EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY

Hokitika Guardian, 6 October 1921, Page 4

EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY

first hush to the coast, a romantic account. | (From the Reports of Sir Julius vc.ii I Innst, U.R.S. in tile- Canterbury Provincial (Invent moil t). Till' following aoroiint ol the curliest odd discovery' in Westland is taken from llaast.'s “‘Geology of ('aniei bury and Westland," and will he found of engrossing ini crest tiv sill re.nlers who wish to revive mcinniies of tlu* early days now so rapidiy passing into histnrv: JOURNEY TO THE WEST COAST, 1S()5. I nmv prepared to start tor tlu* \\ est Cnasl. tn examine and report upon the g.Jdiields opened up ill the northern portion of the Province, and to trace i lie extent of the auriferous ground, not only as an assistance to Lite mining population, hut also as a guidance to flic Provincial Government. I his journey tn the West Cnasl taking place during’ the most remarkable period in the history of the Province. 1 shall offer here a transcription of a portion of a paper treating on the subject, u hidi was read oil Kebntary I Uli, ISOS, before the imperial Geological Society of Vienna, and printed in its Transactions, and I trust that such account wiil not lie without interest t.o the inhabitants of Canterbury and Westland, many of whom will have a lively rerol lection oi those stirring times. For several years past I had pointed out in my ofiieial reports, iliat on tin* West Coast of this Island, and especially of this Province, extensive, and without doubt, rich, goldfields ueie situated; hut it was long before the gold-diggers from the equally isolated Muller goldfields (who were the first tr go) went there. A few rich hints caused ninny miners working the. Otago goldfields at- last to turn their attention to them, and the peculiar charm of a perfectly unknown region, where it was reported, not only that the rail of the Moa had been heard, hut that the gigaatie bird had even been seen; the thick primeval forest, and the mountain scenery, described magnificent. exercised at the same time a t additional power of attract ion. In the autumn of ISfil, several hundred gold-diggers went there trom Otago as pioneers; they first worked in tin l (ireenstune Creek, flowing into the Tcreinakuil liver, Imt alter a tew weeks they removed to the goldfields, discovered’in the meantime an the Waimc;t river, six miles sotttli ot the letetiuikau. The letteis of these people to their friends, in which they described tin" extiemely rich lilids, and the iepealed remark tliat brilliant "prospects” ought lie exjS’eted almost wherever n pick and shovel was put into the terrace. <u lied ol a creek prospected soon had the efieci ol unliving i lie numerous diggers who were working in t lit l Otago goldtields leave them ill el ends and set out tor the West Coast. Reside.' tlie* n stlessness „t goldfield population, which is proverbial. the prospect of file mild winter eu the West Coast, with its inexhaustj!.|, loic-P. iir*''sentC'd stleh a faverithle ~.Mtr.is( to ll"- -even- .niitinuoiis cold, and the violent snowstorms m tile -uh.ilpnic country ol Otago, whole there is great scarcity of tiring, that it served as an additional incentive to migration.

t.luite Mil 111 gold-diggers set out. from Otago for the new Eldorado. I owns like Queenstown and Kingston on the Wakatipil lake, soon stood almost entirely deserted, and the few inhabited houses sheltered for the most pail the female portion of the population, who only waited fur decided news trout tie West Coast to follow their husbands with the children. Houses which a few months hefnre niuld not have he n bought for less than several hundreds, w. IV goi lid of for a 11 iHe ;st mage to - iy. in just tile same levcrish haste these wig people honied away I rum (he place lo w hich I hey had so lately conic ihrongli numerous privations and

