The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-29 00:00:00

NEW SOUTH WALES.

(Front a Correspondent of the Times.)
SYDNEY, OCT. 12.
During the last month this colony has been wit-
ness to one of those extraordinary instances of
popular frenzy which serve to show how little men
• are guided by reason, and how much by impulse.
The recent rush of miners from California to
Fraser's River, has been more than paralleled by a
• similar rush of Australian diggers to a point on the
north-east coast of this continent. The locality
which has thus become suddenly populous and
famous is situated on the banks of the Fitzroy
River, and just about the latitude of the tropics.
It is not beyond the confines of pastoral settlement.
but it is on their extreme verge. For many years
past there has been a small settlement at Fort
Curtis, where the town of Gladstone was laid out
by the Government. A convict station was once
formed :there, but was soon abandoned, and the
part has had no other trade than what arose from
supplying the few sheep and cattle stations in its
rear. Gold, however, was found by a man named
Chapple, at a spot called Canoona, about seven
miles north of the Fitzroy River. The news soon
spread. Hutkeepers, shepherds, and the few
labourers employed in the neighbourhood were soon
collected on the spot. Vague reports of their won-
derful success were circulated, and soon reached
Sydney. Coasting vessels, and then steamers, and
then large clipper ships were laid on for the new
Eldorado, and fitted up with extraordinary ra-
pidity. The excitement that prevailed was per-
fectly unaccountable. It was in vain that the
Herald, the only daily journal Sydney now pos-
sesses, entreated the infatuated people to exercise a
little patience, and pointed out that the gold
actually found had been a mere trifle. Rumours
ran about town that private letters had been re-
ceived giving the most glowing accounts of the
richness of the new diggings, yet none of these
letters were obtainable for pubhcation. No per-
suasions, no warnings could stay the madness.
Men were throwing up their situations in all
directions, and in many cases even employers, de-
serted by their workmen, were following them to
the goldfields. The infection reached the neigh-
bouring colonies. From all the goldfields in Vic-
toria diggers poured down by hundreds to take
their passage to the Fitzroy. The first steamer
that returned brought only 161 ounces, but the
crowds of adventurers refused to bo disheartened,
and all sorts of reasons were invented to account for
a larger quantity of gold not having come down.
The exodus, however, has received a most decided
check within the last few days. Intelligence has
come down that the spot on which the gold was
first found was an alluvial flat of limited area, con-
taining at the most not more than 70 acres ; that
though it contained gold in considerable quantities,
and so near the surface as to be easily obtained, it
was worked out, and no new diggings had been
opened ; that scores of the adventurers, disappointed
in their expectations, were flinging away their
picks and shovels and rushing on board the vessels
in the river, insisting on being carried back. So
great was the excitement that the Baratah steamer,
which has just returned, has brought back the
greatei part of her cargo, the agents being deterred
from landing it, from a fear that it would be vio-
lently 'seized by the exasperated diggers. Hun-
dreds are still on their way thither, not knowing
of the reaction that has set in and if when they
arrive no new auriferous locality shall have been
discovered the confusion will be frightful. The
Government has despatched a small police force to
the spot, and a hospital for the use of the sick.
There are no possible public works which it would
be worth while to carry out in so remote a spot, so
that there is nothing for the unsuccessful diggers
to do but to come back. Many of them have not
money to do this, though return passages are offered
by the ships at half-price. To raise the money to get
to the diggings numbers pawned or sacrificed their
little property, and have rendered themselves per-
fectly destitute by. their folly. The Government has
been appealed to to step in and mitigate the misery
that must ensue, yet it is not easy to see what the
Government can do without overstepping its legi-
timate province. The whole affair is rendered still
more perplexing by the fact that, notwithstanding
the confusion and excitement that exists, there are
many who still persist in saying that the country
is highly auriferous, that a little time will prove
it so, and that those who are returning are chicken-
hearted adventurers who ought to have stopped at
home. In spite of the return-tide of emigration
from the Fitzroy, practical diggers are still setting
out with perfect confidence of success. It is cer-
tainly all in favour of their views that the locality
is contiguous to a district pointed out by Sir It.
