A Trip to the Pohangina Reefs.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 1443, 1 September 1885, Page 4

A Trip to the Pohangina Reefs.

(By Special Reporter of Chroniele.) By the afteinoon train on Friday, the 21sfc instant, I started for Palmerston North, en route to the Pohangina. On my arrival at Palmerston I interviewed the secretary of the Prospecting Association, who very courteously gave me letters of introduction to the several shareholders in the claim that is being tried. The next thing was to find my way to the locality. Fortunately a Mr Bassett, who had been working some five weeks on the reef, turned up in town in the very nick of time, and after some conversation he agreed to get his' horse and go with me on Sunday morning, informing me that we should have to start early in the day. Mr Bassett appeared to be very much impressed with the find, stating that he had crushed a piece of stone, and got an amalgam the size of a bean Stratford, an old West Coast acquaintance, having kindly offered me the use of a horse, and also a pair of blankets, I thankfully accepted them, and at six o'clock next morning made an appearance at his homestead. After breakfasting and packing up we succeeded in getting away a little before 8 o'clock, arriving at Ashurst a few minutes past nine. Here we had to take in stores, which considerably impeded our progress, preventing us from going out of a walk. About half a mile from Ashurst we had to take the bed of the Pohangina, constantly crossing and re-crossing the river. There are some very fine flats on this river, and in summer time, I should think, feed would be abundant. After travelling some eight or ten miles we saw a hut on a high terrace on the lefthand side of the river. Mr Basseft told me it was the house of a settler who had leased land ftom . the Harbour Board, that he was married, and had seven or eight children. By the burnt tops ot the pines we could see that he had done some clearing. He is truly lord of all lie surveys, there being no other settler on the river. About 3 o'clock we came to Coal Creek, the boundary of the Harbour Board Endowment Block. There is scarcely any change in the Pohangina, the papa formation continuing the whole way. We saw several " Captain Cooks " on the road, but they were in very poor condition. Owing to the cumbrous nature of our swags we could not travel fast, and it was fully a quarter past four before we reached the creek branching from the Pohangina, bearing N.E., which we went up. Here the boulders began to get coarser. About three-quarters of a mile further on we came to another creek, bearing N. and S. Here we lost the papa, and the old formation came in. The rocks in the creek being seven or eight feet high, travelling became very tortuous and difficult. At a quarter to fiye we sighted the camp ;it was just getting du*k. AG x 8 tent was pitched on an elbow of the crook about 20 foet \vid,\ with a perpendicular hill, fiOO nr 700 feot high for a background, the bed rock being exposed nearly to the surface. Mr Anderson, the prospector'of the reef,

