THE AUCKLAND RUSH.

West Coast Times, Issue 84, 16 December 1865, Page 2

THE AUCKLAND RUSH.

(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

The estimate formed of tho valuo and producing capabilities of this part of tho sea const when it was first oponed has by subscquont roturns been proved as anything but overrated, unmistakcablo signs of sterling worth apparont to tho most casual obsorver ; and of all tho different rushes I liavo visitecl in tho course of my wanderings in Wostlnml, not ono is moro worthy of noto, nor ia which the precious metal is inoro goncrally or plentifully distributed. Somo six weekß have

elapsed since the discovery of gold wns made here, which resulted in tho assembling of a large number of minors, who in a few days ran tho lead along a milo on each side of the prospectors' claim, overy yard of it worked since proving inoro or lesjj payable, and some portions exceedingly rich/ My first visit was madeabout ten days nftor it was rushed, and even at that early poriod tho lead was oponed from ono ond to the other, the nature of the ground offering extraordinary facilities to those who were really desirous to (as soon as possible) test their claims, and the conclusion I then arrived at, which was made known to the public in my first letter of tho Groy series, the visit I paid it on Thursday last only tends to stongthen. '' On my arriving on tho ground that day I was' particularly struck with tho altered appearance of the township, for it is muoh increased in size, and the buildings since erected are a deolded improvement upon tile . two or threo old fashioned stores and Hotels that formerly existed there, affording anything but first-class accommodation to man or beast. All this, however, is changed, fifteen or sixteen 1 buildings now comprising what by CQiirtosy is called tho Township, several of which are iriost dreditable ereotions, well and substantially built, their spirited proprietors vonding thoir wares' tit prices very little in advance of Hokitika rates. Close at the back of it diggers aro at. work, the lead having been traced through tile gardohs planted by some of .tho old residerits. Of codrso tho crop of potatoes and other esculents have coino to grief, compensation beirig awarded the owners by the wardon for this appropriation on the part of tho diggers/ I consider the decision of Mr Sohaw in the matter, a just one, and the assessment as reasonable, tho majority of tlio minors concurring with mc, although there was a little grumbling interspersed with a few strong expressions at tho Government permitting such lands to bo occupied for other than mining purposes, save at tho risk of those desirous of doing so./Th6 township is situated close to tho 'south end of tho" lead, which is apparently terminated (certainly very much scattered) by a small creek running out of the swamp. To tho south of this creek threo or four claims, only, are at work, the returns from which, so far, aro not very sntisfaotory/ Tho shareholders, however, seem hopeful and sanguino, stating they Had obtained payitblo prospects, only /the water considerably retarded operations, causing the sides of tho paddocks to cave in, necessitating tho use of piles, frames, and pumps. I saw one prospect washed that certainly may bo considered payable, suoh dirt if washed by the load would give fioin 3 to 4 ozs. The last claim • bottomed at this end is flccpor and wetter than any of the rest, which fact seems to have checked prospecting further south..'' Should these claims, however, prove payablo a fresh rush will set in that in all probability will result in an extension of the lead southward. The rich grouud commences in tho little oreok before mentioned, beginning with Ellis and party, whoso claim comprises the creek bed and a considerable part of tho north bank. Those men aro doing exceedingly well, and as an illustration of their re 1 urns, I may state, so rich was tho wash dirt irf one of their paddocks, they could wash 1 dz to the dish from any part of tho bottom, the wash dirt of course being carefully taken up. Thoy also jumped a strip of thoir neighbor*' claim, a pieco of which about 30 x 12 yielded 50 ozs. The sinking in thoir claim was 6 to 10 feet, the stripping not very good through the surface marsh;/ Next to them is Broad and party, who also hold a very good pieco of ground. I mentioned their claim in my first report of this place as one of those out of which rich prospects had been obtained and that gave overy promise of paying well. Tho work sinco dono has not, I am sorry .to say, realised those expectations, tho centre of the claim yielding