KUMARA.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 98, 21 November 1877, Page 2

KUMA R A.

! (Prom oun o\suv ConnssroNrEtrr.). Kumara during its brief existence as a goidfield lias had all the fluctuations of , Cortune,. usually extending over a for longer period, compressed into its short life. A year ago high hopes were enter" . taincd of its future career^ A field, then, supposed to bo of practically unlimited) extent, and with a majority of good pay- •. ing cldims witiun it, has not after twelve. ■ months trial exactly bosne out all theseexpectations. The low figure at which, business properties, in the very heart of : tlio town, bavo been disposed of lately does aot speak favourably for the commercial prosperity of fcho placj, and as this represents tho current value of tho • goldOcld, it slnws a great decline from the quotations of a few. months ago. As, a matter of fact such a liijch must have occurred sooner or later, for with ths loiv returns of gold tho figures published a few weeks ago in Warden Price's report, showed there v»*as a weakness somowhere. The total population is there set down at 4SGOj of those 2800 are mining* leaving a largo margin, after allowiug for women and children and people in business, of. those who like Mr Micawber arc " nwait* ing for something to turn up. 1 ' This, however, may bo looked upou as only a temporary depression, consequent upon tho avidity with which houses and properties of all kinds have been run up in Kumara. Things will now come down to their own proper level, and without having a fiititions va'uo placed on it, business will proceed more satisfactorily then, hitherto. In mining, matters proceed) much the same from week to week, no improvement can be recorded, but the claims at work are steadily producing their weekly quantities of gold. There is always a certain amount of" prospecting going on, and as the southern half of tho fit-Id comprises within it a lar^e majority, of the best paying claims seeking, for a. continuation of tho other leads has been, nluiost abandoned in favor of searching for Lho southern lead, or that known as Adam Koss' run. The last claim on gold lies.aboufc midway betwcea thc.saw»niilli and the Larrikin's lead. This peice of ground has had a great searching for months past, but it is still doubttal whether tho gold rups further sjutli or joins the Larrikin's. Could it bo found going into thu unprospected couutry beyond, another Kumara maybe opened up, or possibly an improvement on the. present field, for tho superiority of tho claims at this end justiflies tbe prevailing, idea that fhe lead would improve could itbe traced further south. One great drawback to speedy prospecting is the fact of tho auriferous drifts resting npb.

on am-iiri or fal^e lv>ttorn. b.ifc on bed* of ( ydagli gravel a-iarcely distinscuishable from | tße washdirfc itself, excent by tbo almost . tbtal abscence of gold. If n shaft, therefore, is not lucky enough to bottom on gold; it is difOotilt to tell at what level to start driving, for these beds of wnah vary their levels, and the floor of one claim h sometimes above the root 1 qP another. Tftis diflloulty is usually gof; over by driving at the suppoaed corrent depcli, and sinking monkoy shafts, and putting up rises as they proceed. All this takes time, and from the size an 1 quantity of the boulder, sinking and driving is but slow. Tho ground now held has beon rushed several times. Ono shaft I know was nt first. sunk to the supposed gold level, 60 feet, an-.l abandoned after having been driven a certa'n di.itan.ee in ono direction. Afterwards another party set in and drove it in the opposite direction for a greafc distance without success. A third party sunk it to about 100 feet and then loft it. The fourth party is now in ifc and driving from the 80-foot level. It is evidont iC there be gold abonN such peweveranio will discover ifc, and nny it be ample whoa found. Two miles further south a party of prospectors, influenced by the late liberal amendments relating to mining, liavo been engaged for the last . three months in trying the country, but ? as yefi with only partial success, but they have greafc faith in ultimately finding something of advantage. During the coming summer months (ho country on either sidra of tho upper waters of tho Teremakau will likely be well pro-spfioted. Small parcels of gold have beon found in various spots, but the somewhat inaccessible nature of the country combined with tlio extraordinary unsettled state of the weather lias so far prevented those who have ventured from continuing a steady coarse of prospecting. As summer advances fine weather may bo c.v« pected, and lite number of volunteers will be increased, when, something good may be heard from that quarter, Kumara, November 14th, 1877.