The Pohangina Reefs.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 1498, 4 November 1885, Page 4

The Pohangina Reefs.

FIELD'S LETTER TO DR HECTOR]

By Press Association message re-j ■ceive'd this afternoon we learn : that Mr! H. C. Field, a surveyor, m WanganuiJ has written to Dr Hector m disparaging! terms of the prospects of Pohangina.j He ims prepared what no doubt he] thinks a very learned disquisition on the) geological indications, &c, which are nil} alleged to be unfavourable to the proba-j bility oi auriferous deposits. < But be— l sides airing his geological knowledge, he} proceeds to say that he does not place 1 much> confidence m the' jewellers' tests,] as he fancies that if .the men were act-! m? honestly there may be a sufficiency ! of fiuegold anl silver 'floating m the air o_f. their workshops to affect the testing of small portions of stone. Mr Field I goes a step further, however, and al- j leges that there are several circumstances • connected with the affair which to him ■ have the appearance of being highly ji suspicious, and from his visit to the spot ; he says he has strong reasons to believe ' that some of the. assertions made regard- j ing the original prospectors' claim are ! untrue and are only calculated to deceive. ' Dr Hector, m referring to, this letter, i! writes to the Minister of Mines to the :l effect that several samples have betm } examined m the laboratory, but neither gold or silver could be seen. He states that he knows the district, and that the stone is inneh the same as that found at Terawhiti, near Wellington, and further that there is no reason to be sanguine.