THE WEST COAST.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 6, 20 November 1863, Page 2

THE WEST COAST.

Notes of the Votage op thk Ppttek Nccget FROM IxVEBCARGII.I. TO THB WFST COAST, anx> or the ExpiobAiioss. 6? thb PbbseVEEAKCB PEOSPECTINO COMPANY. The arrival ofthe cutter Nugget, with its hardy little band of explorer?,' after a seven months' absence,.has placed us in possession of a few more descriptive facts bearing. ' on that country so vagudy known, and the development of which is so 'expected to increase il?© prosperity of fche adjacent Provinces apd. the colony generally. Afc the time ofthe departure ofthe, Njugget from this port (April last), anxious that lifeur- readers should have the 'opportunity of leaifning the results, of the expedition, we arranged with one of the member?, in, order-. toa systematic record being kejJfci That j arrangement having been studiously followed .w v e r ars enabled' : to publish the following journal jof the expedition, which we have slightly cimdeiised from fche original. . The Nugget sailed from the New River on . Moij^ay, the 27fch April,, and- same dav gob-within two jpaUes nfi.the Centre Island. . u Next day twe stood for- Tewai wai , Bay,.and anchored at Mussel Be^l^ai\ .e^pellej^fc: nn9iipra gif,, soundings for,, a quarter of a mfie'frbm the western side of the Bay fiom t^n to,.fcbree ; arid.a. half- fathoms. The .sand .waa,,very whifca and '.coyered; with shells. .There Wa9 y anyi.flnantity of, mussels of fine flavor. ,-Ia ■strolling about the beach we ; discovered two large hoilers,-doublless left-there by a- whaling vessel. They : . appeared- to hayjeji been 'lying -there for many .years,, for the scrub? bad. grown all around them.: 1 0n Monday,^he, 4th May,: made/, *ail\ind carriedia light brjOeze-.,as;far as Green -, lsland ; l towards evening thewind shifted toiN;>W*i and we .lpstKgfcOuad" fast,.jii.ThQuwind continued! jin-.+he . 'Ba:n:9 ; .q.uarter till l^i&*y. the Sfc'vandi then we got up within a few miles of Dusky Sound. and«;oii Monday, the llth, ! r^b into -Nancy. Sound,, where We anchored in 7 fathom, rock^bofttom. There was abunj^aiicje^|,^sh,-.ai}.d^ffjeyiad the advantage- of fresh wafer. On Wednesday four ot the company %gi!eiß}ie<J!the£ imoufitnitffit 'tae head ofthe Eiy f or jie.purpose of examining the country, wifch-a view to gefcinto.the interior to prospect. Tl^ev returned in the Overling, and reported that, the country was so nibuntainbus' that 'ifc.wa'S utterly impossible to proceed with any burthen ; ahd they even experienced great difficulty in progression unenciimbered as they were. The idea of prospecting, here was at once aßiSdflned.; 'We next made Bligh's Sound?ontbeevening;a£ Monday, 19th inst. On. Tuesday Webeat up Bligh's Sound, and discovered a reef not mentioned in the- chatft,- lying about 8 miles Rptthe' -Sound, on fche eastern sir'e ; at the thna wei^assed^-nearly h'gh water — about 8 feefc of watermpon it. We brought up in S fsthoms bf water, within 2-br S rafies'of the head of the Bay. We were now pretty well on a parallel. with the Lake Diggings, so all hands prepared for prospecting. On Thursday we shifted up the Bay to the mouth of the river, and moored the vessel. Two cf fche party who started up one of the mountains were benighted, and on return stated that they had discovered a track. Tliey said the country inland appeared to be level, or passable. They had seen a lake, appearing to be about two miles square, being nearly E.S.E. from the .mouth of the river, or the head of Bligh's