The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-04 00:00:00

THE SOUTHERN STATES OF AMERICA

The following intelligence was received direct
from the Southern States by the last steamer from
New York. It must be taken at what it is worth :
The cotton loan to the Confederate Government
amounted to 1,000,000 bales on the Gth of Sept.
On that day, the day that he was reported to
have died, President Davis was at his office at
Richmond attending to his official duties.

The news is confirmed that the authorities of
Spain in Cuba have issued an order to have the
same protection extended to vessels sailing under
the Confederate flag that is enjoyed by the flags of
other countries.

At Richmond the loss estimated of the enemy at
Manassas is 15,000 in killcd,wounded, and prisoners.
ISPClellan is closely hemmed in between the lines
of Beauregard and Johnson and the Potomac. No
importance whatever was attached to the loss of
Hatteras. The press in the South is at liberty to
discuss public matters freely. Never were a people
more cordially united than the citizens of the Con-
federate States.

The cotton picking season had fully commenced,
and the planters were storing their crops away in
the seed on their estates, there to remain at the
disposal of Government until the raising of the
blockade.

TILE NOVA SCOTIA GOLDFIELDS,

(From the Quebec Morning Chronicle Sept. 21.)

The following extracts comprise the most impor-
tant portion of a report of the Provincial Secretary
of Nova Scotia to his Excellency the Lieutenant
Governor of that province :
" Provincial Secretary's Office,
" Halifax, N.S., Sept. 4, 1861.

" My Lord,—The gold discoveries in this pro
yince having not only furnished employment to
hundreds of its inhabitants for some months past,
but having now attracted the attention of capi-
talists in England, and of the labouring classes at
home and abroad, it becomes desirable that the
Government of Nova Scotia should furntshln-sorno
official form such information as shall guide those
who may desire to invest either labour or capital in
our mines. Your Excellency having assigned that
task to me, I enter upon it with a design to state
the facts in the order in which they have accumu-
lated, without colour or exaggeration. There are
too many profitable employments in this province
to make it desirable to lure people to one that may
be unprofitable or even doubtful ; and I am well
assured that your Lordship has no desire to attract
immigration to our shores by statements that are
unfounded, or arts that have elsewhere produced
much misery and disappointment.
"The existence of auriferous deposits in Nova
Scotia was unsuspected till 1800. It is strange that
they should not have been turned up by the agri-
culturist or the road-maker, still stranger that they
have escaped the vigilance of the early pioneers of
natural science—Titus Smith, George Duncan, Dr.
Gesner, Dr. Webster, Alger, and Jackson, all of
whom were laborious and painstaking investiga-
tors, and some elaborate writers on the mineralogy of

this country. Dr. Dawson, in 1855, suggested the
possibility of finding gold in Nova Scotia, and in-
dicated with some accuracy the region where it
might be discovered. But the doctor had found
none, and no interest was taken in the subject
until gold was discovered, last summer, in the
neighbourhood of Tangier.
" The discoveries made in 1860, your Excellency

is aware, were unimportant. Some hundreds of
persons, tempted by rumours of the existence of the
precious metal, rushed into the woods near the
head-waters of the Tangier, 10 miles from the sea
coast, and proved the existence of gold, it is true,
but in quantities so small, and at such a distance
from roads and navigation, as to promise no return
to the most industrious miner. The facts having
been investigated and made public, the excitement
subsided, and the people returned to their ordinary

pursuits.
" In March this year a man stooping to drink at a
brook found a piece of gold shining among the
pebbles over which the stream flowed. He picked
it up, and, searching, found more. This was
about half a mile to the eastward of the debouche-
meld of the Tangier River, a stream of no great
magnitude, taking its rise not very far from the
sources of the Musquodoboi, flowing through a
chain of lakes, which drain, for many miles on
either side, and a rugged, wilderness country, and
fall into the Atlantic about 40 miles to the eastward
of Halifax.
" The locality was most favourable for mining
operations, being within half a mile of navigation
and surrounded by a hardy population engaged
in the fisheries, whose small craft could readily
transport everything that the miners might require.
" Your Excellency visited the mines in May, and
your attention was arrested by the fact that two
men from the agricultural districts had taken from
a pit, dug four feet wide by five deep, 75 dols. worth
of gold three days prior to your visit. As 6 dols.
would have paid these men for their labour, it was
apparent that they had made a profit of 69 dole. in
three days. This profit was not derived from the
chance discovery of a nugget, but from crushing

the quartz, veins of which, there was good reason
to believe, ran for miles along the sea coast ; or
from washing the crumbling rock or soil by which
they were surrounded.
" It was impossible to resist the conclusion that
what these men had done, hundreds might (I) on
and around the same locality ; and that if aurifer-
ous deposits of equal richness could be discovered
in other sections of the country, profitable employ-
ment would be furnished for thousands of men, and
our exports and revenue would be largely increased.
"Though still reluctant to add to the excitement
which this fact, and others of a similar character,
occurring every few days, occasioned, it was the
duty of the Government to give reasonable facili-
ties, that the voluntary exertions of the,people them-
selves should be materially aided, and that as little
as possible of their labour should be lost.
"The surveyor was instructed to reduce the price
of the lots from 40 doh,. to 20 dole., and to expend
the money received in draining, the ;nine§ Ana

