CONTINUATION OF "REEFER'S" NOTES ON HIS TRIP TO COLLINGWOOD.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 195, 19 August 1870, Page 2

CONTINUATION OF "REEFER'S" NOTES ON HIS TRIP TO COLLINGWOOD.

1 In my last I gave you some idea of the impressions I formed during my journey, i and while at Collingwood, up to the time 1 of the mail leaving, but some further ; description of this goldfield, in addition to > au opinion as to the prospects of the Per- ' severance claim, may be acceptable to ' your readers. I would first say a few 1 words in reference to the leaseholders or ! applicants for leases who were attracted to ' the place upon the first rumor of the 1 richness of the Perseverance. Many of 5 these holdings are, for the present, being ' shepherded, while others scarcely think it ' is necessary to take that trouble. The wise provisions of the' Goldfield-s Act intended to prevent such a monopoly of ! ground being set at naught, simply from 5 the fact that, as yet, no rush has taken place, but as soon as a few like myself are ou the look-out for reefing claims, we ' shall be often raising a trifling buzz about > their being allowed to hold so much > ground without doing anything towards even attempting to develop what may be its value, either for themselves or for the progress of this Goldfield. The Com--1 mercial and Pioueer seem the only ' Compauies of the Nelsou leaseholders, who have done anything worth speaking of ' hitherto. A Canterbury company have expended a considerable amount in explorations, and, although they have not yet found anythiug of extraordinary richness, they have very good indications in more thau one of their workings, and , some stone they had crushed yielded what was, at the time, considered a payable return ; and there is Jittle doubt but that these persons, as well as others who have invested their few pounds in obtaining leases of likely blocks of land, wiil have confidence instilled into them by the proved richness of those first iu work, and Collingwood will likely be a bustling pkce during the coming summer. Wherever I went I heard of intended race-cuttings, for the purpose of bringing water either on to new ground or, as in many cases, to ground that has before been worked ; indeed, it is astonishing how often, in some places here, the ground has been worked over and over again, and each time yielding good returns. The first locality worked ou this Goldfield (Lightband's Gully) has been worked over several times, and the deposit of tailings from those workiags has been put through and made to work more than once, and I now hear of a project to brinoin an extra supply of water from the Para-para to sluice the hills beside these old workings, which will, iu all likelihood, be a piying undertaking. The working about the Glen Gyle is apparently going on well, and other ground is being taken up in the vicinity. The present proprietors of the celebrated Richmond Hill claim have great hopes that by working it on a ditiereul plan to that now pursued, it will yield large returns. This has been for years a most productive spot. The Slate River, for all the years it has been in work, still turns out a fair quantity of gold; and its tributaries, the Rocky and Snowy Rivers, still offer attractions to a few parties of miners; the former of these places has lately, unfortunately, been the scene of some fatal accidents, but the yield of gold has, I am informed, greatly increased. The River Aorere, the main river of the Collingwood district, has, during the last summer, had a number of natives at work in it with long-handled shovels in many instances in several feet of water, called blind stabbing, getting by this means the gravel from the bottom of the river into their canoes, and afterwards washing it on the banks, and by this method getting fair wages. But if such a rude and imperfect way of working will produce satisfactory returns, it would certainly Beem reasonable to suppose that if some better system of working were adopted, really larger returns would be the result. There can be no doubt that there is a large quantity of gold in this river ready to reward the exertions of the enterprising 'miner, indeed, there is in my opinion every probability that this Collingwood Goldfield, although, the first worked in New Zealand, will yet prove of great richness, aud although I am obliged ou other business for the present to leave without having secured a claim, I shall take an early opportunity of returning to continue my explorations as ;J MKcwi^ajsAD H£ A Reefer."^