THE BATON GOLDFIELD .

[WELLINGTON PRESS.] Recently we published a short paragraph about sundry parcels of gold which have been exhibited in town by Mr Thomas Davis, a 8 from the Baton River in the Province of Nelson. Mr Davis has, kindly submitted them to our iuspection, and furnished us with full particulars regarding them They consist of a large number of specimens of gold from , lumps like small Jerusalem artichokes, weighing two or three ounces, to fine | flakes and pellets of gold dust contained ' in small phials or glass tubes They • weigh about eight ounces and are worth j £30. Mr Davies says they come from j an angular tract of country, 843 acres in j extent, the lower portion of which iB washed by tbe Baton river, a considerable j tributary of the Motueka, while facing are ' the Ellis, Skeet and Clarke rivers, running into the Baton. It is 46 miles from' Nelson \>y road,\and 42 by steamer to Motueka, and thence by road, and the accesß is so easy that a young man from Nelson recently rode the whole way on a bicycle. The land we are assured has been thoroughly prospected in every part by twelve experienced men with the result that it is estimated to give an average yield of 2dwts to the load. The soil is ordinary loose wash dirt and a load may be washed in about ten minutes. The gold is found from a foot below the surface to the bottom of the dirt some 20ft deep and appears to be pretty evenly distributed over the whole mass. The very heavy gold shown us, and which we have compared to artichokes or small potatoes' was taken from the bed of the Baton river, juat above the land in question, and we are assured that all the men at work there now are making £12 a week with ease. The washdirt requires no stripping on the lower terraceß but may be put straight into the boxes and washed by the simplest process. Two boys were put on this work at Maori Gully in the lower part of the land and in two days they got lldwts of gold, worth about £2 6a. The necessary supplies of all kinds are to be got in the neighborhood, and the cost of living need not exceed 8a per .week, while men on wages are getting 10s per day, This particular plot of ground is described as private property, and the owners last Friday obtained from the Warden at Nelson the water rights of the Baton, Ellis, Skeet and Clark rivers, which can be made to supply power for sluicing the whole area of 843 acres. There appears, however, to be nothing to prevent miners from trying their luck in the river beds, which are reported to be very rich, or on the adjoining lands, which may be just as ' full of gold as that from which these I handsome specimens were taken. Mr Davis Btrongly recommends prospectors to visit the Takaka district, which be saya is a wonderful place for minerals. Some uncommon ones, such as asbestos and schlelite abound there in quantities. We ought, perhaps, to mention that the presence of rich gold deposits in the valley of the Motueka and its tribu'aries has been known for more than twenty years, and has been proved many times by valuable discoveries. The particulars brought to our notice by Mr Davis,.however, are decidedly new, and, if not founded upon erroneous assumptions, are well worthy of further enquiry. After the recent finds at Mahakipawa and Wakamarina localities, which had been twenty years ago abandoned as almost worthless, there is nothing at all improbable or surprising in such a state of affairs as Mr Davis represents as existing at the Baton. No one knows what a heritage of wealth there is for tbe future in the minerals of Nelson,