Murchison as likely to contain gold ; and that the
Rev. W. B. Clarke, who knows as much of the
geology of New South Wales as any man living,
years ago pointed it out as a place where gold
would be found, and adheres to his opinion still. It
is not at all likely either that gold should be found
in considerable quantities in one small valley, and
yet exist nowhere else in the neighbourhood. The
probabilities are, therefore, that a permanent gold-
field will be opened up somewhere in this district,
though there may be no discoveries of such extra-
ordinary richness as to justify the frantic rush that
has taken place.
The facility with which the new goldfield could
be reached accounts in some degree for the eager-
ness with which people have rushed there. Had it
been 100 or 200 miles inland the difficulties of the
journey would have deterred all but a few from
venturing till definite information was gained. But
the Fitzroy River is navigable for small vessels up
to a place called Rockhampton, which is only 27
miles from the spot where the gold was found,
while for small boats the river was navigable to
within seven miles of the diggings. Under these
circumstances men rushed off without compunction,
knowing that they could come back again easily
if the goldfields should prove a failure.
SYDNEY, OCT. 15.
The Royal mail steamer Emeu, with the August
mails, which she brings in her proper turn, and the
July mails, which she received from the disabled
Australasian before leaving Ceylon, arrived here
on the evening of the 13th inst. The Emeu left
Suez Aug. 27, and Gale Sept. 12. During her
whol service she has been distinguished for per-
forming the passage with greater regularity than
any other vessel ou the line.
The strong feeling of annoyance which pervades
this community at the repeated irregularities in
the English postal service has been stimulated
afresh by the accounts just re?eived of the perverse
discouragements offered by the Home Government
to opening communication via the Isthmus of
Panama. The letter of Mr. J. L. Montefiore, pub-
lished in your journal in July last, does not in the
least overstate the general favour in which the
Pacific route is held by the colonists of New South
Wales and New Zealand, while there is no oppo-
sition to it manifested by the Southern colonies,
whose separate interests would be, nevertheless,
served by the Suez line. The fact is that all parties
have suffered so much disappointment from the
Eastern postal undertakings that the experiment
of opening the Western communication would be
hailed with universal expectation in this hemi-
sphere. With us in particular matters have assumed
a definiteness and unanimity that are sure to pre-
vail within a moderately short period. On the
6th August Mr. Parkes moved in the Legislative
Assembly a series of resolutions affirming, 1. That
steam communication via India had produced gene-
ral dissatisfaction ; 2. That any new arrangement
for steam communication by that route would be in
no important respect beneficial to New South Wales,
except as a mail service, to which this colony must
always be the last point of arrival ; 3. That in the
present state of the question it is highly necessary
that some fresh steps should be taken, and that
New South Wales should insist upon having
the Panama route; 4. That in all probability,
steam communication by this route would in-
duce a large amount of spontaneous immigration
from the Anglo-American communities, as
well as from Europe • 5. That, in securing an ob-
jest so important to New South Wales, the question
of cost is not the first for consideration ; 6. That
this colony requires to be consulted before any fresh
arrangement is entered into by the Imperial Govern-
ment. These resolutions, which will reach England
b, the mail overdue in London at the time I am
Writing, were supported V all sections of the House,
and were carried by 27 to 9 votes. In consequence
the Government introduced a Bill to enable them
to enter into a contract with and subsidise, to the
extent of 550,000 per annum, any company that
will insure the course of
having
via Panama within
120 days ; and the Bill,
will baveinrga passed the Assem-
bly without division,
Thi:dsoasitdhirdttim.ell in
the Council this afternoon. subsidy, it be
borne in mind, is from New South Wale's
The general question has been taken up with
equal earnestness in Victoria, and the very rational
understanding has been arrived at that the colonies
must have a fortnightly, communication alternately
via Suez and Panama, Victoria taking in hand the
Eastern, and New South Wales being chiefly respon-
sible for the Western line. By this grand arrange..
ment both the mother country and her Australian
possessions will have a connected and complete
circle of steam communication for postal :"purposes
and for passengers, and will be enabled to calculate
the day and almost hour of arrival at arty point
round the world.

