GOLD FIND.

Hokitika Guardian, 13 July 1926, Page 4

GOLD FIND.

NEW GUINEA DISCOVERY. MINING AMONG -MOUNTAINS. SIDNEY. July 1. A new Eldorado lias been found in the South Seas, according to the accounts that are drifting down to Sydney front New Guinea. There is every reason to believe that the discovery is authentic, and already the passenger lists of the steamers leaving this port for the North have swollen far beyond their usual size. Travellers, too, from the island have broil ght Sydney tales of the richness of tlie new field, although their stories are tinged with warnings of the difficulties of reaching tlie field. The field lies along tile Bullolo river and Edie creek, in the mandated ferritory of New Guinea, in country of the most rugged and difficult description. Not only is this region a jumble of stoop mountains, but it is also covered with dense jungle. There, is a tremendous tropica! rainfall, rising even along the coast to 200 inches a year in places, and probably exceeding that among the mountains, though no records arc available. Tho country is without a vestige of nr,-ids, and even native tracks are absent over- much of it. Yet in spite of all difficulties the miners who have pioneered tlie district seem confident of success, and reports of good discoveries have reached the New Guinea and Papuan towns. Proof of this was obtainable on the arrival of the steamer Manilla from New Guinea last .weekend. That vessel carried among her consignments ISOOozs of gold, valued at over £SOOO.

1 ‘ENORMOUSLY RICH.” According to advice from Morobc, where the, officer in charge of the wireless station, as agent for the miners, has already registered a number of claims, the find is of real importance. There are rumours that the field is enorino uslv rich, and that wonderful finds have been made, but owing to its inaccessibility, much remains to be done in the way of proving the value of the .field. The gold is deescribed as semi-alluvia!, and is far from pure. Tho miners are tremendously handicapped by the nature of tlie country. Tools -and stores, including practically every ounce of food required, have to be carried over the mountains and

though- the bush on the backs of native carriers, the only transport available. Moreover, it is bard to secure carriers. Owing to its mountainous nature the region is thinly inhabited, anil the‘few natives have been little affected by civilisation, so that there is little or no local labour available. Though the field is but 15 miles away from its nearest port, Salamoa, it takes a. full-laden carrier seven or eight days to make the journey, ft is not a. poor man’s field. Apnvt from the cost and difficulty of reaching Salamoa itself, the mere cost of transport to the fields is prohibitive to H'e poor man. Then there is the expense of securing native labour to work the claims. ■ For 'a mail with only a lew pounds to venture into this field would be sheer madness. A clear capital of at least £SOO is necessary. FEVER. ANI> JUNGLES. Apart front the monetary aspects there are other difficulties. As soon as the news of the discovery was published in Sydney and Melbourne, men with long experience issued warnings to intending prospectors. "While these generally confirm that the district is potentially rich in properties. they point out that the district- reeks with black-water fever of the worst type, and also that the natives are of the fiercest typo in New Oilin'* i. “For 150 miles,” says one of hese old hands, “there is not one ■•emlilanea of a road, pathway or clearing; nothing hut the most primitive morass and mountain jungles, and not a bird or beast suitable for fond, with danger at every step, not only from the natives. but from dysentry, malaria, and exposure ”