Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 1871.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 1030, 31 May 1871, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. Nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri. WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 1871.

The following letter has been received by H. S. Tiffen, Esq , from Mr K King, on behalf of the prospecting party : . Napier, May 29.

Sib,—We have again returned to town, after an absence of over three months. I am sorry we were no more successful on this, than we were on either of our former trips. The most of our time has been spent in prospecting the western slopes of the Kaimanawa ranges, more in particular one river named the Witikau, running N.B. and S.W", and flowing into the Waikato ; we traced this river to its source, a distance of thirty or forty miles, finding gold in small quantities the whole distance, also in several of the tributary streams, and from the regular way in which it is scattered, I have no hesitation in saying, I believe it is washed from some of the numerous reefs in the neighborhood, as the ranges on both sides of this river are covered with broken quartz, with numerous reefs and leaders trending in all directions. The country in this part of the Kaimanawa resembles the Thames district more than any we have previously travelled over. We have done very little in regard to prospecting for reef gold, as you must be aware that it requires a deal of time, labour and capital to develop a quartz field, and for one small party of three men, it would take years to fully prove even one single spur of the Kaimanawa, unless we were fortunate enough to strike it on the surface, as Hunt did at the Thames. lam far from saii-fied with this part, and intend to prospect it further yet, in fact we should not have left it now, but the weather became so intensely cold and wet we were compelled to leave the country or the horses would have perished. As it was I was forced to leave one of them on the ranges, and I doubt if it is alive now. I am very sanguine that good payable quartz will yet be found in those ranges, and if I am in a position to do so, I shall certainly spend the whole of next summer in prosecuting the search for it, although at the same time I would not spend one single day in looking for alluvial gold, as I am perfectly convinced, in my own mind, there is nothing like payable alluvial ground in that country, and I doubt very much if there is any elsewhere in this North Island. In concluding this report, I beg to tender our sincere thanks to yourself and other gentlemen directors of the H.B.P. Co., for the great assistance we have received from them. Trusting our humble exertions have proved satisfactory to all concerned, I beg to remain your humble servant, Ed. King, For E. King and party. To H. S. Tiffen, Esq.