The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-01-11 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, TUESDAY, JANUARY 11, 1853.

AUSTRALIA.

THE GOLD FIELDS.—The oldest gold field in New South
Wales is that of Ophir. That part which has been worked
is but a fraction of what may be termed the Canoblas
gold-fields. The Canoblas Mountain, which rises to the
height of a mile above the level of the sea, is the centre,
whence a large number of streams, including the Sum-
merhill-creek, take their rise. All of these streams are
more or less auriferous. Gold has been found all along
Summerhill-creek, from its source at the Canoblas to its
junction with the Macquarie, but most abundant at Ophir
and Frederick's Valley, where the Wentworth diggings
are situate. The gold is nuggetty, and has been found in
lumps of 31b. and 41b. weight. The Wentworth diggings
I yield large quantities of very fine gold. The mining po-
pulation at Ophir, and in the creeks of Canoblas, does not
exceed 300. and these earn from 10s. to 60s. a day. The
whole of the country around the Canoblas may be consi-
dered as a gold-field comparatively unexplored, and wait-
ing for population, capital, and machinery. The Turon
district is the richest and largest of the gold-fields of the
colony. Sofala, the town which in less than eighteen
months has risen out of the bush, is situate on the richest
part of the Turon, about 25 miles north from Bathurst.
Fifteen miles above Sofula remunerative diggings were
opened at " the Gulf," and thence to the junction of the
river with the Macquarie, a distance of above 40 miles,
digging operations have been carried on with more or less
success. The gold is chiefly " dust," with a tolerable
number of nuggets and a few stray lumps, some of them
of 71b. weight. The yield of gold on the Turon has been,
in many instances, most extraordinary. In several cases
from SO to 100 ounces per day, and for several days
together, have been obtained by parties of three and four;
while others took from 20 to 50 ounces. The gold has
been obtained in equal quantities in the bed of the river
and on the banks and slopes in its vicinity. Rich dry
diggings have recently been discovered on the slope of a
hill near Sofala. Along the Bathurst-road gold has been
found, and at Wyagrlen-hill, midway between the village
of Wyagden and the Turon, " successful operations" have
been commenced. There are tracts of many miles extent
along the Turon, which, although known as auriferous,
are as yet untouched. The Braidwood diggings have
hitherto been confined to the Major and Bell's creeks,
about ten miles from Braidwood. The gold is here found
in the decomposed granite, at least so the local geologists
say. The diggers amount to 500, who earn quite as much
as the diggers on the Turon. About thirty miles north
of the Turon are the Meroo diggings. The gold is coarse,
with here and there large nuggets and lumps. The golden
reputation of the Meroo itself is, however, small in com-
parison to that of one of its tributary creeks, the Louisa,
on whose banks such enormous masses of the precious
metal have been found, and where the Great Nugget Vein
lies. The dry diggings in this locality extend for several
miles to Campbell's-creek. where from 40,000 to 50,000
miners might find profitable employment. This tract in-
eludes the diggings of Long-creek, the Dirt-holes, and the
Tambaroura, all renowned, but all yielding the palm to
the Louisa-creek, where Dr. Ker found his 1 cwt. of gold,
and Brennan his 271 b. lump, together with the largest
water-worn nugget that the world ever knew of, for it
weighed 157 ounces. There are about 1,500 miners on the
Meroo and Louisa creeks, at Long-creek, the Devil's-
hole, Pyramid-creek, Nuggetty-gully, Married-man's-
creek, and the Dirt-holes. Between the Turon and
the Pyramid lies the Tambaroura-creek. The yield
of gold is very large, since many of the claims yield
from two to twelve ounces a day. The number of miners
is computed at 1,000. The Hanging-rock, situate on the
Peel River, is a goldfield of established renown. The
Oaken-ville, Hurdle, and Oakey creeks, which flow into
the Peel, have been found to be rich in auriferous de-
posits, and a large tract of country in the vicinity presents
the same indications. There are about 200 diggers, who
are doing well. The last discovered diggings in New
South Wales are at Bingara on the Courangoura-creek,
which joins the Gwydir River, 70 miles to the north-west
of Tamworth. The gold appeared to lie in inexhaustible
abundance on all sides. It is nuggetty, coarse-grained,
and very little worn. At various places between the
Hanging-rock and Bingara gold has been found, in some
instances lying on the surface of the ground. There are
about 8,000 miners at work on all these various gold-
fields ; but the Sydney Empire is of opinion that not less
than 200,000 persons would find profitable employment
on the large tracts of auriferous country, hitherto un-
worked, which the colony is known to possess. Besides
the established goldfields, there are various localities in
which gold is known to exist, but which have not as yet
been worked but by a stray " prospecting" party. Chief
among these is the territory of the Abercrombie River, 40
miles south from Bathurst. Large quantities of gold have
here been found by chance, not only in the river itself,
but at the Sounding-rock, and in the Tuenna, Mulgunnia,
Copoerhannia, and Mountain Run creeks. Gold has
also been found at Havila, on Campbell's River, and in
the Gylmandyke and Davis creeks, its tributaries ; at
Winburndale-creek, a few miles to the northward from
Bathurst; at Billaboug range, 100 miles west of Ba-
thurst; and at the Snowy Mountains, where the Rev.
W. B. Clarke, who searched by order of the Government,
discovered an extensive tract of auriferous country

FO REIGN

MISCELLANY

Dr. CARTWRIGHT, of New Orleans, asserts, from per-
sonal experience, that a few hours spent in a sugar manu-
factory, inhaling the saccharine fumes, is a certain cure
for that dreadful disease, consumption.
THE NEW YORK CRYSTAL PALACE, which is to
convert Reservoir-square into a sort of Hyde-park, and
quadruple the value of property in its vicinity, is, we
understand, progressing very favourably, and promises to
have a most successful result.

DENMARK.—The Augsburg Gazette states that the
Duke d'Augustenhurg has concluded a treaty with the
Danish government for the sale of his estates in the
Duchy of Schleswick to the Crown of Denmark. He will
receive 350,000 thalers in cash, and 3,000,000 thalers in
bonds.

PIRACY.—On the 7th of November the Prussian brig
Flora was boarded in the Straits of Gibraltar, by a boat
with ten men, who first fired at the crew of the Flora.
They commanded the captain to run the vessel ashore, on
the coast of Morocco, which he was unable to do, in con-
sequence of a calm. The pirates then shot the helmsman,
and threw his body into the sea. After ransacking the
vessel they left her.

SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH IN AMERICA.—The laying
down of the first submarine cable in the United States,
and which is ultimately intended to connect this country
and the continent of Europe with the continent of America,
has just been completed. The cable which forms the first
section of the Newfoundland Electric Telegraph Works
has been sunk between Cape Tormentine, New Bruns-
wick, and Carlton Head, on Prince Edward's Island.