Valuable Discovery at Ohiwai.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 121, 5 March 1872, Page 7

Valuable Discovery at Ohiwai.

■'" A must valuable discovery lias lately been I s raade at Ohiwai, a cluster of hot springs a | ''short distance from the Kawakawa coal mines, ; and in the vicinity of the Bay of Islands, i ?.These springs have long been noticed for] "thjir curative properties in eases of scrofula j e |||l diseases of a similar nature : but it is j "only lately that the reason of these healing ' Effects has been discovered. Investigations 'have proved that mercury exists in immense : .quantities in the neighbourhood, distributed '-inthe sand deposits through which the springs i ,; percolate. Tiie secret is thus disclosed. The j ''Waters administered internally, or used in bathing, act by virtue of their mercurial pro- j and surprising cures, related by the , 'natives in the neighbourhood, and by in-! "valids who have resorted to Ohiwai for their; hsaltli's sake, are no longer surprising. At 'the present moment, we hear, a number of are staving near these springs for the 'benefit of their health, and Mr J. M'Laod, v M,H.Iv., who has leased the land from the' natives, is at the present moment in search of a competent person to take charge of an 'establishment to be erected on the spot fori the reception of visitors to the spa. A] i i!'t, however, from the medicinal V due j *of; the springs, the discoveries of quicksilver < Hre most important, in a commercial point of | ,' r view. We are informed that this valuable '"article is found in large quantities, sufficient n lK>' supply tiie whole of our requirements. "Quicksilver is an expensive article in mining, ''and costs some 4s. per lb. If, therefore, we "cm supply ourselves, we shall effect a con* . a 'sider;ib!e saving in our expenditure. Mr ls M'L:oil showed us a specimen of cinnabar e! bro;n;lLt by him from the springs, in which r 'the globules of mercury were visible to the v'naked eye. The books say that cinnabar ore no less than 84 to 85 per cent, of L tnercury. ( ' We may mention that the Ohiwai springs 'are seven and a half miles from the Kawa%awa railway, and so within easy reach for ftourisis.— X Z. Herald.