WESTLAND.

Press, Volume X, Issue 1170, 7 August 1866, Page 2

WESTLAND.

OKA.BITA. The correspondent of the "West Coast Times," of the 2nd instant, writes:---The event of the week has been the "rush" on the Bank of New Zealand, by depositors and holders of notes of that Bank. When the English news came in.it was whispered that the Bank of New Zealand was broken, or severely shaken. Bumor, with its hundred tongues, soon carried the tale abroad,; and immense excitement was the con-i sequence. The good folk of Okarita had the first start, and made the most of their time by withdrawing their debits, and changing Bank of New Zealand notes for those of the; Bank of New South Wales ; the manager of the latter bank exchanging notes as fast as they were presented. Soon the news stole along tbe beach to the Fivemile, and travelled from one end of the lead to the other in an incredibly short space of time. " Bush for the Bank !", was the word. Down went the shovels and barrows, sluice-boxes were left uncleaned, and the Bluff at .the end of the Five-mile was soon swarming with men panting, rushing, and perspiring in their mad haste to be amongst the first in Okarita. Hunt's rush at Bruce bay in the scrub was nothing to it. Of course as they came in they all rushed to the Bank, and; eagerly awaited their turn to withdraw their money. The panic ceased the next evening ; but during the time it lasted, I am told upwards of £10,00Q was withdrawn. We are now left without a Warden uutil the 15th inatant, in consequence/ of Mr Price being obliged to go to Wellington on public business. What

are litigants or .innctions to do in tho 2 n S «.- Surely, before removinl M n T- m,GU f °»S a time, tho *?* f ? 1 * to have provided a substitute ° U^ I am informed on n-,,™) '„ n that a small hatch 2 belong to a small schooner w „ ashore at Gillenpio's boacb heard that portions of wr-cl- m cast on the beach near Rr,, T ere m a y> partao f rb r o&>to Okarita, by" moo! g lt Although not knowing at first Sw J was, bulk van at once threw himsSf and a regular fight took Xe f f a : combatants rolling over and over $* .van, however proved too strong 1 the animal, and succeeded in hoi ait until Boyle smashed its h ea d & a large stone With great diffi 5i they managed to carry the brute £ Okarita, when they deposited ifc i„ « store of Messrs Hemfely ££?£ Sullivan was severely bitten in 7* arm in the affray. m tue The p.s. Bruce still adorn* the-on* spit but it.» expected be afloat again, as the works necesS for re-launching her are vigoroutlv carried on. l J Upwards of 6000 ozs. of gold * eiß shipped by tbe banks last week. From the Five-mile there k very little to report. AU the miner,. ,£ hard at work, and moat have _ Q J reason to be well satisfied. In some of the deep wet claims at the south of the beach work is vigorously carried on, even on Sundays, the water met with being so heavy that the muen have to wait until low tide in order to take off the bpttom, and even then it k done with great difficulty; i v f act most of the washdirt has to be fished out of from 'eighteen inches to two feet of water. A few days since I saw one party taking off the bottom and although a powerful Californiapump, manned by four able miners was kept continually going, tho watee could not be kept down. Since tion the same party have procured another pump, and by means of the two are enabled to take the bottom up dry. The gold obtained pays very well lot all the labor, the prospects 1 being fbia one to two penny weights to the shovel, with about six inches of washdirt* but it must be remembered the -trip'"' ping takes a great deal of the gilding off the gingerbread, as it varies from twenty to thirty feet, and has to be harrowed away a long distance towards the swamp at the rear. Tail-races have been cut, at great labor and expense, into this swamp, . and although there was great litigatira about them when they were being cut, all hands now acknowledge their utility, indeed only for them it woald be impossible to work any of the sfep claims at the south end of the lead. It has been found that a ebeepakiii placed at the bottom of the.sluice bdt is a capital thing for saving the very : fine gold, which without its use would be lost. One party on the Mve-jpils-tried it for a weeK and althoffi? ' { M the end of the week very liitlß.golcould be seen on it, nevertheless oa burning the skin, no less than two ounces of dust were obtained, I recommend this very important facl .to theiaotice of your mining readers.

