WESTLAND.

Press, Volume X, Issue 1191, 31 August 1866, Page 2

WESTLAND.

THE SCANDINAVIAN RUSH. i Tlie special reporter of the " "West ' Coast Times," from this district now ao rapidly growing into importance, , writes as follows :— , In my first report upon the new ( rush in the Waimea district, I called the place " Stafford Hill," from the t township of that name on the Waimea i track. This was a mistake, as the i prospectors decided upon calling it c " Scandinavian," all of. them, with one f exception, being natives of northern j Europe. The designation is appro- t

pnatc in another a ensp . fop T ~- reok,l)a )inYi yiri|l l9 ack the same, and afterwards / e,v «* some of the richest g ?J2 to be opened m that locality. Uα, ? * V( * Waimea rush will vicld a, 1 tk » remains to be proved • W*f ?« there can be little doubt tlit °f thi * statutes the main l ea d o f th" and that the gold hith i? d ' Str K there was merely OU <W neither particularly rich iVh^J"^ 3 Of course I exclude the BalK r ?? C ' workings, which form parfof7* flai lead, and from tho course it t 2 continuity of the workings thnr existing certainty that it will hi! miles further, until a junction with the lead now i a hand New Rivor rush. The lead at i n, tlla within one mile and a-half of £ 2*° town, and then ran partly s**s intervening space in shallow S*» which at present i 8 occupCT slmeers, who succeed i n „i •* excellent wages when a ot water is available jW Woman's gully interacts the run S there gold has been traced Sf! terraces, and tunneling i n eftn ° c quence is extensively resorted to a means whereby to extract it Tif majority of your readers are doukt aware that Stafford town, j^Sj is situated on the Waimea track?', corduroyed way connects it with'rt sea beach and the old Waimea or? mile township. It is equidistant ftol both-say three miles-end i. buiJ upou the north bank of the WaiaJ river, which runs past it some tweut? feet below, a turbid stream, muddied by the quantity of debris washed into it by the Bluieers who are atworkhHer up A few weeks ago saw it m mficant place, comprising an hotel wd store, tlie latter kept by the redoubtable Peg-leg, an individual minua one of his understandings, from whom it derived the name. Since then it has riaen rapidly, and is daily extending. it boasts an Improvement Committee which has already effected great improvements, and is now urgfog upon the Warden the necessity of fresh streets to make room fortlmiif. flux of business folks who have already occupied every inch of available Bjiace. At present frontages are at a premium and fetch as high as £100, that sum being, I believe, offered and refuged, for au advantageous " stand," 4e other day. lam not surprised at thia, for the prospects of the rush warrant tho belief that many months of permanent prosperity are before it. Stores, hotels, bakeries, drapers' establishments, &c, are ( springing up with... mushroom rapidity, and a slaughter-prd has hm erected, which is in full work froa morning to night. The site of-the town is swampy in the extreme, but as it is so high above the river the construction of a few ditches is alone needed to effectually drain it. fte distance from Hokitika to Stafford town is between ten and eleven Diilp, eight miles of which is along the 'm beach until the Carriers' ■■< Anas, is reached at the old Eight-mile twaship, and there the corduroyed track branches off through the DUsh. A track it is, and nothing more, beifig passable to horses and pedestrians only ; but a wonderful improvement upon its condition a few months Ego, when the Six-mile track was a byword in everyone's mouth as tho worst on the West Coast. But the other day and the ; new, track waa deemed sufficient, now nmfea have materially altered,,,and on ill sides save one it is condemned -M utterly unsuited to the requirementi of the district, which, from the eKtenc of its mineral resources, as exemplifies! by late discoveries, takes precedence of every other on tho coast, and only requires a little fostering care, by the judicious expenditure of capital, to further develope them to an. extent little dreamt of 'by any save tW experienced vainer who has tra« versed its recesses, and whose practical knowledge assures \ him that much gold lies hidden therein which will eventually -te brought to light. But to effect tliii, the district must be opened up, ami no time should be lost in constructing a "good'dray'track from the boack to the old Waimea township; and a nubstantial pack track from Stafford town to Scandinavian hill. The county may be likened to a huge fortificaliofli the salient points of which mmt be carried in datail, and the last pises stormed will then form the basisrfo? further operations. Jrom Stafford town to Scandinavian hill the distance is not wore than a mile, road to travel—ye Goda! How the wretched . pack-horses ' # to scramble through it without; %0ak! »» their limbs "or necks is a inyjsfcery, a*" l they present a most pitiable apps ar * ance on arriving with their loadd.as the Hill, where, by the way, there are a number of stores, of which :»«J anon. Although the 'diggew '"J storekeepers grumble furiouslf at we abominable track, they admit w# their usual good sense that there not been time to provide «.-»«»• Aware, however, of the known pw crastination and apathy of the Government in all matters 'relating *o}freal advancement of WeattoJ but particularly in track-mata% they shake their heads doubtu»g% and fear that the Wairoea disineMnU fare no better than the rest. parisons between Nelson and tanu bury—anything but favorable latter—were drawn by parties 1 versed with who had lately been wo,K ing in the Nelson portion of tb« Wg district, and one and all were M» their praises of that liberality and d«ow» » track making. One enthusiastic vidual lamented thnt fr-\V"*%& was not rewarded by a greater exten of auriferous country." _, , A few hundred yards above StoW town the river bank rises cons and forms a high pewf I™™1 ™™ ( e d race, in.which the Sei^rn^ * commences; for, since J^ 0 * "i first report, Taylor and F^| r:l3 pected the face at a s lf key could bbet^ et

