THE WEST COAST COUNTRY.
fFrom the Wal-atip Mall.) The public have from time to time been informed and kept in a state of anxiety regarding the "West Coast district, both as regards a prospect of an agricultural settlement being formed and a new goldfields district establishd. At Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide, the subject has been a prominent one, and at the former of these places a company was engaged for the purpose of testing the practicability of establishing a nearer and closer connection with the Lake goldfields than those via Dunedin and Invercargill. It is. the duty of the journalist to give both sides of the question, and we are now in a position to give the other side. Our information has been gleaned from an authority on whom we have every reliance, and one, who has fortunately escaped the wreck of the schooner Pryde on the West Coast, chartered by the Otago Government to convey provisions to a party of surveyors whom the Government had despatched to lay off a township on the pseudodiscovered country referred to in Dr. Hector's report. It appears that for all the purposes of settlement the country is valueless, and the most remote traces of auriferous character are wanting in the whole traverse of country from the mouth of the Laduku River to Mr. Von Tunzelman's station, near the Greenston River. Our informant further says the whole valley of the Kaduka River possesses no land sufficiently valuable to induce settlement, being a series of flats, formed in the course of ages, from the shingly washings of the mountains. The isolated position even of any cultivable land, hemmed in, as the valley of the Kaduka is, by lofty mountains, is alone sufficient to prove the inutility of expending public money in an essay to develope a worthless tract of country, not calculated to support a rural population, and its agricultural industries in townships for the supply of any such problematical population. The staff now employed laying out townships is a clear sacrifice of the public money, and a gross mistake. The port of entry from the coast, even if this district should hereafter prove of auy real value, is most hazardous, in consequence of a dangerous bar, and the breakers that generally prevail on it. The winds are also most baffling, and change suddenly from almost a squall into a calm.; this is better shown by the loss of the ill-fated Pryde, schooner. For a whole fortnight the schooner lay off and on before she could get a chance ot attempting the bar, the vessel was unfortunately wrecked on her return passage after her mission had been executed, and her loss was entirely owing to the inhospitality of the shore, and not, as will be seen, from any want of judgment in any of the parties concerned. Just as the schooner on her return neared the bar the wind that had prevailed died away, and despite the efforts of " sweeps," pulled as powerfully as possible— in the face of shipwreck and its concomitant danger— the vessel struck a sunken rock. This did not, however, render the vessel linseawbrthy, and had the crew been able to get though headway on, all would have been >yell. The current, and the ebb caused by' the breakers put her, how-, ever, into difficulties, and upon; the snapping of the rudder chains; caused by^these breakers' J the schooner became at once unmanageable, and drifted slowly but surely upon the more visible and dangerous rocks. One of these she soon struck, and immediately commenced to fill. A part of the crewvtniab]e to swim, rushed into the dingy and nearly /caused it to upset by overcrowding ; others wlib were able to swim did so, and though /tfieVescape! was very narrow, all reached a ,: resting-place, though thoroughly exhausted- . ; ITo lives, were lost, for which we have to thank a most merr ciful Providence. Amongst thoseof: the crew who especially distinguished themselves were Mr Suliivan, late oi :Dr;- Hector's party, and j Mr DrumiceJ and the' last was a universal; favourite of "the parly. The former dived into the cabin and =saved" his diarytof-five-•months, v From this i place, they ({walked; .over- \ land to Messrs Von .Tunzleman's station, and! from thence to Queenstown. The party have endured great hardships, being without any
adequate supply of clothing or [provisions ; and have lost all they had withjthem. Mr Sullivan only barely succeeded in rescuing his narrative of five months' exploration and its vicissitudes. Such is the condensed account that we have obtained, but we hope soon to be able to give further particulars.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST18640307.2.13
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 52, 7 March 1864, Page 3
Word count
Tapeke kupu
767THE WEST COAST COUNTRY. Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 52, 7 March 1864, Page 3
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.