A VISIT TO MACETOWN QUARTZ REEFS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 734, 12 May 1876, Page 2

A VISIT TO MACETOWN QUARTZ REEFS.

—o—[by our special reporter,] The most interesting gold discovery of the day is, without a doubt, that of the quartz reefs at Macetown. We had, upon several occasions, been shown specimens of highly auriferous quartz from this neighborhood, while we had also heard from private sources that the discovery was a very valuable one ; we therefore deemed it our duty to visit the scene, so as to lay before our readers an exact account of how matters stand, believing that any new gold discovery was of great value, not only to those most immediately concerned, but to the Colony at largo. We therefore mounted our horse, and after a pleasant ride, arrived safely at Arrowtown—the starting place for the reefs. We were agreeably surprised at thelpleasant change which had come over that little township during the last few years, while it evidently presented unmistakable signs of further prosperity. Leaving Owens’ Punt, at the Morven Ferry, on the ICawarau River, we enter upon quite a rural .scene ; there are farms upon every side, farms on the distant flats and terraces, and farms perched up amongst the hills which a short time since weie only deemed to be fit grazing ground for sheep. The agricultural leasing system has been very largely availed of, and a considerable population has been settled in comfortable homes apparently for the term of their natural lives ;and it is almost unnecessary to say that we heartily enjoyed this last sis miles of our journey. Arrowtown, like most goldfields’ townships, is placed rather in a hole, that is, the principal business portion of it. Still, the pleasantly laid off outskirts make ample amends for this drawback. The soil is extremely good, so there are, as a matter of course, plenty of gardens which are all apparently well fenced and stocked with trees, and in a very few years’ time there is little reason to doubt but that the Arrow will be one of the most pleasant of goldfields’ townships. The public buildings are upon a scale of considerable magnitude; so are some of the private establishments. The most noticeable is the Bank of New Zealand, one of the handsomest bank premises out- of Dunedin, and built at a cost of over L3OOO ; j then there arc three churches, two of which are built of stone, viz., the Roman Catholic and Presbyterian ; the English Church is of wood. There is a large stone school house, schoolmaster’s residence, a commodious Library Hall, and the new gaol—a similar building to that at Clyde—and a Post Office, The business premises of Mr R. Pritchard, W. Jenkins, and W. Patterson are buddings which would do credit to much more pretending places. On the following morning we started for the reefs, and proceeding up Bush Creek past the works of the Arrow United and Universal Companies, wended our way in the direction of the Big Hill, taking the track through White's and the Twelve-mile Bushes. Every gully and streamlet was foaming with water, being swollen by the late rains ; but the novelty of riding through a forest of timber most agreeably enlivened this portion of the journey, and was almost sufficient to repay us for our visit. Leaving the forest we slowly mounted the Big Hill, the view from which commanded an immense extent of country. There lay the Arrow and Frankton Flats hundreds of feet below, with Lake Hayes looking'like an immense water hole, and Lake Wakatip shining in the distance; while the great rugged snow-clad mountains of the Dividing Range wrought up a magnificent background to the intensely wild looking scenery in the distance. Leaving the saddle of the Big Hill we descended to the Eight-Mile Creek, where, at its junction with the Arrow River, we came suddenly upon a comfortable little hostelry and store known as “Our House.” The landlady—a very obliging woman—after supplying us with some refreshments, informed us, when we remarked upon the lonesomeness of the situation, that it was not so bad as it looked, as here both roads to the Arrow joined, and there was a good deal of traffic since the reefs opened. Pointing to a large stream of water running down a terrace into the river, she said that was her husband’s sluicing claim, where ho worked all day. Having been shown the best track up the river we again wended our way towards the TwelveMile and Macetown, which we were informed was only two miles distant by following the bed of the Arrow River. The irrepressible John Chinamen appear to muster pretty strong about here, and they own both river claims, sluicing claims, and tunnelling claims, some of them working both night and day in shifts, and doing very well. As we neared Macetown we passed the very pretty cottage residence of the Messrs Beale Brothers—some of the earliest residents at Macetawn, and formerly old Victorian miners. Between this and the township there are some very good sluicing claims, amply supplied with water, and paying very excellent wages. In one of them an old peat bog was found covered up forty feet under the soil The peat, which is be • tween two and three feet thick, appears to have assumed a density to nearly that of lignite, and has proved a valuable source of income to the owners of the claim.

We now come to Macetown, but it is by no means an inviting looking place, and before the discovery of tho reefs was almost on its last legs. It is, however, very romantically situated, surrounded by high mountains on every side, being situate as it were in a basin in tho ranges. It boasts of two stores, an hotel, school-house, and master’s residence; also a number of miners’ dwellings with gardens, the chief produce of which are cabbages, and tho soil being rich and damp they grow to perfection. Onions also, strange to say, flourish hero equally as well as at tho Dunstan, and wo saw several pumpkins, vegetable marrows, and cucumbers, all of local growth. Tho summer is short but it is very hot, and there exists a really wonderful growth amongst the vegetable kingdom. Upon tho whole, from what wo saw, Macetown would

