The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-19 00:00:00

THE NEW ZEALAND GOLDFIELDS.

The following letters received from diggers at
Tuapeka have been extracted from the Nelson Exa-
miner : "Tuapeka Goldfields, Aug. 14. Dear
Friend,—l now write you a few lines about Tuapeka
goldfields, so that you will be able to inform your
friends of the truth about the diggings. I was a
week in getting here from Dunedin. The
roads are in an awful state. It takes 20 bullocks
to pull one dray with a 12cwt. load. The
diggings lie in a gully between two ranges of
hills, and a small creek runs through, where the
diggers have their tents pitched close alongside.
The gully is very narrow in some places, and not
over 200 yards in the widest; all the best claims
are taken up. Any man, however, who can
stand up to his knees all day in water can get
255. a day and his grub. The average findings on
these diggings are about £2 per man per day; but
there are plenty not making more than their grub,
and there are some working for 10s. a day and their
grub. There are a few lucky ones making about
£4O per day, but that is only one party consisting
of six. My advice is for people to stay where they
are for two months ; this gully will then be worked
out, and Mr. Reid says that when it is he will show
them another, I would also advise parties of six
to form themselves at home, and provide themselves
with a California pump, sluice, picks, shovels, tent,
blankets, &c., and whatever they need in the way
of provisions can be obtained in Dunedin. I have
had a cold ever since I came here ; at present I would
not go and dig for any man under £3 a day.
It is
killing work, and every man deserves to do well.
F.8.T." "Dunedin, Aug. 14.—Surprise, I ex-
pect, will be stamped on yourcoubnuttesnuaenhceiswthhee Case,
see my letter headed Dunedin,
and here I am. The day we wrote to you we all
started for the diggings, and have been out ever
since on the snowy ranges, lost our way, got short
of food, and had to find our way back as best we
could, nearly famished. I never went through so
much fatigue and hardship in my life. I thought
we were done for. Three days and as many nights
we were forced to clear away the snow, which was
three or four feet deep, and lie down with our
blankets thrown over us. There was not a whole
biscuit among us for the last two days we were out.
Every man in the party (and there were 35 alto-
gether) was completely knocked up, and all are
either in town here or at the accommodation house,
bringing themselves round again. My shoulders
are cut to the bone carrying my swag, and all
my teeth are loose with the intense frost, but my
spirits are not broken. I feel quite sanguine, and
intend going to work here at once for some time
till the roads become practicable. The weather is
very severe at the diggings at present, and as I have
no pump or tent it will be just as well to wait twoo
or three weeks till the weather gets fine. The news
from from the gold fields is very good, but
seyere.—N. J." the weatherne

"4.":"

TILE AFFAIRS OF POLAND.-LEITAR

FROM GENERAL ZAMOY,YEL

The following is a translation of a letter, relative
to the alleged discovery by the Russian authorities,
of 15,000 muskets on Count Zamoyski's estates,
addressed to the Journal des Debuts by General
Zamoyski, and which has been transmitted to us
for insertion in The Sun :

" PARIS, Nov. 12, 1861.
" SIR,—AII the papers of to-day repeat, after the
Prussian Gazette, the news of 15,000 muskets
having been seized by the Russian authorities on
ore of Count Zatnoyski's estates. Allow me to
make use, on this occasion, .of the expression of
M. Royer-Collard—" I do not know, but I affirm"
—that this news is evidently incorrect on every
point. Sufficient proof of this is to be found in
the conduct, during the year, of all Poland, in-
cluding all parties, without distinction of place,
class, calling, or religion.
Although the brother of Count Andrew Za-
moyski, I am not authorised to speak in his name,
all political relations having necessarily ceased
between us since the year 1831. I emigrated in
order to continue abroad a struggle which our
disasters had interrupted; he devoted himself to
the service of his country by rigorously keeping
within the limits of what was permitted under
the Russian regime. But the whole of his life—
a life of 43 years' uninterrupted public service—.
contradicts the imputation of which he is now the
object. It is well known, too, what the Russian
police is; and it is evident that under such a
system the introduction of arms, even in small
quantities, is simply impossible. But what, above
all, prevents the arrival of arms is, that Poland
does not now require any to defend its rights. The
Count Zamoyski, spoken of in to-day's news, is
the same who in March last was addressed in
words which have since become famous. The
Emperor's deputy, disconcerted in the face of a
population which knelt in prayer under the fire
of volleys of musketry, once said to him—" Let
us fight—l will order arms to be provided you."
The answer of the Count was—" We shall not
fight, Prince. You may go on killing us as yon
have done; but you will not have peace until you,
who are not Poles, quit the country. Then, and
then only, shall we forget our grievances, and ren-
der homage to the Emperor as our King."
Since this interview took place, out of four
viceroys or governors who have succeeded one an•
other in Warsaw in the space of six months, one
has died of grief, another has committed suicide,
and two have left the country tired out, having
exhausted every expedient at their command.
This is because Poland has, in truth, invented a
new mode of making war. It is the upholding,
without arms, of a right which no longer re-
quired declaring, and for which every suffering
that is endured is a triumph.
_ _

If I am asked why this imputation, which is
absurd as it is mendacious, is made, I will an-
swer by two words which explain all, " The Mode-
rates !" "It is they," according to the expression
of one of the most daring of the envoys from St.
Petersburg, "that constitute the force before which
we in Poland now feel ourselves powerless." And
why is this? Because they blush before the world
at their impotence against the Moderates. The
character of moderation, then, must be taken from
the Poles at all hazards. Already the Consistory and
half of the Chapter of Warsaw have been impri-
soned, together with tie members of two commis-
sions of inquiry, which the latter has had the
courage to appoint in succession, in order to inves-
tigate into the profanation of the churches. Simi-
larly the two Protestant priests, the Grand Rabbi,
the two Vice-Rabbis, the President of the Jewish
Consistory, several bankers, and the. Provost of the
Merchants, have been taken to prison, evidently
because they are all Moderates. In the provinces,
in Lithuania, in Volhynia, old men of 90 years of
age—such as Mr. Wagner and Count Tarnowski,
have been sent of the country. And yet, during the
whole year that these terrible trials have lasted, not
a single soldier or police agent has been struck by a
Pole, not a single insult has been offered to the most
insignificant symbol of the Imperial authority. On
the contrary, violence and insult are received by
all with the invincible confidence given to the feel-
ing of right, the unanimity of a great people, and
its faith in Divine Justice. Bat the justice of man,
so far as it is represented by the public opinion of
civilised nations, is also one of those elements of
strength on which Poland desires to rely. To mis-
lead this public opinion, is the object of the unceas-
ing machinations of our enemies. I have thought
that the name of my brother, and the danger which
to-day's news shows to be hanging over his head,
made it my duty to endeavour at least to give to
the 'measures which seem to be threatening him
their true character. I shall, therefore, be parti-
cularly obliged to you, sir, if you will kindly
facilitate my accomplishment of this duty.

Receive, &c.,

LADISLAS ZAMOYSKI.