only very moderate wages. Thoy have since that ngain struck into excellent ground, washdirt being uncovered that will give from \ oz. to i oz. to tlie dish. About half a shovelful was promiscuously taken out of the paddock, and submitted, to my inspection, and I can conscientiously affirm that I have seldom seen bettor, the gold being ver£ thickly distributed thrdugh it. This party expect to worl* out by Christinas ; and believe they will realise from L2OO to L 250 eaoh share ; — very good indeed for two months' work. / Tho claim on their northern boundary is hold by Anderson and party, and is exceedingly rich, as much' as 15° ozs. to fibont half a load of dirt having bcon obtained. Very little of it has yet been wdiked, and LSOO a irian is talked of as likely to bo the final result. This is the .first claim in thu gardens before mentioned./ "Big Mat" and his mates hold the nex.t section, not much of which has been worked. It has however proved quite as good as Anderson's, 8 ozs. having been obtained out of a small paddock 6 feet by four feet./ These two claim's were assessed at tho rate of L 8 10s and LlO respectively. Tho other two claims in the t garden, on which a higher assessment was levied, are pronounced as not quite so rich ; the owners of the one at tho back of Riley's public house declaring tliat they never washed a prospect that gave 1 dwt. to 1 the dish. Iv spite of this the ground may bo considered as very payable, drfd as tlie load is very patchy there is no telling how soon thoy may strike ground as rioh as that of their neighbors. *tor soverul claims north of the garden the load is poor, somo even pronouncing it differ ground, and I Am the more inclined to bolieve this as I saw no one at work ; the ground, too, apparently having been pretty well triedi/ There is about ono hundred yards of this inforior ground, on passing which, claims in full work are again reached that, I was informed, were paying from LlO to L2O per man weekly. Abreast them nearor tho sea, the outside ground is in hand and paying small wages, about L 4 por woek. Tho golc l is not found on the samo bottom as in the lead, but in veins of black sand/by which the bcaoh is intersected at various depths, in somo places from the surface downwards. /Proceeding onward, from the inferior ground abovo mentioned, soveral claims are reached that aro worked by a number of Emerald Islanders, who, with, their usual luok, stumbled across first-rato ground. Ono of these parties coufessed to L4O and LSO per man a week, another from IS oz to 20 oz daily /and I saw the result of a morning's washing from ft olaim a little further on, and judging by the weight of the ball of amalgam, should imajrino there was from 12 to 15 oz3 of it. This claim is just finished, in size being tho area allotted by the rules to two men, but held and worked by four, who havo each netted 60 ozs,, the result of six week's work. Honco to the prospectors the lead pays woll, although some spoke disparagingly of LlO per week, a man, declaring tho gold was patohy. 'I am, howover, induced to bolieve more gold is 'getting than (admitted, as one claim in the vory centre of those just quoted, I was assured would yield 90 ozs weekly. Bingham and party, the prospeotors, expressed themselves thoroughly satisfied with the result of thoir enterprise, although their claim is not by any means tho richest on the lead. The roturus, howovor, aro vory good— for after panning off a day's cradling tho dish usually contains from 12 ozs. to 15 ozs of amalgam, equivalent to 8 ozs. or 9 ozs. of puro gold. One paddook, 30 by 20, they stripped and washed, yielded 6 lb weight of tho precious mo»al,/ Coffeo and party, noxt to thorn, are also doing as well, if not better, than themselves. In tho immediate vioinity of Mr Hill's (Alliances Storo) tho lead' pays well, for although parties here wero somowhat reticent, I heard nothing liko o complaint respecting its poverty. Tho outsido ground (seaward) is also paying fairly, the minors working it getting from 15s to 25s per day por man. . A littlo to the north of Hill's storo thoro is one party who washes 12 ozs a day rogularly, tho claims on either side of them boing nearly as payable. /I found my old Wakatip friend, Bill Hyde and party, steadily prosecuting their work in ono of tho best olaims on tho lead/ in that systomatio manuer the thoroughbred in-and-in digger invariably adopts. Thay havo only just completed tho head-raco, haviug during tho past month being employed bringing in wator from tho upper end of tho swamp ; and although the race was only half' a mile long, it occupied thorn tho wholo of that

