THE WEST COAST.

Evening Post, Issue 97, 1 June 1865, Page 2

THE WEST COAST.

We have received a co^ ye West Coast Times of the 24th lnsfi^^^ti which we make the following extracts : — We understand that applications for agricultural leases are becoming very numerous, and vigorous exertions made to clear the land of the impenetrable buah. We notice in our advertising columns of to-day a notice calling for tenders for cleaving «4x acres. The Hokitika Court-house will be the death of Mr. Sale yet. How that gentlema;! can endure to sit in that stifling box

for so many hours, surprises us. The want of ventilation is so painfully apparent that frequently the stench is beyond ordinary powers of endurance. Really the accommodation should be extended, or some means adopted for the introduction of pure, and the expulsion of foul air, for at pnsent, attending court for a day is tantamount to hunting laboriously after disease. The iiver is gradually but surely encroaching on the roadway in the upper part of Quay-street, to an extent that daily becomes more threatening, so that shortly we expect to see the houses themselves on the brink, unless something is done shortly to prevent this constant washing away of the earth. The course of driving in piles, pursued at the lower end of the quay, must be continued for some distance past Revel street, if the upper end of the quay is to be kept above water. This ought to be done at once; but, on the principle of what is everyone's business is nobody's business, we suppose the residents will allow the encroachment to continue till it becomes useless to try to stop it. The deluge continued to a degree that was positively disheartening till yesterday* and it is a wonder how anyone can screw up courage enough to remain in the district. A complete stop is of course put to all mining operations, the men only being able to work between the squalls, and the inevitable result is that a large number have left the district by the last two or three steamers. Messrs. Taggart and Co's office was perfectly besieged on Monday for tickets. The Omeo takes 80, the Lady Darling 62, and it is expected that should a cessation of rain not take place shortly, these outward bound men will assuredly be only the precursors of a larger stream, regularly washed out of Hokitika. The men are all of the same opinion — that there is gold enough in the place, but the rain is an insuperable obstacle to their obtaining it.