The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-30 00:00:00

AUSTRALIA.

We have received Melbourne papers to the 31st
October, and we regret that on this occasion the
prominent topic is not the gold, or the advancing
properity of the colony, but an incident which has
occurred in H. M.'s 40th Regiment, ample particu-
lars of which will be found below.

The financial position of the colony was never
in a more healthy state. The banks were doing a
large and steady business. Shares generally were
at a premium. The land in cultivation was equal
to 143,000 acres, and a bounteous harvest was ex-
pected. The yield of wheat was 27 bushels per
acre, of potatoes 6 tons. The imports of goods
were large, but a brisk demand was looked for. A
correct census was to be taken in December. On
29th October, 27,543 ounces of gold were entered
at the customs for the Heather Bell to London.
Sugar was scarce, and in demand. The prices of
igold ranged from 735. 3d. to 775. ed., according to
its origin, Balaarat taking the lead. Nuggets are
reported of 71bs. weight ; 134 ounces, dn.
In Tasmania, the Fingal gold fields continued
to engage attention, and the quartz was believed
to la very rich.
Respecting the yield of gold, the Melbourne
Herald says, in its summary, that the receipts by
escort had manifested a falling off in quantity on
the third quarter of the year, as compared with the
returns for the corresponding three months of 1856,
amounting to 3,561. ounces. This decrease, how.
ever, is accounted for by the long continuance of
wet weather and the unsettled condition of the
mining population, caused by the " rushes," as
they are called, to new auriferous districts.. Al-
though the quarter thus manifested a balance
against the colony, as compared with the third
quarter of 1855, there was an increase on the year
amounting to 421,824 ounces. The export of gold
for the first three quarters of the current year has
also an advantage over the corresponding portion
of 1855 to the extent of 361,309 ounces. Prior to
the sailing of the Red Jack-t, the quantity of gold
exported during the current year was 2,151,251
ounces. Since that return was compiled the fol-
lowing shipments have been made :—Per Red
Jacket, to Liverpool, 136,000 ozs. ; per Triton, to
Batavia, 1,013 ozs ; per steamer, to Sydney, 26
ozs. ; per Montmorency, to Liverpool, 85,723 ozl. ;
per John Temperley, to Calcutta, 6,410 ozs. ; per
Intercolonial, 45 ow. ; per Argo, to Batavia, 1,229
ozs. ; per steamers, to Sydney, 3,500 ozs. Ship-
ped during the preceding nine mouths, as already
calculated, 2,151,251 ozs. Total quantity of gold
exported during 1856, 2,485,197 ozs. The quantity
of gold brought into Melbourne by the various
escorts between September 26 and October 25
amounted to 188,882 ozs., which, at 80s. per oz.,
would make the value of its gold receipts for the
last month amount to 755,528/. If, notwithstand
ing rains and " rushes," the yield had continued
so large, there seems little reason to doubt that by
the 31st December the outturn would fully make
up the average fer the twelve months of one mil-
lion per month.
In a Victoria gold circular we read :
" From all accounts we expect to find a consider.
able increase in the yield of the Ovens field this
season, as great preparations are being made to
take advantage of the interval between the periods
of the floods ; the tin ore, or the black sand of the
diggers, has now risen in value to 451. per ton on
that field, and large quantities are obtained by
toming ; this branch of industry will soon become
of importance."
While the yield of gold thus keeps up, the wool
trade is declining. The following extract is from
the summary of the Rerald :
" From an official return recently published it
appears that the number of sheep in the colony on
the 30th March, 1856, was 4,577,872 as compared
with 5,718,180 in 1852, showing a falling off of
759,692 sheep in three years. Our export of wool
has also diminished 3,437,4111b5. This is attri-
butable to two causes—first, a large amount of the
wool which used formerly to be shipped at Mel-
bourne is now forwarded down the Murray into
South Australia ; and Guichen lay, a port recently
opened in the South Australian territory to the
westward of Portland, is beginning- to have an
effect on the quantity of wool exported at the latter
place. Probably 1,500,0001b5. are thus lost to the
list of exportx of this colony annually. In the
second place, the prevalence of scab has not only
destroyed a large number of sheep, but, combined
the
with the comparatively high prices of meat, has
inclined many stockholders to give more of their
1n Buritb
72. t
e ron
osf toua ,ci cattle,
latterlien laBhnsad6s . i
nweirer
heaaecticepodrredfsrieonntgut year's
accordingly theBcsl
iipn
is. 'likely to be larger than that of last, and now that
the scab is beginning to subside, our export of wool
will soon rival that of 1852.