" Until recently only two attempts have been
made at Tangier to work any but single claims. A
small company, headed by Mr. AVm. Chambers, have
combined four or five lots, and are running a tunnel
through them ; and Mr. Robt. Sibley, who acquired
some experience and made some money by mining
in Australia, has leased from the Government three
quarters of an acre, and is sinking a shaft to enable
him to work his claim at all sins of the year.
"The lowest depth yet reached is 43ft., and the
largest nugget found is valued at 300 dols. The
gold is got in quartz veins, running through slate
or earth resting upon granite, in the form of scaks,
jagged and torn bits, like shot or bullets fired against
a wall. It is sometimes globular, but seldom com-
pletely round.

"While attention was generally directed to the
upland, Mr. John Campbell, a gentleman of con-
siderable science, with a natural turn for geological
researches, rightly judging that the cliffs with the
quartz veins running through them having been for
ages washed and crumbled by the sea, gold might be
found among the sands which surrounded the sea-
shore, tried the experiment, was successful beyond
his hopes, and immediately applied to the deputy
surveyor who had taken charge of that portion of
the shore which immediately adjoins the Ovens.
" As soon as the auriferous character of the sands
upon the sea-coast was known, there was much ex-
citement. Everybody rushed from their upland
claims and began to scramble for the treasure over
which, strange to say, the farmers in the neighbour-
hood had gathered sea manure for more than a cen-
tury without dreaming of its existence.
" With some difficulty the excitement was
allayed, the rights of all parties acquired by dis-
covery or occupation were respected, the report of
the deputy surveyor being taken in all cases by the
Government as the basis for the adjustment of
claims. Your Excellency visited Lunenburg, and
a simple code of regulations was framed by the
Council, with the aid of your observation and expe-
rience. All is now tranquil at the Ovens; com-
panies are preparing for systematic operations, and
individuals are working their separate claims with
cheerfulness and order.

"The shore washings have proved very rich.
Mr. Campbell having associated himself with Mr.
William Cunard and Mr. R. G. Fraser, proceeded
to work the four shore claims, which formed the
frontage of some 70 upland lots taken by this com-
pany in the rear. Though no accurate return has
been given by these gentlemen, there is every
reason to believe that a very large sum has been
taken from these shore claims within a month, and
the rights of those three gentlemen have since been
sold to a larger company for £1,200, they retaining
all that had been obtained up to the day of sale.
"About the same time that public attention was
attracted to the auriferous deposits at Lunenburg,
gold was discovered in several other places—at
Dartmouth, at Sheet•harbour, and at Lawrence-
town. Quartz rockiwas found all along the southern
coast, and running for miles back into the interior.
From what was known of the geological structure
of the country, the presumption was reasonable
that quartz would, and that gold might, be found
in at least 10 of the 18 counties into which Nova
Scotia is divided.

"Lawrencetown is a scattered settlement, named
after Governor Lawrence, on a small stream that
rises in the granite region behind, and falling
through a chain of lakes, finds its outlet to the sea,
between saitmarshes protected by an aboitcau. It
is about 10 miles east of Halifax, with boat naviga-
tion to the shore; but the harbour is a poor one,
with only shelter for small vessels.
" Gold having been discovered near this stream
in June last, quartz-digging and placer-washing
were commenced in a rude way, and anybody who
chose, or who could get permission from the pro-
prietors, dug, and washed, and prospected. Quartz
was found upon the surface, and in veins beneath
the soil; but although at one time expectations were
highly raised, the interest in Lawrencetown gradu-
ally diminished, until, when I visited the place
about a month ago, there were only four or five men
at work, and the prospects did not warrant the em-
ployment of an officer or any interference of the
Government,
" As it is apparent that persons working small
claims, without shafts, tunnels, or machinery, will
be compelled to suspend operations on the approach
of winter, your Excellency is aware that, for some
time past, it has been the policy of the Government
to favour the formation of companies or associations
who can afford to hut over their works in winter,
and who have capital sufficient to employ the
working miner all the year round.