THE INANGAHUA.

Westport Times, Volume IV, Issue 731, 1 November 1870, Page 2

THE INANGAHUA.

(from a correspondent.) Saturday. According to promise, I forward you a few lines in respect to this district, which I am satisfied in the course of a few months must become one of the most important in New Zealand. The reef opened within the past few days is of most extraordinary value, both in respect to the quality of the stone, the facility for working it, and the quantity obtainable. Miners are arriving hourly from "Westland, the Grey Valley, and the Lower Buller.

There is much complaint in respect to the condition of the roads from the Grey side, as also from the Inangahua Junction. I took particular notice of the navigability of the Inangahua, and it is obvious that, for the transit of machinery and goods, this route offers immeasurable advantages over the Little Grey. Small boats, conveyiug eight or ten hundredweight, would have no exceptional difficulty in approaching within two or three miles of the present line of reefs. Speaking with old Victorian quartz miners, I have it on their authority that they have seldom seen better shows than are to be had in this dis-. trict. As a rule, however, the reefers here are not monied men, and, unless some capital is introduced, the rapid progress of the district and opening of the reefs must at the outset be delayed. Sooner or later, such are the reliable prospects, capital will be advantageously invested in wsrking these reefs, and it will be found that no better outlay for money exists. The purchase of machinery at the Thames, referred to in one of your recent issues, might be very profitably taken advantage of. Machinery in excellent repair, and of the most approved construction, is purchasable at the present in Auckland at less than half Melbourne cost, and in placing a crushing plant on the ground, I am satisfied that any company would at once benefit themselves and the district.