A VISIT TO THE NORTHERN GOLD FIELDS.
FROM OUR SPECIAL REPORTER.
No. 15. (labelled 14)
AND now for the Southern limits of the Clarence basin, which, wild and rugged as it may appear to the casual traveller
along the beaten paths, contains some of the most ' fertile valleys that can be found on tho Australian continent.
The geologicil formation of this portion of the main range; tho volcanic origin of its BuperBtrnta abounding in lime
and iron, its sand-stones, shales, and granites, with the enormous disintcgration of all these formations that has taken
place on the eastern slopes, connected with the frequent rains and reeking mists, aro n sure index'of a fertility on
the lower hills and valleys which cannot be surpassed, and which all tho misrepresentations of interested parties will
not be able much longer to conceal.
The fertility of a large portion of New South Wales is now beyond question, but tho proximity of our main range
to the eastern coast and the broken character of its descents are unfavourable to internal communication, while the
system of drainage is such as to present but few nnvigoblo streams. Where these do occur, and where there is fertility
of soil combined with the means of communication by water' with the capital, it is to the advantage of the whole community
that every other interest should give place to agriculture.
From this point of view, the basins of the Clarence and the Richmond, two of the finest navigable streams on the eastern
coast of Australia, llowing through choice agricultural lands of sufficient extent to produce nil the breadstuffs imported
into Sydney, becomes one of tlie most important districts in the colony, second only to that of tho Hunter. Valleys without
number, now only known to the stockman, surround the wide alluvial plains, and are within thirty miles of navir gable waters.
Independent of i ail ways and public works, the occupation of the Clarence and Richmond districts by an unrepressed agricultural
population would reduce our imports to the extent of at least half a million of pounds sterling nnmially, and throw that sum
into colonial circulation. Those, therefore, who misrepresent the capabilities of this splendiddistrict with a view to subserve
then own private interests, and to repress the advent of a productive population, perpétralo a cruel injustice not only upon
the locality itselt, but upon every man, woman, find child in New South Wales.
But let us return to our wanderings, amidst the by ways of the mountains. Our track from Ooan lies across the descents from
the plateau. Here we wend our way round the base of toppling peaks, crowned with cold grey rocks, and mantled with the dense
forests that love the eastern slopes of the main range ; and there we ti ead the margin of "some craggy steep which ilings
its shadows over the boiling, whirl-ing, howling destruction at its foot, where a veil of tangh d weeds creeps" over the
crumbling rocka as if to conceal the ravages of the destroyer, and further on ve are following the trail of wild cattlo
through the mazes of the sciub to emerge upon bright spots of verdurewheie the kangaroo, startled by the unwonted iutrusion
upon his domains, leaps away into the receEsest of the woods. And nowour path leads over langes declining in altitude as
they recede to the south-east, until they mingle with tho confused mass of lesser hills at the base of that hugo pile of
mountains which, rising like a Avale, stretches from the table lands of New England to the eastern ocean,
foi min g the watershed of the Clarence on the north ' side, and of the Bellinger and Macleay on the southern descents.
All the watercourses to the south-east from Oban contain gold, and from some rich prospects have been obtained, but
unfortunately in situations where it would be necessary either to out through a granite ledge, or peiform laborious and
expensive operations, so as to enable the digger to labour with any prospect of success. Seven miles from Oban patches of
schist make their appearance alternating with porphyries and granites, on the Aberfoyle run. Here eoarss gold hos been
frequently procured from two or three small branch, streams, which, _it is said, would afford ptofitable employment to a
limited number of miners. At this place I met with a party of tliree men, who stated that they had made an extensive tour
of the neighbourhood, and had ob-tained gold from several places, in sufficient quantity to pay what they designated os
small wages-that is, about £3 per week. Provided that two of the party did not sue- ' ceed in discovering or hearing of
richer ground, it was their intention to return when the streams wero lower. These men had penetrated as far to the eastward
as the country was practicable in that direction. They foundtheprocious metal more generally diffused, but nowhere in such
quantities as would tempt them to establish themselves at so great a distance from supplies. Reports of the great success
attending the Inbours of the first diggers at Kiandra had reached them, «eating a division in their camp, and rendering all
most difficult to please. One of the party stated his determination not to- set to woik on any spot "that did not pay £10 per week,
and that he had no expectation of discovering such on the northern side, his affections were evi-dently fixed on the Snowy River,
and he remained with his mates more in the hopes of converting them . to his vievs than of discovering payable ground. Notwithstanding
his past expeiience, the digger ever looks upon the blight side of the picture, and, like a soldier going into action, calculates
every poison's chance but his own.