An uncomfortable suspicion has latterly forced
itself upon us in Australia, in respect to this ques-
tion of steam communication, that the Home Go-

vernment has a dispoebition to sacrifice us to the
furtherance of her Indian interests ; but it is to be

hoped that thb: cordial concurrence of th•

Ministers in the almost unanimous wishes of the
colonists when they are rightly understood will
remove the unpleasant feelings thus engendered.
Assuredly, no power or policy can kee,) the gate of
Panama closed upon the Australian co onies.
The excitement which, during the past month,
inflamed the public mind in consequence of the
reported discovery of a rich paying gold field
at the Fitzroy river is in some measure subsiding;
but the removal of so large a class of population to
a locality so remote on our northern coast, and into
a district hitherto occupied only by a few squatters,
with their stations 50 miles apart, will produce
more important results than are apprehended at the
present moment. The Sydney and Melbourne news-
papers very naturally put prominently forward
among the consequences of this exodus the suffer-
ing and anarchy that will ensue from the precipi-
tation of 5,000 or 6,000 persons on an uninhabited
desert, exposed to the exhausting influence of a tro-
pical sun, and many. of them unfitted for the hard
and patiently-sustained toil by which alone they
can hope individually to be successful, and very
little appears to be thought of the new cast that will
inevitably, be given to political events in this part of
the world, the variety of the natural products that
will be added to our exportable wealth, or the
extent of the commercial field that will be opened
by the colonising phenomenon now fixing the at-
tention of all the Australian communities.
That portion of the English public who have ob-
served the course of events in the colonies for the
last few years will be aware that formerly an at-
tempt was made by the Imperial authorities to form
a new settlement, partly for penal purposes, at Port
Curtis, a little over 700 miles north of Sydney, and
that the town of Gladstone at that port has since
been our . most important northern station. The
Fitzroy river empties itself into Keppel-bay, about
180 miles further north, on the tropic of Capricorn.
It will be noticed that it is nearly as far beyond
Moreton-bay—the intended seat of the new Govern-
ment by those who have been agitating for the sepa-
ration of the northern districts from New South
Wales—as Moreton-bay is from Sydney, and that the
settlement of a numerous population there is almost
certain to create a powerful influence against the
measure of separation as proposed. The people of Fort
Curtis and the Fitzroy, if they are to depend upon
a distant Government, will much rather preserve
their political connection with Sydney than be pro-
vided for by a Moreton Bay Administration. A
feeling of pride, as well as self-interest will urge
them to protest against the separation schemes of
the Moreton Bay squatters, which would make
their fine districts the mere outposts of the petty
town of Brisbane, aplace of 2,000 inhabitants. Ano-
ther great consequence of the Fitz Roy settlement
will be its influence on the progress of civilisation
on the Pacific, from its proximity to the morefertile
and important island groups of Polynesia. But I
am forgetting the topic of the hour in these specu-
lations,
In the early part of Aug. reports reached Sydney
that gold of a rich quality had been found very
plentifully on the surface of the earth at the Fitz-
roy, and in the course of a few days samples of the
precious metal, duly ticketed, found their way into
the shop windows of our bullion dealers and jewel-
lers. The fever which almost instantly spread
through society has been a matter of astonishment
to most persons on the spot, who were here to wit-
ness the effect of the discovery of gold by Mr. Har-
graves in 1851, for the popular excitement even
then was not more general, nor did it exhibit
symptoms of greater intensity. This is to be ac-
counted for on two or three distinct and obvious
grounds :-1. The new diggings were many hun-
dreds of miles further north than any gold field yet
discovered, and in a region that may be said to be
totally unexplored. The rich "finds" diffused them-
selves at once over an extensive field, and there
were no established facts to damp the ardour of the
imagination. 2. The journey, all but a few miles
at the other end, was by water, and therefore pre-
sented no immediate hardships, and shipping
accommodation, even by commodious steamers,
readily offered itself. 3. The gold itself and the
peculiarities of its deposit were pronounced by ex-
perienced diggers to indicate a rich and extensive
field. 4. The state of business and general employ-
ment in Sydney for some time past have produced
a feeling of discontent, and many persons in situa-
tions at low salaries, as well as many out of situa-
tions and others unprofitably engaged in trade,
eagerly caught at the chance so suddenly presented
to them of bettering their. condition. At all events,
in four or five weeks as many thousand persons were
on their way to the new El Dorado. A Govern-
ment township named Rockhampton has been laid
out on the Fitzroy, about 30 miles from the
sea, and the locality where the gold was first
found is about 40 miles further inland, and bears the
