THE MUSSEL BEACH WHALING STATION.

Southland Times, Issue 1320, 11 October 1870, Page 3

THE MUSSEL BEACH WHALING STATION.

'-■ ' CLOSE OF THE SEASON. * . The first season's expedition wasbrougbt to a close the middle of last month, and the party have returned to Biverton. They left the station on the 20th, and reached Jacob's River on the 25th, having experienced tolerably fine weather during the passage. We regret to learn that their operations have proved ! unsuccess-'; ful, not a single capture having been made. One 'small whale, belonging to' the humpbacked species, was fastened inside the roadstead, but by some means or other it Succeeded, 'in, jpakihg dts?%scape'T Before being disabled. One or two others were observed in the ofting, but the weather was much tod boisterous to admit of the boats reaching them. The non-success of the season- is attributed to the absence of 'south-easterly weather to drive' the feed on to the coast. That opinion is strengthened by the fact that, although the season on the New Zealand coast "was a bad orie;l the fish are reported plentiful amongst the Fiji Islands. Despite the nonsuccess of the expedition, the project is regarded with sufficient confidence to enable us to say that next season's operations will be resumed with unabated vigor. "We are indebted to Mr D. 23. Lawlor, the projector, o£ ? the undertaking, for the following particulars. The expedition, consisting of two boats, manned with crews to the number of fifteen men, left Jacob's river on the 15th of "May. Outside Ho well's Roads they encountered baffling winds, which compelled them to shape a course for Stewart's Island. Between Port William and Saddle Point they were detained till the 2nd of June, when they took their final departure from the island, and reached their destination the following day. Mussel Beach is situated on the south of Tewaewae Bay, an open roadstead at the mouth of the "Waiau River.; It forms a kind of cove, with a beach three chains wide at the top. The depth of water in the roadstead, outside the cove, averages six fathoms* and in that situation vessels would be sheltered from westerly weather. In south-easterly weather they could not possibly lie, although they might be enabled to hold ground against a north-easterly wind. The coast from about six miles below the "Waikawhau river, or as it is set down on the chart, the Rowallan burn* is particularly bold and precipitous. The line is so broken and abrupt that it has been described to us as perfectly inaccessible to any four-footed animal. In token of this, our informant states that his dog (a pointer) was unable to follow him in his travels along the coast. The ground back from the coast-line forms a narrow strip of flat country, beyond which the ridge rises abruptly to a great . height. The head of the bay, from the Rowallan burn to the mouth of the "Waiau river, is perfectly flat. The distance is estimated at: fifteen miles, and the beach forms a pretty good footing throughout. From the mouth 7 of the river a diggers' track has been cut eight or ten miles through the bush to Mr Aitkin's station. . The work, which must have been laborious; was executed by a party of four diggers, who were induced to set in to the beach workings in the vicinity of Mussel Bay. Unfortunately, they met with no success, and at the date our informant arrived on the ground, their number had been reduced to two. Subsequently the two left also, so that the place is now abandoned,, so far as mining is concerned. Their report of the workings is embodied in a written statement handed to Mr Lawlor. One of them states — " In reply to your query as to the probability of Mussel Beach and its vicinity being yet a gold, field, I have the honor to state that, so far as my experience relates, the indications are opposed to such an eventuality. I have been for some time digging in the district, and met with no success. I attribute my want of success to the fact of no payable gold existing in these parts. For the most part, the black sand con. tains no gold — the rock is principally of limestone formation, and there is very little available water." The other party writes: — "I have been an old digger in Australia. I have tried Muscle Beach and its vicinity for two years, and my opinion is that a living cannot be made there. The ridges are completely stripped of wash, and the sand on the beach is of a poor nature." These communications would appear to dispose of the question as to the existence of gold in the neighborhood. As regards, agricultural prospects, our information is not a bit more -satisfactory. The extent of flat land is very trifling. The soil is of that soft spongy nature that is invariably : found in the vicinity of growing birch. It is all densely timbered with an inferior kind .ofgoai, red pine, and black pine, intermixed with a very little white pine. So very useless is the timber that the whaling party were, compelled to take timber round from Bivertpn. Maori hens are plentiful, but in consequence of the enormous quantity of sharks, small fish are very scarce. A few seals were seen,, but nothing to the opinion that

j their capture could be rendered a profitable pursuit. Onl/ one seal was caught during the whole season. The climate ia described as closely resembling that of Invercargill or Riverton. The fore part of the season was very coarse, but the latter part was upon the whole good. Altogether Mussel Beach, is represented as an uninviting region, still it commands faith as a wfialmglstafioii— -a Haithiwhich •"we- "-hope ■' May" fet k prove to"" be well founded.