Still further to the south-east, at Paddy's Lind, the same formation is exhibited, and gold has been frequently procured;
it has neither been piospected nor wmked by professional minéis. Beyond that are the Kar.gaioo Hills, abounding in slate and quartz,
?with the usual auiiferous indications. Here gold is íeported to have been obtained at various places in small qunntities;but,
thoughall the neighbourhood has bec« oiten the subject of conversation round the dig-ger's camp fire, it hns never been visited
by a prospecting paity. About twenty-eight milo* a little east of south from Oban is Cameron's Creek, an auriferous stream,
where a few parties have fouud occupation for the lost two years with varied success ; latterly this watercourse has attracted
some attention from prospecting parties, as there is a general impres-sion that the richest deposits have yet to be dis-covered,
probably in some of the smali tributaiies near its source. To note all the streams in this diroc- ] lion that hate been proved
to be auriferous would be an endless task, few have been more than very roughly prospected, and in no place have such operations
bein carried on as would justify a decided opinion OB to their probable wealth.
It may be now received as a fact tolerably wal authenticated that that poition of the cistern decent fiom the great plateau extending
from the table land of the Timberra to Glen Elgin, and thence to nie fills of the Macleay, is more 01 less auiifeion«, bilt little of
this important district has been prospected. A? the country becomes better known, I feel confident that many -lieh deposits cf limited
extent will be discovered, not'only in the numeious tributaries of the main water courses, but on the lower benches and isolated fragments
of the plateau, which 'stand inadvanco.of the main range. The vost extent i of -this district, its broken character,^ the difficulty
of access, and the general distribution of the precious metal, all tend to retard its development.
Dismissing the Clarence, with its tributaries, wo will now return to Obnn, when, passing alternate masses of granite and sandstone,
we assend to the summit of the main range, which we reach ten miles to the southward of Ben Lomond. Here the granites disappear under
the trnppean formation, and e\tenshc treeless plains bioken by wooded,hills expand in every direction. Nodular iionstone covers many
of the low ridges, and the rich black soil flats impreg-nated w ith a largo proportion of lime and iron, derived from the decomposed
traps, are intersected by many sluggish stieams, which constintly spread into swamps and satínate the low grounds, rendering them,
notwithstandn g their verdure and park-like aspect, unsuitable for sheep, which have never piovcd to be a profitable stock in this
locality. The sheep on the northern part of Now England, aie said to bo decreasing rapidly,-partly from disease, partly from the
foulness of many of the runs, but chiefly because cattle are attended with less risk, and are d»ily increasing in value. As we approach
Aimii. Je, tue country descends by a suc-cession of steppes ¡ tho cold marshy Hats aie replaced by _warm sheltered ridges, and dry
rolling plains, which decline towards the sources of the Macleay on the one hand, and the Macintyre and the G wy der on the other.
