EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY

Hokitika Guardian, 14 October 1921, Page 4

EARLY GOLD DISCOVERY

MUST HUSH TO THE COAST. A ROMANTIC ACCOUNT. (Kroin the .Reports of Sir Julius von Pljuist, I'.H.S. to the Cantorlmiy I’rovim-inl Government). (Continued.) VIII.

On Monday, tho 10th ot .luiu*, 'to j lieoan to icti'iue our stops from Hm ; Olmrito lake, ami found great diflicul- . tics in passing solin' ol tho rivers, tin* entrances of tvliieli laid been ueaili linked up by tin' sands travellinu; «:fb the current, so tlmt they lormod bilge watersheds. The ivealbfr. übieh bitb.erto bad been so line, began to lie boisterous, and from Lake l’oerua to the Waitaba, we bad mostly heavy rain, whilst the last day Iroin the Waitaba to Hokitika, was one ol those bright days which makes t lie remembrances ol that journey a \ei\ pleasant one. 1 reached Hokitika on June 28rd, and had to wait till July lih before 1 could proceed to Christchurch, the weather being so stoi nil that no steamer could venture mil. t last The Maid of Yana crossed the bar to tender the Omen, in which I returned, via Nelson and Wellington

t„ Christchurch, where I artived_ alter a protracted passage, on the loth ol ,| u 1 v. On July '24111 I presented a progress rep it to the R-rotiiry for l’llhlie Works ail the main results ol inv examination during that journey, winch was printed with the reports written during my residence on the West Coast, by order of the I’rovincial (iovermnent, and of which I have giten the title page BS. , ~ i Uiom lids report 1 may he allowed to (plote here the cnin-luding passage eoor-erning my views on the extent ol the West Coast goldfields, and which their further development dining the last two years, has confirmed in every respect: -“To sum up the results obtained, the examination of the country under consideration has shown ns ihat there is one large area belonging U> the pliocene or great gold-drill toilu.i----t ioil, hounded in this piovinee by the rivers Arnold and Urey to the north, ami tho llohnnti ranges, whence ihe eastern houndary line runs towards * *. 11 1. Hoad, crossing the Arehiira. Hokitika. Totara and Mikoinii. gradilallv iiearei to their mouth, whilst the seashore forms the western boundary. In this triangle all the t idlest goldfields aie situated. Hast and south of these lines younger or ploistceone siiaia have mainly been deposited, consisting of glacial beds, either mol ainus or glacier bed. tluviatile boulders shingle, sand, or loess, amongst which in a lesser degree gold may be dis-

covered. although t loin the gloat searchv of auriferous asserted drill thoio is, in' mi opinion, very little hope ot a goldtield of any extent. Again. uf these glacial deposits the western base of ihe ceniral chain is reached, eniisisling of the locks which have fiuiued the original matrix ol tin l gold. Here we may expect eilhoi to bud Cpmrt/. reefs, 01. mulct favoinahle cireincsiaiues in the smaller creeks and ga 1 lit am iteroiis ground of ohlei age. •>t toi mod tluriilg "i since the plnisiepocli. with eoaisei- gohl than nca) the coast. although experience has clenilv demoitsl inled ill New Zealaml, as well as in other parts of the I .111 h. that we can only expect rich ground when, after denudation' nit an enormous scale, iHphiils agency, has icpeaiedly le-ns.-rrU'd the mateiial denied I roui such sources, and eolleeli1j a led the gold contained m it duriug iiumherless ages into much nnjiouer limits."

Nut only are the piineipal goldfields here still being worked in ihe Province ot Wot land, where also the newly discivered Knmara diggings tat time ol writing) are situated, but I have no I iibt that still other and equally extensive beds will be discovered, all belonging to tin* same pliocene fluvintile Led", running in a north-east and soil! 1 1- west dii ect ion, and gradually thinning out before Bold Head, south of the Mikoiiui river, is reached. The track cut acioss tlie Hurunui saddle by .Mr Hnwitt. in the year am! improved in the beginning of I *<»•”». inniei the direction ot Messrs Kdwin and Waller Blake, had become almost impassable, principally on its western ■dde. from ihe enormous t raffle. Moreover, its line along tin* northern boundary of the province, was formed too lar’north for tin* inhabitants ol lie middle and southern portion of lerbury. The Provincial Covernment l !:.-refo|(* sent out several expeditions to ihe headwaters of the Waimakariri

amt liMKaia, Willi IliMUiniiun ««• * amine ilu-m for available pasM*s moio t ; the south, amiss l lie central chain. Of r.iiii'M* it was known that a pa-s near the headwaters *»l the main branch of the Hakaia existed, Whit-,-,,m}je Pass, so named in memory ot t! ■' late Mr \\\!i it com be t an emim-nt engineer, who lost hi-* life by being <l,owned near the month of the Tercmakau, after having <ueeesstully ae(oiuplished the journey from coast to const, and of which the survivor, Jacob Loiipcr, lias given a graphic and ample description. However, ibis Pass toon known only from this account.

