MR WARDEN KYNNERSLEY'S REPORT ON THE LITTLE GREY AND INANGAHUA DIGGINGS.

Grey River Argus, Issue 83, 24 July 1866, Page 3

MR WARDEN KYNNERSLEY'S REPORT ON THE LITTLE GREY AND INANGAHUA DIGGINGS.

: The. following report on the Inangahua gold-'fi'eid has i 'been furnished to the Nelson | Government by tile Warden, T. A. Kynner«ley, Esq.?:'-- !'\ ; . . •'. ■ .«"•:.' ; Warden's Office, Cobden, . June 22, 1866. • : SiR-^-Ihave, the honor to report that I'tave •/recently visited the Inangahua Valley, where I remained from June 16 to 19, for the purpose of. ascertaining generally the state of the district. ••>,, " ' - On the right or eastern bank of the eastern" branch of the river, aVout half a mile above tije junction ; of the two branches,, a small ' township has been formed (on Mr RocKfort's freehold landf consisting of nine storesand two butchers'i shops, ; On the western bank of'fthe western branch at the Deep Creek, about five miles from the juction of the two branches, there are-three other stores. On Sunday, June 17, there were about two hundred and fifty men in the principal township, and one lumdred at the Deep Creek j from which liiifer that there' cannot be less * than a thousand men in the valley. « ii&s.n -nearly evtry creek tributary to the) iw^tern branch* of the Inangahua, flowing "between it ami the Little Grey, for a distance of fourteen miles above the two branches, gold is obtained ii£?>ayable quantities. .. The saraple|o£ ; 'gold from this range varies ' -' .from rather fine-gold up to nuggets of two or - three ounce's?;, ! ■''-.',' . 'In Athet-'^cks to the eastward of the , ' .^nahgabua, bv.er. a large tract of country be•twee^the Waituha and Awarau rivers, the goldHs of a' more scaly character. As far as I could aacertain, the miners are scatterad. over, a large extent of ground, and are for the most part occupying small easilyworked creeks, which are paying, generally from f LS to L 8 per week. The terraces have /ji hardly been .tried. Very few men have set ' jn steadily to any sj'steniaiic work, but they a ;prospectiiig -and running- rapi Jly :^b,'e ; rrthese small creeks, and ifc is therefore ■*„■■ vas yet 'impossible to form any opinion as to tlie perrh,auency of the workings in the dis-' " trict, but men still continue-to go over there . 'from every part of the Grey district. The; rough packing track over which the •'• . ptores were taken, and which was. cut up the fiittle Grey and over the Saddle at a cost of L 270, has T undoubtedly -been the means of . V opening the district, for the diggings in the / Inanganua are not generally rich enough to pay' men for carrying their supplies from the Little Grey. 'When the track was first cut, pack horses ■ ■ could take .two hundred and fifty pounds over itj and one woman and four children araived_ safely on horseback at the Inangahua ; but • twenty or thirty horses passing every day for a fortnight, ' have cut up the naturally,soft ■ and iboegy> track to snch an extent that it is ' almost impassable even for an unladen horse. ..* Winter!? road party have, I believe, cutj , the road "up 'the ivestern bank of the Inangahua for about six miles above its confluence ■\Hth the Buller, and will probably reach the ■'/■ • township in about a fortnight or three weeks, ■ ;. -but abeadyjfis'33s.are taken up the Buller at .'.L -ftiess cost man they can be supplied from the Grey^ At f resent they are carried by boat about terifuiles upon the Inangahua, the '-highest polt to which a boat can betaken * -without am great difficulty, and thence packed^ upfthe river bank to the township ; but as sooAas Winter's road is completed' it •will proba»y be found more profitable to take | r the loatsTnly to the junction' of the Inan- ' ; pahau apdVßuller, and pack ; the restof the -distance.' / ! / ;' -. The prica of flour ay the township is now £4 15s peAIOO lbs ; md meat (driven over -thesadoleHs&dperlV. ..^ Althou# there isho/doubt that all supplies < ifor the ffangahna ninst eventually be obtainedby 4ay of the Buller, there will always '- ' be a considerable triffic through the Little -■■' : ''Grey-anq it may probably be . considered, ad- . visableto\form a g«/od horse track over the Baddle " J'his. would entail a considerable ex- -■ theCTffiSi atMe'head of the Little Grey, . (whe«Kll»s(.twb "iiles of corduroy would be req^lPi&d of .the steep" descent into the Lna^JhuS Jvhfch'wbvilft necessitate^a .'• sobd^d^f vsjae-cutting; .^ut.as tins is the pi?nc»andimos» only means of cdmitinmonW^tte^ller andthe Grey district, an//alB6 the natural course for a main line bTroad" between -Nelson and the .. Grey,' the rioney wouW,be^^pent, , - ' - I found tie Inangahua district generally in * ■• ■ ■ alawless aid soinewKat disorderly sfate— the ' " miners hdcling seyenty-ty?o feet 9f ground each, and the storekeepers anxiously-desirous v ,^theW(i^tipn,pf^police^l^aye^.sent t.^^morfestable Walsh, with Constables "■'^^i'J^alkdmd Jaynor^-with tents and- other " eduiS^t to the township^iivtlie Inangahua, '• wW*s&ctiß ns '^o^ remain there ptilfurthl&7&w£or the prptecfion;pf Me, and prope Jl^he maintamaice of to > Slr^uently to^ine:; land^inkithat it S?iece^ to proclaim this district a gold } lell tpon as^possib^oraltiiough^s I remariabefore, it is impossible at present to iorlQn opinion as to tiie permanency of . • " the pisent workings on yet '''•'• Nit is .reliable, now that =:the -men, have.got 11 'j^over liiere With a regular supply 9 f provisions " J.iSSpe Buller dietrict n and it ; wil], at all

"events, be some considerable time before they ; leave-it.'; ."■•■ ■.;•; .'• Vi ; . '••:. :• ... ' ■•:.'.. :l In annexing. the: Inangahua to the southwest gold fields,' the boundary might ,be formed by the Victoriajind Brunner Mountains j to: the month of : the Lyell, and down . the Buller to the sea ; or else, in order to iii' oludeithe Matakitaki, by the Spencer Mountains and; Rotoroa " River, .and down • the Buller. ''■■■ ■■■',-■ "h ' If anyof the north bank of the Buller were' included, it-would. be difficult to know where* to*stop. . : I would recommend that another Warden be appointed, who might at~ present be stationed, at the Inangaliua, and -hereaftei: removed to any more central place in tlis 'Buller district, should the diggings extend in that direction. .; ... ■-.- ..?.■ ■ . ; .: The salary of such an officer would be soon returned; to the treasury in the increased issue of rights and licenses ; and ./the- advantages are obvious of having some Reliable representative of the G.overnment;in, the' Bailer district, which .. is -too far distkut from the Grey to receive more. than an occasional visit from Mr Lightband and myself. . ' '■■■■■'':. ' fhave, ;&c.',y ..-r- Y'- '/■'■■ T. A.' Snevd Kynnersley, v ;. . • Warded. ■ - : ".""