A TRIP TO THE INANGAHUA REEFS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1045, 1 December 1871, Page 2

A TRIP TO THE INANGAHUA REEFS.

Haviug heard s and seen a great .deal,, about the Murray Creek reefs, i determined, being an old "reefer, s ' to satisfy myself by ocular demonstration as to the truth or otherwise of nic many reports of their paying qualities that have from time to time illumined the columns of the Akgt/s, and read like tales from the " Arabian Nights." " Seeing is beliey- . ing," and particularly so whenyoWvisual organs do not require the supplementary aid of the optician to discover, imbedded in all its virgin purity; the much-coveted and eagerly-sought medium of power and fame, as well as its antithesis poverty and pain. But to cut short the homily and proceed with my narrative. It is scarcely necessary to take up the space in your columns with a long and.tedibus account of the voyage up; through the beautiful valley of the Grey, with its arable land, chock full of stones, and its many smiling farms. Our correspondent usually does the agricultural • interests, &c, to the "veins of nicety," as Hibernians have it. I shall therefore content myself with reporting progrea? on behalf of the farming interests generally. 1 was much struck with the superior quality of the road between Messrs' Fergussdn arid M'Hardy's and the Sadd-VBush, and was about to credit our Provincial ; rulers ; with a superabundance of philanthrophy, when I: discovered ; that the : improved condition of affairs. wa3 due to the persevering; • -energy • and enterprise of Mr Antonio Lardi. This gentleman, ever ready to advance the interests of the district, has already cut a number of tracks up the various creeks and gullies in the valley, without, I understand, ever receiving any compensation from the Government, and now, in view of the extension of trade to Reef ton, has' made, at a : very considerable outlay, "a dray-road to the accommodation house at the Mia Mia, over which he conveys daily, a distance of 24 miles, from two to threetons "of goods. Such enterprise deserves the highest commendation. From the last-named place to the Saddle Bush,, a. distance of two miles and a half , there is also accommodation for man and beast ; this hostelry i$ presided over by a lady having the. unen-; viable soubriquet of "Dirty Mary," which imputation, by the way, is not deserved, that is, judging froto outward appearances. On my conversing with her she complained sadly of the absence,^ in that very rural district, of the refined society in whose circle she was wont to revolve. I sympathised with her, and left her pensively sad. And now comiuences : the task . of labor, to bqth equestrian, and pedestrian, in plunging sthrpugh a perfect quagmire of mud, roots, and stumps at the imminent risk to man and horse of life and limb, but to attempt anything like a description that would corive J y to the minds of the uninitiated the remotest conception of what the dreaded " Saddle Bush "part of the road is like, fora distance of -some seven miles, is certainly, more? than my pen is equal too ; in iaotan attempt would futile. It will be sufficient to say that on the occasion of my up-trip, one unfortunate pack-horse/after breaking his leg in one of the numerous chain of mud holes, disappeared, ; "body and bones," doubtless to be exhumed in future ages, and classified by the savans aa'alciq^siflce extinct speoie qf the quadruped family. And it is only by one of those fortuitous slices of luck that occasionally befriend, the humanfamUy that I am able io relate] my own adventures^ for unfortunately not" possessing sufficient penetration to discover the approximate depth of one of the before-mentioned mud holes, my unfortunate dobbin— a ( ' livery hack by the way" — immersed hv.ii3elf and driver up to the neck in a very 'elastic and teuacious: substance, possessing the consistency of dissolved glue. In tine i cause of humanity I strongly urge' upon the. notice of the' benevolent the. organisation of a society for the preservation of life,. on; the Provincial roads, and the $acLdle Bush in particular. ..( The ordinary river drags, together with a portable boat, would be the. -kind of thing -necessary for the preservation of life to, the too-confiding and' unsuspicious traveller. I have no doubt were the movement initiated j little Curtis might be prevailed upon to head the list, of voluntary subscriptions with a handsome donation— «ay ten guineas — and act as president of the society.; ,; .'. ; •■ ' ' :. :. ,i .: !M* :;■ .' The next stage from " Dirty Mary's" carries you over the Saddle, where a very excellent hostelry, owned by Mr Joseph Togge, supplies the .wants of exhausted n.atuiie, ■'■'■' <( Pull and plenty Ml appears to be his motto, and no stint. And now, off we go up the bed of the Iriangahua to Reefton. Surprise is at once engendered' by the extraordinary dimensions the town already assumes, as also the character of the, buildings, which, without exception, 'would do credit to th a seaport town ; the complete absence of calico shanties, aiid the substitution of really good, substantial weather-board aud shingle premises— even two-storied— is a sufficient guarantee of the belief of the residents in the stability and permanence of the new El Dorado. Every branch of trade necessary to: the requirements of a gold fields community appears to be fairly r«presented, ,and, .without making, invidious comparisons, all endeavor to supply the wants of customers. The latest acquisition to the township-is th& establishment of Messrs Hankin and Faler as sharebrokevs, commission, agents, and auctioneers'— a very necessary medium between the buyer t and seller .pf mining stock. They have not yet opened, but will do so in the course, of a week--1 And now for the reason why the causus cdebre of all this stir and strain, excitement and hope. The Reefs, taking them in rotation, first comes Anderson'* line, and next in turn the celebrated Shiels' line, the 1 prbsjp?e'ctin^ claim of which' being, the great ceutre of attraction, the Messrs Mace , an Co. having entered into an; agreement to 'furnish' machinery; 1 and ; before going any further, it must be, and in fact is, admitted oi all sides, that to the pluck and entjerprise of those" gentlemen is attributed -the -pressnt stressful and early development of the Murray Creek Reefs, but it is generally admitted that the 1 discovery would have lapsed into "oblivion, or at least taken a much longer period to develop its pVesent proportions. The indomitable perseverance they have observed, and the difficulties encountered to place the machinery on its site, to be understood must be seeri; Imagine a boiler — I am not quite certain as to its 1 ! but I think it is seven tons— digged, or to use a ! hautici4 tei?m,V f par-