bo by no rue,ana such a bad place to live in, and there is little to doubt but what it will very soou have a large addition to the number of its population. After refreshing the inner man wo once more mounted, and wended ourwayinthedircction of the reefs. The track, which is by no means a good one, is up the bed of the Twelve-Mile Creek, the which must have been rich in gold as it is everywhere gutted, even the very rooks have been swept bare by the indefatigable miner, whose handiwork has been extended in some places a hundred feet and more up the hills, whomever there has been sufficient flat ground to form a lodgement for the gold. We were informed that in this creek specimens were taken out by the bucketful, some of them very rich, while all the gold had the appearance of having had its origin in quartz reefs ; and judging from appearances we could come to no other conclusion than that this must have been the home for the gold, as the very blocks of stone and boulders which are found in the rich ground on the Molyneux could have been seen to have had their origin in the surrounding ranges. What surprised us was that the reefs had been so long overlooked; but it was explained that the people had never before looked for them sufficiently high up in the ranges, and which was really the case, as we afterwards could easily see for ourselves. A journey of two miles brought us to the Homeward Bound Company’s Crushing Machine, quite a toy in its way, and evidently a home-made article, but equally as effective as one which would have cost a thousand pounds. The stampers are of wood, excepting the heads ; the stamperbox is of the same material but lined with iron plates ; the motive-power is a twelvefeet overshot wheel; and the machine will crush three tons of quartz per day. This machine was designed by Mr horenzo fiesta -—quite a genius in machinery—assisted by Mr Ah Chung, an expert Chinese carpenter and blacksmith.

From here we could proceed no further on horseback, so we turned our steeds up a gully to graze, and went on foot to the Homeward Bound Company’s mine. The ascent was by no means an easy one, and before a track was cut must have been extremely difficult however, the sight of the mine amply repaid us for our climb, and it was easy to see that something like a permanent quartz lode had been struck, and with plenty of gold in it, as, pick wherever we liked, golden stone followed our effects. A trial crushing, we were informed, produced 4ozs Sdwts to the ton, and we verily believe that with first class machinery the result would have been greater. The lode isjfrom one to threefeetin width, can be traced over 2000 feet along the surface, (all goldbearing stone) and for fully 500 feet in depth. Such a prospect has never met our eyes since we left Pleasant Creek, in Victoria, and we feel quite assured that this time the existence of highly auriferous and permanent quartz lodes were now an ascertained fact in Otago The Homeward Bound Reef was discovered in September last by Mr William Raven, once a saddler, in the employ of Mr A. Joss, of Clyde. In connection with Mr Raven, was the two brothers Barclay, and to these three must belong the credit of taking up the reef and proving it to be payable. Mr Resta. it is said, knew there was a reef here, and informed Messrs Barclay and Raven of it, and they ultimately succeeded in discovering its whereabouts. The Company is not crushing now, having to make alterations in their tramway—the wet weather necessitating these alterations. They hope to be ready to start crushing again in a fortnight.

Mounting the range a few hundred feet higher, and almost emulating Blondin, we make our way along a narrow rooky ridge for about half a mile, we then descend the mountain side some few hundred feet and come upon the famous Cross Reef, and enter upon the Maryborough Company’s claim, in which another old Clyde resident. Mr H. J. Cope, is largely interested, also Mr Edmund Elliott, of the Half-way House, Cromwell Road. So far as the reef is opened it shows itself a well-defined, strong lode, with an average width of two and a half feet; it apparently carries two distinct bands of stone, the one on the hanging wall being a light brownish-hued mushy stone, while on the foot wall it is much harder, and blue in color; both stone carry good gold, the mushy stone especially, in fact, from what we saw knocked off the reef it should yield at least 20 ounces to the ton. The blue stone is also very rich, and when tested will, we feel assured, give a good account of itself, Again mounting the hill, following as near as possible along the course of the reef, and descending the other side (this part of our journey, though exciting, was not over pleasant, as the hill was very steep and covered with snow), we enter the tunnel of the All Nations Mine ; there has been a great deal said about the richness of this mine, but a close examination soon proved to us that, notwithstanding all that had been spoken and written about it, the stone was five times richer. The paddock may almost be said to be a jeweller’s shop, and gold can be seen freely sticking in the reef when you are two or three feet away from it; without exception, it is the richest mine we ever saw, and were it in Victoria where people understand the value of these things, it would create an immense sensation. The reef is from eighteen inches to two feet in width, occupies a vertical position, is extremely well defined, and the walls are as hard as an anvil. This lode has been traced for over 3000 feet in length, and nearly 1000 feet in depth, and there is a well-defined pipeclay vein running along the hanging wall, and it is, without a doubt, one of the best lodes ever discovered in New Zealand, and scarcely equalled in Victoria, cither by the rich lodes at Sandhurst or StawelL We now descend by a gradual slope towards Bush Creek, still following the line of the Cross Reef, and in our course pass the claims of the Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel Companies, in both of which the reef has been struck, and showing gold in payable quantities. The latter company possess a very valuable water right, and are about erecting a public crushing machine. This last mine proves the vertical depth of the Cross Reef to be at least 1000 feet. We once more regain our horses, and bid adieu to what is, without the shadow of a doubt, one of the grandest discoveries ever made in New Zealand. Wo return to Arrowtown by the Arrow Valiev track, following the course of the Arrow River all the way from Macetown. The scenery is highly romantic —stupendous rocky gorges and precipices on every side, relieved here and there with waterfalls, that of the Arrow River itself at the Sons of Fortune mine being positively a grand spectacle, Some of the scenery is very weird like, and only requires to bo invested with some striking popular legend to make it historically interesting. At other places the mountain sides are of almost verdant green and sprinkled with clumps ot growing timber, affording a pleasing contrast to the sombre-looking, rocky precipices which intervene in the narrow gorges. Wo must say that we wore positively delighted with our trip, and any person desiring a pleasant and instructive holiday, and perhaps profitable if they have any spare cash for investing, could not do better than pay a visit to the reefs at Macotown.

At a school tho other day, tho teacher asked one of the “advancedgirls ” why the noun bachelor is singular. “ Because he don’t get married !” was tho prompt reply.