' \TijZffrafid Scandinavian ;hill, and ' i!Tstruck tlie lead/cropping out of a pipe-dnjtottora. -The wash-dirt yielded halffi and they at once com•ggPT&neiKDff, and afterwards m 'Was much,aa,one pennyweight fifeX, withfrcwa foot to eighteen •°£a of wash-dirt, granite, and sand--10 " \mivel This of course caused a ■T Sd the ground to be staked off ?!'no to Scandinavian; but, as the •tine is deep, and in some places m l no holes have yet bottomed. iTlor and party have not proved 5 width of thei lead but as the fliels on either side of the m are poor inclined to imagine that jt 80 not be above 100 feet, if indeed so C h From the brow of this terrace foWdinavian, the country gradually ITis tensely bushed, and extremely mfa and a most abominable road Jα Set Taylor and party are un 4 nMedlv on the main lead, which I Spatlwill be traced to the" hill" or three weeks. But it supposed that this lead Sitotes the only workings on the !:«X>broken flat which bounds the Ver for at the back of the town a art?" of men are working shallow 6 and can make high wages Ihen water v plentiful for sluicing ; j encouraged by this fact, the miners Wβ scattered themselves through the XniVfciA"*" , thoroughly testing the SW "patches." I heard that prospects had been obtained iJ ufcas tbe & round ls difficult to oak through, work progressed somewbßM owl y\ _ .. . iMi T On reaching Scandinavian hill, I observed a marked change had taken place in its appearance since the date *f W y.first visit, so much of the timber having been cleared away for mining purposes and to make room for tents, stores, &c On the east side of the hill wbich is proved to be non-auri-ferous, as the reef rises high and barren to within a few feet of the surface, a township is in *he course of formation, and already contains several good eized storep. It is struggling mantully to raise its head to a level with that of Stafford town, and demands that the site shall be surveyed, andaflfereet properly laid out. I have no doubt that the warden will find each a cpurse absolutely necessary to prevent the interminable disputes amongst the occupiers of stands, who are already quarrelling about their holdings. Be3idfiS:the change above alluded to, the hill presents another feature, which was'not observable a fortnight ago, as it- is covered with heaps of gravel thrdwn up by that bury tribe the miners, 1 who now occupy every inch of available space there, and have bottomed shafts from side to side along the entire length of tbe lead, and in nearly every instance good prospects were obtained. Erqm north to south the hill is between a quarter and half-a-mile long, the surface being flat," with a dip to the westward. Whilst such satisfactory progress was making on Scandinavian full, "the country fn a Jine with it tomtita the Kapitea or. Three-mile ' creek. i\ss» not been neglected, aud a range t of terraces were discovered similar in formation to the hill I have elreadr. described, and three of them provea auriferous. Standing on the brow of Scandinavian, the first can be seen across.a large fiat, which separates the Wα at a distance of about half-a-mile. Jt was no easy matter to reach it, however, , and whilst I was gazing wistfully across the intervening space, upcanie Mr the warden, accompanied by a " sturdy chiel," who looked very like, a recent importation from the Highlands of Scotland j and the men-elloue agility he afterwards displayed in ascending and descending almost inaccessible places, quite warranted this assnmptiop, on my part. Both men were the middle, the Warden having been engaged in settling mining disputes, which obliged aim to traverse many uneven and ttiry.ways. He was then on his way to the second terrace, his companion having volunteered to- guide him thither, and hearing I was bound in fte same direction, proposed that it would fee expedient I should take ad vantage of the local knowledge at his command, and follow in their tracks. Our firsfc led down the almost perpendicalar side of the terrace, which *6 descended by the aid of roots and branches; and although inconvenient to.contend with under ordin"T icjrcumstances, i n this instance proved sf infinite service in staying ourjathewiee too rapid progress toirarfS the Dottom. Down we went, f&m (where footing was to be lound) knwHleep jin mud, until the jeacent, became more gradual; and Jn*tßr afterwards the flat was x**W, covered with (if there was «»J difference) a denser growth of ttaoer than upontbe terraces. Not a wngleviatawas there to relieve the g?»ttie.spaces between the trees w»ag closely packed with the different A* 3 0f fern > interspersed with M>s a n a creepers. The sun's rays "W penetrate these gloomy re- ****'-**& the vegetation in consewet, whilst the ground into ' ,whica is soon converted torn* $ i\!& su P erior description of A L I c P aßßa ge of a few diggers, of lP T Qk runs thr ™gh the centre tern • ' and Ending round the faSX , Joms tbe Waimea river about £J lles ft fr om the sea beach. ImmenoS • crossin g this creek, the Sf nSeß>andthe ascentofthe second i 1"*: commences. A quarter-of-an the tn "7?® climbin g brought us to the * V *J' and our S uide tben led irbnP" ?, th ? hut of a P arfc y of miners gf *{• tbe first to strike gold on the hm? du . e tome we reached it, and JJ* ourselves overlooking the south ODDoSf *l terrace » 1 immediately ifihS, r, at P° int on Scandinavian its sTdo % the h *i of g° ld cr °P ß out of - tbvLSr** fifty feet beneath us in the hill was invitedf!^* 018 tunnel, which we were •'SSJfi acCOrdin sV. de«*T' b«U- j? firßt ' aS the SailorS «Afl Z T 1 ? g St roots a nd stumps toZ *" ] cve * was gained. Here we about fifty feet in SHonvenupoa a chk y

