NOKOMAI.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 69, 5 June 1869, Page 5

NOKOMAI.

' 24fth' May, 1869. • Here am I stuck lip byr,ain v; I£it. goetf oil as it has bfegtin^fby'tinoiiet twenty-four hours, nothing can- come in or go out of the place'; but fortunately, rapidly as thewers rise, they subside nearly as qiiicfclyv-rso that ; at no tune is the district isolated for any considerable periocj. I started from Queenstown on Thursday week ; and as- 1 Am- desirous of seeing the Remarkabies and the high ranges up to Mt. Earnslaw, at the head of Lake "Wakafapu, in their full winter covering of snow, and very little having as yet fallen, I thought I would take a run down to the Mataura, and see that district. Taking advantage of the -kind invitation of Mr. Trotter, , of Greenvale, near Kingstown, 1 stemmed down, the Lake to that place in the "Antrim." We made the passage — some twenty-five miles — in abefat three hours, on a clear, still, frosty morning. There was a slight haze lingering about the corries-, fantastically twining round the bare and rugged pinnacles of the mountains — Ben Lomond, from the Lake, appearing to me to bear away the palm for beauty ; it was curious to reflect that it was nearly twice and a half as high as its Scottish namesake. I\irther down to the southward of the Lake-appears Halfway Bay — a romantic-looking valley, watered by a mountain stream. From the Lake it appeared to be shut in by terraces ; but there are several hundreds of acres of alluvial soil very fertile. At the little jetty was lying the " Expert," a small steamer, which, though now sadly knocked about, bore traces of the beautiful lines and elegant proportions that mustliave disTtinguished her in, the palmy days of the district. Her sister-ship, a twinscrew, is lying on the beach at Queenstown, cut in half, and waiting for drays to convey her to Dunedin, where her owner proposes to ply her along the bays ill the Peninsula. Further down the Lake, on the north side, is seen a I faint and broken track, apparently ; down a ragged precipice. This bears the ominous name of the "'Devil's Staircase.'' I have seen Hell's Grate, on Banks' Peninsula, and the Devil's Backbone, at the Beaumont ; but this Appears to beat them both. It is singular how fond the Old Identityare of taking liberties with His Satanic Majesty's name 3 lam told all these names were given before tb.p inv&sion of the Young Iniquity. At the foot of the Lake is Kingstown, which appears on the map as large as Lawrence, and is, I believe, larger — oh paper. There are two hotels ; one of them, which I entered, appearing very clean and comfortable ; but in other respects, the place is a melancholy wreck of former greatness. The station beyond one and a half mile is sadly exposed to the wind from both quarters; but they seem afraid of damp if it were placed in shelter under the bush. It, however, appears picturesque enough from a little distance. There is another station (Mr. Howell's) near the upper crossing of the Mataura ; and some twelve miles further^ on, Mr. Rodgers', Grlenquoich. This is" evidently the show place of the district, and is near the township of Athol. It is very Avell situated for shelter^ and has a capital garden, with honeysuckles running over the verandah. The chimneys are of a deep red brick, and some of the gates are painted nearly the same colour, giving a rich warm effect to the landscape very pleasant to the eye, and very rare in Otago — the prevailing practice apparently being -to paint everything that has to be painted a cold white or drab, which, however suitable in bright sunny weather, intensifies instead of mitigating the dreary effect in winter. Grlenquoich, however, looks nice and warm — the extensive buildings lying in the shelter of a sort of blind gully. "Over the top of the ridge, atlthe back; appears the centre dome, 4,700 feet, wreathed on the summit with snow, and having that peculiar reddish hue I have noticed on the Hokanui's, which contrasts so remarkably with the blue Tapanui Ranges. I took advantage of a' dray laden with sheep to cross the river, which one has to do several times on the way from Athol to the Nokomai. There is good ' prospect for gold in many places, but it is of the kind that prosperous diggers in a new rush disdain : it requires capital and experieace to, make it payable ; with these it is evident that handsome returns would be made. There are outlying claims doing very well. There is generally plenty of water, and- plenty. of fall; indeed, this is almost always the case Above the Dunstari, all along these high lands- and it" has often struck me how much I should like to have a magic wand of- sufficient potency to transfer .these advantages to. to some of my_frie6ds at "Lawrence, the .Hogburn, M&nuberikia, &c, who are ofteii put to much labour and expense from the want o£ these good things. Here, however, ihere is little capital, and , mpst of the. miners have leffv there being no laiid open/ no power or right of depasturing o'ittle/ or" any other inducement for men to settle on the spot , No, one can run-.a cow without the permission of the runholder, who jchargei however, ; moderafjely, when they allow it all. No wonder they are chary-; of: granting'; such' permission — regard being had to the uncertainty o"f their tenure. They^have no assurance

that our'ridiculous provincial legislators may not over-ride their sgree"ments by act of Council, and they are naturally desirous by all meanß to make what they possibly can off the -land while they nave; it. Last Thursday, when I travelled from Athol to the Nokomai, was a delightful day. The road winds much to take advantage of the leading ridge. The scenery is not so bold as that on the Lake, or up by Arthur's and Madri 1 points to Skipper's and the Shotover, which I visited recently; but there are mountains of considerable elevation, with fine alluvial flats and terraces, indicating an igneous origin, and the subsequent action of water. The Mataura meanders through these flats, heading from time to time against bluffs of trap-rock, rendering it necessary to cross the stream frequently. At the of the township appears the station of the Messrs. Cameron, and beyond you can see what is left of the once prosperous township. To the right is the Provincial Hotel (Mr. Whittaker's), and further on the "United States Hotel (Mr. Job Colain, proprietor, who also owns a large proportion of the soil, both gold-bearing and otherwise). He has the principal store, and by means of draying and packing supplies most of the district, I made a careful drawing of one of the claims on Friday and Saturday ; it is occupied by Barnet and party, and is nearly the colour of the upper part of the Blue Spur — strong yellow afid red. They have run several drives into the spury and have got a good prospect. They are now stripping, which process is_effected by means of a dam, supplied by a race brought from some distance. This dam fills in about an hour, and supplies a very powerful body of water for several minutes, stripping the paddock rapidly, and the stuff runs over a long tail-race pitched with hard stone, which they say catches all the gold, for they use no boxes. Mr. Colam's claim, on the contrary, uses several boxes with false bottoms, similar to those used on the Blue Spur. They also use, in most of the claims, hydraulic pressure, i.e., water is conveyed through a canvas hose to the vicinity of the stuff they wish to clear. The water is narrowed at the bottom through a pipe or nozzle, and strikes with great force on the face. The stuff is afterwards removed by the ordinary action of the water. I never saw this method employed on Tiiitpeka; but I cannot help thinking it inij^hc be used thus with effect.

The accommodation here is sufficiently good. I have a most comfortable clean bed. There is a little damsel in waiting, who, by her wistful expression, reminded me at first of Dick Swiveller's marchioness — with this difference, however, that in common with all the live stock, and all the boarders except " Ted," she is in good condition, if not fat. a.h.