Sound— distance, 12 miles. We caught a quantity of fish in the Sound — in all 150lbs— which we cured* On Monday^ 25th, ic blew a heavy gale of wind, dragged both anchors, drifted ashore 5 but owing, fco fche beach 7 being composed fine shingle, no damage was done. O 1 the 27th our dog caught » bird Which none of us had ever seen before, about thesiiee of a common fowl, of a speckled green color with a beak resembling the cockatoo. On the 28fch May, six of our party started for the interior — three in each party with three weeks provisions. The writer, having in chopping wood cut his foot, could not accompany them. Oh the 31st, both parties Teturned, reporting as follows . — They followed up the river for about fifteen miles. A swampy flat extended ou the right hand for about three miles. They tried to ascend what appeared to be tho lowest of the hill ranges, bufc failed in all their attempts, and they expressed an opinion —

that witboit wing.s it would be iropog|pMg to get uAand,^S,o a coun"eil,,was held,f'ind it~wSsg<?&igj^ 7l*y '■■Milf6i^*^--Souarf,jr i .Vp'n.tthe* W'J«i^ -we sailed, and,oii "the 2ud sighted ii ketch JneaAii&li for George's Sound. -t)a the 3rd June j injAnite -Bay, George V Sound. . We fcj&r#caugfi|| a quantity of crayfish, no other' fish so low down; the Sound offering.' On the Sth June, we toot^me^ party up the Bay aad landed themat. jFresli Water lv , Basin— wherco they would try to get inland. Th©' writer bad his doubts as to to their getting far, for the pliice exceeded anythi" g ever seen before for prgc|pifco,us. mou * places "where foot could I>e placed ashore. On the pfch June, landed the second party at Harrison's Say— ra/ pretty bay enough, but locked by irregular snow-covered mountains. Then returned to see s ;bqw^o,Jt camped on the.pfaca where .they &ad been landed. They had-MidWfed'hp r 'the'« i rer < aboufc six miles, when all at once they came to a precipiea-some" 7 thousands of ieet deep. They felt a heavy shobk pf earthqiiake .about .eleven o'clock on thenjgfct jo£< the sth, which fasted almost J five 'maußes*' —vibration f rom . east to , wegt. On the morjbing of the •■ 12th No- 2 ' parly returned, haviig ascended the mountain, and cot a view [of tbe.CQuntry towards. Awarui.. .T^hev .tried speml to"f the'cTeeks for gold,'butiould not'gfeltttfe colsr. We were quite satisfied that Milford Sound would never become a .place of note, until such time ka'they bring the serial machine to perfection. W e^ sailed away, and on June 13th, with a nasty sea, gfofc abreast of -the Riijer Akaroa, aqd. { as, it was jk> rough, : ahd'we c«ald norHe'e the river.'went on jto ! Jackson's Bay, which was reached on Sunday, tl|e 14th„- A party .topk boidrtasjpok-for n^reekor river* lo get the WsseTin, ks we intended' fo remain. some time. They returned in the evening, having met in with some Maories, an old man and thr& women, who were dreadfully frightened, bufc rp-'" assured by one of the party, who spoke Maom. :This'' T appeared *:tb.?A&rth'^ahly^]Jar.i' 6$ *the West Coast which seemed from its conformation at all likely to be" aettlS|d,Z,'3Jaere seemed to be evt'4y indication of gold. Round the bay the appearance was that of the Wakatip district, the hills beirjg. composed ot soft bhze-~slafce, mica, and an abundance of quartz. The N.W. side of the bay is the*""' only place where a boat can land with safety.. We cut a dock in tlie crefek^ near the grave of Claudte Ollivier, Esqj who died id this bay on board' fcho Ada, on the 27th August, 1850. .In digging .this.; dock, we tried