Taylor to Newcastle

I have the honor to avail myself of Your Grace's permission to lay
before you some further particulars of the discovery of a vein of
Auriferous Quartz in Queen Charlotte's Island, and to submit to you in
writing some of the considerations which, in the interview Your Grace
was pleased to favor me with, I stated in support of the application
made by the discoverers for a Lease to enable them to work for gold
silver and other metallic minerals within a certain portion of the
Island.

Particulars of the precise position of the vein and 
of the
circumstances which led to its discovery, together with the expenditure
and loss incurred by Mr Easterby and his partners are contained in
the accompanying Statement and map.

Mr Easterby has come to England in the hope of obtaining such a
grant as will enable him to make arrangements for applying a sufficient
Capital to the works necessary for realizing some of the fruits of the
discovery made through the enterprize of himself and partners in
exploring the shores of a portion of Her Majesty's dominions almost
unknown and which has hitherto contributed nothing to the commerce or
wealth of Great Britain.

Mr Easterby has brought 
with him specimens of the ore contained
in the vein, which shew clearly that it is auriferious quartz of a
character and richness similar to that obtained from the mines of
California. Some of these specimens have been assayed by Mr Arthur
Phillips, an eminent metallurgical Chemist, and have yielded gold
equivalent to 10 ounces and upwards per ton of ore; but from all the
information I can gather I am satisfied that the average produce of the
ore ought not to be estimated at a higher rate than 4 ounces per ton,
which appears to be the ordinary return from such of the quartz veins of
California as have been worked on an extensive scale.

Your Grace will readily 
perceive that ores of this quality can only
be profitably worked upon a large scale and by means of systematic and
well arranged Mining operations, carried on with the aid of Machinery
and other applications of Modern Engineering, by which manual labour may
be economized and large quantities of the material may be won at a
moderate expense.

These requirements appear to me to render it impossible that veins
of this kind should be successfully worked by 'diggers' on their own
account, and to make it manifest that for the full developement of the
value of such deposits of gold it must be necessary to secure to
Capitalists, who will undertake the Mining operations, a certain 
defined area or extent of ground for a fixed turn of years and upon terms as to
Royalty or Rent proportioned to the circumstances of the case.

Mr Easterby having furnished me with a map of that portion of
Queen Charlotte's Island in which the gold has been found, and having
described to me the course of the vein and the range of the
stratification of the country, I am enabled to suggest as the "limits"
for the grant, that the area should be "bounded" on the North or N.W. by
the sea or channel, and on all other sides by a line forming the segment
of a circle, the radius of which should be five miles and the centre at
Una point in Mitchell's Harbour.

The term proposed for the Lease is Sixty years, and 
the Royalty
five per cent, that being the rate paid upon the produce of the Mines of
the precious Metals to the Governments of Spain and other countries
where they have been extensively worked.

I am requested by Mr Easterby to state on behalf of his partners
and himself, that they can offer to the Crown security for the payment
of the Royalty and also facilities for its collection, from the
circumstance of their intending to ship the entire produce of the mines
direct to London for reduction at the works of the Colonial Gold Company
or some similar Establishment, from whom the Royalty can be directly
obtained: but I would suggest that if it be Your Grace's opinion that 
there would be risk of evasion under such a system that in lieu of a
Royalty the Lessees shall pay a rent or license fee proportioned to the
number of men employed monthly, guaranteeing such a minimum payment as
may be deemed reasonable.

I may add that I know these gentlemen to be highly respectable, and
that they may safely be accepted as Lessees under the Crown: further
being thoroughly acquainted with California and the adjacent countries
and the difficulties encountered, they would be able to take measures
for their own safety and would not require from Her Majestys Government
any special protection.