bottom, which carried"£ Velji pf brown cemented gravel, eighteen inches thick, constituting the washdirt. From end to end of the tunnel this dirt will prospect two pennyweights and three pennyweights to the dish. Upon our expressing surprise that this particular and almost inaccessible spot should have been selected as a place where the lead was likely to be found, Hopley, one of the party, stated that they had taken the bearings of the lead by compass from the opposite hill, followed the direction thus gained as nearly as possible, and after a little searching struck the "out-crop," which yieldec one pennyweight to the dish. 1 don't think the lead here is more than sixty or seventy feet wide, as the adjoining tunnels so far are duffers, and the prospectors themselves crossed the lead in a branch drive to the west, eight feet distant from the main tunnel, jls the Warden considered it advisable that this hill should receive a distinctive name, it was decided by tbe party that henceforth it should be known as Hopley's hill, that individual being the first to strike the " outcrop." I found the whole of this hill marked out, and many shafts sinking upon it; but one or two only had succeeded in reaching bottom, as the ground proved extremely wet at forty-eight feet, necessitating the use of slabs to keep the ground up. Graham and party, after - sinking that depth, were compelled to suspend operations and get timber ready, whilst Fraser and party were less fortunate, as their shaft caved in, and they are now engaged sinking another. The lead has not yet been struck in the body of the hill, but on the side,- immediately opposite H opley's claim, the outcrop was found by a parfcy of Welshmen, who obtained therefrom half-a-penny weight to the dish of washdirt. This I consider as convincing proof that the lead runs through it. I am further of opinion that another lead of gold is contained in this hill; for some two hundred yards east from the "Welshmen, another party are tunneling, and can trace gold as they go. Besides Scandinavian and Hopley's hills, three others in the same line towards Kapitia creek have been tested, and proved auriferous. But as the day was rapidly closing in, I reluctantly relinquished my original intention to visit them. I was, however, informed on reliable authority that the hill next "to Hopley's was not so rich, but that four pennyweights to the dish had been obtained out of the one next to it again, and that tho fifth terrace, as it is termed, was also payable. This takes the gold close to the Kapitia creek beyond, while towards the Teremakau river many miners are now prospecting who will doubtless again strike the lead there, and eventually connect it with the New River diggings.