The exact locale of Hunt's rush at Bruce bay, has, I think, at. Isc'th been found. Some minors, only jest arrived from Bruce bay, informed mc that a party, who had been prospect* ing a considerable distance inland, a long way below Bruce , bay, had got into a gully where they fouad -; a deserted tent.. Some candles w^e found in it, and hanging to a post in front,.,of the. tent were three ,M§ori hens, but the flesh had complstelj decomposed, and nothing was left but; i the bones and feathers. ; Ifow; Hw-t | was knowA to be an adept at calling Maori hens to him and snaring l|i|p, ; But to put the T mat_e*? beyond dispute, i a book was Talsb found, which it has been ascertained was borrowed from ■- some one on Hunt's beach by Hunt. The party that found the tent tries the guily, but could get/nothing pff able. '.'"'■'■ / 11 ; At Gillespie's things are very doll, and the population is rapidly decraws* ing, but there will be a considerable number of miners located there for a long time; for, although the 1 grbuud-s poor, many prefer to work for steady, though small, wages than run about and perhaps make nothing at all. ka*| c quantities of goods continue to o» sent down, however, as on last Monujy I observed no less than twenty packhorses in a mob, heavily laden, going to Gillespie's. ■ ' About four miles up the Omocro (the first river met with on Sand IT beach, as the traveller is going souti) some thirty or forty miners have latej. set in to work. The prospects obtained, although by no meaus ncn, a» sufficient to induce parties to remainThree or four applications for wata* races have been made already, wtii',a show ' the applicants have confidents in the ground. Until I hear morel cannot recommend any, miner- to gj ture there, as I have spokea to of the miners who are working up ¥» river, aad some giro »& count whilst other* ?give uatowr able one. An old miner I spote f f called it a. confounded " stringer v, nevertheless, I' see a good deji • * tuckep ; and tools are earned if W The 7 Waihoa has l>^veryuncCTg in its movements; lately. ]*&&& running into the sea straight,** a JW to tho north as formerhvi^;Jparallel to the beach nearly htf*** Smth. Alakehasbeenformei|| o usual crossing place, upon wtoca ferry boat can plj»^ n £{fifc ther. I have no doubt the next ire, will open a channel m or about i usual .place. The water »,b^ : | a Jong way in the nver, and be backed' up much further, J* « of Mr Allen, on the south Bide, very probably goafloat ;"* B0 &.. high tide, the water covers *•* f * JVom the parties &£ the Waihoil baverecei ved^« genco,a ß -toneofthemhavebee-i a ; for their week's provisions-