ddheullies from :mi engineering point ~j' view, that :» further cxaminalinn v as thought useless. !!;i;i.l's Pa*< in the other hand, at I he lead of Lake Wai.aha, was too far south, and could only bo available lot the most southerly portion of the piovimv, and prim ipally lor Otago. (It tin* expeditions exploring the headwale rs of the northern rivers, that of li e late (leorge Dobson. C.K. was the most smaesslnl, lie amongst others discoverillLC Arthur’s Pass, a deep doo i ess ion in the central chain, leading j rolll tlu* Sdllin’S ol the Healey. one of the upper tributaries ot ‘.lie \\ aimukasiii, into the <)tiia. a huge branch of tlu* Toreinakau. A11»* r this impoitant discovery had been reported, the Provincial (Jovermiieiit lost no time, and stmt up Mr Hobson, ( .K.. formierly Provitieia! Knginoor. and at that lime Kcsidcnt Kngineor of tin* v hristehiireh and Lyttelton railway, to examine this and some other passes found about that time, with full auihoiitv to place tin* necessary work al oikh* in the hands ol t he eontraetm, Mr Dobson, after inspect inti; two passes at the head of the northern main hramh of the Wnimnkariri, Harman Pass and the so-called Brownings Saddle, and another saddle at the bond of the llawdon stream, selected Arthur’s Pass, as affording the most favourable physical eomlitions lot a road between both coasts, and tlu* work was at oner* taken in hand, and pushed oil with "pent energy. The headwaters of the \Vaimnkariri "’ere explored by Messrs Harman, Drowning, ('ahill and Armstrong; whilst the two first, named gentlemen, together with Mr |£- (JriHiths, examined the WilbeiToreo, the northern main branch of the Hakaia, and discovered a pass leading as the' explorers thought, to I lie sources of : the Taipo. a branch of Hie Teremakau. \ In the south of the province great; efforts wen* also made to look lor a j passage across the Southern Alps by j the headwaters of the Wailnki, to the j exploration of which I had devoted eon- j sideiable time, and the results » : which had conclusively shown that no on-ssage existed there anywhere, ex-

oept over glaciers and neve saddles onlv to bo crossed by experienced mountaineers. At the request, of the l’rovineial Government, therefore, t prepared a. report on the possibility ol finding a road to the West Coast across the Mackenzie country, in winch 1 gave copious extracts from mv journals, hearing upon the subject, and by which, so far, the question at issue was settled.

JOURNEY TO WESTEANI) BY ARTHUR’S PASS, RETURNING BY BROWNING’S PASS, OCT., 1805. Although the road over Arthurs Pass ivas pushed on all along the whole line with such energy as never before had been witnessed in the Colony, there was considerable dissatisfaction expressed in the province that a road was not at once constructed over Browning’s Pass at the head of the \\ ilberforcc, notwithstanding that several engineers had reported as to this alpine saddle being too high and unsuitable for the purpose. Their views were considered to have been biased for some reason or other. The Secretary for Public Works therefore instructed me to visit both passes, to report generally upon their physical features, and to take also iv mini her of altitude observations with the Ini remoter. In older to secure the greatest accuracy, three Aneroid barometers which 1 took with me were compared by Mr R. EHolmes, Provincial Meteorology t, regularly during four weeks, wuh the standard barometer in the Christchurch station, with which they were found to ~,>tcc veiv closely. One of them was compensated for temperature. and found in work in the field very well, to an altitude of about I*oo feet above which its readings were too high, and consequently of no value; whilst Hi. two other instillments not only worked ad mi iald v together during the whole jniirnev. and in all situations up to boon feet, hut when returning, agreed with the Christchurch standard barometer within 2-100ths of an inch. After these necessary preparations, | i,.ft Christchurch on Get. '2nd, ti , V .„|| the West. Coast by lirst visiting Wthur’s Pass. 1 was accompanied by niy friend. Mr R. E- Holmes, wlm bail been mv companion on my first jouiacross the Southern Alps, and by

whose energy and jieiseveiaiut main objects ol my journey were much furthered. The road to Christchurch to loiters Pass was much enlivened by a number ol diggers tiaveiling to Hokitika, a well as by many large drays taking provisions’, tools, powder, etc., as tar as ihe foot ol Arthur’s Pass. Alter liaviie' made a nuliihei of observations porter’s Pass, we our journey, and found that the road in it' worst places had already been much improved hv the numerous workmen stationed all along the line. Crossing (Inkling's Saddle Iroin the (ass plains to ilit' I pper aimakai it i were already aide to follow. In, several miles, the new road blasted along the mountain sidu, alter which we were obliged to take tin- dog-curt into the liverhed as la i as the Healey, which