iere made his appearance, and in him I saw as fine a specimen of a new Zealand bushman as could be met with anywhere in the colony ; he stands six feet four inches in height, and is ot a very powerful physidue. After introducing myself, and presenting the secretary's letter, Mr Anderson said he would only he too pleased to show me everything in co.i nection with the reef. There being no feed in this creek, we had to drive the horses back to the Pohangina, and put them with Mr Anderson's, hoping that they would not stray, of which I was very doubtful. After supper we proceeded to rig our fly, and as it w.is pretty dark by this time and the scrub was wet, we- had to content ourselves with levelling the stones and spreading a rug or two for a mattrass. However, we tound Mr Anderson's conversation very interesting, and m ide the best of it. Ho appears to, have bourne a charmed life. He beloriged at one time to the Hawke's Bay Cavalry, and was all through the Matri war, being one of the five who followed Te Kooti into the Uronui Country. Being tond of hunting and of a bush life, a:vl knowing that there were great nnmlvjrs of wild cattle up the creeks in the Pohaninga district, he came up some two years ago and started shooting them. During that period he has sold as mmy as 1065 hides, the hides averaging 14s each. It was during his hunting he found both quartz and slafe, and became convince 1 of the existence of the reef. He showed me a skeleton of a bull that nearly did for him on one occasion, He had fired at and dropped him, and then went up to hamstring him,' but as soon as the knife touched the animal, it sprang up and made for him. He said he immediately made tracks, going leisurely up the creek at the rate of about 18 miles -an hour, and could just feel the bull's horns at the tail of his coat when the animal struck his knee against a stone and fell, and so Anderson escaped. With many interesting anecedotes of similar adventure, we whiled the time away until far into the night, and lam sure I should have been pleased to have kept it up till daylight, for I don't know how the weather was in "Wanganui last Sunday, but it blew and rained the whole night at Pohangina, and it was the old story of sitting up and holding on to the props to keep the blankets dry.' After breakfasting next morning we went over to have a look at the find. The shaft is a few yards from the creek and down about six feet. When they started to sink the reef it was not solid, being in blocks, but now as far as they have got down the reef is about three feet thick and quite solid. It was a very dangerous hole to work in, the face being shook and cracked on the top side, Mr Anderson's idea being to get enough stone out to test without timbering. There is a fine hill over them full of quartz and slate, and the stone looks well. The gold is not always to be seen by the naked eye, as it is very fine' which gives me confidence that it will run as I have always found, whether in quartz or alluvial. Fine gold runs truer than coarse and can always be better depended upon. The bearing of the reef in to the hill as she is at present is N.E. underlying to the westward. The company intend sending about five cwt. of the stone to be crushed before proceeding to put a tunnel in, but they have not yet decided where to send it. The Auckland papers state that tljere has been great dissatisfaction up there with the crushings after the assay test ; they don't feel inclined to send it there. I believe they are in communication with some persons in Ballarat. There are only six shareholders in the company and they certainly deserve great crodit for the way in which they have stuck to it. Upon my remarking it-was a wonder it was not taken up with a little more spirit in Palmerston, one shareholder said, " Don't mention it, old bov, they can't even float soap here." At present there is nothing payable in the stone, but the reef has had no test as yet, as they have not gone a foot into, the hill, and my opinion is that, provided there is only the colour of gold found in the stone, it, will be worth a good honest test. The claim has every advantage, a splendid hill with any amount of backs, plentv of timber, a good machine s"te. and water easily available.. The spur appears to come o u t # °* the Ruahine Ranges in a parallel nno > a "d as the conntrv is nothing but slate and quartz I think some good reefs will be found cropping out on the sufwee ; but owing to the lrlls being covered with supplejack and lawyers it will naturally take time and money to develop it. The river rises very quickly, being so near the snow, and it would be useless for anyone to go thf re without a pack horse and a a;ood stock of ' provisions, as the distance by the river bed is 26 miles from Ashnrst, although were a track cut through the points and flats to save crossing and re-crossinsr the river so often, I believe it could be done in half the distance. I hear the Feilding people are getting a party ready to send up there, and as the main range comes close to Feilding, and is on the same bearing as the Thames, the Tuhua. and Terawbiti, I fancy by careful prospecting they should be successful pretty near home. They would then reap the benefit of their own industry. lam fully convinced gold- will be found more or le c s on the main range on a north-west and south-east bearingright through the island. T wrote on this subject some two years ago. The finds may not be rich at the south-east portion, as the gold mav have become exhausted, or dipped into deeper levels. Take Terawhiti, for instance. Many people say •• Oh, that was no good," but the fact of their getting gold at all on the same bearinsr proves that it has cnim through the island on the dividing watershed, and the Thames being so rich gives me confidence that there still exists some good finds along the course of the-'fnain range, and I hope that this summer will see some of thorn oppned up; Anywhere near the main range the country is very rough and broken, and will require a good deal of patience and perseverance to test it ; but if a party, after picking their country, start and put up a snug wharp, and lay in three months' stock of provis"ons to start with they will save a lot of time and discomfort. I may say that Wanganui is already represented in the Pohanorina, No. 1 north having been pegged off, and a sixth share in tho prospectors' license having been purchased by residents in this town. After spending three days on the ground I thought it was time to start for home, and Mr Anderson sent up a man to bring up the horses. The man returned at night-fall with one of the horses belonging to the ; r own party, but ours were not to be found anywhere. However, as I was anxious to get back, Mr Anderson and I started back with one horse, and did not catch sight of my animal until about two o'clock in the day, having then travelled 13 miles, Mr Anderson kindly fording the rivers on foot, which is more than eveiy host would do for a visitor. Mr Bassett decided to remain until Monday. Directly after I reached Palmerston on Friday afternoon last a meeting of the company was held, at which T was present, and it was decided that the stone should be got down and sent away for crushing before permanent operat'ons are commenced. T arrived in Wanganui by Friday nigh"s train after a pretty stiff week's travelling.