MARTIN’S BAY.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2208, 4 June 1870, Page 2

MARTIN’S BAY.

(From our own Csrrespondent.) [Continued. ) The river is full of snags and heavy falls —the lowest about two miles above the head of the Lake. Prospecting parties that we met on our return informed us that they were unable to find any color of gold all the way down the river. This seems singular, as the wash looks promising; any amount of blaok sand can bo found, and one of our party found a fine color on a stone on one of the beaches. The Lake, Lower Hollyford, and township have been so fully described b} 7 others, that further description in detail seems superfluous. One fact interesting to travellers may bo worth mentioning. The bush on the Upper Hollyford is freer from undergrowth and easier to travel in than any other river I have yet seen on the West Coast. Class A, containing 10, OHO acres of land, ■which are given away in 50-acre blocks, contains without doubt the most valuable portion of the Martin’s Bay estate. It contains all the frontages valuable both on the river and Lake, a portion of probably auriferous country, land whose resources may be most easily brought to market, and contains, although full of dense undergrowth, a large extent of country covered with black, red, and white pine, ratta, and other valuable kinds of timber. : This alone should form a great incentive to settlement. Of the quality of the land in Class A, no sane man can doubt its excellence. It is, however, very unfqrtunate that the free grants should have been allotted from a sketch survey, the inaccuracies of which are so transparent that those who take up land have only now a very imperfect idea where it may bo situated. The writer has a section fronting on the Hollyford on the east side of the river, but whether it may bo half a mile up or down the river “ Qnien Sabe.” Should you feel disposed to make an application to purchase 100 acres of land in Class B, Mr Strachan, the draughtsman in charge, will iu'orm you that he cannot tell what class the land may be in ; that you may lodge the application if you please, chancing its formality, but that it is doubtful if the receiver of revenue in Dunedin will accept the applL cation. With Class C your chances are.still more remote. Are yon willing to spend LIOO in the purchase of land in Martin’s Bay ? The simple fact is, “ You can’t.” You cannot, however, buy or occupy by proxy. How are the town sections to be allotted? I hold sections in Class A, No. 31, having the privilege of purchasing a quarter-acre town section for L2 10a. How and when am I to know whore my quarter acre lot is

to be, when I am to pay for it, and whether t am to obtain possession or not before the period of two or three years elapses ? Are the thirty iildividuals who came to Martin’s Bay before me to have priority of selection—those who came there by chance, as the Rev. Mr M'lntosh, for example, en route for Hokitika or Grey, who took up land on the eastern side of the river at its mouth—or the passengers or employes of steam boats calling there ? I should hope not, or the value of the gift will he considerably depreciated. When the town sections are allotted, due notice having been given, claimants should appear in person, or forfeit or have their rights superseded—wise precautions having been taken to induce the bona tide settlor to have a chance. This matter also should receive attention. Two questions present themselves to all those who may read the foregoing, or think of going to Martin’s Bay —(I )Is the place adapted for settlement ? (2.) How can settlers earn a living there ? In s decting a site for settlement, facility for shipping purposes should ho a primary consideration - The HollyfoAl River possesses the best bar harbor between Nelson and Milford Sound ; and is the only river in the Middle Bland of New Zealand where a vessel or steamer can sail or steam in smooth water 16 miles inland. Two rocks require to be blasted on the bar for its improvement, which is not of a shifting character as the Grey, Buffer, and Hokitika rivers ; as the scour is sufficient in this dry season of the year to keep the channel open, and the Southern Spit in its ordinary position. In all bar harbors on the West Coast, where vessels are now trading, the 8. W. winds throws up a spit on the south side, causing the channel todeflect northwards, until a fresh sets in, and the scour is sufficient to open and make the channel straight again, Now this is impossible on the Holly ford* as the scour is close to the north and projecting cliffy headland ; further north it cannot go, and hence the unshifting character of the bar becomes known. Rivers on the West Coast at their mouths never deflect southward ; as the cause of their deflection — a scarcity of water and a S.W. wind being dependent on each other—tend to give them a northerly tendency, as they will nearly all bo observed to obtain. The headlands on Coast in this neighborhood are not glacial moraines, as from Abut Head to Maitahi, but bold, rocky projections of schistose rocks, A large area of well-timbered, level, good agricultural land exists in close proximity to the port and Lake. The climate, although more humid than that of Timaru, is still wanner; and although maize may not ripen as Mr Whitworth imagines, ordinary cereals, roots, &c., and pine, \ylll be foqud to flourish luxuriantly. The mean of the temperature at 8 a, in, for the last two mouths has been 47degs. to 50degs. Fahrenheit, The fine days on average have been fully live per week since the survey party landed—as they have scarcely lost any time ; while the rainfall has been considerable, at one time Sin. in 36 hours. The N.W. and N.E. winds bring the greater portion of the raiu ; while the S.W. winds brings snow and sleet. The close proximity of high ranges near the coast lines induce this large rainfall, extracting the : • - - A'Urt n.lonrl moisture ii'Oia j before their journey inland. ’ Tis Hokitika and Grey repeto with better water and harbor advantages, How settlers can earn a living in Martin’s Bay is perhaps a more difficult question.. Foremost to answer stands the lumber question. Shingles, paling, posts aud rails, railway sleepers, aud sawn timber of black, red, white pine, aud birch and ratta, can be produced at the waters edge, aud stripped easily in abundance. Kotnkutouk, matapo, tawhero, moko, and numerous kinds of furniture and building timber are found in abundance of all sizes. The river swarms with herring, flounders, and doubtless other kinds of fish ; while at the bar on the rocks, rock cod, a kelp tish like a perch, and arbuka, can be caught in abundance. Mutton and other shell fish, crabs and crayfish, are equally numerous ; while the writer saw over a shoal of 40 blackfiah at one time in the Lower Hollyford and Lake M -Kerrow. (To be continued.)