THE TOTARA DIGGINGS.

West Coast Times, Issue 50, 28 September 1865, Page 2

THE TOTARA DIGGINGS.

(CONTINUED FBOM OTJE LAST.)

The morning after my arrival I commenced my tour of the main gully and its .tributaries, and it is my intention to describe as nearly as I can the -workings and their peculiar features from the, top downwards. Jones' Creek, the scene of the principal mining operations, takes its rise iv a spur from the main range that runs about east and west down to the sea . beach ; its general direction is about S.S.E\ and N.N.W., the water running to the northward. The workings consist of creek, bank and terrace claims, and there is no doubt but that a very large quantity of gold is weekly brought to light here. The richest portion of the ground lies between the right hand branch and that portion of the flat where the gully begins to widen out. In the main creek above the right hand branch the gold seems to scatter, and the ground gets much deeper, wetter, and more difficult to work. The holes that were bottomed here did not give sufficiently good returns to satisfy the prospectors, consequently very few are working in it, the workings being confined, to the small ciceks and spurs running from the right hand ranges ; these are not very rich, but they, in most instances, pay wages. Scattered parties are working for two or three miles above the branches, and reports are rife concerning heavy gold fouud close up to the source- of the creek. One party informed me that he had found payable ground a long distance up ; lie said the gold was coarse, and thought he could make one pound sterling a day. I don't consider this worthy the attention of minors at a distance. The right hand branch, which is on the left going down the creek, is a narrow gully with a small creek running down it; its direction is N.W. from the main creek,it rises rapidly, and soon loses itself in tho ranges where it takes it rise. About a dozen parties are working here a claim taking up tho whole width of the creek ; the ground is shallow, about seven and eight feet, nearly all of which is wash dirt. I spoke to several parties at work here, and they all told the same tale — the ground was

poor, hut as they sluiced it they were enabled to make good wages — say from ten to fifteen pounds per week; had they to use a cradle instead, it would hardly pay tucker. At the junction of this and the main creek the workings are wider and richer, and another small creek running from the S.W. joins the two ; this is termed the left-hand branch, and the country through which it runs seems lower and more broken, only a low range dividing it from the main creek. No gold of any consequence has yet been found in it, although it has every appearance of being highly auriferous ; further researches may, perhaps, tell a different tale. The main creek at the junction is about two or three claims wide, it is almost impossible to distinguish between the creek and bank claims, as the difference in the height of the ground is so small. The depth of sinking is about six to seven feet, with three or four feet of wash-dirt. Most of the claims pay well ' — say from seven to twenty pounds per week. I can only speak in general terms of the success of the parties, it being distinctly understood no names were to be mentioned. I know one party who can cradle out their eight or ten ounces a day, another wl.o has made as much as seventy pounds a- week per man, but this, of course, is an exceptional case. I came across old mates of my own, who can realize their five or six ounces a- week each. There are, however, patches of ground in the creek that only pay small wages — from three to five pounds a- week, but immediately above and below them the ground improves again; still miners complain that the very best portions of the creek are patchy, the results obtained from one paddock being no criterion of the next to be stripped. The extent of payable ground in the creek is not so very great — half, or at the outside, three-quarters of a mile of the length of it containing the principal portion ; both above and below this the ground gets much poorer. The very richest part of the workings are situated on the flat at the foot of the gully. I heard of one instance of a party making one hundred pounds a man per week for three weeks consecutively ; it w&s, h,owever, only a patch, and, just previous to their striking it, one of the original shareholders sold out for forty-five pounds ; but here the wages made by steady workmen range from ten to thirty pounds a man weekly ; .every available inch of ground is,, however, taken up, as indeed is the case all up and down the creek- A great many stores and shanties are collected together just here; they are built <upon diggers' claims, and have to pay black mail to the proprietors for permission to erect and occupy; twenty pounds is about the usual sum charged, and it is cheerfully paid by the storekeeper, as a roaring trade is usually the result of such close proximity to the good claims. This is called the Township on the Flat, and it lies immediately between Ross and the old township on the east side of the creek, of which more anon. The deep lead is, of course, merely a continuation of the workings in the main creek, and can hardly be said to te worthy of the name ; 'tis true the ground runs much deeper, gold -having been found at 54 feet, but there is no regularity, and moreover it is found in different strata and gravel : for instance, one hole will be working an auriferous layer "at twelve feet, the next to it at twenty-four feet; those layers all pay, some of them exceedingly well, I saw the results of an afternoon's washing from two parties, one had quite four ounces in his dish, the other hardly so much. All this good ground, however, hugs the foot of the terrace on the east or old township side of the flat, the ground tried further into the flat being of little' or no account. Certainly, .if a deep lead be ever traced here,, its only course that I coald see must be into the flat in the direction of the ,sea beach, for by following the east terrace round, Donnelly's Creek is reached at a distance- of not more than four hundred yards from the claim last mentioned, and as that was quite forty feet below the surface of the flat, I think it more than likely that it will be proved an effectual bar to a lead of gold. This, however, is a matter that time and careful prospecting alone can determine ; there is plenty of room for a narrow lead to run between the duffers sunk on the flat, more especially as none of them have reached the main bottom. The terrace workings on the main creek may be said to commence just below where the first creek from the east range joins it, they extend some two claims wide from the foot of the terrace. The stripping here is exceedingly heavy in places, the majority of miners driving their ground out in preference to the more laborious method of turning it behind them ; the wash dirt is not so thick . in the creek, from six to eighteen inches being the average amount ; it, hoivever, makes up in quality for its deficiency in this respect, and the gold found is very heavy, twelve and fourteen pennyweight pieces not being at all uncommon. In following this terrace downwards, the main range is found to fall away very considerably, (as is the .case the other side the creek) 'and forms an extensive terrace, or rather plateau, on which stands the old township ; this is merely a collection of some half a dozen stores and shanties, backed by sv slaughter yard and bakehouse. Several claims are at work even on this high elevation, and gold is being found here, but not in particularly large quantities. From here into the creek the side of the terrace flattens out, forming a large broken spur much resembling some of the landslips on the Shotover ; it encroaches considerably on the flat, and it is around the foot of this that the