. hi s. Whoever i- :i<'• 111:■ i 11 1«■. 1 with lit'l■ in the e.ddliohls, will I|ll<U-I'Sl :i 11(1 tlnil. unli tin- oold-tlioeers pinper, tin l whole population which follows in llii'ir ti'nin. immediately dcpaitt*<l. Nut only tinstorekeepers nntl pin-lows, artisans iintl piiMu-nns, lint also tlin demi-monde, slm r|mrs ninl iill.ws of overt- kind, it--.'.■lidilim: innininlets tt lio follow nil nliny, Hinted like ii liviuo stream tlinnipli the country. In the nienntinie the enld lever Innl inn only nttnekefl llie popnlniion ol' the (Hnpo jiroviliee ; nil New Xenkiinl, nnd even tin 1 Australian Colonies were more or less elleeted. mill iinmerinis stenni mid sml--111 e vessels tlliloilded their livintc treieht. on the formerly desolnte West ( oust. Thousands ol men n Ini in < "i<sefjitenee of their usually sedentary lives. Mere the least titled to hid dotin nee to the elements, to cany heavy hardens on their hacks, and at the same time put up with seamy and 1,n,l food, would not he warned. hut 'allow el ill | it 1 1 s i; i; ol the rndil which, j, reiioi I said, was so east to obtain. Thus the clerk left his desk, I lie :iI t i--an Ids w ot kshop. even doelors. lawyers, and merchants whoso sphere el action was not unite what the;, desiri'd, preferred to ..ne up their professro mil position and domestic lile m pursuit ot the uneettnin wealth in the distance. As n mutter of course, most of these people returned without havin'' attained any results, while many, lenilied hv the mountain torrents, and he in e to their advantaee. soon sohered down, came hack attain when they had ‘-cun civ gn m • h:di-w:iv. Tl is migration ht'gnn in Doconihcr, IS<*. I, during tin* I was nrriipicd in prcpai inii the results ol my jfoulngi,;il cX|i!iii at ions for the Art mid ln<hi<- ~ i.il K\liii>il ion in Dunklin, t !i ■ <apit;il «»f llu* IVuvim o of Otago. r T!ii w wns ; soil iiy ! v i'.' :‘ : ’ to ■«*•. nil! 'o l<>llo\v I'm* ; cmral sl:oam to ill' l \\ o-«l ( \ only Inwards tin* end «*f Match, All these wlm slid mil ureter ««» • onio I»v *■ i*!i had io i ia vel ovci the ••saddle," the nnl.v pass 1 en known, ami w lii. h leads IT. m ihe '.nin es ol tie IJakaia and Wa Im.-knrii i livers, -o ■ , if iiuv "a- c\ i s‘ ,| t! O' a throlljjli the Soil: hei ii Alps, lull meanw Idle in order to farilit:it<* tlio trallie in some degree. I::i:I despato! oil ;i number of madmen under <111:1 1 ifi«*< 1 engineers, l i improve t! ic* bridle psitii made some vears previously, so 11 : *i pa-•!•: -!• -•: s would bo brought from t!-.o K:i-I to the Wo.Const. On tin* l?!Hh March F t it Christ church with three horses, nml n -00111pnniod hy three men. llu* until Iter wns glorious. ns ii nearly nlwnys is in tin* Inttor part of mil siiimiicr, ii.it n olo.id in the docp him* sky, nnd 1 rnv«* 11 :ng wns pleasant nnd < nsy, ns n well made road onlv n few milos <lisl:mt from the son const, lends from the* onpitnl for dll milos north to the Wnipnrn. What: stirring life was on the road! Waggons of all kinds <*amo and wont, bringing provisions and other goods to t*l 10 Waitahi gorge, whore the waggon road ends. An endless train )1 gold-diggers with paeU-horsos, packers driving horses before them, and oven women walking stoutly along hv tlr* side* of their husbands and often load ing pack-horses, all going to the new Kldorado. Travellers c -‘>n fool with heavy packs on their harks, and slmveis and pickaxes in their hands, wore also

