THE HAUIIAU DIGGINGS.

West Coast Times, Issue 188, 26 April 1866, Page 2

THE HAUIIAU DIGGINGS.

J (from our speciAl heportbb.) ! (Continued.') I /I will now endeavor to describetheDeep / Lead, which (as all attempts to trace it \ beyond that point have failed) is supposed ' to take its rise in German Gully, a little , diggings situated between a quarter and ' a half mile to the north of the three mile, } over the range. From this point to the \ All Nations Claim the distance may be estimated at about three miles, and the ♦ course of the lead S.S.W. As I stated before, it runs straight across the intervening space at nearly a uniform level, but cannot be considered as unbroken, for the gold \ has scattered in the gullies, wh\ch were " evidently scoured out by streams from the , ranges subsequently to the formation of the lead itself. I a"ra the more convinced r of this, as in the spurs the lead is both . well defined and rich, and lies at a much higher level than the bottom of thegul4 lies which divide them. There is no doubt that it was once unbroken and formed a continuous run of gold miles in length, but has since been acted upon by heavyj floods, and portions of it washed down the creeks and scattered through the low country nearer the sea. From German Gully the lead runs through the Northern range which bounds the Three Mile Flat, across which it has been traced for some distance. In the range it paid very well, and even at the foot of it some very fair claims were worked, but further on it became poor, patchy, and scattered, and was not really struck again until the summit of the South range was sunk upon, where it was found richer than ever. This spur is called the First Cement Hill, a^d here the lead branches into two distinct runs of gold, no less distinct in their position' than in the quality and appearance of the metal yielded by each. These leads run parallel to each other through 'the spur, that to the east bearing a fine scaly gold, scattered througha heavy bed of deraentandit is from this that the appellation of " Cement Hill^ is derived. The western " run," which is separated from its neighbor by a strip of blank ground, about one claim wide, is of quite a differ int character, as the wash dirt consists of fed gravel, and the gold is large and flat. There are about a dozen or fourteen claims in work upon this hill, all of thempjiying well. A party, of Canadians, who are working on the cement lead, informed me they were earning from £8 to £\6 a man per week, whilst their neighbors on the other' run stated they could cradle from 8 ozs. to 10 ozs. daily. This clsm is nearly worked out, and will yield frqm first to last nearly 250 ozs. The depth jof sinking all over the hill is about 40 feet, with a " stoup" ' of wash dirt from 1 foot to 18 inches thick. Proceeding from this to the second " Cement Hill," a narrow shallow gully is crossed, in Jvhich is situated the richest claim (that I fcould hear of) on the Hau Hau diggings. ! I could not ascertain the absolute return from it, but was informed by several parties that a " share" had been disposed of for £350, and that the first week's work after the sale more than half paid for it. ! There is ground enough yet remaining to keep the owiicrs employed for another month or two. There is a great quantity of cement in this claim, and as it is deeply impregnated with, gold, no small difficulty is experienced (in the absence ot stamper*) ipf separating the two. I am certain that a great deal of gold is lostl by the rough method employed, for ivhen broken down in the drive the cement is pounded up roughly and then passed through a cradle in the usual way, the " hobperinga" being thrown on one side, and\ af towards , burnt, then