,'avc considerable trouble, owing to tee huge boulders and the numerous channels to he continually crossed. <•! the U*s! ol the road along the nioiiiita ill Mi].., on!v about ball Ibe distance bad I finished to a loeadlli ol llnee feel. by wbicb we took the oilier bmses. (great activity reigned everywhere. The electric telegraph bad already been fin idled as fa i as l.ake Peai-on, wbilsl lia* posts and wire were on ilie ground as Ia I as the Beale.v. The view obtained fiom ibis most piolurosqtlo road along the precipiioits high ranges ami 1 tie passage or wbicb In the n-v. e.nne r seemed fialiglit with danger, is Very beautiful. Deep below the load appeared tile lied of Ibe Wa imaka i i ri. witb its iiiimcjniis meamlering eliailnels. here and there small gloves ot beech lives forming a line background In the great landscape. The eye fnllow-

ed the broad riverbed far into the cefilial chain, tlu* alpine summits of which, covered with perpetual snow, i*s**e high into the ait : while the wild rocky buttresses, amongst, ami along which the road had to he carried, offered an additional charm to the whole picture. The numerous reck cuttings wore particularly welcome to the geologist, as present ilig a scries of very fine and clear sections, in which the structure of the alpine legion could fie well studied. Before we reached tin* spot, whence it was intended the road .should intersect the Waimakariri, we had to cioss two branches of the • iver, which lie re *ets against rocky and nearly pet pendieular elilfs, along which we observed a number of men busily engaged blasting out the road. On Octohei' tit 1 1 we icaetied tlu* newly founded township of Healey, situated on the large shingle-fan which the tributary of the same name has advanced to a con*ddei a hie distance into the hod of the main river. Several houses had been built, either constructed from logs, or covered with zinc or weather hoards, which, togothei with a good array ol tent's, indicated that a number of people had ahead;, eonlegated Imre. In fact, there were iihiv than a hundred inhabitants who intended to settle in that locality whilst a considerable number of diggers and

navvies passing to and fro made it their usual resting plant*. At tin* same time, several parties of sawyers were also at work, preparing - timber for a number ol buildings still to lie ereci I. Knr a day wo were occupied with taking a number of ha route 1 1 ical oh scr\a t ions, and left on October >dh f the Pass, in company with Mi Kdwin Plake, one of the engineers in charge, following the broad shingle bed of the Healey, and crossing and re-crossing its clear water, I enjoyed very much the contemplation of tin* beautiful landscape around us. On both sides ami in front of us rose line heightened by the existence of luxurious fagus forest, which not. only clothed the mountain sides for more than two thousand feet above the valley, hut also formed charming groves in the latter. Alter live miles, wi* reached Mr Smith. the contractor's ramp at the entrance of the i:eah*y gorge. Here gieat activity reigned, am! the principal work ol Masting in order to ascend Art Imp' Pass, had already considerably advanced. We now followed the road t«» the summit of the Pass formed in Hie lower portion in tin* deep gorge ol the Healey, and as at one spot tlu* bridge across it was not yet finished, a number of workmen carried my dog-cart jm’ioss*. It would he impossible to describe in detail the grandeur of the scenery around us, ns we slowly ascended to the summit of the Pass, and gradually exchanged the beech forest, which now had become dwarfish ami covered with Psnea Itarhata (that peculiar pendant greenish white lichen) with the varied and beautiful suh:dpiue vegetation of New /calami. The Henley had also become a wild mountain torient, tumbling its foaming wafers over la i we blocks of stone lying in its bed, and shut in by rocky cliffs, where from every crevice vegetable life had sprung into existence. High above us Mount Holleston with its remarkably v i a ml form, rose on our left side, hnr.boitring large snnwfields on its flanks, whilst on the opposite side of the valley several line waterfalls hung on the rocky mountain sides. On tlu* Pass itself, where the road had boon blasted through large angular blocks ol rocks, mostly derived from morainic accumulations, a rich and varied flora

siiiTuunded us, amongst which the None (Drncophyllum Trnvcrsii, Hooker lil) u small palm-like tree, belonging to the Ericca and growing only on our low alpine passes, and the Ranunculus Eyalii, Hooker lil. arc the most remarkable. I (To be continued). i