Prospecting in the Upper Thames.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3763, 19 January 1881, Page 2

Prospecting in the Upper Thames.

We have been favored by Mr Albert George Allom with the following account of' a prospecting trip to the Upper Thames :'—

As gold has been found at regular intervals in the mountain ranges extending throughout the Peninsula from Cape Golville to the Aroha it is reasonable to suppose that it will be found in the ranges south of the Aroha —which stretch far away into the interior of the Island. Quite recently attention has been drawn to the report of Col. Chesney to Government in the. year 1864,, in which (hat officer stated that in 1852 he had observed a valuable goldfield a > few miles ■ above Waiharakefce, on the east bank of the Waihou. For some months we had contemplated a prospecting expedition in this direction, partly with the, view of testing the accuracy of Col. Chesney's report, and partly to see the country. Our departure was, however, delayed by the proclamation, on 25th.November last, of the Aroha as a Gold Mining District. Our party were unable to resist the temptatkm of taking part in the excitement and "fun attending the opening of a new goldfield. We formed a portion of the crowd that; pegged out the Bonanza mine, and haying made our pile there, we determined to moveto the southward in quest of pastures new. Our preparations for departure were not completed ' until 22nd December, at 8 p.m., at which hour we started up the river from Morgantown. in a light rowing boat, camping at about two in the morning, a mile or two above the Wairakau stream, for a few hours' rest. Our party consisted of Mr David Mclntyre, Mr Peter Ferguson, my younger brother and myself. Those who have travelled up the Waihou river from the junction at Ohinemuri to the Aroha by steamer, cannot have failed to notice that the strength of the current is greatly

increased as you approach the Aroha, and the idea of attempting to pull a boat any. distance further up the river against such a current, rapidly increasing in power, would seem to many out of the question. But we considered that as we had to take a good supply of provisions with us, the boat would be far the handiest way of travelling. The Wairere Falls, which we intended to be our first permanent camping ground, are distant about 18 or 20 miles by land from the Aroha, but by the river it is probably more like 35 miles. We pulled hard for two long days, stopping now and again to rest and make some tea, or to rush up to the top of some high terrace close by to obtain a view of the surrounding country r We passed Mr Firth's landing known as Stanley on the afternoon of the 24th December, and about four hours after we gave a sigh of great relief as the course of our little craft was changed suddenly, and we round ourselves out of the' Waibou gliding along in still water, which I will introduce to you as the Wai« rere Stream. Pitching camp, and getting somethiug to eat was the work of an hour or two, after which we separated and started off in different directions to see what sort of a country we had arrived at. From the top of a small fern hill close by wb; could get a very fair view of the country to the westward for miles. Mr Firth's large run, of about 90,000 acres, stretched away in all directions as far as tue eye could reach. This land is as flat as a billiard table, and covered with grass and clover. We could see tue houses at. Matainata, nearly due west from where we were, distant about nine miles. Mr Firth's son, who is managing the estate, has just completed a telephone from Matamata to Stanley —a distance of twelve miles. It has cost him a good deal of time and tronble, but he is quite repaid for all this on finding it work* most satisfactorily, t

We returned to camp that evening as one would suppose, quite ready for our night's rest, but the mosquitos were determined that we should not sleep, and I think they carried the day, or rather the night, for twelve o'clock that night found us huddled together round a smoking fire looking the very picture of misery.

It was somewhere in this locality that Colonel Chesney stated that he had found an extensive goldfield, but whether he expected reef gold or alluvial it would tie hard to say. I should be inclined to think the latter, as reef gold could scarcely be known to exist in JN>w Zealand at that date. As one of our party was an experienced alluvial gold-digger (Mr D. M. Mclntyre) it was not long before we had some pretty deep holes sunk near one or two of the creeks.

In a stream north of the Wairere falls, several ducks of a rare description were seen. lam told they are more common in the southern provinces, but that they are seldom seen so far north as we found them. In size they are between a teal and a grey duck. They are of a elatish oolouf, with brown breast, covered with slate colored spots, and we were so close to them as distinctly to see that they had 1 white bills, which are shorter than' those of the common duck. Some of your, readers may perhaps know from this,' description whether these are what are called Blue Mountain dnck^in the South. In our travels abou^ the ranges we discovered indicsf* tions of coal, and in "other places m% saw lignite. After spending a week near? the falls, we struck camp, and started* further up the river. That day's Wi% was the hardest we had. In placed'■'£• river was so swift thaii-we"werp-fojf'*s^" "^ get out of the t>oat,and pull it up t& rapids with a long rope. In this maofter wo ' managed to progresj 3lbout nine:'rmifs, until the river becaWftsb dangerous with. rapids and snags that we were, forced to land and pitch another camp. Ir t the evening I crossed , the ,river with say brother, and found, the* hot spring called Paruparu, mentioned by my father in his " Holiday Trip to l^aungatautari," eight years ago. This is rather a cluster of springs on a low, swampy bit of ground near She river bank. By banking up tho mud at the outfall, wo made a pool about 25 feet long, 2 feet. dee}:, and 12 to 14 feet wide. The water is not quite ao warm at that at the Aroha, but is clearer, and has not any disagreeable smell. It is within three or four feet of the river, so that one may easily enjcy a plunge into cold water after coming out of the warm bath. While here, I noticed several fish jumping out of the water in the river. We hoped that they might be trout, or perhaps salmon, but had no means of ascertaining. Leaving our boat here, and my brother in charge of the camp, on the sth January the other three walked further up country about 15 miles, visiting the natives as we went along. They were very friendly to us, and inviled us to partake of boiled potatoes and sowthistle without salt, which did not look very tempting. They - have all caught the gold fever, and wanted to gain as much information as possible from the Fakehas regarding the precious metal. Following a native path on the east bank of the Waihou, midway between the river and the foot of the hills, through a level tract-of country varying in width from two to five miles, we arrired after a tiring walk at the end of the great range of mountains extending from Coromandel. Ascending a spur for a height of 1000 feet, the view repaid us for all oar trouble. Looking to the southward over the Patetere district, as far as the eye could reach could be seen the vast plain stretching away, towards Taupo and Eotorua, with the> Waihou, now looking like., a small creak, threading its serpentine course amidst the loir terraces, till getting soiaUer and smaller in the distance it vanishes altogether. Far below us, and at regular intervals to the southward, there appear small Maori settlements with their neat little huts, peach trees and potato gardens. In. the treme distance is Tongariro and other mountains whose names we were un« acquainted with. Suddenly a change. comes over the scene, and we are roused .to the fact that rain is coming, and wo: have a long way to travel before dark. We rapidly descended the hill, and began our homeward journey, reaching our camp near Paru-Paru shortly after dark, ready and willing to make short work of the meal which my brother had prepared for us. On 6th January, at 8 a.m., we commenced our journey down the river in the boat, arriving at Stanley about 1 p.m. We spent some days in prospecting the ranges in this neighbourhood, and finally left there on the 10th January, reaching Morgantown in the afternoon. As my mates and I have decided that the, results of our prospecting for gold must not yet be made public, I reserve that sub* ject for a future occasion.