This is the once celçbrated sheep.country of New England, which follows the course of the groat rivers to the westward, and extends
as far south as Liverpool Plains. But even here the production of w ool appeals to have reached its utmost limits under the present
system of tenure, and to bo now on the decline. The waste of country under the system of sheep farming pursued in New South Wales
appears to be enormous, when the produce of a given area is compaied with that of an equal aiea in any other wool-growing country,
Our climate is unsurpassed, and the average quality of our pastoral lands not inferior to that of Hungary, Saxony, or Spain. The
difference therefore so much to our" dis-advantage can only arise from the absence of all improvement on the wild lands, resulting
from the insecurity of tenure, and the prodigality with which vast tracts of country were leased to individuals at a period when
the limited population of the colony and its peculiar institutions rendered such a proceeding a matter of sound policy. The day has,
however, arrived - hastened by the gold discovery -when such a system is no longer appli-cable^« hen ,wo must cease to permit a lew
favoured flocks and herds to roam at will ovei vast districts large enough to form small kingdoms, and, in utter recklessness of
Nature's bounty, to con-sign thousands of acres of the richest grasses annu-ally to the flames. The People's pastoral tenants '
should be limited to just so much country as they ein fairly stock, and tho duration of their tenancy might be made in some measure
to depend upon the nature and value of their improvements. Every encourage-ment ought to be afforded to those who are disposed to
incicasetho pastoral capabilitias of this noble land, by fencins, draining, sinking wells, making reser-voirs, and a careful management
of the pasturage, while it is essential to repress that dog-in-the-manger spirit so repulsive to all, and which has exercised,
and is exercising, so baneful an influence over the destinies of the colony.
Under the foregoing system a fixed rent would be more equitable than an assessment upon stock, as the latter would operate as a
tax upon all improvements, however costly, that tended to increase the capabili-ties, of the property*. It is impossible to ride
n few hundred miles over the northern portion of New South Wales, through foul and half-stocked runs, without being impressed
with tlie conviction that our sjstem of pastoral occupation has become effete, and requires reorganisation quite as much as our
mode of dealing with the agricultural lands. - Centuries must elapse before much of these lands, fertile though they may be,
can he profitably devoted to any other than pastoral purposes. The interest of the whole community, therefoie, demands that,
as they have a present» commercial value, as their occupation can be made immediately profitable, and as they can no longer
be considered as waste, they should be so farmed as to lender them .most productive and most conducive to the national prosperity.
We will now continue our journey to Bel Blair, a Email station, situated in the centre of-a vast plain, and about sixteen miles
from the Oban diggings. Here I witnessed about foi ty awes of wheat which had run into straw, and as the heads were empty, it
was not considered to bo worth reaping. The part of the flat selected for this crop was so wet that I was informed that the furrows
filled with water as the plough passed through 'them. A crop by such a method of fanning could only bo the result of some lucky accident, or
of an unusually dry season. These magnificent 'I plains could be made available either for pasturage or I agiieultuie by,drainage;
at present in their unim-proved state they aro barely suitable for breeding cattle, "and even they keep skin and bone together I
with difficulty during the long winter months-sheep . hero, as elsewhere, may be classed with the failures of the district."
Five miles of a gradual descent from the plains, and we reach Malpas, at the hoad of the Gym Cieek, said tb be the northern
source of the Macleay ; here gold has been obtained, but the stream lins never been worked by miners. The aspect of tlie country
now changes, you ure below the trappcan formations ^ exhibited on the plain, con-glomerates and poiphyries with veins of sur-face
quartz display themselves on, the ridges, and the auriferous indications reappear, wooded hills and narrow richly-gra«ed valleys
diverge on all sides. You are still descending, and six miles brings you to the first apology for a farm that I had observed since
leaving Tenterfield ;_ the hills become higher, the valleys deeper, and a mile further you reach Daly's station. Ten miles more of a
slightly broken but declining country, leaving Mount Duval on the right hand, you enter the valley of Tilbuster, intersected by a
stream falling from the high lands to the northward. Here the granites have been denuded, and here gold has been obtained ni payable
quantities ; and it is probable that this stream flows over some very rich deposits. It is said that there has been some" attempt hythe
parties in charge of the station to prevent this creek from being worked. At present, however, the people of Armidale, only four miles
distant, know how to protect their own interests in a matter of so much importance to tint town.