LATEST FROM THE WEST COAST GOLDFIELD.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume V, Issue 257, 26 April 1865, Page 2

LATEST FROM THE WEST COAST GOLDFIELD.

(From the Nelson Colonist, April 11.) ° w' H f St , Eameb Nblms on thb T l h f W , aUa °? retu vned from the Okitiki on Saturday, bringing 60 returned diggers and no gold tins tnp. She reports the stranJhi * ot the JSe.son on the bar of the river. There was a considerable surf at the entrance; and the Aelson, being heavily laden (that is, heavily for her, whose paddle shaft is fixed too low, and immorses her paddles too deeply in the water), at he most critical moment refused to answer her i w rf n WUS , ll “ I3ted > bnt without effect, and she drifted on the hank broadside on a short distance below the spot where the ‘Storm Bird’ is 'tv ex P° sed position than •?. ,t°im Bird, which lies nearly stem on and will be partly sheltered from the force of any sea winch may arise by the ‘Nelson,’ which will recen e slie lull force of the waves from any southgale, Ihore is no more hope of getting the '^ onu J f lrd { "an there is of the ‘Nelson* Mr Leech, the captain, writes by the ‘ Titania’ to say (hat he entertains hopes of getting her off as the tides are now increasing, and (he chances ’are therefore ns favorable as they could be in the circumstances.

The Otago steamer ■ Titania ’ arrived at Nelson on Sunday, having left on Saturday morning Bv advices received by her wo learn that the' efforts o f two steamers to pull off the ‘Nelson’ were ineffectual, and that her position was worse than when the Wallaby left. She may be got off, bu" the opinion of experienced men is akinst the supposition. m

Ihe ‘Titania’ brought one hundred and efohtvfour passengers, most of whom are bound for ?( ! a * S °’ TJ TIe 1f P ° rt 3 of . these men are unfavour, able. They all concur in saying that the diggins have been overrushed. Some say that there are three classes of diggers, those who are doing tolerably well, making good . wages, and laying by something; those who are merely matin» their tucker ft e., food), and those who are starving °l ancl i hiß cla3s f °rms the largest ?ni tSr®’ t i T le - V °, re leavm S b T hundreds over, land, that is, those who cannot afford to nav fn* their passages ; but their places are being supS by new arrivals. A. correspondent saysthafc“ the population of the entire district must be at least IS.vOO. Every day or two there is a fresh rush, winch scarcely lessens the street stragglers.- a few of those who have means rush on, while the mom dilatory roam the street from morning till nieht deploring their lot.” ° *

t b 7 P. erßons arrived in the ■' iitama, that a Maori chief was, about the time the steamer left; endeavouring to charter one of the small steamers for himself and a party of his - tribe to take them and a proper eupplj of pro-' vision, to tfriver .tout 130 milt* ftmher south' .

tbaadhe Olfitiki, where he reports that rich gold depolits exist. We had heard of this before, and that a party of Maoris had previously prospected the districted, and found it to he much richer than where the present diggings are located; hut they could not stay oh the spot for want of provisions. Some ten days ago, the chief alluded to, whose nime is Paiura Te Eangikatata, and who is native assessor for the Buller and Grey district in this province, called on Mr Hugh, one of the Government interpreters here, and told him of his Intention to go down and charter a steamer for this river, which he named the Okarita, and described as being fitted for large vessels, having more water and a better entrance. To the south of this river is another and smaller streem, called by the natives the Waiau, and the basin of this, river they declare to be richer than any other part of the coast. On.a nide sketch of the West Coast from the Okitiki southwards, by the Maori ebief. a copy of which has been handed to us by Mr Hough, the Totara is set down as being gold bearing in the river itself and the districk,” then follow'the Wanganui and Waitgnga, a couple of small rivers, and then tha Okarita appears. Regarding the Totara, Mr Hough writes us:— “In the Colonist of April 7 mention is made of a new rush, called Fox’s rush. This is on the Totara, one of the rivers of the south, which yon will perceive the native has spoken of as a gold river. He could know nothing about this rush having taken place, as he has been here a month or more waiting to sea Mr A. Mackay.” Tracing the latest map of Canterbury, formed from the survey of the Canterbury officials, we find that the river Haast, answers to that spoken of by the Maoris as the Okarita, and south of the Haast is a small unnamed stream which answers to the Waiau. The Haast debouches into the ocean at the northern point of Open Bay, and the Waiau stream is about ten miles to the south of the Haast, and three or four miles south of Open Bay Islands. .No other river or stream is placed on the map until we reach .Jackson’s Bay, twelve or fifteen miles further on. The Haast for tha last ten miles of its course to the sea flows through what the surveyors describe as dense forest plains.

