IS THERE A GOLDFIELD NORTH OF AUCKLAND ?

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIV, Issue 3509, 14 October 1868, Page 4

IS THERE A GOLDFIELD NORTH OF AUCKLAND ?

To the Editor of tbo Daily Southern Ckoss. Sir, — The extension of our goldfielda is a question of such irap>rtauce t"> the province that it may be well to draw attention to the North and its claims. At a time when mos of ovir setters nra leaviug for the Thames to search for gold, sacixficing everything to accomplish tuis object we should certainly consider if such a course is the wisest, or whethjr gold may not he found in payable quantises nearer home. My own experience of goldh'elds has proved to me that miuers, m a cl ■•, are the l^a^t benefited by | them, anil th-it the tiller of the soil who sticks to his plough, except ' i a chance ca~e of pure luck, fine luimself n a better position evenfcual'y than his rambling neighbours. Indeed, the influx of population consequent uj dv the hrav king out of golafields causis a greaier demand for farm produce; this gives iucreased price*, which the uumercuiial man is able to avail himself of. ho doubt the Provincial Government have used the North bidly. Having once got the settlers on their land, they have left them without roads to communicate with each other, or get tboir produce to a marker, wlnle money, which would hive opened up the country from cud to end, has been recklessly squandered. It is not wonderful, then, that the North has no love for provincialism ; bub, what is worse, this neglect his mule it a strucr^le for settlers to giiu a bare subsistence. Tims cimhed, they became leckless, and mither f.irm nor cou'utry is any longer a binding tie to ihein. Ie i* not surprising, then, that thry are reaily to bieak up their homes and stake all in the hazard of the die iv search of something batter, although, until the question of whether th-re is a gold field in the North is solved, it would perhapi be better if they turned their atteiiiiou to prospecting nearer home. I believe a good poriiin of this province has been geologic illy surveyed— the South put of course. Nearly the whole of the North, however, a3 oust binary, has bern neglected, although Dr. Heotor did promise to send last M.*y an assistant to survey that portion Ijinu between the Kaijiara and the Bay of Islands — a i art which, to aH appearances, will be found rich in mineral". Indeed, the indications, so far as I have seen, stamp it as a miring rather than an agricultural countiy, and there ii every reason to believe that the poor reglect->d North will eventually emerge from her notiiingues«, and become a most important part of the province. It may be .it-ked by some, if such is the casp, why .do not the settlers b stir themselves, and test what is beiow as well as above the surface of the ground ? To this we reply : 'Jhey aie apathetic, and will do nothing iv their ' own paris>h unless they are pietty certain of being paid for their labour. It is h.r.l to say what this apathy proceeds fiotn ; probably climate has some influence. It is nevertheless a fact that throughout New Zealand there is a thorough want of enterpr.se, suuh as is rarrly tobe met withinanyothen ountrr. In gold-min-ing, our settlers of the North have been contented to ski in the surface of the ground, and then let the matter drop, until perhaps, as at theThames,a Huab shall knock off a golden hould r. when of course they will become intensely electrified. It would be well to consider what discoveries of gold have been made ia the NoiUi, pud whether the indications are such as to vai rant the belief that a payable t;oldfi-ld will yet be found therj. Pro'- edmg norih.vanl from Auckland, we come 6ist to the Wade: there Mr. Jacobs found fine gold in sandstone. According to all mining authotitics the heaviest gold ]ie* the deepest, but depth does not £e.*m to have I een tried in this cue. I'assiu^ on, your correspondent at Mdhu-angi described the quartz indications as go >d ,n fie Tort Albert c. d of the Chalmer->ton Settlement bU 3k. On some land recently surveyed for Mr. Btookes, quartz is baid to abound on the surfao. Passing the coait hue, Point Uodn^y is said to i>e composed partially of quartz; y< ur Omaha correspondent also btated. that it was found jutting out on the beach near theie ; while at Te Arai Point, at Mr. Ryre's, there is a quartz reef about 150 feet hi^h, by 40 fet-t in width, the top being of brown qu inz, uud^rlaid on the bea-heach by a blue quartz full of mnndic. A slate bottom his als > been found here, which would charm the heart of a Victorian digger, as aso on other parts of tbe Arai s-ttlemenb. Near this reef was found a pitce of white quartz, containing metal, which was foi warded to the Siipciintetideut, aid pronotiuced by your contemporary the Herald to coutaiu "fine g'-ld." Many of tbe hills iv the immediate neighbourhood are composed of decomposed quarfcz, and abjut a mile iultnd there is whatis apparently a continuation of the Te A rai i eef, continuing the same cour«e uoi theast : theie is an extensive show of quaitzon the suiface, and some immense blocks of a brownish red qu »rtz jutting out on the bank of a gully. It has all the appearance of a burst up of the r<jtf, the qui>rtz having evidently beeu subjected ..o great c uptive force. Below this to the westward, blue quaitz leaders show out prominently in a creek, in a deep q Jlly. In this gully some settlers put down a hole or two, but had to leave off through excess of water — it being winter. 'I his inland reef and leaders are on Government land, ami permission has been granted to rui^e a f>w tons of stone to send to the ih.imest>be teUed. Ouialhas also hem'found which would prove a boon if in .ny uamicy, should +his move to be a g>ld distiict. Passing more iuiau'i to the northwc fc on tho bo deis of Manga wat. ab Mr. ForJe's, Piikfknrorb, a West (Joast digger and Captain Cli.rke have ieen l working for several weekij.

The following notice pasted at Manga wai by Captain Clarke will explain hi 3 impression of the country :— " I he settlers at Manga wai Oistnct arfcrequestod to meet »t some opportune time, and take fnuO'^pflsiderUiou whether it is desirab'e to stay the fuirtiier exodus of the mae population to the Thames goldfieldr, and i) attain which object they are jbliged to sacriiice their cattle, sheep, and other produce for whatever they, may realise, or to let $ie district remain in a dojjgunt state, owing to their Gwn apathy and want of energy, which can be avoided by raising a fund by subscription for prospecting for gold in their own district, and th2reby developing itiresources, a prospecting p rty having, at their own expense, already satisfied themselves that the mountain raDges between Waipu, Mangawai, and the K&ipara, are auriferous, gold of a superior quality to that found in the quartz reefs at the Thames having been discovered at Mr. Forde's form. The said party are willing to resume prospecting when the weather is more favorrable, seeking no pecuniary remuneration, but requiring guarantee against loss ; and that a committee be formed to defray all expenses incidental to such prospecting for a period of two or three months ; aad. also that, if ] successful in discovering gold on private property, the same extent and area of claims to the party be awarded as at the Thames." Continuing northwards : Sever*! reports have been heard of gold beinsr found in the Waipu ranges. Quartz is also found at Whargarei, and from the discretion of a settler there is ro. nn on to believe there is at least one reef there. 9 Proceeding onwards : At the Bay of Islands the country is described as rrgjfed and quartz reefs abounding. Gold is said to have been found — & while further north still, at Hokianga, three several times has gold been reported to have been fouud. We have now nearly travelled an far north as we can, and ceitainly the chances of finding a goldfield are *s good as existed at the Thames a few years back. All that seems to be wanting is faith, a rather scarce commodity, but it must rot be forgotten many left the Thames declaring it a duffer, until Hunt's find changed the aspect of affairs. No doubt much more is known respecting our gold indications here, and it would be well if my fellow Northern settlera would thoroughly ventilate the subject by giving all the information they possess respecting gold in the North.— l am, &c, G. Shepherd.