THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1871.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1051, 8 December 1871, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1871.

The immense mineral resources of the Inangahua District are now beginning seriously to attract attention, after remaining in abeyance for years ; but before long, especially as it is rumored that these reefs have come under the notice of those keen-eyed speculative gentlemen who love to congregate " Under the Verandah," ill Collins street, Melbourne, they will create an excitement compared with which all other mining discoveries in the Middle Island will fade into insignificance. It now remains for the inhabitants of the Grey District to exert themselves so as to direct the large trade which must necessarily spring up into its proper channel— fhe Grey Valley. Of far more importance is this than wasting time and squabbling over the merits of minor rival road routes. At present, for the want of a few miles of road, it is considered advisable to either ship goods and machinery direct to Westport or else to land them at Greymouth and tranship them to that port. Now, this is not as it should be, and if the inhabitants of this district were alive to their interests, would not long exist. It is now some four years since Mr Mabille, who was then in the employ of the Nelson Government as a surveyor, drew attention to the richness of -the country lying between the Buller and the Inangahua, pointing but the resources of the various creeks, and also drawing attention to the fact that not only gold but the baser metals were distributed abundantly throughout this favored district, and if we remember rightly alluded to the existence of the red sulphuret of mercury, cinnabar ; but little notice was taken of this at the time, and "up the Buller River" on the Westport side, and '" over the saddle to the Inangahua " were regarded as te-ra incognita ; and ijlj the discoveries of Murray and Shiel, and the steady persistence of those men forced the district into notice, the prospects were regarded as visionary. And now that it is partly developed — that the matrix has been, if we may use the term, discovered, of the richest gold field yet known in New Zealand, we are literally waajting time, while the trade of this new district is heing surely taken from us, )t is all important that a road should be made which would not only open the gold resources of this district, but aho be the means of settling with a large and thriving agricultural population, the rich plains of the Totara and Hikamatn.i., in the Grey Valley, and Fern Flat, in the Inangahua Valley, where there are thousands upon thousands of the richest land only waiting for the plough, and from whish the whole district could be abundantly supplied with cereals. Already has the member fur Westport taken action, in endeavoring to divert the traffic to the district he represents; already have the Hokitika capital-

ists begun to move ; and shall wo, who have the ball in our hands at present, let it' slip. Let us urge upon the Governnients — Provincial and General— the absolute necessity of making a main road up the Grey Valley, and, if necessary, let the merchants take the matter into their own hands, should they desire Greymouth to become the centre of business as an outlet and shipping port. The agitation for the Marsden road niay now be said to be over— whether it will be made by the way of Sawyer's Creek or by the Omotumotu rests with the General Government. It' is now time to forget recent troubles, and let the efforts of all interested in the welfare of this district be devoted to opening up a more accessible means of communication with the Bendigo of New Zealand. Never was there a district so favored as the Inangahua, with its distinct lines or-belts of quartz reefs running north and south, over an extent of country that would employ all the mining population of New Zealand. Every creek is more or less auriferous, coal is abundant, agricultural land surrounds thebelt, and if our memory serves us right, the existence has been foretold of the great agent mercury, in its richest form. The money for the construction of this road has been rendered available by the vote of the Assembly in appropriating towards it a share of the Middle Island Railway Fund, and the residents both in town and country ought to arouse themselves for the purpose of bringing pressure to bear upon the Government, so that in giving effect to the steps it has promised to take in order to discover the best means of expending the vote of ,£24,000 on main roads on the South-West Gold Fields, the main road over the Grey Saddle may receive ample consideration.