aboriginal name of Canoona. The river is navi-
gable for good-sized vessels as far as Rockhampton,
which consisted at the time of the discovery of
three tenements, a public-house, and two provision
stores. The Fitzroy is now the name on every-
body's tongue, and flaming announcements meet the
eye at every corner of powerful steamers and first-
class ships laid on for Rockingham. According to
a Government return, dated September 30th, as
many as 3,232 persons had then sailed from the
port of Sydney alone, and several large vessels
crowded with passengers have since left, though the
arrival on the 12th instant of the steamer Wonga
Wonga with 238 returned adventurers has very sen-
sibly checked the movement. Yesterday 101 re-
turned in another steamer. When a ship is about
to sail a crowd of 4,000 or; s,ooo:men, women, and
children collect on the wharves, and she leaves
amid a loud interchange of huzzas. The return of
disappointed men under such circumstances is not
surprising, and proves nothing more than the folly
of persons who go out so thoughtlessly on such an
errand. By the Wonga Wonga a reporter of the
Sydney Herald returned, and he describes as follows
the state of things at Rockhampton when he reached
that place from Canoona on his way back to
Sydney
" I did not reach the Rockhampton till the after-
noon of Monday, when I found about 3,000 persons
encamped on the banks of the Fitzroy. They were
in a state of great excitement, and were rushing
more vigorously to the vessels that were to take
them to Sydney than they had done to those that
brought them from it. On board some of the vessels
that arrived there was also some commotion, the
passengers refusing to land from the vessels that
had brought them.
"On Tuesday there was a large assemblage of
persons round the tent of the Australian Steam Na-
vigation Company on the arrival of the Sampson
with the first instalment of the Wonga Wonga's
passengers. Some threatening language was used
about rushing' the company's tent, and maledic-
tions were cast upon the company's directors, who
were believed to be in some way, though how was
not explained, implicated in the delusion under
which the men had suffered. One person made
himself very conspicuous iu this difficulty, and
harangued the people for some time. Ultimately
the crowd broke up into small knots, and, amid
much grumbling, gradually dispersed.
"Wednesday morning was ushered in with a
report that it had been determined by certain par-
ties to 'rush' the stores ; and with the intelligence
that a meeting of diggers was to be held that after-
noon to take the whole matter into consideration.
The rushing did not come off, though the meeting
did. It was not numerously, and certainly not
respectably attended. Its gist may be gathered from
the speech of one of the gentlemen; evidently one of
,nature's orators in the rough, or rather in the very
rough. He said, Look here, mates, we're not going
to starve in this here hole. I'm for rushing
the stores ; and if any of you will stand by me, here's
the man as will lead you on."fhe sentiment was
cheered, but it did not meet with further support;
and, luckily, a diversion in favour of order was
created by the arrival of the Eagle. Here ensued
another scene of confusion, some 300 or 400 persons
assembled on the shore and shouted to those on-
board the Eagle not to land, but to seize the ship.
After some questioning and answering, those on
board made up their minds; and declared by their
spokesman, We'll stick where we are.' Capt. Moodie
now came ashore from the Eagle, and yells and
hootings resounded from the bank, all aimed at the
unfortunate little steamer. As soon as Capt. Moodie
had landed he was surrounded by about 150 per-
sons, evidently with no friendly intent, for nume-
rous cries were heard of ' Pitch him overboard ;
he's as bad as the rest.' By the employment of
considerable tact and by the manifestation of much
coolness of temper the jolly old captain managed to
drag through the difficulty, and at last soothed
down the disturbance by announcing that those
anxious to go back should be taken at half price.
This at once allayed all the excitement, and on the
following day the tickets were taken up as fast as
they could be issued; and the Wonga sailed on
the following Friday for Sydney."
It is evident that many of the gold-seekers of
this class turned back bofore the search commenced,
as will ever be the case where people suffer their
desires to outstrip their reason. The practised dig-
gers are, however, still confident that a vast gold
field exists in the far north, and the work of re-
moval is steadilygoing on among them both in this
colony and in Victoria. The latest letters from
this description of adventurers are not calculated
to discourage their own order from following them.
The Fitzroy gold is in coarse " nuggetty" grains,
sand is of a redder colour than the produce of other
diggings. It has been found at a depth of from two
to 12 inches. A parcel assayed at the Sydney mint
gave a value of X 3 lls. 81d. per oz. of gross pro-
duce.
The Government have acted with much fore-
thought and promptitude in sending to the new

settlement police protection and the requisite means
for preventing starvation and suppressing tumult.
Three of the Sydney banks—the Union, the Joint-
Stock, and the New South Wales—have sent offi-
cers to establish bullion branches at Canoona.