there, many of them having already collie’ several hundred miles, ft "as j easy to sec from their appearance that ; most of them were accustomed t.o such J journeys with the accompanying pi l vatinns and hardships; hut an experi- , cured traveller could easily descry , among them single groups whose out lit. . and appearance showed at once that they were novices, and hardly in the I condition to hear the fatigues before j them. After the Kowai river is crossed, 11 to high road leaves the alluvial or littoral zone, consisting ol drift sand which it lias hitherto passed through-, and ascends a ten ace about fifty feet high, consisting of the older drift alluvial which forms the Canterbury plains. After having traversed about eight miles of litis monotonous grass-covered plain, (lie road enters the tortiary limestone range through which the We Is a Pass leads to the Fliirumit district. The road instead ot leading over the Waikari plain to the Hurtinui river, goes towards tlu* Waitohi, one of its tributaries, where it enters the alluvial plain from the eastern slopes of the Southern Alps. The good high road which we followed hitherto, ends here, and only a small bridlepath leads further into the country, lho V\ailohi enters the plains through a rathe; narrow valley with- a small alluvial , terrace, about 101) feet high on both sides, in which, as well as in themindetIving cliffs, tin* stream lias found its present lietl. Within a lew weeks, a small township had sprung up here, consisting mostly of tents, hut a le" people had already begun to erect, wooden houses and shops, for the numbers of people who clinic were increasing every day. The traveller could not help being especially struck here with the tevc,isli movement id a population hastening to a newly discovered gtildhclil. Many of the diggers and storekeepers who had brought loaded waggons from Otago, in the belief that they eon Id take them at least to the foot ot the saddle, which leads over the central plain, were now obliged to leave them behind and take their stores on with pack-horses. Many large waggons wen* therefore sold for a trifle, while others which did not immediately hnd a Imvcr. were simply left behind. And what a busy active life was here to ho seen, everywhere tents «hd camp fires, around which several hundred persons were encamped, most ol them making preparations for continuing their journey, and often speaking in dtlfeteuL languages, English being of course predominant. otiring the wnole of the afternoon and till late in the evening travellers kept arriving. As I observed the different groups. | could nut help untieing in spite of the c iitnmotiiin and the noise, how verv earnest the people were. There wis very little drinking and still lo»s singing; each one was too much occupied with [Hitting tip tents, cooking, and especially with ins preparations for the journey, and was thinking no doubt at ,hc same time of the difficulties hefnre him. At the Waitohi gorge 1 met several parties of diggers, who were on their wav hack to ('lirist church, not being nil’ll' to endure the hardships ot the journey; they had found themselves compelled tn make their way bark overland, as soon ns tlieit means weir exh lusted. Most of them wore dreadlolly ragged, and looked quite faun-li-ed and fallen away, and they roiiM not say enough about the hurrihlo condition of the road and the dangers they had gone through. The gold-diggers !,v ptofessioti did not consider it worth while to list i'll to I Item, as they saw direellv that they did not belong to the right class of men lo undertake such journeys surrcsslttlly. Although ] was told that lit miles larlher oil, immediately below the pass, provisions and oats might lie bought. I wished to he quite safe, and sent two lucre lioises on with provisions iron) here, that I might not he hindered in my progress. Where the Waitohi enters the plant, tile good made road ends, and only a. bridlepath leads nil inwards Lake Sunnier, into which the litti iiiini lulls, 111 miles from its source, and then, increased in volume'. Hows towards lit*' least Coast, forming the boundary between tlm province of Nelson and Cantcrhuiy. This bridlepath, about I s mill's lung, was miginally formed by the sheep farmers who used the hilly

ground ill the lluriiiini lake district as past-lire land. The patl ntinues for three miles along tlie northern tcriace ol Waitohi river, a continuation of the * i tti 11iill i plain. The Icrran' con-ists oi alluvium resling upon rocky dills, into which ihr present river lias cut its way 100 feet deep, so that it is shut in on both sides by high perpendicular walls ol rock. Here we leave the tertiary, and enter into a much older torination. palaeozoic sandstones alternating with toddish blown clay sillies. Here and there qiiari.-'.ose mid dialiasie slates urelir, dikes of hyperits arc also not rare, Imt their position does not iilfer any due lo their age. Altogel hei the geological eonditimis of this zone' shows a great similarity with the Mciiim Tnrlesso chain, ol which this is without doidil the northeni 1-1111-tiauatioii.

I seal-died Imre in vain for fossils, ol which generally in tini older nicks for more than a hundred square miles

scarcely a trace has yet been discovered. Numerous parties crowded past us, scarcely allowing themselves a moment's rest, in order tliat they might not lie 100 late for the' golden harvest. After three mile’s the In idlrpatli leaves the piindpal valley of the Waitohi. and fellows a lillle tributary limn the north, which crosses the path about iwc-ntv times hefnre ilio lout of tlm pass, ISAR feet high, is rone-hod. 1111medialc'lv at the beginning of the

rush, the Provincial (oivernineiit had seni cm a number of roadmen to icpair Hie worst places, to liiiild bridges, tn drain swamps, and where the brielle[Ulh Id along sleep declivities, to make il less dangerous by blasting and

eailhworks. Although ibis had been doin' here, and notwithstanding the leall y splendid weather, the load was imverlhelc'ss in mauv places in a very had i-miditiow, for the immense traffic ef men and horses and the numerous lie-ids ~| rail 1c which weie daiK cliiven Inwards Ihr West 'cast, ha’ll -mm dr: 1 1 nved the generally temporary r irlhwnrks. so U at ill many places w« had great cltllietiliy in getting the' packhorses over the swampy gmond. Here ton. I met several people irtnrniup from lie West Coast, covered with rags, and whose hollow feat ores s!,nurd niily Inn plainly trams nl tlm unarrustunn'd privaliuns they iiad eu<l;■ci l. We new inde up the grassy

saddle which leads between the tnnttntains, abiml 111 HID feel high, to the llurunui river witlnmt c-nenuntei ing

:mv difiirult ies. In spite' nl the' unpleasant change in the weather which had taken place, the mail was very

