THE LEGEND OF BIG BAY.
(Southland Times.) The following account of Big Bay waa written some years ago by Ur J. Mackay jan. “I landed at Jacxson’s Biy per Maori in 1875 with my rV.her, and have spent nearly the whole of my time in the district and Big Bay Some time afterwarda I was joined by James Maloom jon , and was engaged prosp cling for gold, a>ao seeking directions reported at Nelson in 1813. On arr.ving at the p e;a indicated, which is 45 miles from Cascade Poll.t, inlanl. we discovered the direct'Ons correct, and the tunnel of a mine caved in. Being short of provisions and appliances, had to return to Big Bay, and came o®er to Queenstown. G Jng over the rel mountains we discovered upwards of 40 lodes intersecting one another, from which we took specimens to Dunedin, and after assay at Wellington they gave 69 60 of chrome, and one simple, gave zof silver to the ton. When describing the country to Dr Hectic, he stated that in hts opinio a the beat speiiemms had not been selected, and from the desorlpthn ho thought that one speiimen in particular indicated ruby silver, which is never less than 50 per cent. With regard to the record at Nelson as to the orignal discovery of gold reported in 1843 that la to be found in the Nelson Examiner The report stated that the schooner Royal Mail put into Nelson on that day, and sailed shortly afterwards for Sydney, but since that time they had never heard of her. The captain and several of the crew were disabled by an explosion in the mine, where they had been quarrying for greenstone and oth r minerals. The vessel hai all the paraphernalia on board connected with mining pursuits, such as wheelbarrows, picks,- hammers, and blasting t ols. The captain and crew were, however, very reticent, and would give no information as to where they came from or their movements. One of the crew, however, had a cousin in Nelson, and he imported the knowledge to him that the vessel had come from Big Bay and had £IO,OOO worth of gold on board, which they had discovered through the > g mey of the Mao ie?. This quantity of gold waa tha result of nine mouths’ work. The directions as to the place were given to me by this said cousin in 1864, aud I commenced to follow up the search in 1875, not being able to reach Big Bay earlier through want of smmunition. I found the directions correct in every particular. I made about six diff rent attempts to reach the spot, and the best course I found waa from Big Bay straight across to Red Hill, I found the outcrop of the reef as indicated, and spent six months cutting a track. As my particular object was to discover the place mentioned in the Nelson records as that at which the crew of the Royal Mail obtained the gold, I paid no attention to anything else; rut in the coarse of my exploration 1 found all sorts of minerals. There is no question in my mind but that the district is full of all kinds of mineral riches. 1 ’
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Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1339, 11 September 1886, Page 2
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541THE LEGEND OF BIG BAY. Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1339, 11 September 1886, Page 2
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