WELLINGTON.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 576, 25 September 1869, Page 4

WELLINGTON.

(From the Independent, Sept. 14.) At last the cloud which ha 3so long hung darkly over the Province of Wellington seems to be lifting a little, to shew a silver lining underneath. The fact of the specimens of quartz sent down from the Kaimanawa ranges having proved highly auriferous, leads us to hope that there is at least a possibility of this province rising as Auckland has done, by means of her gold fields, from a. state of comparative poverty to the position of the most wealthy of the provinces. The evidence in favor of the Kaimanawa range proving a payable gold iiold, is 03 good as it well can be. There is not the slightest reason to doubt that the specimens of quartz were actually found in the locality indicated by Messrs M'Donnell and Brachen : who are now engaged in the endeavor to prosecute their researches in the same direction so as to leave no doubt of the richness and extent of the iield. As far back as 1862 Napia Taratoa, the late chief of the Ngatiraukawa, was lying ill at Wanganui and believed himself to be dying. As a mode of proving his gratitude to Sir George Grey, who had shewn him great kindness during his illness, Napia communicated to him the fact that there was plenty of gold in the centre of the island. He indicated by a rough sketch the locality in which the gold existed, and which almost exactly coincides with the site of the present discoveiy. On referring to Dr Hector's report on the geological survey of New Zealand, we find that, after visiting the Taupo country in 1868, he says : "There are good reasons for expecting that the Kaimanawa range will prove auriferous ; but prospecting parties have been frequently out during the last two years without any practical results." Again, at a meeting of the Wellington Philosophical Society, on the 17th July, 1869, in answer to a question put by Mr Marchant, Dr Hector stated " that at Taranaki similar volcanic rocks occur as at the Thames, but no slate rocks had yet been found associated with them, 'which was required to complete the similarity pf conditions^ at the same time he had seen very likely looking specimens from the Kaitaki ranges, but they had not yielded gold on analysis. The most marked junction of the trachytic rocks with the slates he had met with was on the west side of the Kaimanawa range, south of Taupo lake, and to which he had referred in a recent report." It is not likely that we shall be long in a state of uncertainty as to the capability of the Kaimanawa to support a large mining population, and if happily it prove a payable gold field the provincial authorities will have to be up and doing. Wellington must push a road into the interior, which can be done by way of Wanganui, the Wangaehu, or by the Rangitiki river without any very great engineering difficulty. The Kaimanawa range is about fiftyfour miles from Napier. The discoverer of the reef, Captain M'Donnell, has claimed the reward of LIOOO offered by the Government. The following is the report on the quartz furnished by the Government Laboratory : — " N. Z. Geological Survey Laboratory. Results of analysis of specimens No. 592 (quartz), four specimens ; forwarded by his Honor the Superintendent of Wellington ; locality, Kaimanawa ranges ; received, September 10, 1869 ; reported on September 11. Three of the samples are richly auriferous ; the other (the white quartz) is hon-auriferous. The gold is crystalline aud seems very similar to the gold from the Thames gold fields. It appears associated with ru tile. (Signed) Wm. Skey, Analyist. Wellington, September 11, 1869."