THE SOUTH BEACH.

Grey River Argus, Issue 56, 22 May 1866, Page 3

THE SOUTH BEACH.

(FROM A • SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) The journey from Greyniouth to the _ South Beach, diggings is by no means an unpleasant trip on a fine day, such as Saturday last' was. I had the advantage of starting early in the day, with a bright sun overhead, and a gentle, bracing wind floating in from the sea. I had been advised that I could save a couple of miles' difficult tramping by taking a boat from the end of Arney street, as far as the further end of the lagoon, my informant having also told me that the voyage up the lagoon was not without interest. Accordingly I placed myself under the care of a boatman that I found stationed on the bank of the lagoon — a very civil fellow, but whose boat decidedly needed improvement. It had a weakness in its joints, causing a continuous dribbling of water through what are called its " seams," but what I should certainly designate by what ladies know as " open-work." However, a steady application of a pannikin somewhat reduced the depth of water in the bottom of the boat, and my Charon was kind enough to hand mo a piece of plank on which to place my delicate feet out of the wet. I certainly enjoyed the row, although our progress was not unlike that of the snail, " slow but sure," the less to be regretted as the trip itself was most enjpyable. The bush on the left hand shone resplendent imder the morning sun, and the trees were literally alive with birds, of which the loquacious tuis formed a majority. Judging by the chatter they kept up, they must have been holding an Improvement Committee meeting, or something equally efficacious in eliciting eloquence. A pair of solitary ducks stared at us stolidly from the end of a snag, and slowly urged their flight to another branch of the lagoon, and a perfect tribe of shags r— neither fish, flesh, nor good red herring— evidently knowing their non-culinary properties, allowed us to pass within a few yards, without so much as a flutter. The left bank of the lagoon rises in a series of terraces of moderate elevation, the first of which str-uck me as being in truth "a most eligible site for private residences," as the auctioneers say. Barring a little exposure to the S.E. winds, or "busters," which are good for the lungs, every condition of a delightful site for suburban " cottages de ornee" appears to be provided pn this terrace. I cpufd not help thinking that should the town of Greymouth ever outgrow its present dimensions, this must become a favorite site for private. houses. Of course there is no road at present, except by the lagoon, but one could easily be made, whilst the lagoon itsglf provides a readj means of access. A small jetty here and there, and a' few good and comfortable boats would suffice as- means of communication for some time to come. A short distance lip the lagoon brought us opposite the remains of civilisation, in the shape of a large hut and an ppqn space of cleared ground, with relics of cultivation, such as erratic potato plants, which had evidently grown for no purpose but the propogation of the species: This spot, my loquacioiis boatman informed me, was formerly the site of the Government store or camp, established there many months ago under the charge of oiu** present Warden, My Revqll. I iy:as forcibly struck with the appropriateness of the situation, selected evidently after the approved Government rule of "how not to do it," it being quite out of the track of travellers, and unapproachable except by water. I understand that the tyock pf land immediately adjoining tliis'oid settlement was originally iStendQd to be a "township," and that there is a map or , plan somewheye, \\i the Survey Office ofthe grand affair this projected town was intended to, be. There was to be a " square " not unlike Charing Cross, with fine broad streets radiating' 1 from 'it, and sites for all sorts of public buildings, including, if I am no^ mistaken, a Legislative Chamber, shoving that the Surveyor was so much of a politician as to anticipate Separation. I landed for. a few minutes on this scone of depari;e.d greatness, a,nd found the ground had been most irreverently burrowed ami' rooted up by ■those 'ruthless diggers who gold is the sole end and aim of existence. Judging, however, from the nature and size of the holes, I should not, I think, be far off the mark in saying that this '"diggings," wjja, in mining parlance, " an unmitigated sliicer." ' We pulled leisurely* up to the head c i the lagoon, and^ having paid my pilot his modest shilling, and one extra for a nobbier, I soon found myself on the beach. The tide was coming in, but, owing to the calmness of the weather, the sea 'did not make much* ado, but broke in long, easy rollers, the spray glittering \t\ the. rays of the sun like a million prisms. A school of porpoises steered so near the edge of the.£urf, that one would almost imagine they intended a trip on dry land for a change. Walking on tne yielding sand and shingle of the beach is not a speedy means of locomotion, nor favorable to shoeleather, so I struck a little.way into the flax and scrub to my left, aij4 spon came on the evidences of mining actiyity, But, lam sorry to say, these evidences Avere like the ruins of Pompeii — relics only of former greatness. A long vista' of deserted claims and mpuntains of debris stretched for a, considerable distance, broken only by occjisiona! tokens of vitality, in the shape of isolated parties of diggers, whose presence only served to enhance the air of desertion which seemed to prevail. What work there must have been here ! Not a foot of ground along the low flat up which, the "lead" ran but what seems to have -been turned over. Indeed, one has to look sharp to escape slipping into one or other pf. the multitudinous holes which honey-comb the surface. The first party I came across were re-working old ground with a sn}all supply of water they had managed to bring to bear on it, and I was informed that * they were doing "well," whatever that may mean. A little further on and 1 came up with a sort of mining Alexander Selkirk — vulgarly called a " hatter V T~wh6 was hard at "work stripping a paddock, all alone in his glory. This recluse, with no one to aid him', manages to "knock but" his three or four pounds a-weekj_jsg_much for in-

