PROSPECTING IN THE INTERIOR.

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 185, 21 March 1867, Page 3

PROSPEC T ING IN THE INTERIOR.

': (From the '.. Weet Coast Times, Sthinst.) We publish a digest of the diary of Mr I <-Oraber > who, with- a -well-equipped party . ..of six men, left the Kanieri township on I ithe 12th of January last, with the inten--3 tion of , prospecting the pQuntry towards L the head of the Hokitika, and across from 5 that- stream to the -Totara and Mikiriui ■ Rivers. ■ They , sorted in '■; a flat-bottomed boat and followed the river up for 29 I miles, until the amphitheatre',- commonly t termed the Big Basin, was reached, and ) there— on the right hand bank of the river L a short distance ft om a good sized creek, ;■■ that apparently had its sources in the ■ range dividing the water-shed of the Hp-: i ..kitika and Totara Rivers-^tho boat was ••- beached; and a main camp formed. ; : |:My > Creber's description of the Big B^smttt)^ ' responds with that given by ot^rspr^- , pecting, par ties. It is formedj)y|br<ikei [ spurs from the main range:^nrii^::down , on each' side the river^i^p^v|tiieygra- , dually near in a boldjsss£^f£nd «t a ; point eight mUes bjej^lj^^ttrst g<-> r !Z 0 \ nearlyineet, thusilo^ihg^mde lovrgw> ■ , through which v ;tpn^i?iits: The spneo i enclosed consispjof ;^ery r lo\v- iht CO1 "/" J covered with'sMßiaM^af^r^sai^^a, _ and its extent la^stlin a (<-<' •if ' „ , _ o ° : nnles.byfoar.^b<^^VS were bo satisfied Ti*ith]its appQarali^^^^ I bottom being soft granite overlaid wither * very heavy wash— that they determined to run it up. They did bo, and found the same formation in the creek bed and on the terraces, no gold being obtainable out of any of the w*sh or in the crevices of the reef. A. distance of four miles was traversed and'then tliegranite ended, and a blue slate formation came in, bearing a good-looking wash composed of granite, slate, sandßtona, and quartz boulders. The general appearance of the creek also much improved, so it was resolved to move the camp up there, and' give the creek -a thorough prospecting to .its sources. 'i^Spine difficulty was experienced in transporting the camp .'.materials,' as, at a point three mile 3 and a half from the junction of the creek with- the river, the ranges k closed in, forming a narrow gorge of perpendicular granite reef .. : So far the creek bed had been 'followed, but the water -■ in the gorge being tqo deep for wading '•-. necessitated, a j'itZeiotft 1 ' across the range, ; and v two nien were accordingly sent ' forward to clear a track for the swag men who followed. After proceeding nearly a mile hi thi3' manner, the creek was struck again, and for the next five miles the travelling proved pretty good. Going along, : the men prospected the most likely lbp'sing places, but failed to strike gold until nine, miles from the Hokitika, and then out of a crevice in the reef that cropped out of the creek bank half a dwt. of • coarse but rugged gold was extracted. This determined them to turn the creek, in order that, its bed might be .thoroughly tested ;< and the stream diverted, th«y brought up a tail-racejT-namely 2Q0 v feet long, and at the end -^ it struck the bed reef , at a, , depth of eight feet from the surface A good-sized paddock waß taken off, but. strange to relatej not a color of gold was got out of it, either off the bottom or in the gravel. Both were barren. The country widens out at tliis part of the creek, ■ forming . small flats, from -two hundred to three hundred yards wide, and as theslate reef on the: creek side in. many places formed a high ridge dipping ' both ways, it was considered possible that ; the old creek bed might be found in these ■■:' made ; . flats, or : bars, to give them the > Calif ornian name. Several shafts were ! started, but neither reached a greater J depth than three feet, in; .consequence of 1 the heavy body of water met with ; and v as the party did notrppssess the requisite ! applianipe^^to bottoinAwet ground, the \] atteinpi^^^ abandoned. A few small • east and.^^t quartz leaders were, dis- } covered: ;p^fchis creek, but no gold was '} visible in the? stone, neither would the ' casing - yield smallest -prospect when j tested with the tin dish. . ; ] } ; Ijeaving one man in charge of the|pro- ( visions, the other: six started for- the dividing range in t\yo separate^ parties. ' They crossed, it at 'different, points, and l came into a low country densely scrubbed, '• intersected by creeks and small rugged ( ranges. About a mile from the range ] Creber's party struck -\ a large ■ creek 3 bounded by slate ranges, and filled with ( heavy slate and quartz wash; The banks { of this creek had been well prospected at no very distant period, as was, evinced by, '' the many holes and paddocks sunk throughout its entire length. ''.. The new { arrivals sunk many holes, but failed in 1 getting so m.n^ even as,. the bare color ; J they would lmve tried the creek, but were ) unable tp divert the i stream int.o a, new ( cliaiinel, as the. ranges; on either side ap- ' proached' very closely, -np t> leaving sumcient space of level ground for; the con- 1 struction of i^a ■'■ side n(lume> But the £ principal feature ..of this- creek was : its quartz reef, as many lodes of stone, runnmg nearly north .and. south, were seen cropping but ; of the banks, and, in One or I places where land 'slips had taken '* place the courseiOf the st^ne could be' dis- £ tinctly traced, in the terraces. Some of 2

the reefs v/ere three .or four feet thick, and imbedded in a soft slate reef that also formed the casing! The party: tried several of these reefs, but could 3ee no gold in the stbhbjaiid although the casing was scraped from ; the side of the reef arid washed it did not yield the color. Wishing to ascertain the source of this creek,' Mr Creber fullowed it \rp and found it rose in the dividing range, at a : point several miles above where the party? crossed from the Hokitika. Its general' direction : was S.W., so the: assumption that it feeds the Totara is doubtless correct. Provisions running short,. the men decided to return, and were about starting when they were joined by their three mates, who had struck, across country .past the .Jiead 6f the Totara river, and preached tpwithin a short distance of the sources of the Mikinui. They describe the country as extremely rugged and difficult to travel, and where prospected was barren of gold. ; ... The united party returned to the Big Basin, and tho following day Creber and two othera pushed thrcmgh the gorge, and made for the source of the Hokitika river. Above the gorge the river i-has a .uiuch more rapid descent,, and i 3: blocked up by large boulders many tons in weight., The party pushed twenty miles up the stream, and the report states that the -valley'bf the: river, widens, and out in some places^ lorms flats and -low:- terraces, which were, however, backed I by high spurs from the ranges. .A very unfavorable f-es fcnnafce was formed of the gold-pro ducing capabilities of the locality, either) quartz, or alluvial. In the gorge,^|[]!pa| mile or 'two above it, the formatiou osiio country is granite, which; howeyer,;gi|es| place to mica schist, and so far folio wed the, river up, and when^^-hp penetrated the ranges on • ffhaii^ that rock appeared to predommifitppHo prospected the localityyfwis6\^rallHia;iyrf» and, then returned to the main rgamp, ;llltl as by that time the sto'ck>pf '?provisions had woefully shrunk'j'it was riiiaiii" 1 " 113 ;^ resolved to bring tho ex pediti >* t0 ll t On the 17th ult. tWboid "« 3 " Ml InJhS 1 n JhS and the Kanicri township chod * " night.