time, tlio cutting along the liill side proving vory l«td, and across thb , swamp, instead of cutting a race, one had to lie built about three feet high,, to carry tho .water.. One hundred and sixty .yards were flitmed In this manner,and two heads of water brought upon tho ground, one fourth of which is found sufficient for their purpose, tho romaindor being lent or leased. Although this race Rag ontailed no small amount of trouble and loss of time, now « w finished it repays amply for all, no quicksilver being used in tho extraction of tho gold irom tHe sand, sluicing with a wide box, covered with coarse woollen, being found most effective in saving the very minute partioles o£gold peculiar to the beach lead. Hyde informed .me tho aluico saved nearly every spook, although they were doubtful at firsf, and to make sure placed a quicksilver plate at tho tiox end, when after washing a whole day, and getting between .15 and 16 ozs of clean gold, they found only half a pennyweight adhering to tho plate, an unmistakeable proof very little found its way down there. / Tho day I visited them was the third of their washing, the aggregate returns being 50oz. A strip of ground, about four feet long by tho width of tho lead, has been worked in this olaim only. From hero to the Waimea, a dis'We of about three-quarters of a milo, all tho ground is in full work and yielding well ; although it is patchy, and somewhat poor in places./ McGoffin and party are realising 6ozs to tho load, and a claim or two from them, another can get 12ozs to tho same amount of dirt. Until within tho last threo weeks the gold hitherto discovered on the beach has beon confined from low wator mark to tho edge of the first terrace^ the swamp bounding it inland. Subsequent researches, however, resulted in 'a most important dipcovery, a lead having been struck running parallel to tho Auckland, betweon tho Bwamp and second tcrraco, into which gold is being traced. Its features are precisely similar to tho beach leads, the falsp bottom of hard sand having the samo remarkable dip seaward. About fifteen claims are in work here, which are all paying well. The prospectors, obtained 2dwts tho dish, - eight feet being tlie depth they sunk for it, through a bed of sand. • Liverpool Dick, whose claim ia closo to them, washed 7ozs out of a paddock 10ft x 12ft; Gow anil , party on bottoming, found th'o whsb-dirt would prospect from' 1 dwt to 3 dwts the dish'jand one or two claims yield even better returns/It is impossible to form any idea how far the lead will eventually be traced, as at present it is brokon at each end by tho swamp which runs round it, intersecting this terrace! Beyond it, howover, the country presents indications equally favorable, and I have not tho slightest doubt that gold will yet be found running both north and south. Moreover, there is a wido extont of country between the second torraco and tho coast rang'o that has nover boon prospected, but which in all probability will yet be' found payable. 'The swamp, too, I firmly believe to bo payable ; why should it be other* wise ? Excellent gold is found on each Bide of it, and wero it not a swamp, miners would pronounce it a mo3t "lovely flat/ and immediately set to work defaoing it by delving iuto its depths, and covering tho surface with heaps of. dirt; and as the swamp is at a much, higher level than the sea, tail races could bo cut that Would drain at least eight feet of it. This would ' be of the most material assistance to any party attempting to bottom, especially as there is no existing reason to induce the supposition tb>t the sinking would be of any considerable depth. / Tlie Beach diggings of Westland have added another feature to gold mining, and their importance can hardly be over estimated./ They are yet in their infancy, tho appliances at present in use being of the most primitive kind, and tho choicest portions of the golden sand only being oullcd. Thousands upon thousands of tons of sand, deeply impregnated with minerajs, yet remain untouched, only waiting to bd scientifically tested by the aid of perfect machinery to yield abundantly both gold and;other metftls. The late discovery in chemistry of that wonderful metal, sodium is fated to cause a startlingr ovolution in gold mining, for by its agency deserted places shall again bo peopled, nml mil • lions of tons of refuse earth cast scornfully away by the miners will, when acted upon by it, yield abundantly. But nowhere can it be moro profitably us"cd than here, arid he who first calls in its aid to test the valuo of the beach sand will, I believe, obtain results that will not only bo tho means of enriohing himsplf, but will confer a lasting benefit upon Westland,