LEFT HAND BRANCH

West Coast Times, Issue 363, 21 November 1866, Page 1 (Supplement)

LEFT HAND BRANCH

of the Waimea several small creeks are still being worked with profit. The rush which set in last week to Callaghan's is likely to be a success. The prospectors, Mackay and party, bottomed at a depth of seventy-four feet. They struck gold a few feet above the bottom, and obtained nearly half-a-pen-nyweight to a dish, with three feet of dirt. They are now sinking a well in the shaft to catch the drain water, and expect to trace the washdirt above the bottom to the reef. 'The next claim is held by Armstrong and party, and is down to a depth of ninety feet without bottoming. The claim farther on is held by the sailors' party, and is sunk to a depth of ninety-five feet, but the bottom is not yet struck. The water does not cause this party so much labor to keep under as Armstrong and party experience. The bottom evidently descends rapidly from the prospectors' claim to that held by the sailors, as there is a great variation in the depth, as already ascertained. The ground is on a flat terrace, and is both loose and wet. Close slabbing from top to bottom has to be resorted to before there is any chance of bottoming. About one hundred men are on the terrace, and a good many are assisting Armstrong and party to take down their shaft, as the water flows on them very copiously. The value of the place will be better ascertained by next week,