several dishes of dirt, arid in every , instance obtained gold^^eight online speekSto tho. dish. We were delighted, tor we did not; expect tp get payable gold on the sea coast, and the gold; there found was far the best. On the 17th June, we, , got thp 7 JT,ugget into the , dock .or ohannej, - having' previously lan"ded : her ! cargo. -The Muorie*^'; told us ,/i^out ~ ; this time, .that there had* of en been' "ten vessels " iii the Bay. On the 24th[ June ;we, started inland; in; jtwof' "parties, three in one and four in the other. On the 25tji ! Juno Mr "Carr'^parfcyJleft'as/ intending to follow ,up the : rigiit -side of Japkson'a, river tp tu&di The river is in wiidth frb_T'a Quarter ;tb' hajf a mile. Wherea -beai«ih'is to'be had " the traVfelling •; ie first-rate, but the -bush is dreadful.wcttic— on£ complete mass .of network-iPf runners- creeper j, supple-jacks and bush iawygrs, or bramble^.- It is impossible to proceed n dr^tlian'five or sixmileis, a day. On the>2t>fch -June fae gift* twerity-ninp miles up the river — the. river so far running north and south. Any part above this the river might ;be fSraed-'breJist higb/^but' itfis oiieih a^mfle ih width; On the 29th we got 'up 'fifteen hiiles'mire,. ■' We tried several' places i a tiie river-forgold, ' bu& could only obtain k '"tew fepefeks' to the dish. 7- On the 30fc1i we rnotMr Catfr's^parfcy, who' had bb' n , prospecting two days here, but the color could not be raised* On Ist' July we* Started for the river running east and west, which we called. Wild Dog liiver ; Mr- Carr's' party -starting back t»cry a river which they crossed on the side of Jackson's Biver. We tried several places for gold at this Wild Dog River without any result. On the 4th v we fell in with Carr's party .again Afther undergoing many privations on the return, from wet, hunger, and exhaustion, we reached the cutter again on the 7th. The_Bgjne day two of the comi* pany, Messrs Leask and Williamson, returned froni a prospecting tour. They had been,§fty mjl>s r in a southerly direction. They had obtained no payable prospect, but "tbe countiy looked well, for' g6ld. On Thursday the' 30th started on a prosp&ting tour to the Awarua River, some 30 miles dist&nceThe boat proceeded on to the Teirre«-at oif Jackson's liiver, for-the- purpose of crossing us over. About noon the boat returned to tiie vessel to bring us a load of provisions* A'tout 4 ; p.m . reached the Waitoto river, seven miles from Jackson's. Th re is a fino entrance to the Waitoto at high water, over the bar. We found plenty of pigeons and woodhens, which we slaughtered freely. On Sunday; tlife 2nd of August, there was a drizzling rain, with a strong S.E. gale, rendering the surf terrific;- On Wednesday, August sih, Mr Carr found a whale whilst walking along the beacb. lt was ofthe species called the humpback, and measured 35 teet. Tiiat day we all started with swags, weighing 60lbs. each, andcamped at the Spring Rocks tor the night. Starting earlv on the morning of the 7th, crossed the Abouka river, and reached the Awarua at dark, distance from the Abouka, ten miles. Btv Island" bearing about S.W , fcen.-'miles*, and a small rock island nearly opposite to us. From what we can rec»!lect of Dr Haast's account, this must be the river hi came du\vn.