It has long been thought by many persons who
take an interest in Australian colonisation that
sugar, coffee, and spices, as well as cotton, will yet
be successfully cultivated in the northern parts of
this extensive and varied territory. It has been
urged, too, by East Indians that the soil and cli-
mate are well suited for opium. The great obstacle,
no doubt, to these pursuits is the present cost of la-
bour, which, however, does not appear to be an in-
surmountable one in the arrangements of the future.
The interesting country which has been suddenly
unlocked by this northern gold discovery, it may
be reasonably inferred, will be admirably adapted
for tropical cultivation. One of the Fitzroy diggers
in a letter just received, says :—" I consider this
the finest climate I ever rambled in, and I have seen
a great part of the world:" _ _ _

-Little has been done in the Legislature during
the past month. The Electoral Bill is still in com-
mittee of the Upper House. As it was sent up
from the Assembly, this bill conferred the suffrage
on every British-born or naturalised subject of the
Crown of full age, and not under any legal dis-
ability, who at the time of making out the electoral
roll of any district should have resided there con-
tinuously for six months. This clause has been
altered in the Council on Mr. Deas Thomson's
motion, so as to establish a complicated system of
franchise similar to the present. By the amend-
ment every freeholder, every £lO leaseholder, every
£5 householder, every recipient of a yearly salary
of £lOO, and every depositor of £5O in the savings
bank, will have a vote. The object aimed at, no
doubt, is to preserve a property foundation for the
right of suffrage ; but it is difficult to see the sub-
stantial superiority of this scheme over the simple
plan proposed by the Government, while it will
give rise to endless complaints and agitation. It is
not likely that the Assembly, consisting of the
" representatives of the people," will submit to this
wholesale alteration of the franchise clause by the
Council, which is composed exclusively of the Go-
vernor's nominees. The unsatisfactory result will
probably be several months' delay in the passing of
any bill on the subject, - -

As yet nothing final has been done for the restric-
tion or regulation Of Chinese immigration. From
one cause or other, chiefly owing to the large hold
of the Fitzroy goldfields on the public mind, politi-
cal feeling just now is at a low ebb ; but, whenever
a general election comes round, the question of
Chinese immigration will assume a sudden import-
ance little dreamt of by some of our legislators.
Among the small settlers and the working popu-
lation it is felt as an intolerable grievance that
these people should be prowling about the colony
in thousands, all of one sex, engaging in none of
the permanent industrial pursuits, and apparently
bent exclusively on carrying off our gold to their
own country. In many instances, on the gold-
fields where they have had a numerical preponder-
ance, they have assumed a menacing attitude, and
numbers of them carry arms. The feeling very
general is that the convicts of Great Britain would
have been a preferable class to these Chinese pagans.
The revenue of the colony for the quarter ended
Sept. 30 was £352,230 against £337,916 for the
corresponding quarter of 1857, showing an increase
of £14,314. The revenue for the year ended same
date has amounted to X 1,248,011 against £1,182,361
for the year terminated Sept. 30, 1857, showing an
increase on the 12 months of £65,650. _

Among the occurrences of the month a public
testimonial, consisting of £1,068, has been pre-
sented to an old colonist, Mr. Wm. Bland, who was
among the earliest and the most faithful advocates
for the introduction of free institutions. The name
of Wm. Bland will be honourably known to all
Australians resident in England.
The total quantity of gold received in Sydney by
escorts from the different diggings, from Jan. 1 to
Sept. 30, is 182,092 oz. 8 dwts.
The gold received at the Mint in Sydney during
the same period has amounted to 261,276 oz., and
the coinage of the same establishment has amounted
to 791,500 sovereigns, and 486,000 half-sovereigns.
The total shipments of gold and coin have reached
the following totals :-41,021 oz. 16 dwt. golddust,
and £170,103 bullion.