RUMOURS OF GOLD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3693, 20 September 1927, Page 3

RUMOURS OF GOLD.

AN OLD MAORI’S SECRET,

RICH QUARTZ SAMPLE,

From time to time rumours of gold in the hinterland of Wanganui have aroused more than passing interest, but strangely enough death has claimed the holder of the secret in each case where it has been reported that the precious metal has been located (says the Wanganui Chronicle).

Several Wanganui men made preparations some time ago to investigate the statement of an aged Maori, that in the bed of a stream two days’ journey in from a point on the river was a rich reef where heavy veins of gold were exposed. The Maori’s story was supported by a sample of gold bearing rock which showed an extraordinarily large percentage of the yellow metal.

Strangely enough, geologists stated that the sample was unlike that of any gold-bearing reef known to exist in New Zealand, but they also said that the volcanic land of the Wanganui river was not the class of country where gold was found. Before the report could be investigated the Maori died, but some time later another native claimed that he had accompanied-his deceased relative on the journey to the gold reef, and he told how, after the two-days’ journey through the bush, they had entered the bed of the stream and had followed it up for a couple of miles. He said that the stones in the creek-bed were of an unusual colour and that when they had gone some distance they came to a reef of rock jutting out into the stream, from which the sample had been broken. This native offered to lead a party to the spot, but every time it came to the actual talk of starting he would have some excuse for delay, and so firmly did he voice the easy doctrine of “taihoa” that it was finally agreed that he knew nothing about the whereabouts of the gold. If there was 'ever any truth in the story, the secret has gone down to the grave, and there remains only the heavy quartz sample to remind the pakehas of the El Dorado of their dreams.