° , 0 ithe Bth we wfent down to the entrance to see if it was possible tpbring the bout in. Tnere . we found the riv -r at its mouth, divided into two channels — the Snlth channel being the' siristllest or the two ; we at once saw that there was toi much . surf f>r any boa u te' attempt the entrance. TueS r day, llth, d( termiaed on making^canoe/to trans'port, pur provisions' up the fiver-/ .Thursday i found a suitable tree and commenced cutting out the canoe* Fridav, left two of .thp party to make the canoe, and started for the Waitoto. Saturday reached the Waitoto,, On tha '.beach found eithej the stern or head-post of some vessel named th? Dragon. Started .Witli! heAvy swags and reached the Abouka, where we made our first depot. On Saturday, .the^rd, got. back again^to-the Awarua and found that' the canoe Was nearly' finished. On the 22nd , the .two belonging* ; to ; ,the . ship's boat, went' back 'to"' the vessel to plant to plant potatoes nnd - - prospect the Waitoto. Monday 24tb, cqpqe .w.as -launched, rfound to answer. Tuesday. 25th, started with. two- canoes ; and took twp, months,. provisions— two, men with tlie small canoe and five, with the large. On Sunday 30th, we reached after contending with con r stant rapids, the junction ofthe Clark .with the Awarua or Haast. OnTuesday Ist Sekejcnber, we divided ourselves for prospecting. j'. We made a cache at this place, of .'.'three, weeks, .provisions. Carr's party. started. "ap the Clark on the right side, atid our party Went in .tlie smiail canoe with a fortnight's provisions up,. t^i'e Haast. 4 %yqh .. miles up,' the Bourke joined the Haa^tr. "Here aiiy doub*fc as to the name of the' river was solved, for on the j ; opposite side to that on whieh we were camped, we saw letters cut on a large birch tree. On^Wedjnesday at Dr 'HnastV yd'Camp we found a tree wit'i various initials cut upon it. We^alsq. found a jbin/diab} a bjg ?floiur b.aki hnd K/W^PrcSs^b^'liire sauce bottle. We remained here sinking holes in different parts ofthe river side ; but in no instance could we obtain the "color or even get any black , sand., On Saturday, the sth September, ifc snowed 'allday^ and in the evening there was a foot of snow on the ground, .On Sunday we started early, an I followed up the left side of the Haast. On Monday, the 7th, struck Dr Haast's track, which was fi^st-rate. On reaching the Wills, we sunk two . ,-large holes or paddqeks, and-,gqt/ dowrt about five fee?, when the, Water became too strong-fralthodgh ,we had; two baling afc the time, Dish after disbwas < .tried, bat- not even th& colotj, of black sand cOuid be obtained. Wednesday, the,. 96h..in8t.r^the writer doubts t jf. ever_ this place. -will. T b'e settled, 6Ad 'if it is, there Will be a splendri ' bpfening for tire compile!' ■ 6f a weather almanac, for he need only put d.>wn.- raia; /everjr day, and 9 days out of 12 he will be right.. On.thte ' lOthwe went down to the jianction of theHaaatand Bourk e. W e prospected: in «ne of the* bars of tl^e'; Bourke, but did not obtain the color. We marked the bark of tine of tbe trees theve^ 4 * Nu*jret Prospering Party, Sept. 11, 1863, R.8., Hl>|., J^-S., W.G. On Saturday, the 12ch, we proceeded to the dark and f puna oor provisions in good condition. On Monday the 14th Carr's party rejoined u«. They had been twenty. mik&Jip fchfe Clark, and had had « perpetual succession <p cataracts. Tho soil was every where .veryi PP 01!;---game in the shape of wood-hens abundant.- Tbey prespected' '"'■ everywhere,- . but • with .no better result than had attended our attempts. Oh | Tuesday the 15th we sfcarted-/or the Thomis'" which we reachpd on the 16tlu and .iintnediateiy | started up. At a distance up the rive* bf seven. J miles, we sunk seven holes, but although this] river appeared to be running level, when five 'or] six miles up was reached, it had just. the samec^ appearance as the rest, rttnmng right jdown the , mountain. Thursday, 17th, silll orospecting, with , the usual result, no tolor. ANext day we started back for the vessel. The writer did not" think any of the places visited would prove auriferous^ or some surer indications would have been presenttd. Reached the Maoris camp on the 23rd of September ; and camped on tho oppesite side of the river, same ni^ht. On the 24th, found what

