A CRUISE IN A CATAMARAN.

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7357, 9 July 1889, Page 6

A CRUISE IN A CATAMARAN.

|Bt Tbx Wahrigai.].

The Thames, Coromandel, Ohinemuri, and Tβ Aroha goldflelds are really only very small portions of the known auriferous country in the Auckland province, and even the Thames field, which is more extensively developed than any other has merely been mined on a portion of its surface. The real Hauraki goldfleld means the Whole peninsula from Cape Colville to Te Aroha; «n extent of country nearly ninety miles in length, and averaging fifteen miles in width. Nearly all this vast area is proved to be auriferous, and to contain—besides gold—silver, mercury, lead, tin, copper, antimony, cinnabar, zinc, manganese, and iron. Taking the Thames field as the most thoroughly worked district, and gold as the only mineral searched for, ie will be surprising to see how little advancement the mining industry has made. The field during the twenty-one years of it* existence has yielded gold to the value of about £5,000,000, is not half exhausted, and is only partially developed, yet the industry is flagging, and some parts of the field lie idle. The same method of mining, and nearly the same class of machinery, has been used since the field was rushed, and it is only quite recently that new gold saving apparatus has been introduced. For years and years nearly all the tailings from the mines weie sluiced into the sea, and in this way thousands of ounces o* gold were annually lost. It has been said that on an average the processes at work on the Thames only saved about 30 per cent of the gold, so some millions of pounds worth of gold has been literally shot into the sea. The New Zealand Government has paid less attention to goldmining than to any other industry, or the rugged hills and mountains that cover so much of the country would be yielding incalculable wealth to the people, and *- noble revenue to the exchequer. There was no attempt made to stop the enormous waste of national wealth, either by preventing the tailings being sent into the sea or encouraging the introduction of a more complete process for the extraction of gold. To show how incompetent the present processes are, and the appalling waste that has been going on since the field started, I need only say that last year one of the mining companies, with the most complete machinery on the field, treated a quantity of their quartz with their most thorough process, and sent the tailings, or the refuse of this quartz, to some reduction works in England, and were surprised to receive at the rate of £60 per ton from stuff which hitherto had been thrown away. This may be exceptional, but the fact that a great proportion of the gold still remains in the stone after all their attempts to extract it is generally acknowledged by Thames miners.

The Auckland public complain that nearly all the directors of the Thames mining companies are sharebrokers by profession. Now men whose livelihood depends on the buying and selling of shares should not be allowed to direct the affairs of a mining company. The position is, to say the least of it, open to objections, and is not calculated to inspire confidence.

One of the subjects most discussed at the Thames is the question of deep mining. I have already pointed out that it is more than probable that the present gold-bear, ing tufaceous sandstones rest on an older formation of clay slate, and that this clay slate formation is far more likely to carry rich, permanent gold-bearing reefs than the country at present worked. Numerous rich reefs at the Tliames have been followed down to a * depth considerably beneath sea level, and for the purpose of keeping these mines free from water the "Big Pump" was erected. The "Big Pump " has a well 650 ft deep, and though the machinery is old-fashioned, it ia capable of draining a large area of ground to the depth of its well; but in goldmining six or seven hundred feet is a very limited depth, and at the Thames rich quartz reefs were discovered in the Queen of Beauty mine at a depth of 750 ft, but had to be abandoned on account of an influx of water. There is no reason to suppose that quartz-mining may not be carried on profitably at a depth of at least 2000 ft. In fact I should say that the value of the quartz alone governs the depth of the mine.