For some short time the existence of this district as a gold district has been whispered about, not improbably springing from Maori talk, which always gathers as it goes, the Maori liking for newsmongering and romancing being extreme. We hare given the entire Maori narrative; and that the natives believe in it is evident from the fact of their anxiety to be first on the ground to secure claims. At the same time we must warn any diggers that Maori discoveries have often turned out complete failures. Besides, we must remind the public that within the pa-t twelve months parties of experienced diggers in three sailing craft went as far south as Jackson’s Bay, skirting the coast, and prospecting the rivers, and returned after three months’ stay without success.

Seeing all this, a carefully formed prosper! ing party should test the accuracy of the Maoris stale ment, and nothinglike a rush should be attempted to an inhospitable and distant region, until it is ascertained , on indubitable authority, and the production of good and unmistakable prospect®, that the district is really gold bearing and payable. The rainy winter months are apprirching, and hard up as 1 many may be on the Okitiki, they would find themselves worse off on the Tlaast, if without examination'they trus! to a mere Maori report which'has not been verified. We copy the following items from a letter dated Okitiki, received by last steamer— April 16. Traders here are more spirited than people in Nelson.-cah have any idea of. A person near to my claim has commenced putting up a brick oven, which will cost from £6O to £7O, or perhaps more; yet he expects to clear his expenses by the profits to arise, in a week’s time, the bricks of the oven cost 50s. per hundred, o«* sixpence each, and he has used 500 in the construction. Sawn timber is 455. par 100 feet. Bread,has been reduced to 2s. 6d. a loaf, and potatoes to Is. for 51hs, I have not* the utmost confidence in the place, although it is still increasing and it is likely to do so for some months to come. The early excitement has considerably abated since I arrived, but the place is progressing. Buildings, which will cost from £3OO to £SOO when completed, are being erected in the main streeet. We often have ■ales by auction. The be’lman is heard the whole day long, at short intervals, announcing a sale on proclaiming a night’s performance. Yesterday a large placard was stuck upon a building put up the previous day, directing attention to an auc tion sale of sundry articles within the store, which is a large place, with sides and roof of corrugated iron, and as-a strong incentive to attract bidders, there was written in Janre letters “ a champagne lunch will be provided! ” The steamer Nelsbii in attempting the bar was drifted on the beach. Two steamers had gone across before her in safety. I went down along with others to look at her, but we could give no assistance farther than helping to pull at a stern rope. Now the tide is receding, and she will be high and dry. April 7. The Nelson, owing to the folly of overbading her, is,firmly fixed On the shore. This morning two steamers with their united power power failed to reipove her. A fuither effort is to take place this evening. The weather is highly favorable, as the sea is almost quite smooth ; not since landing have.l noticed so little swell on the bar. It-is expected that this place will soon be in communication with Australia direct. Prices arc coming down a little. There is a number of people in the market not very scrupulous, who can sell trashy goods at a low price—that is low as compared with the cost of good articles, but quitethe reverse, if the actual value is considered. A .friend of mine at the diggings is doing pretty well storekeeping,.although all goods packed to his place cost him 6d. a pound for the conveyance and ttf another store kept by a partner, 8&d. perlbi The weather here so far has been quite as agreeable as in Nelson, that is during the day, but many have colds here from'the discomforts consequent on the' kind of life that must be followed. At night a cold wind always blows from the .tops of the Snowy Mountains, ■ . r

Government is taking the active measures to improve the locality so far as they can. Tim formation of a corduroy road is put up for tender and will reach from the beach to the diggings, a distance at present of twelve miles, but in a straight line supposed to He not more than five. The town is assuming ak improved appearance; streets are to be laid out, and reserves made for Government purposes on a much larger scale than in Nelson. Temporary buildings have been erected for courthouse purposes. Another correspondent, writing from Waimea Creek on 4th April, says ' There has been a considerable exodus.from this creek to another creek, about four miles from Okitiki, where-ft is said a large number of diggers are doing veil., Storekeepers at this place have considerably felt this removal j business has greatly slackened since. There is no doubt that there is a large area of auriferous ground in our neighborhood still unoccupied; but the necessaries of of life up hero are so enormously dear ia consequence of the bad slate of the road to this creek, tnat it requires a large quantity of gold to make diggers remain up hero; because the ground still unoccupied will it is calculated, hardly yield more than £3 per man per week ; and it takes that and more for a man to live on. One cause of this is the cost for packing, the charge for which is from £2 10s. to £1 per lOOlbs. from Okitiki to Wuimea Creek. This evil will, however, soon be remedied, as we had a meeting here a few days ago (presided over by the Warden) for the purpose of taking steps for the formation of a better and nearer track to Okitiki. We have already collected among the residents here £3OO towards this work, aud the Government has promised to meet us with an equal sum for that purpose. Tenders will be given out to-day to cut the new track, it will be for the most part a corduroy road (that is, logs of a certain thickness laid alongside each other across the breadth of tile track), as no other road would be of any duration in consequence of the swampy and broken nature of the ground all the way. A Government surveyor is up here surveying the new track, and he will direct the working. It is said that by this new track the distance from here toJOkitiki will not be more than 17 miles altogether.