wended my way, and in a little wliile was cheered by seeing that all wa3not so moribund as it appeared. Several enterprising parties have brought water-races in — some of them being works of considerable labor and skill, and arc doing " a stroke." One party, I ascertained, have made a tail-race or drain, for the purpose of draining a swamp that lies at the foot of the second terrace from the beach. . They believe this swamp to contain gold, and to test their opinion they have cut this, drain — a. work of great difficulty, as it had to be made so deep, and the groxind is so loose and sandy that they have been compelled to cover in a great portion of it. I was told also that a mile or so behind (in a straight line from the Ballarat Store) some good ground has recently been opened in a gully, said to be called " German Gully." I saw a new track through the bush, Avhich is presumed to be the road to this new ground, and it appeared to have been traversed by a considerable number of men. But 1 could not ascertain any particulars from the miners working on the beach, excepting that a good number of men had gone in that direction. A little beyond the Ballarat Store, some of the old rich claims still preserve sufficient attraction to induce the shareholders to stick to them. A fine piece of fluming, about half a mile long, supplies a few heads of water, wliich is let out at an enormous price to those Avhose ground will affipr.d it. I was curious to ask some .of the. more intelligent miners whether in their opinion the ground already worked woixld pay again if plenty of water could be brought on. The reply in each instance was in the affirmative, and my own opinion is, that if a sufficient supply of water could be had,' the South Beach diggings would support a fresh large population. Walking along the beach I came across a man shovelling the sand from the top of the beach, a little above high water mark, into a wheelbarrow, and taking it to a cradle near at hand. Ho was just stripping off a thin layer of black sand, not more than six inches deep, and I Avas desirous to learn the result of his labors. I learnt that he can make "tucker" even in this rude style. Here and there the curl of smoke rising from the trees in the back terrace betokened the presence of diggers, and enquiry, enabled me to^arn that many scattered parties are p-_ ing this teraace, and have in some cases got good gold. From the Three-Mile down to the Saltwater the aspect of the diggings is much similar to that portion already described. Here and there a few parties are doing exceedingly well, and others are hanging on. But on the whole the South Beach may be said to be almost deserted ; but I am convinced, as well by .the results of my own observation, as by personal enqtiiry that the time will come when it will again boast a large and prosperous population. The diggings are at a stand sttll only because of the want of those means of working them that require capital and enterprise to provide. The present condition of this portion of the Grey gold fields is only a transition one, and one that all the diggings will have to pass through. Let but water-races be brought on, and every yard of ground from the head of the lagoon to the Saltwater will richly repay the labor of, those who choose to apply themselves to the work.