REPORTED DISCOVERY OF A GOLDFIELD ON THE WEST COAST.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 133, 6 August 1864, Page 2

REPORTED DISCOVERY OF A GOLDFIELD ON THE WEST COAST.

Before narrating what we know of the matter, we beg to assure our readers that the odious details of rich gold finding, to which we feel bound to give publicity, arenot dwelt upon with any wish to create sensation by exaggerating the horrors of the case ; and, on the other hand, the alleviating circumstances of cold, wet, want, and hardship, are as brightly painted as truth permits to our earnest desire of giving satisfaction. Had it been our no less painful duty to announce that the plague had broken out in Christchurch, but that the druggists' shops were well stocked, we could not take more pains to tell the story more truthfully than we do in narrating the facts respecting a goldfield which has broken out in Canterbury, with extenuating circumstances. From the Grey to the mouth of the Teremakau is about ten miles. Six miles up the latter river the Hohonu joins it, a stream which pours somewhat more water than the Avon, over a very rough rock bottom, through wooded slopes and under terraces of various heights. A track lately cut for Mr Drake by the government leads up the Hohonu, crossing the river perhaps twenty times on the way; till at five miles from its junction with the Teremakau the Hohonu receives the waters of the Greenstone creek. Proceeding up the creek about five miles more, the prospector arrives at some of the richest of the country, as we shall shortly proceed to show. Several men singly and in small parties have from time to time examined the neighborhood of the Grey and Teremakau rivers to find gold. Among them we may mention the names of Andrew Hughes, Smart, and French, and their mates, as being generally known. We believe that some sort of success rewarded all these men, and that in some cases three or four ounces have been taken out of a hole. It is also known that a party of Maoris, who had gone in search of greenstone up the creek which now bears that name, found the prospect of gold so good as to abandon the quest of the former for the latter. We have also seen some of the proceeds of the Maoris' industry; but the number of the party, the time they worked, and the results they obtained are not specified. A more exact report, however, can be given of another case. A man named Arthur Hunt, an experienced digger both in Australia and New Zealand, has, it seems, been passing over the accessible hill districts of Canterbury for many months back, searching for gold deposits. • We believe that last year he went through alone to the Wairau, prospecting on his way. More lately, he attached himself to Mr Drake's survey on the West Coast, and when not required on Government work, took every opportunity to explore the country and examine the likely spots for gold. After being paid off from this work Hunt appears to have been so impressed by the appearance of the Hohonu, as to return there with a party; and when his mates came away, the government depot not being available for a constant supply of provisions to persons remaining on the spot, Hunt contrived to remain behind. This was some time last May. Little more than two months afterwards, in the middle of last month (July), when Mr W. H. Revell left to come to Christchurch, Hunt had got out nearly sixty ounces of gold. At the place which we have indicated above, about five miles up the Greenstone creek, above the junction with the Hohonu, Hunt had lately marked out a claim, and had obtained the very inefficient assistance of one Maori to help iu stripping it From two to six feet of soil were removed amid thick timber. Beneath was found nearly four feet of washdirt, upon a bottom partly of blue clay and partly a fine dark sand. The washdirt consists of a coarse brown gravel, somewhat rounded, and mixed among it large rough boulders. From this stuff Hunt, working alone, turned out a quantity of gold, the amount of which we will not specify, but only say that it yielded a very handsome return for the labor expended. It is asserted that room exists for 4,000 or 5,000 diggers, with equal good prospects for all. A quartz reef is found about two miles above where Hunt was working. Granite prevails in the hills all around. The country all round the Hohonu and down to the beach is densely wooded, and so thickly covered with underbush as to be all but impenetrable. The hills aro not very high or steep, but rather sloping, and rounded, with an abundance of low saddles, and forming terraces on the river banks. On the higher parts of the hills, the underwood is not so thick. The track from the saddle of the Teremakau by the lake to the river below the gorge passes close to the diggings, and probably through a large extent of gold country between Lake Bruaner and the river. But horses cannot be taken at present with any load beyond the Pakihi plains, so that it would be difficult to supply provisions from this side. This is, however, of little consequence, because supplies can be got with perfert ease from the Grey. # A hard beach road communicates between that river and the Teremakau ; and up the latter canoes can be easily taken to a point within three miles of the diggings, by an easy saddle, across which the Maoris have been making two trips a day, backwards and forwards. But the case of carrying provisions is one thing and the getting them quite another. There are no provisions to be had on that side, so that anyone who goes over must arrange to take what he may want with him. We presume the government of this province will not close the depot at the Grey after this news, as they intended to do before receiving it; but that they will take some steps to re-supply it in view of maintaining an agency there. The work of supplying provisions is one which the Nelson merchants will not overlook if those of Canterbury do. But, as the prevailing weather is very wet, aud most so in the spring and early summer, it would be madness for any digger to go oyer without being assured of the proper supplies. Hunt depended chiefly upon the Maoris for a share of the few provisions they had. There is absolutely no meat in the place. The nearest station is"Taylor's at Lake Sumner; but the proprietor cannot spare any part of his own supply. The reasonable inference from the particulars which we have recounted, is that a rich and somewhat extensive goldfield will be found in the district named; but that a good deal of preparation will be required before anyone ought to go over ; and it would seem that the very last months of the year will be the earliest time to make the experiment—Zyfttoi Times.