STEWART'S ISLAND.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 230, 27 June 1872, Page 5

STEWART'S ISLAND.

Having recently referred to Professor Black's report relative to Stewart's Island, we now furnish a few extracts from that of Mr W. H. Pearson, Commissioner of Crown .Lauds, InyercargiU, who also formed one of the expedition appointed by his Honor the Suparintendent to examine and report upon the Island, and whose report, together with that of the Professor, was laid on the table of the Provincial Council last session. As regards the occupation of :—

FISHING, FISH-CURING, &C, Mr Pearson remarks as follows : — "The bays and harbors are, during the summer months, frequented by shoals of ' trumpeter ' and ' moki,' both fißh of rare excellence. The latter will not take a bait, and can only be caught with nets laid in the shallow waters, along the edges of the bays, and kelp beds inside them ; these nets could be laid down with ease by the wives or children of the fishermen, in any weather. I have frequently assisted in placing them in Port William, and in two or three hours caught from fifteen to twenty moki and trumpeter (averaging in weight five pounds) to each net.

' The means of making it at once possible and profitable, to supply the Dunedin market from the Island, are thus set forth :— " Smart fore-and-aft cutters, with wells to carry live fish, could supply the Dunedin market, which is large ; and the prevalent wind, the Bouth-west, would enable the owners to make the run up in a few hours. In working back they could trawl, and bring the result to their homes on the Island for curing ; and it is to this branch of the business they must look for the full development of the industry, the chief reward of their labor." As to the proposal of opening up a profitable export trade, Mr Pearson remarks :—": — " 'Tinning fish' for export ought, wi \h moderately paid labor, to pay welL The *moki' and 'trumpeter' — in excellence of flavor — would rival the preserved calmon so largely imported into the Australasian Colonies ; and with the groper, certainly surpass the American tinned fish, besides possessing the advantage of freshness. I have tasted some prepared in this manner, as an experiment, by an amateur, so palatable, that I feel sure it would prove a great success in experienced hands; while the 'crayfish,' which is of large size, and abundant in all the bays, fully equals, when tinned, the important Mobsters, and can be caught easily in any dfcitity." And again, "When I was in "^Moria in 1866, having in view the utiUzatioHlof the Stewart Island fisheries, 1 made special enquiry inio the subject, and I feel convinced that properly cured fish, whether smoked or salted, could, be sold by the cargo at from threepence to fourpence a pound. While I was in Melbourne, a Cargo from Newfoundland realized the last price. This ought to leave a margin of not less than forty per cent, for profit." Mr Pearson has devoted a few paragraphs of his report to the Supposed —

MINERAL WEALTH OF THE ISLAND.

He says :—": — " little is known of the interior of the Islani ; what is, favors the supposition that it is rich in mineral wealth. Copper has been found, as also lead-ore impregnated with silver. Tbe deposits of iron sand are considerable, not only in the liarbars, but, as lam informed, in the interior — particularly in a species of rift between Halfmoon JBay and Faterson Inlet, where the deposit is very great, estimated to exceed that at Taranaki. A parcel of this was sent some time ago for assay to Melbourne ; and the assayers for the Victorian Government, and the Oriental Bank, after smelting and manufacturing a steel bar from it, reported that it was not only superior to the Taranaki but contained a sufficient quantity of gold to pay the expenses of smelting." If the above statement be borne out by facts, and subsequent tests, this should surely become a valuable export before many years. A very ingenious method by which it might be exported at small cost, is suggested as follows : —

"This sand would form rich ballast for wool-ships from Otago, and could be put on board with ease, and at no great expense, as there is alwaps deep water in the harbors. With plentiful labor at command, probably such a course will be adopted by captains of vessels, and the export form another source of employment ; though lam inclined to think the richest deposits will, when the subject has attained greater notoriety, and leases can be granted, be worked by companies, obtaining the coal required for the works, at a reasonable cost from the main, where it will, lam sure, be discovered erelong." As regards gold mining, in the usual acceptation of that term, Mr Pearson does n,jt appear to hold out any very fascinating pAspects. What he does say, however, taAn in connection with the remarks of Black on the same subject, is < i^L sufficient to justify the exthat patient aad well directed efi^Rin this direction would eventually be ataply rewarded. He says : — " Quartz reefs of size and well defined, have been discovered in various parts of the Island, more particularly at the north end, and although the hasty, ill-advised and worse conducted enterprise, started from lxivercargill a few months ago, failed to discover an auriferous reef, it was owing mainly to the fact that while a great deal of money was spent by persons entirely unacquainted with the business, little or no real .work was done."

There has been a prevailing impression that persons selected to settle on Stewart's Island, under the scheme proposed by the Government, would thereby, as it were, banish themselves from most of the comforts of life, and subject themselves to the endurance of many privations, in an inauspicious climate. In respect of this view of the subject, we commond the following remarks, with which we close our notice, only observing that providing always the statements are well-founded, a person might easily go further and fare worse, than at Stewart's Island: — "Though at present residence on the Island means in a great measure isolation, if the success of th« undertaking under discussion is at all commensurate with my expectations, there will be plenty of life shortly after it is fairly started — healthy, vigorous, hopeful life. Once a population settled there — independent of the frequent communication with the main by means of the fishing smacks — it will pay to run a small steamer between the Bluff and the Island, which could in addition undertake the trade to the Toi Tois, Waikawa, and Catlin'a River, to the east of Campbelltown ; and westward to Rivcrton, Orepuki, Preservation Inlet, or any other settlement which may be formed on the west coast of Otago." The following paragraph refers specially to the prospects, &c, of a professional surveyor, but in the main features for which it is quoted will apply with equal force to all others who may elect to make the Island their future home :—: —

" On the whole, I feel convinced that the status of a surveyor at Stewart Island under this scheme "will compare favorably with that of his compeer on the main, either in the employ of the Government or practising oa his own account. Living amidst some of the finest scenery on the face of nature, varying from the grandeur of the west side, with its lofty cones of bare granite, its weird, rocky coast, to the sunny calm of an inland lake, with wooded shores and golden beaches of the east, be can v*ry the mono-

tony of his professional life by fishing, shooting, and boating — pleasures which men travel thousands of miles and spare no expense to compass. He can bring up his children hardy from the contact of sea-air, in a healthy and salubrious climate, milder than at Invercargill, aud make sure of a provision for their future — a position it is impossible to attain on the main with the three or four hundred a year, the usual remuneration of a professional surveyor of standing and ability."