Within the last two years there has been a great revolution in the ideas of the Tha.nes miners. They became thoroughly convinced that their machinery was not capable of c rtracting a reasonable proportion of gold fr >tn the quartz, so they imported new processes, some of whi-jh are now being put to the test. The chlorination process and various forms of amalgamation will soon be at work; but what would prove of moat value would be central reduction works, after the style Of those at Freiburg or Swansea, worke that would embrace nearly every process, and be able to treat nearly every form of ore, not that of gold alone, but of every valuable mineral that the Thames produces. After my long lonely cruise in the Laone it was quite refreshing to visit such a place as the Thames, and be able to follow the interesting occupation of examining the mines, but the public will not care to follow mc into wet shafts and long dark tunnels, so I will ask them to bear mc company to Te Aroha. I mounted Bradley's coach one morning about eight o'clock, got a seat by the driver, and away we went southwards. The road follows along the base of the hills that form the backbone of the peninsula, and on our right is the great Thames valley, which is a dozen miles wide here. The bottom of the valley is pimply a level swampy plain, through which winds the Waihou river. Prom the coach we can see two large barques anchored in this river near som e sawmills; waiting no doubt for a cargo o kauri timber. The level valley is net very picturesque, most of it is still in the hands of the Maoris, and therefore uncultivated, but in time I suppose it will become a great agricultural district, for the soil is said to be fertile. It seems a shame that this vast valley should remain uncultivated, when it possesses such a glorious climate, and has a fine river running through it, navigable to the sea. "There's the old Totara Pa," said the driver, interrupting my thoughts about the valley. I looked but could see no pa. From the edge of a road the face of a terrace rose, steep and level as a wall, cut no doubt by the river when it ran a hundred feet above its present bed. The face of the terrace was ornamented with clamps of beautiful karaka trees. In 1821 Of thereabouts the Ngatimaru had a great pa on the crown of this terrace. It was skilfully strengthened by deep trenches and thick earthen walls; it was also surrounded by a palisade of huge totara posts sunk far into the ground and lashed above to massive cross beams. It was named the " Totara Pa," and the Ngatimaru i thought it impregnable. But one day Hongi, the famous chief of the Ngapuhis, sailed with many warriors to wreak his i veugance on the tribes of the Peninsula. He had wamed'.Henaki, chief of the Ngatipaoa. " Go and strengthen your pah, Henaki," he said, " for I have got pakeha pus (European guns), and shall come and attack you." The sentries in the Totara pa, high above the valley, saw a great fleet of canoes sailing down the Frith of Thames. "Hongi is coming," they said, "is It peace or war?" The fleet of canoes entered the Waihou river, and nearly 2000 warriors, the most famous New Zealand ever saw, sprang ashore and marched towards the Totara pa. " Wβ come in peace," they cried: so the Ngatimaru received them with Maori hospitality and feasted their guests fora day. In the evening the Ngapuhis rose to depart from their,

entertainers. "Kal tupato" (be careful) whispered one Ngapuhi to hie host. The Ngapuhi knew the treachery in hie leader's heart. Hongi had said peace because the Totara pa seemed too strong even for hie giant power. Nlghfe came, and in thej darkness Hongi, with all his warriors, stole up to the pa, made one, fierce daeh, took the Ngatimaru by surprise, slaughtered them without mercy, and destroyed the great Totara pa. vVTien morning came a thousand Ngatimaru lay dead about the ruined fortress, their chiefs were dead, and their women were slaves to the conquerors There, Hongi earned his dread title, " Kai. tangata" (the eater of men), for whilst the Totara pa was burning he commenced a cannibal feast, and he with his warriors feasted for days on the bodies of their enemies.

The coach rolled on to Puriri, where there is a sodawater spring. It wells out of the ground a little to the left of the road. The water is strongly impregnated with carbonate of soda and contains a small quantity of magnesia, whilst with it bubbles a volume of carbonic acid gas. The soda water from this natural spring has been bottled and put on the market, but people don't like anything fresh from nature, and it could not compete with the manufactured beverage, but if there were only a creek of brandy near, the sodawater spring would be a great refreshing place.

There is nothing much to make the journey between the Thames and Tβ Aroha an interesting one, but it ie pleasant in summer weather, and we had a perfect day for our journey. Four women passengers were inside the coach, and they were actually silent for the greater part of the journey; but when they reached Paeroa their tongues were unloosened. The coach drew up at the Paeroa Hotel and the lady passengers made enquires about refreshments. " Could they have some tea 7' they asked a frizzy haired damsel. " Yes," was the reply, so the ladies seated themselves at the dining table and painted the lily by putting newspapers on the table cloth. After they had waited for some time a big teapot was brought into the room and various cups and mugs were distributed amongst the company, then a liquid was poured out. But the ladies did not appear to find it appetizing, and some of them refused to touch it. Others, being assured that it was tea, drank some of it, shuddered, looked ill, and put their handkerchiefs to their mouths. Then arose the question, " What is it f • "Fijian tea," answered the frizzy-haired one. " It's abominable," said one lady, "Rubbish" said another, "Poison " chimed in a third. "It's Fijian tea," said the landlady stoutly, and she charged all the company a shilling per cup for it, stopped even the ladies' tongues oy the vigour of her own, and retired triumphantly to the bar. The Fijian tea drew the lady pas sengers together, and they tried to rival one another with the histories of their complaints, which were not exhausted when we reached Te Aroha.