THE NGAKAWA COALMINE.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1164, 22 April 1872, Page 2

THE NGAKAWA COALMINE.

In, compliance with : instructions telegraphed to him by his Honor- the Superintendent, the Harbor-Masterst Wesfport recently proceeded to'the Ngik'awa RiveV, where coal has lately been' discovered. . , The following are extracts from his report of the capabilities of the port for shipping . purposes : — ' In pursuance of instructions from the Provincial Secretary, I "proceeded ii the local steamer Result tcuthji. JSTgakasra,.,to erect beacons, and examine the river as to its navigable caj>a,bilities. We left Westport about 7.30 a.m., and in some, fops or five hours arrived at! bor xfcstina« tion, distant 18 miles.: from Westjfert; After crossing the bat, which was rather rough, we were boarded by Mr M'Naim, who keeps the ferry and accommodationhouse at the entrance. He took us up, the river about three-quarters of a. mile,, more or less, . where the steamer waa moored in a deep basin, . pppjoaite ths coalmine. The river is only navigable. ; at high-water.a.few.chainajibovathift-point, wheie it terminates vi. a, jcreakj running into a narrow gorge "full "of Donlders of various sizes and. shapes. .At low. water I proceeded down to the bar,* and erected [ the beacons which I had fetched from Westport. I found the bar dry. This 1 expected, being spring tides. . . ■ . After arranging the beacons and matters connected therewith, I proceeded to take some soundings, and have a look at the river while the water was still low*.

Proceeding up stream, and about two* thirds of the way to the mine, we came, to a stony fall or bar, running, or extending, all the way across the river. In the centre there were only a few inches of water where the stream was running ; on either side of this stream the formation is one to two feet higher, and composed of larger atones. M'Nairn informed roe that there was about eight feet on this fall at high water— spring tides. This I found to be correct, :before leaving,, as I sounded all the way dawn on our leaving for Westport. The bar was also sounded at the same time, and a depth of ten feet was found on it ; this is just the rise of tide, as I have already Btated its having been dry at low water. The rise of tide at Nj?akawa is identical with Westport. Before proceeding further it may be as well to dispose of the stony fall before mentioned. This is not a serious impediment to the navigation of the river, nor will its removal be attended with much difficulty or expense, seeing the stones, with few exceptions, are- small and comparatively loose, and could easily bo thrown np on either side of the channel, where the stones are pretty large. This accomplished, the floods would, do the rest in deepening the channel, and make it as deep, if not deeper, than the outer bar. •?.-•

The mine possesses unusually great natural facilities for the easy and expeditious shipment.of coal} which Chambers, the manager (himself a North of "England oollier), says can be pnt on board at eight shillings per ton. The same party informs ma • that itvifca» twelve -net seam, and will be self-draining. He intends constructing a wharf and coal shoot. This accomplished, vessels, like the t Kennedy, Charles Edward, or Wallabi, could go alongside and fill up in a few hours ; from the depth of wate.rin.the basin, vessels would always be afloat, thus avoiding any risk of straining by loading aground with a heavy cargo such as coal. The stony fall would reauire deepening before they could get to' the wharf during neap tides. This once dry, would have a salutary effect on the; met and its channels generally, as*it would tend to a concentration of the stream, and, I presume, a, consequent deepening: of the outer bar. The latter is very fair just now— loft at high water. There should be lbout 6ft 6in to 7ft at good neaps Brior to my leavingior Ngabawa, I was tomby a person who had lived two years at the latter place, that the entrance sometimes closed up with westerly gales. I was not surprised to learn this, knowing it to-beAn old. feature? of West Coast bars {Middle ' Island) as Okarito,VHokitika, Greymouth., and , Mokjhinui— the . latter only seven miles' north-east of JNgakawa— all close up periodically during westerly gales. No doubt : there is always a gutter . along the beach, but the channels are virtually doied,' and quite impracticable and unsafe for purposes of navigation. I must admit that I have grave doubts that the Ngakawa is no exception to the rule, ■ although M'Nairn says— and 'I hope he is right — that during his residence there, a period of four years—he never saw it once closed,, and also that the ohannel is generally straight. The appearance of the rivee certainly goes to prove that the latter assertion is true in the main— as the. river itself is very straight from the mine seaward — above that point it tarns nearly at a right and n\ns in a npr'»nor/easterly direction for a few chains, terminating in a creek. . . „, There is one bad "feature in this river which I cannot allow, to pass unnoticed, and 'that is the greaf l want of shelter during floods. There is a site for a wharf at the coal mine, wh'ert two steamers might find shelter, , as there will be an eddy there, and another on the" opposite

(For continuation of A ews «c? 4th Page.)

side of the river, a little below the mine, but it is limitod in extent. A great deal of the port is taken up with the boulders comprising the stony barrier spoken of — and it would require a considerable expenditure to make it comparatively. safe for the number of vessels that must necessarily visit it, if a permanent coal trade is established. The port from its close proxi-* mity to the sea will be subject to a heavy, run during north-west and westerly gales, which, although not iv itself dangerous, is very unpleasant tor boats and shipping generally. , .... . Before closing it may not be out of Elace to mention that the engineer of the tesult reports favorably of the coal, 'and prefers it to the Newcastle coal she brought from Auckland, and says that better steam can be kept with less labor ; what she took in at the Ngakawa was only a few feet into the seam and could not be considered a fair sample, yet it kept good steam, buAing clear, with an intense heat. The coal is a little soft, but is getting harder as they go in farther.