Country Intelligence

Dunstan Times, Issue 990, 8 April 1881, Page 2

Country Intelligence

THE UPPER Sll MWriR.I No locality is, peril jj teresting to tbe gold mi mr Mini Upper Shotover. It L a-wu-i iiS with bold adventures, di li; ilr-i mI flood and held, and large row nthe fortunate finder. Its iimcl sibility is the chief cause of ■ paucity of population, as don I aim with its many advantages the Up* Shotover would find very many nun inhabitants. As a goldfield, it been most prolific, while there is good deal of the precious metal co ing from it now, and it is qui evident, even to the most casual server, that it will not long rema in its present neglected and desert condition. There is plenty of go left in the Upper Shotover yet, at in the absence of other employing energy and enterprise, when direct this way, will soon develops fro hiding places of the precious me' # Leaving Queenstown and ci the Shotover at Arthur’s Point,/flip is nothing particularly enticing in tip aspect of affairs, as the river here takes of the character of one lotM narrow, deep, rock-bound gorge. TE road therefore makes a long detofi and, by an easy gradient, you proccfi by a pack-track, which crosses a s,i| die in the Coronet Range; thence yL descend a long steep gully, and jB reach the banks of the Shotover M mere open country, amidst some I the finest mountain and river gorfii scenery it is possible to imagifl Then a short distance brings you It the Zig-zag, a very bad piece of roll and which might easily be avoided ip cutting round a rocky bluff—a well which should engage the attention |j the Lake County Council at once, H it would open up the shotover B light dray traffic, the same as has be|| done at Macetown. The Zig-zB passed, a beautiful country opens lB fore you; broad flat terraces bordS the river on either side, while stelj woody gullies run high up into tip ranges, the dark clumps of forest pH senting a pleasing contrast to tB sterile region on the other side of Coronet Range. The pasturage S most luxuriant, and the conditiß of the horses and cattle amply tag tified to its fattening qualities. Moll of the miners appear to own a numbfl of horses and cattle, and their cotSJ fortable dwellings, perched in (W sunny nooks and terraces, surroundeß as they are by well fenced gardeß and small cultivated paddocks, pip sent a most agreeable feature in tliß really beautiful landscape which heill greets the eye. Every settled resideiß cultivates a garden and grows a p.itcH of oaten hay for his horses, to assisß during the winter time, whe® the summer months all vegetal)! I growth is most luxuriant. Tue soi being of excellent quality—as is ii variably the case in the ranges—at there being plenty o( heat and mot ture, everything flourishes to a degre scarcely appreciable in the low cum try ; all hardy fruits such as apple pears, plums, gooseberries, currant strawberries, flourish amazing! and the owners of gardens on the to races between Maori and Skipper Points are really to be envied for th possession of enormous crops; whili as to oaten hay, a very small patch c ground will yield quite a respectab! stack. Mr John Aspinall, of Skip pel’s Point, possesses a most extensiv and magnificent garden, and no ei pense appears to have been spared i: the procuring of r - arc and beautif: shrubs and plants. The less hardy sorts arc house during the winter months, and, view ing so many choice specimens of tl vegetable creation in full bloom, it! almost impossible to realise tluto vo 1 are 1,600 ft. above sea level, 'i Aspinall has the water laid on to lii garden, and by means of a hose he i enabled to irrigate the whole durin dry weather. Water at a high pre sure being an admirable antidote fo blight, this post makes little keadwa in this case, At what is called the “ branches "c the Shotover, some eight miles abov Skipper’s Point, the country still fui ther opens out, and wo view ex ten sit flats and terraces, with plenty of rid soil admirably adapted for agricnltun purposes. Could the produce bo go away— But this is an impossibilit at present, until the Lake Count; Council are in funds to connect tli “ branches " with Macetown and tl other pa’ ts of the Lower Shotover. The amount of gold mining on tli portion of the river has not been s much ns at most other places, yet i deal of gold has been extracted, especi ally by Chinese, who penetrate even where, even where the smell of go! exists, if that expression will couve; an idea of their nbiquitivenoss. Tho Europeans hero appear to con bine tho keeping of cattlo and shef| with gold mining Some of them haw large cultivated plots ; the crops loci well, and the owners should be wel provided for against winter. Summer here is a delightful t’me still, from the country being no she! tered and surrounded bv hills, tli heat is often excessive, hut it is col respondingly cold in the winter, yeti is not disagreeably so, except clurin the night-, or when a fall of moistui occurs. During the day, tho sun, ac ing upon the dry, rarefied ntmosphet* makes things quite pleasant.