mercantile transactions had generally assumed a,
more healthy aspect, and insolvencies were less
numerous than they were.

Exchanges.—Banks lowered the rate of exchange
on England ou the 19th Nov. to par, and purchased
at 2 per cent. discount. This reduction had an
immediate effect on the price of gold, which is now
quoted by the brokers at from 31. 15s. 3d. to 31.
14s. 9d. The Colonial Bank of Australasia will
shortly commence operations with every prospect
of success.

Wool.—This staple had undergone considerable
fluctuations in value. The sales by auction on the
Bth nit, passed off with spirit, and parts of stocks
of greasy wool, which had previously realised Bd.
to 9d., did not realise more that 7d. to 7d. At
the sale of the 15th prices rallied a little, and we
may quote the average at from 74d. to Bd. The
quantity of wool shipped from 0:400 to Nov. -10
was 561,959 lbs.
Labour.—The cry of "dolfrtutran• bad entirely
ceased, and there wore few complaints of want of
employment. Some judicious steps had been
taken by the Government for notifying to new ar-
rivals and others seeking information the localities
in which a demand existed for labour, and the cur-
rent rate of wages.
__

The Gold-fields.—The reports received during
the previous month from the various gold-fields
were of a uniformly satisfactory character, both as
regarded the yield of the precious metal and the
generally prosperous condition of the population.
Two nuggets, the one weighing 220 oz., the other
240 oz., had been found on the Alma, and a
third, weighing 730 oz., had been brought to light
at Daisy-hill. Discoveries of new quartz reefs were
of frequent occurrence, and indications were not
wanting of the presence of silver and copper in
these conglomerates. Great activity was observ-
able in the works of the ironfounders in Melbourne,
and the men employed by the principal firma had
been working night and day, in order to keep pace
with the demand for quartz-crushing machines.
The quantity of gold brought down by escort
was as follows :

Ounce%
Week ending October 27
St November 3
ft -
,' lif 10
~
It 17
ft ,e 24

4t7.