deep ground, already mentioned, lies. Tho whole of it is taken up and in full work, and some excellent gold has boen found. I was present when one party was panning off the results of an hour or 'two's cradling of dirt taken from the bottom of a shaft. I should think that there must have been between four and five ounces in the dish. Having extended my report far beyond the usual limits, I shall now touch slightly on the several outlying diggings in the vicinity, nnd of these, German Gully stands first on the list as being the nearest to Jones' Creek ; it has been mentioned in a former report as having beeu in work some time before tho main rush set in ; a quarter of an hour's walking in a westerly direction from Ross will bring you to it. Some three hundred miners are located here, nearly all of whom are making good wages ; + ,he working^ aro of the same description as in the main creek. It takes its rise in the range that bounds Jones' deck on the west side. Most of the claims in this gully aro about worked out, and a very early flitting cf the majority of the holders may bo expected at no very distant date. Beyond, and running parallel to it, is Sailor' 3 and Shiccr Gully, then comes Maori Creek and Macnally's Flat. The last is the most important of the outside diggings — some three or four hundred men finding full employment here ; its workings consist of deep and shallow sinking, the gold having been first struck in the terrace on the north side, and traced from six and seven feet sinking into the flat, where one hole has reached the depth of sixty feet, and a layer of wash dirt — three feet in thickness, yielding at the rate of a quarter and a-half clwt. to the dish— has been gone through. This flat is pretty close to the sea beach, there being not more than a quarter of a mile of ground between. The average wages made here is from five to fifteen pounds a week per man. If ever a deep lead is found on the West C^ast, this flat is tho most likely to contain it, for into itrunsdvery auriferous creek and gully so far discovered in the Totara district. It runs parallel with the coast, and is bordered by the ranges out of which these creeks run on tho one side, and on the other by a belt of swampy country which fringes tho sea beach. There is, however, plenty of room between for half a dozen leads, al- - though there is not the slightest doubt but that the ground will be deep and exceedingly wet machinery will, in all probability, be required to effectually test it. I should imagine that there must be some three thousand people at present located in the Totara district, and I furthermore consider the place ns being most decidedly over-rushed ; hundreds are walking about doing nothing, only waiting for the • first opportunity to be off, and should the news from tho South be at nil fav.rnble, a very extensive exodus of the unemployed will be tho result. At the same time, I have faith in tho permanence of the place, as fresh ground will doubtless be opened, and although the greatest part of the main creek itself will soon be worked out, tho terraces yet remain almost untouched, and will give profitable employment to numbers for years, when sluicing operations become more developed. The present Post Office arrangements are most unsatisfactory and insufficient for the requirements of this largo commnnity, yet no blame can be attached to Mr. Keogh, for neglect or carelessness. Before Jones's Creek had been opened, tenders for the conveyance of mails to tho Totara had been accepted, tho consent of the authorities at headquarters being first obtained. Now, this post office is situated at the old diggings, some twelve miles up the Totara, and is almost as difficult of access as Hokitika itself; and were it not for the courtesy of Mr Croutzen, the postmaster, tho greatest difficulty would be experienced in getting letters at all'; but he having a store at the new rush, brings all those letters thnt are not claimed by the few miners located at the old workings over with him. weekly, and distribute them as they are called for; it is rather a primitive way of doing business, but it can't bo helped under the present post-office regulations. It certainly is high timo tho •circumlocution system was done away with, and power granted to Mr Keogh to act independently, nnd appoint " branches " wherever he may think it necessary without delay. A dray road is being formed from llosstown to the Totara ; it is expected that in a fortnight it will be cleared and ready for making. The country over which it will run is admirably adapted for tho purpose, all marshy ground being avoided, a good sound gravelly bottom extending nearly the whole way ; when P finished it will be tho means of vory materially reducing tho prices of commodities on tho diggings, which, considering the high freight charged from Hokitika, are extremely reasonable. I shall conclude this somewhat lengthy report with quotations of tlio current prices of articles at Jones' Creek :—: — Flour, £G per bag ; 4lb loaf, 2s Gd ; sugar, Is; tea, 4s; coffee, 2s Gd; butter, -3s Gd ; bacon, 2s ; ham, 2s Gd ; and potatoes, Is si\ per lb. Carriage from.llokitika is 25s per 100 lbs.

Taking it Easy. — A jury having been locked tip in tlio Cdso of O'Hca v. Noligtin, an action against a clergyman for an assault, lately tried in tho county Cork, induced tho bailiffs and constables to lot them out during tho absence of tho judge (Sergeant Armstrong). He, on his l-eturn, found them at large, and ono of them Hctually seated on tho bench, smoking a pipe. Tho bailiffs were ordered into custody, and tlio jurors remain to be dealt with, but tho trial lias proved abortive.