te ° \itvfoT years to come has been I at considerable expense trC SLurne,by Messrs Williams. fr ooiMelbouroe, b; ) gon , a t amal _ Itiß S_ machines, and I consider it adapted for working the iS "iTeWnd on the beaches which [j£ pay by the ordinary method ff0 i i At present I cannot speak of9^T v g aS to the merits of the maCfas when the prospectors tried it chJ !t first time last Thursday, they foft Jked to knock off, as it was the nitric acid used was of minalftv. Next week I will be Ket tofinish you with the result e f week's washing, as I propose of vw the Messrs Williams' claim the end of the week. The Se Messrs Williams have chosen ?Ti, P scene of operation is on the & beach, a short distance mthe W Tt consider the site unfortuSIV chosen, as the dirt is very 8 - onrl I know the ground to be mh Jar Had Messrs Williams made TeT/ nS I think they could have gSid to other parts of this SI where there is a large quantity ffjdht, with very few stones For Sensation of your readers, I will vEto describe the machine, SS is exceedingly simple and inexXa It consists of a box about gSi fci"l"* ?{ fo f ur feet T de ' U «n incline of about one and a-rf£e-per foot. About two feet S onder the hopper there is a Sk through the entire width, m XI is P"t about twenty-five or Sv pounds of mercury. Then there L fl revolving brush, made out of wb-lebooe, which revolves in an opLite direction to tbe flow of water; Jndthe action of this brush is to cause tbe mercury in the mostiively manner to he intermixed with the sand and sold brought to it, by which means it S impossible for any gold to escape. There are two of these brushes and troughs, and they, as well as the hopper, are turned by a fly-wheel and band of leather. The entire bottom of the machine is covered with copper pjiles coated with mercury. The mereory required is supplied by a tin P B_ap, aad I believe the machine is capable of putting through from fifteen toftwenty loads per day. I am of opinion it is a moßt efficient apparatus for saving gold; but for it to pay, it is absolutely necessary a site should be Belected where there is a large quantity of dirt easily procurable. , 2TEW BIYEE BTJSH. A special correspondent of the "i&reyßiver Argus," of the 31st ult., writes:-— On Friday last your special, in com-, psnywith sundry others, found thsmsejvesonthe old well-remembered South beach, and racing along to the new rash at the Saltwater. Any stranger, on arriving oh the township, even if it fehia first appearance on the scene, can discern at & moment, from the nature: of the buildings, all new, and att being put up in hot haste, that here is one of those marvellous creations of modem __y_—a diggings township. -Jammers noisily sounding, boards, in the hurry and haste of the bearers, coming full butt against you, the publicans' bars crowded with diggers eager to push on to the new diggings, with the-usual accompaniment of noisy boatmen and general assortment of loafers, looking out with hungry wistful eye, like Micawber, " for something to .'tiirn up." ; Messrs Kevell and Bain hada busy mb-ning's work marking off allotments, and settling the invariable dispute- attendant upon the first i&lpg up of sections, not the least of which being the not uncommon mistake of building upon the street. Th c rash I reached by boat, along the Now -river, about a distance of taile and a-half, and at a charge of ls-d, which amply bears out the oft repeated experience of the cheapness ofvrater carriage. I was landed on "teWi,_u_aa" at the entrance ot a pamitive track, and in the immediate fieighborhood of an almost finished shanty. Up through the darkness of j&'cfc foliage and almost impenetrable bush I pushed, and in about 300 yards from the edge of the lagoon, came upon the first evidences of active awing industry; not, it is true, the diggings proper, but their inevitable concomitants, shops, bakers, butchers, Provision dealers, whiskey sellers, &c. Immediately and hastily passing through this crowd, I pushed on after jB-jriiig some inquiries as to the neighborhood of the prospecting claim, preens to reaching which I met with Jjwy men who had secured claims on «»s&aight line that the lead is suppled to be taking. The Cornishmen's J? prospecting claim, when reached, is « to be well situated for deep *"-*-ng, and to an experienced eye a-rald be good ground. It is on the ??per side of the terrace, and at the not of a steep rise. This terrace is in appearance to those which so auriferous on these 2 ?-• md which in California, ™eHhename of «sUdes," commanded «a attention of the miners in prefery»to the more risky and expensive Er ork . n S 8 h J me *™ of flumes,&c. w there is one distinctive feature in Sl^ cewbich I have not seen in »g other, and which I shall speak »Jm .♦ -? n addreßß *og my-elf to the J" at the windlass, and asking the W?? tlon about their Prospects, I fiLS.- 1 * a direct rebuff > and a de " S^° anotto afford highest formation respecting their actual or even their names; of Bomr 118 *..? 1 ? from makin g enquiries *&5 f neighbors that! was <Wfcs» V*™ 6 at an approximate 2th%£ f *i l believe t0 be the aWfi-J-!^ 11 of sinking here is AiSL ft f hhhm & unfcil a k°ut kb-) L I™™ d °wn you come upon a offc ted substance, composed «5V L -*° f muca thickness and ***lr a W' Bmkin S throu gh »wln om P 08ed of Band d ,w 7 Bimilar in appearancetothat

