THE GOLD COUNTRY SOUTH OF HOKITIKA.
The following communication is from Mr. H. G. Hankin, of Hokitika, wlio has just visited these districts to which we alluded in our last. The letter is addressed to the West Coast Times, from which we copy it:— “ I have just returned from a trip to the southward of Hokitika, and as any matter bearing upon the mining interest invariably receives the support of your journal, I feel it a duty to submit any information that may benefit mining community through that medium. My travels extended as far as the Waikukupa Creek (distant, I believe, some seventy miles south of this town), in which I obtained a very fair prospect, but was prevented from thoroughly testing the locality from want of provisions and the wet weather combined. “ It is needless cb particularise anything further upon the general features of the country on this side of the Wanganui river, it having, I believe, been subject to a very close examination by the miners in the vicinity. I will therefore begin from that river ; and in passing, may mention that provisions can now be obtained there at very reasonable prices, taking into consideration the cost and trouble of packing—flour being Is per lb, and other stores in proportion. I may also state that Mr J. Murray, the enterprising storekeeper, has supplied a boat for crossing the river—a great boon to travellers. “ The rivers appear to be from six to ten miles apart, none of them very large, with the exception of the Hokarita (the fifth river south of the Wanganui), which has a very good shelter on the inside, with from eight to ten feet of water at high tide; It would be a good position for a store, being distant about thirty miles from the Wanganui. From that point the country changes, and assumes all the gold-bearing features of the Wakatipo district, (j.e., slate wash, and an abundance of quartz), a true index of the existence of gold on or about the vicinity. Gold was obtained by a party of three in the Waifcupa Creek, during my stay, equivalent to £1 per diem ; and I have have no hesitation in stating that much better prospects could be obtained were men in a position to devote more time to prospecting the neighborhood, but the absence of provisions retard the development of, in my opinion, a very rich and extensive gold-field.”
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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 5, Issue 283, 26 June 1865, Page 3
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404THE GOLD COUNTRY SOUTH OF HOKITIKA. Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 5, Issue 283, 26 June 1865, Page 3
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