Numbers of diners on loot or on horseback, pedlars Inkinc provisions on paek-lmrses, herds of rattle driven by stockmen on horses, and all nuittfi in the same direction, enlivened the landsnipe, (lie loneliness of which at other times would not fail to make an impression upon the traveller. Arrived at. the saddle, a mnenilirent view opened out on the wild partly wooded rocky mountains, which hound both sides of the Huriiiiui valley. The river itsell is not visible, as it Hows ill a deep jr.iijT,.. ISeliiml us lay the llorunni plain, hounded by a sticoessiou of tor- ■

tiarv hills which form the horizon. At the northern declivity of the pass was a swampy valley, which runs for a short space along the print ipttl l iver, and afterwards enters it in a narrow gorge. After we lad mossed this we had to ascend a drift terrace, along ( which the road goes for a short (its- j ( tone. The old alluvial r!e soils lie about lot) feet above the present surface of the river, hut traces I ighcr still tiltler terraces, are also visible, 100 feet above the road on the i.'ountain side's, ( (insisting aHo of shingle' deposits, out ul‘ which in slime pieces, rocks ciop out. After a short di' tauce, U o foaming river washes against its soul hern hank, j formed for the mo-t par; of wild reeky j dill's, bet we which the small remains i of a luxuriant forest are here and (here visible, for the romance of the] district has boon destroyed in nenih j all the accessible places by the practical,c hand of the sheep farmer, in order to , obtain loud for his Hocks. I’urnt 1; ire slump', often ol gigantic I rci'-, ; net , oven-whore how great this destruction has 1 jocii. At some places enormous declivities covered w'tli tnlusos o| debris descend from the mo, utains, loin lo live thousand loot high, into tin ( valley, the cros-ing of which wituj horses, owing to tla'.tr stcenr 'ss, t* , often attended with great ill.ln ally. The path continues along tji - mountain side' for a few miles, olicn ascending three or four hundred fr ■*, then again nearing the riverbed. At. some places it lias liven necessary to blast the road through the hard bluish sandstone locks, lint in spite of the great improvements that had teen made Icy the Government roadmen <ltirill”; the hist few months. I tniiiul the ro:ul in ninny jrlnres so steep ;»ml narrow tltat the heavily laden iiorse could scarcely find room to pass by the otten overhanging cliffs, or to obtain a toothold oil the slippery shelving ground. Various accidents had already taken place then', without however any It li-

man life being sacrificed, only sente horses and cattle having lieon lost. Tile view of the jagged mountains, of tlie deep blue lltirtitini rushing down its wild gorge, or tiie romantic lonely valleys in which crystal streams- trickled down, was really enchanting, and I was never tired of admiring the over changing picture before me. After three miles, the valley opens out, and a little Hal goes along the southern side of the liver, on which Mr Taylor's wool shed is situated. A storekeeper, who also sold spirits, had settled himself here; and was doing good business. A great many gold-diggers had also erected their tents here, and a stirring hustle prevailed when I arrived Inwards evening. The rushing ol the river and the melodious song ol the birds woke me before daybreak, and mi going out of my tent i found that many of the travellers had already taken theirs down, and wore preparing to continue their march. The lorost here on the southern side also is nearly all destroved. whilst on the other side, OH the steep reeky mountain-, often Anno feel high, it is preserved, as the country is too wild and inaccessible for the sheep farmer. A mile above our camping place wo reached the so-called South 11 nriinui, neat its junction with the principal liver, when' a tent lotselling spirits was erected, and horses kept in readiness to take loot pas-on-nvei the river, which, when low. is about three feel deep, lot tile payment of a shilling. 0(1 the opposite hank tlie path a-ccnds :t teriace more than loti Icel high, and is coiiiparativelv easy, although here and. there steep places still occur. Above this junction iln* vallcv assumes a Icsgorge like cliaracier, and keeps till widening, until three miles westward it opens out completely. A wall ot debris several hundred leet high tonus the southern side of the valley, out ot which grassy rounded recites niotllonttees, At 10 foot high, rise, and are a sign’ tintl we are in the neighbourhood «f the glacier lakes. Alter the shingle wall consisting of stratified suhangular alluvial, is ascended, the path leaves the valley of the principal river and continues towards Lake 'laylur, in a. thickly grassed riverbed tilled up with quarUTiiarv debris, leading us two miles further on to the remains ol an ~ld moraine. On the ncirtliern side of Ihe valley lias been formed by a miniIm*i til nwilt's moutonoes, all with t-lioir worn sich-s towards the wt*st. Hie contrast l,etween the grassy rounded hills and the high rugged mountain, covered to a height of lotto feet with dark heec-li forest, was very attractive. (To lie conlinued).