The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-08 00:00:00

AUST aALIA.

We have received files of papers from Melbourne
to the 16th November inclusive.

We take the followiug from the Argus of tha

date :

THE COLONY OF VICTORIA.

"In availing ourselves of the departure of the
City of Sydney as the mail ship for November, we
regret that we must begin our summary of the his-
tory of the past month by chronicling the existence
of a general and widely-spread dissatisfaction with
the postal service as now conducted.
THE GOLD.
" While the commercial aspect of the colony is
clouded by the recklessness which has continued
throughout the year to characterise the mercantile
relations of home shippers with this colony, it is
well that we can point to our gold-fields as evidences
of our material prosperity.
" The vessel that will convey this to Suez will
take a parcel of gold that will complete the quan-
tity of 100 tons of that metal shipped during the
current year.
" From all the gold-producing districts the yield
has been well maintained, and the escort returns
are still in excess of those of the year 1856.
"The district around Mount Ararat, the most
westward and the newest gold•field, is extending its
lines daily, and a field for the employment of min-
ing labour and enterprise as extensive as the far-
famed and still flourishing Beudigo is being opened
up. From thence to Beechworth the reports are
alike. ' The • yield is steadily maintained, anti the
population is employed.' Instances of individual suc-
cess have not been wanting this month. A nugget
of solid gold 2ft. 4in. in length by 10in. at its widest
point, and weighing 1,743 oz. 13 dwts., or 1461 b.
has been brought down from Kingower by four
men named Robert and James Ambrose and
Samuel and Charles Napier. The treasure was
discovered in 13 feet sinking embedded in sand. It
is perfectly free from extraneous matter. • The
lucky owners have been above four years engaged
in gold digging, during which they have acquired a
competence for life, irrespective of this their last
and best hole. A gold-field contemporary men-
tions the following case, which is interesting as
showing the fluctuations that beset a digger's
career :
" 'An instance of luck scarcely paralleled even in
the annals of Ballarat occurred yesterday. Three men
nine months ago, left Ballarat for Ararat, and re-
mained there until the present time, without being
able to earn a livelihood. On Thursday they returned
here, possessed of only one single sixpence, and
went to work on the old shallow ground on the
Black-hill Flat. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon they
came upon a large quantity of small gold, and a
beautifully veined specimen weighing 125 ounces,
which, from its size is evidently nearly all gold.
This is another proof of the unexhausted state of our
ground, and a well deserved reward to those per-
severing men, who for nine long months have
battled with extreme poverty, and five minutes
before they came upon those richer did not know
where to procure their evening meal.'
" The necessity for the economising of labour by
the establishment of a Prospectus Association is
being discussed in public meeting and through the
press at the Ovens, the most eastern gold-field, and
at Ararat, the newest and most western. The
miners of Snake Valley, in the former district, have
reduced the idea to practice. A small body of prac-
tical mine s, well appointed and provisioned at the
joint expense of the storekeepers and miners, have
been despatched to thoroughly prospect Bowman's
Forest. This kind of enterprise has extended to
Melbourne, and patties, properly equipped, have
been despatched to test certain localities by store-
keepers, whose sole advantage is the c r ain profit
arising from the trade which they will secure by
being first on the spot, when such localities are
i known to be auriferous.

" Tile departure of traasure ships since our las
summary have been as follows :

Date of
Sailing.
Oct. 15.... Simla. .
Ozt. 21.... Marco Polo ........ Liverpool . •
Oct. 23 Northumberland .. London
Oct. 31.... Gellert ............ Fong Kong 13,105
Nov. 5.... City of Palaces .... llong Kong 7,040
" LABOUR.

Ships.

Destination. Ounces.

" The number of assisted and unassisted immi-
grants arriving during the last few days has been
very great, and we much fear that many of those
who depend on immediate employment will be dis-
appointed. Although shearing commenced two
months since, and tue farmers are now beginning
to cut their hay, there is absolutely no inquiry in
Melbourne for min capable of performing these
descriptions of work, which usually require all the
spare hands available at this season. It appears
that the extra labour required c•an be obtained up
the country, without employers being necessitated
to come to town ; and this is a feature in the
case which renders it improbable that the ser-
vices of all these new arrivals will be
quickly called into requisition. Tbis is the time
of year when, from the abundance of water, as
compare] with tits summer and autumn, labour is
most in request on the gold-fields ; and if the super-
. fluous labour is now sufficient to meet the wants of
the settlers and farmers, it may be considert-d that
there are already hands enough in the interior to
perform all the extra work of harvest ; for, as the
!supply of water on many of the gold-fields will
soon be exhausted—at least, so far as to put a stop
to the working of the puddling-machines and
sluic-
operations, on which much of the hired
labour is engiged at the diggings—the number
of men seeking other employment will increase as
the summer advances, and be quite sufficient to