of the Darkies' terrace and other rich and well-known beach claims. Prom inquiries I learned that the prospectors had not washed much, but that the claim had given them a prospect of four dwts. to the dish. When I was there I lifted up some of the washdirt, and it certainly looked very well. Each stone was thickly studded with the precious metal; and this, as I have previously hinted, is not at all like the gold found hitherto on these terraces— light and flowery, but several specks showed appearances of a weighty and shotty character—to an " old hand " prima facie evidence of the existence of a lead. On seeing this gold the question arose within my mind—ls this a stream lead or a surface lead? and as I was told that a Blate bottom had been found, the first presumption arose in my mind that it was the long wanted desideratum of a stream lead. Further inquiries, however, did not confirm! this, although no man, however ex-i perienced in gold mining, can, on a j superficial view such as I was then enlabled to obtain, authoritatively pronounce upon the true character and formation of the lead vein or run of gold that is brought under his notice. I was also told that the prospectors had washed out 12 ozs. of gold to the load, and one man assured mc that the quantity was 20 ozs. Of course I heard all sorts of rumors and reports, but I think the correct estimate cannot be taken as less than 42 ozs. to the four loads which they had washed out, and I believe that between that and 15 ozs. to the load will be found to be the correct quantity obtained. At this claim the ground dips deeply, and, as it has often been proved, on both dips and rises of bed rock or bottom rich patches have been found, this may prove to be the same. It certainly is proving richer than the claims to the northward, which are shallower, and which at some little distance from these are worked by paddocking. I proceeded hence up to these claims, and from old acquintances got the information that although all of them were doing well yet that none of them were upon extraordinarily rich claims. Some were hoping that as they got further into the hill it would be better, and I am inclined to foster their hope. From the appearance of the ground I believe the heavier and better gold will be found as they get nearer the base of the rise above the terrace I alluded to. It is not worth while for mc here to give individual instances or names of all the parties who are busily employed for upwards of a mile and a halt above this claim, suffice it to say that in all instances where washing has been commenced it pays well, and often very well; still, were more to come, no open ground is available, and into the bush to prospect they must go if they want claims. Going back to the Cornishmen's claim again, I turned up by Hill's store, and so on to the southern portion of the rush, and where the ground is deeper and mostly not yet bottomed. Here one party, Bruce and Co., if I remember right, have come upon good ground, but as they < had not washed out much, only having ] taken the bottom off their shaft, they were not inclined to state positively what it would give, but with a very meaning smile ; said it would do. From them I went to Luke's and party, not bottomed; my old pleasantfaced and intelligent South beach Scotch friend " George," of Mackenzie's claim fame, and a number of others, who were all busy sinking and slabbing, but whose labor had not yet brought them the realisation of a bottom washing up. All were alike sanguine, and a few days would tell the tale, but until that could be told by them no information they could give is of an importaut or useful nature to your readers. As night was approaching, it was deemed advisable to return ■ home, and right about face was accordingly executed. This movement brought us to the township of New river again, into the centre of disputing claimants for sections, a good humored and laughing-faced warden, a surveyor busy with his everlasting tape, and a general hubbub of an excited crowd, who however were soon, satisfied, and immediately commenced a vigorous chopping at bush and trees preparatory to tent pitching and store erecting. Before leaving, however, Messrs Eevell aud Bain had satisfactorily and summarily settled all disputes about the new township, and we then turned homewards, which was reached by us at a rather late hour. From the Grey the distance is sixteen and a-half miles to the diggings. Ido not believe them to be capable of supporting even the amount of population now present there, and as I have already said any more going must be prepared to find fresh ground. It is my opinion only one of a series of terraces that will be found to be equally rich, and if not so, at all events so auriferous that a good living can always be made by steady industrious men.