buckled" up an almost perpendicular torrace^some hundred and fifty feet high, and then. along a rugged and uneven spur of the 'mountain a distance of one mile and -three-quarters, over which a road some twenty feet in width had to be cleared of a dense growth of timber, occupying from sixty to a hundred men a term; of six weeka to accompliah^^lfe^iKill give a faint idea of the obstacles to 'be overcome and the expense jitte'nding^^hen from three to four hundred men were employed to. attain the desired object, namely, the placing .of the plant on the machine site. Willing hands were there as well as those employed by the firm to assist in its accomplishment, and all and every praise is due to all concerned. To return from digression and "talk quartz," "I," as our neighbors on the other side of the Atlantic say, " guess I know something conßiderable.about quartz," and p to bring matters to a climax at once, and thoroughly disgusted with, the. maudlijjg and croaking descriptions and reports that from time to time have emanated from the diseased brains of would-be quartz-reefers, gentlemen who trade upon the credulity and inexperience of others, and who by their empty-headed presumption profess a knowledge of what ia to them an insoluble enigma,^namely, the value oi stone when they see it. I have examined nearly all the stbne (that is the reefs at present open), and fearlessly say that in almost, every instance they are payable. In some cases,,; for instance, Shier s line No. 1, 1 examined stone that was equal at least to lOoz perton;Kbht let it be understood that I do not mean to convey the notion that it wou^ld ar^rage tnat,' bftt if the lode- continues {W^tfiey have it at?pre'Berit in the faceWlh^F drive without a break J or " step," it will be little short of ooa to the $pn. I traced 'the golden stone on Shiel-s line and Kelly's for a depth of 100ft— that is to say, I discovered payable stone from where the reefs were first struck on the surface, down to the lowest levels that are at present open, which cannot fail to impress the most dubious with a belief in their paying properties. North and south of Sbiels' No. 1, now more generally, known -as Walsh's line, the-storie lojokj remarkably well. Adam ■ Smith.'s 4 J on Anderson^, Jina, has also , anx immense show of fruitful matrix, having no less than thr.ee. distinct leads, varying from Bft to 18in in width, each carrying gold in 1 largely remunerative proportions. This company's trial test at the Cement Crushing Co. 's battery yielded something like a return of^loz per ton. Ktlly'Sj qivtjhie.' north of Shiels' No; 2, have a splendid show of quartz, in which the gold is very liberally distributed. They have flrdveq at several levels, and in eabh instance gold shows remarkably well. This is a splendid opportunity for capitalists to furnish machinery. Some hundreds of tons being on the grass awaiting a mill. Rody Ryan and Co.'s claim join Kelly's on the north. This is a splendid property,, and cannot fail being a successful investment for Messrs W. M'Lean and. CqiV the " furnishers." The niacbinery, 1 . understand, will shortly be on the ground, the superior quality of which has already been discussed in your journal; The reef in their claim has akobqen, proved ;atr three distinct levels, . the lowest ;be^g about XSOjtt Jro.m .the ".^p.''. v .' i _-Aiaptn^ i line has been opened between Shield ; lSfo X, and Kelly's, by Mr H' Linembn. 'Gold' hajibeen qbtained in the stone, b,ui^ r^id not ascertain the, particulars. A coritraot : has, however, , been let to drive a tunnel at :; Ll per foot, and great ; things', are! ex-./ pected, the: locality being decidedlygood, being between two good lodes. : Ou Shiels' No. 2 the latest claim opened on my visit was Dohgerfcy and Co.'s, in which the stone » looks well, insomuch that several quarter . shares were disposed of at LIOO each? ThQj Victorian Co., on the same line, are putting iri a level in the underlie, under the supervision of Mr. Clinton, the manager, who anticipates, good results. Gold is palpably evident along the whole course of the drive, which; is in s.o,me. 2Qoft. One matter in connection with,... fbfese' reefs struck my attentiqn aaf*o.t ' markable-rthe very noticeable absence of the baser metals and , minerals, although I was informed by an experienced" metallurgist that sulphide : of i antimony was present in some^ of the stone. Should such prove corf e^ituwilL give some trouble. „ . ... •■-,.;, -..-.•?? ,r ; -■■ ■ • ■• •■■-■•■••-■ •• • '. ' -. i?