THE NAKAWA COALMINE.
CAPTAIN LEECH'S EEPORT. j In pursuance of instructions from 1 the Provincial Government, Captain ( Leech, Harbor-master here, proceeded 1 in the local steamer Result to the Nakavva river, to erect beacons, anil i examine the river, as to its navigable < capabilities. The result of the trip i we have already noticed, but as the < report of Captain Leech contains ad- , ditional information to that already i published, we extract a few of the ; principal items it contains, in reference • to the bar, the port, and the coalmine, i The report says:—" After crossing the the bar, which was rather rough, we were boarded by Mr M'Nairn, who keeps the ferry and accommodation house at the entrance. He took us up the river about three-quarters of a mile, more or less, where the steamer was moored in a deep basin, opposite 11/o coalmine. Tbo river in onlj- navigable at high water a few chains above this point, where it terminates in a creek running into a narrow gorge full of boulders of various sizes and shapes. At low water I proceeded down to the bar, and erected the beacons which I had fetched from Westport. I found the bar dry. This I expected, being spring tides. Set the beacons for crossing the barin the deepest water, and bearing Ivy compass East \ North, for entering, and (vice versa) West |South, for leaving the river. M'Nairn, being a seaman, f instructed him to look after the beacons and shift them when necessary, informing him at the same time that if it were expedient at any other time to appoint a signalman, he would have the preference. After arranging the beacons and matters connected therewith, I proceeded to take some soundings, and have a look at the river while the water was still low ; proceeding up stream, and about two-thirds of the way to the mine, we came to a stony fall or bar, running, or extending, all the way across the river. In the centre there were only a few inches of water, where the stream was running ; on either side of this stream the formation is one to two feet higher, and composed of larger stones. M'Nairn informed me that there was about eight feet on this tall at high water —spring tides. This 1 found to be correct, before leaving, as I sounded all the way down on our leaving for Westport. The bar was also sounded at the same time, and a depth of ten feet was found on it; this is just the rise of tide, as I have already stated its having been dry at low water. The rise of tide at Nakavva is identical with Westport. Before proceeding further it may be as well to dispose of the stony fall before mentioned. This is not a serious impediment to the navigation of the river, nor will its removal be attended with much difficulty or expense, seeing the stones, with few exceptions, are small and comparatively loose, and could easily be thrown up on either side of the channel, where the stones are pretty large. This accomplished, the floods would do the rest in deepening the channel, and make it as deep, if not deeper, than the outer bar. The mine possesses unusally great natural facilities for the easy and expeditious shipment of coal, which Chambers, the manager (himself a North of England collier), pays can be put on board at eight shillings per ton. The same party informs me that it is a twelve feet seam, and will be self-draining. He intends constructing a wharf and coal shoot. This accomplished, vessels like the Kennedy, Charles Edward, or Wallabi could go alongside and fill up in a few hours ; from the depth of water in the basin, vessels would always be afloat, thus avoiding any risk of straining by loading aground, with a heavy cargo such as coal. The stony fall would require deepening before they could get to the wharf during neap tides. This once accomplished would have a salutary effect on the river and bar channels generally, as it would tend to a concentration of the stream, and I presume, a consequent deepening of the outer bar. The latter is very fair just now—lo feet at high water. There should be about Git. Gin. or 7 feet at good neaps on it." After commenting on the probability of the entrance becoming sometimes closed, a feature not unusual to many of the West Coast bars, and noticing the want of shelter during heavy floods, Captain Leech says that "there is a site for a wharf at the coalmine, where two steamers might find shelter, as there will be an edcty there, and another on the opposite side of the river, a little below the mine, but it is limited in extent. A great deal of the port is taken up with the boulders comprising the stony barrier spoken of —and it would require a considerable expenditure to make it comparatively safe for the number of vessels that must necessarily visit it, if a permanent coal trade is established. The port from its close proximity to the sea will be subject to a heavy run during N.W. and westerly gales, which although not in itself dangerous, is very unpleasant for boats and shipping generally.
Before closing it may not be out of place to mention that the Engineer of the Result reports favorably of the coal, and prefers it to the Newcastle coal she brought from Auckland, and says that better steam can be kept with less labor ; what she took in at the Nakawa was only a few feet into the seam and could not be considered a fair sample, yet it kept good steam, burning clear, with intense heat. The coal is a little soft, but is getting harder as they go in farther.
M'Nairn informs me that the floods rise very rapidly and go down just as quickly when the rain ceases, and that very little drift timber comes down during those periods." Captain Leech forwarded with the report, for the information of the Superintendent and Executive, a rough sketch of the harbor and mine, and since that date the mine has been visited by the Provincial Secretary and Provincial Engineer.
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Westport Times, Volume VI, Issue 963, 19 April 1872, Page 2
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1,049THE NAKAWA COALMINE. Westport Times, Volume VI, Issue 963, 19 April 1872, Page 2
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