THE RUSH TO THE HAAST.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1618, 11 October 1873, Page 2

THE RUSH TO THE HAAST.

[west coast times.]'/ '■ '"•'■] : Whatever blame there may be in,, the matter rests with 1 the persons themselves who were v so, hasiy to rush .to the new Eidorad'p.', It, is, ; a pity'Jthat this has happened, because there are good grounds' for believing that, with patience and some little enterprise; in prospecting,, ,n>any other claims" as good as that of Marks and party .would be, discovered. The Warden : himself states that he considers that the. discovery will be' the means of opening a permanent gold-fieldj and .suggests, to facilitate 'it's.; develcpmerit, that a. pack track should be formed from the beach fd ( the diggings^ so as to lay down provisions on tlie spot at moderate prices, and that | some bush, tracks should be cut inland, from the range- where Marks and party have their claim, so as to enable prospectors tor'travel in. This stampede back of a host of persons who perhaps- should have gone to; the" Haasfc 'at-all/may act, it is to be feared, . ka a deterrent to those better suited' for the kind of -work- that- fis required, although - there is really ' no sufficient reaaunj for. discouragement. Manyiof jbhose that went down evidently expected tOi-^ti; M'pile 'and tfieir. disappointment was' proportionately great wlien they found they ? had to, seek, for themselves places 'where payable claims were ito be hads -That they might have done so with good prospect of success is indicated by the fact that while' the pros-V nectors', claim is on the eastern side of the' range,"the creek : from' which they ; tbd.k most of the gold which was exhibited here is situated on the western side. Probably some of the miners' who stayed behind have by this time .found creeks equally auriferous as those discovered ; by the prospectors, and we may have tidings of their good fortune on the return of the; Waipara. We shonld be sorry to be! understood^ as desiring that; the- rush iwhicfr has* ended so unpleasantly; r should * ibe : renewed. Such an ; bedurrence we \ jwould deprecate altogether, but we are' jfully- impressed with a belief that, the have opened ; up some- good auriferous country, and that, with such Government aid as is recommended by the Warden, we may yet see the "Haast Rush", become the locality of a payable gold-field; . [WESTIiAND REGISTER.] We conclude, from a careful perusal of Mr Warden Tizard's report— ;not ; that the Haast is a failure, but that it is at present but an, incipient,. goldrfjeld,- requiring careful and. industrious prospecting. : . : The concluding^ paragraph points, out this in the most significantly practical manner, for it states that the late discovery is the consequence of making Matthies's -• track frqm the Haast to Bruce BayV Othertrapks' will" lead to other-discoveries,^ aswell as: widen, the sphere of search. Instead of the prospectors alone, it is. probable a few scores of miners; are left behind to prosecute earnestly their work,'-' and others will' certainly follow them." ; Sufficient store's will be opened to supply these men with necessaries at '.'mq^erare', rates, and the . true character of /the. country will ere long be determined. But it is necessary that the Government should adopt the Warden's suggestions, and get tracks . cut in various directions. We learn from experienced' miners that the district looks promising for quartz reefs, and as the mountain range approximates, to.the coast and .may be reached with comparative 1 ease, it is possible that here niajr be found the, key of the treasures -which 1 lie hid in the less accessible country more immediately to the eastward^ of ' Hokitika. Two facts-have certainly been determined by this rush— first, the bona fides of the prospectors ;' and) '' secondly, ■'• that there is more of" the" preciojjs metal in and about

the neighborhood. After all, it is possible that,, both for the mining population and for the interests of this special district, it.is better that the Haast gold-field should be gradually developed, rather than be suddenly overran by superfluous .thousandsji-of -whomronly ■ a* amall-per ■- centage could by any possibility earn waaes sufficient to pay for ■ iih© means b£ living. Such a prosperity jwuld_be,^ bjife .^ ictitibiisj while, with a gold-field extendi '■* , ing its area and population by equal steps, we may hope to do a safe and profitable business, without the usual drawbacks of ■a large deduction for bad debts and reck--lesa trading. . , [ : : [HOKITIKA STAB,.] jFirsfr of all," we may say that provisions f. were;^so. high' as ;to render prospecting ?_ almost imposaible, flour; being 303^per - r 501bbagi' Bacon and other' stores' were hot obtainable till, the steamers,, arrived, •"and then the cost .was i enprmqua. 5? , The. otily r stores' Were those ; of Macb, and;. , Canavan, and of Marks, and th'e^place" " generally was • '- wf etched; -in v/ appearancej : thanks to the f bad weather^ "The' rush} as far. as it went, was- a. complete/farcel U Theminers, as a rule, who went either ab-i r> stained from going to the gold-fields at all, or did not put a pick into the ground, No doubt the .expense of provisions and the 'necessity i of prospecting" *'fpr ! new -^ ground, occasioned this : idleness^ K StiU, ' ! ■ .notwithstanding, ; a few men '^set my and one party, on Friday lasty gotasne' ounce: "-'■■ nugget and^ a few pieces of "small' ; gold"* making up an equal' weight. r 'iri'6ther in-^ ■' stances gold in less quantity was gpt, but ' the limited area of the proved'aunferbys 1 ground hadHhe;effectof/creatiiigfa panic. A number, of; the:. Okarito men who went to the new Eldorado- had left claims yaryingfromrLS to L12 r peruweekj, in the former cases generally without* anyupror m ' tection ' whatever, " andiron the" Waipara ' engaging to go into' Ok^rito en route to , a majority t "pf' these returned. Inspector O'Donnell saiad* came back, ■leaving^ r ; Blane and- Constable^* ; M'Kenna there aarepreßentatives of heir i. Majesty; ii;Th.a,ilittlej:un, of gold in the prospectors' claim is regarded; in the t same light/ by i experienced ; miners 1 witt whom' i we have;had"c6nverse,^ as leaders in connection 1 with 3 k 1 ■ ing Quartz reef. ■'■Thiire- ? 'M.:a'^^ r ?CTB'^ i ; near^ from whic^ /ai : nn mber *-of 'I'siniflaF; 3 water-courses dive rgej arid r it'.is • 1 that in that wilLyet be found fthe'spu^cji ' from whick, the; prospectors'! goid^naß,; ., come. Possibly the frothy rush, that, seCs^ in at the .outset, is as well at an. end, for a more and better organised search will now be made, and we shall begreatly deceived if it is not attended with . the best results. .