't^^po white man^w& possibly remain. We reached the' Vessel abou?** p-m. of the isth September, and found that those left behind had cleared about an acre, and planted x&mtU^mm'W&Vtfi*™'** Mnaws WilUamMn. - and~£ei A hadTJtArted with a week.T'Bifovisi ins for the neighborhood of'CaSeadePofttfc;- We had just bees aiiayTtw* 6*ntfifc< l^fc^lWfedi^ iU Ist October, > JbrSguw jwth JSara a fa* apeahxf ffHj wliiilr they had obtain^otf^bMirface from a couple ;of dishes, but owin^tooaa" weather andjihort p^obottomed. .TftegeJdUtfey-gotfwas much coarser i'haa anyjWag, we«h£|v^ W*ejl^g^|/ CWMoh-^ ■ttay^the'tftnOct, we started, nine of usjrjhta fortnight's „pfQ«wj^9^fqr;^no»her prospectirig tour towaMdlhe'Awarua. "*By noon we reachedtfae gully whelelieisS ahd'Williamson bad ob--tained the gold. Weicft two of the party there and therreßf <rfua madestotGaseadfrPoint. Tie* ground was very abrupt, and travelling difficult. OpjTue9f^mrea<s«3l|fij*"Wlaf 3He#«b^b*d on following it aown, ipund our party camped near the ipa^be^ch* jPere jfonr remain ed \a£ cetrWrl i . l J ie o<¥«*Vf arua * "*' ' t " e **' .7t^Octpb'erfivtraijtf^ .lajgelibles.fbut on getting t«ia dewth •of-»e»ep 'f«s3t wei«ntirruptgd'l>^t^wstle>, Whi|h| appears to be th»^West-Coa?tP»h^iext tlay*ent uplflVe miles higher, andsft£s Weltif 'ty&m, >it >; f»)iLd getj without succes^ '^^n^Simaayj went hack by Jattk*3bn'yßAy-to *t^''t-bastY:ji'toest -pirilods route. On r 6W *raysa<9t Wjfoobd the two left to prospect the creeSfj they bad met with rio ( success. On^fetiflßay th^raminst, the jcas&tde - 1 r«j&l'ec£t'hS4 tbejn&ad «rfcAtelft^KS'c^ w : th us, and. jyocee^jpg up. tJie v river"'"2S^olteß, tried several hoi^soWi'e tpWe depth of 16 feet, bttfttW&pfeft^t&d^Vffolft^ pected most oPtbe'drte^lrMning-into the rivOT 1 ,bup«^/no^^ t**f* tb abltfoy 'foe'sea line ; m^^hfei'bushiWWfaO.^ad ** pcjr day; so coihpellfid^JF^rfte^QinjTjiieadaj^lhfe -2©th-Octobeir- fbiir - of- .us- -startedr-to-giye^hia fToreefc'^'^neirS tSe^ Wst^^pS^c^jbab/ i*eb ob tained 1 niot*"~tii!»r. - 1 fte'tuirhed A on v flie >276b, •attdrepdme'd tHat* on*f «»£*. o*B^l" rUSge towards the Cascade riv^r, f aaw a . larg^fikj*? •appareHtlyJeflda&kl b^'^ri^^^ The lake bore about BritjXt^&*rftJ!&iT!^ a r ' taiice .'ten uiriije fj,^nltn'^ ; yj^al (m?& holt* in the* creek, but (Jid^ofc fipd gold in sufficient quantities -t<^pSy7%r jQ>^ A pf qjvi^wp; -jpu!W>£i£Kng us;^£}]se ; prb^ una Jc? ..cesjifut, wejjgbi bn board Jiie -JCtugget. and .-beajt out of the Bay<cjn- t^ej-Sn^Ti^lovemb -r. When <. a£reast-of Mu/or^ ,^un^; Wie wind rinjereaafng, 'tths M'iip ||bo W r WMcarrj.ed {#njp s^^!S ! a^ , only^ < BMte^tnat^ut of the 200aayswJBwere awayg^obt(-^vf^m^^|^ rained inoessatttlyJLOff.:. .-Aftw-Opucfing at-Dusky Sound, ( various other poittUj ami -St^fWJ^a. "s Island, we arrived attli^jetw|ft^eroargilT^t T B,a,ro,ion thie . >days.i * it tea/* be abbrVril s3dfaMrib%tba't there could • &Sffi§^A'Wml'fy&k<**l. tbafr thfe* Nu'gge' r t,^nd none- more statable for 1 exploration purposed V '-'Y/ .^T/I/.'l x&VJiti ,MiQ \