EXPLORING FOR GOLD.

Evening Star, Issue 8529, 30 May 1891, Page 2 (Supplement)

EXPLORING FOR GOLD.

OVER MOUNT BUSTER AND TO THE HEAD WATERS OP THE WAIHO RIVER. [By C. J. Reeves.J The Waiho River of South Westland, although not widely known on the East Coast, has long been renowned for the vast quantities of gold that have been unearthed from its banks and old courses, and the sea beaches at its mouth were the riohest on the West Coast—rivalling, in fact, any goldfield in New Zealand; and there is no exaggera- 1 tion in saying that tons of the preoious metal have been won by luoky diggers. About nine miles from the ooast the river branohes into two—the right-hand branch ooming from the Franz Josef glacier about three mileß above the junotion; the lefthand, or Kellery, emerges from a deep gorge that extends with but very few breaks right up to the head. Gold has been traced up to the mouth of the gorge, and a little has been found further up by some intrepid pioneers, who risked life and limb and all the dangers of going over the ranges in winter time, and orawling among the rooks and preoipioes in searoh of crevices in which the preoious metal had lodged. Who the first was to lead the way and prospect up the gorge is not known, for when German Harry and two young photoI graphers named Spencer went over Mount Buster early in the seventies they were surprised to find the remains of an old tent at what is now known as the Upper Camp. What had become of, or who was, the owner was never known. Very probably he had met his death by falling over a preoipioe and being dashed to pieces thousands of feet below, As German Harry and his mates had but two days' tucker with t*hem, they could not remain long, but managed to pick up a few pennyweights of the " yellow dross " —just enough to make them eager for more. Harry was so infatuated with the place, and the chance of making a pile, that it did not take much persuasion to get a mate named Jim Nesbit to go back with him ; and so certain were they of making a fortune that they sat up all night stitching stout canvas bags in which to oarry the expected treasure. Nesbit's recollection of that trip is very vivid. They were seventeen days on the journey, and out of that it rained, snowed, etc., fourteen ; but in the other three days they managed to pick up several ounces, and when they were returning they had to go through snow waist deep. When they returned, the news caused a small rush, and everybody was bound for " over the Buster"; but very few ever saw the Upper Camp, for one by one they stopped to have a rest—and then forgot to join their companions ! In spite of all the dangers incidental to the trip, the only accident that has been chronicled happened to George Park, who essayed to go over by himself in the winter of 1888, when everything was icebound, and it was while crossing the top of a jut that he slipped, and sliding down a froaen slope of about 80ft ended up with a fall of about 20ft. How he escaped instant death was a miracle; but, as it was, he was so badly injured that he could scarcely move. After lying all day and night he started to get out, and how he managed to do it with his limbs almost useless, and, hig body all bruisgd, \a only known to himself s but, as he said, it was a oase of do it or die. Where did this gold come from? As no reefs had been found closedown, the natural answer would be from the head, or, at any rate, far up ; and many were the attempts made to get up the river and reach the source of the gold supply, but all of no avail, for each party in its turn was driven back by shortness of tucker or the rugged and impassable nature of the country. For a long time I have cherished thoughts of this place, and of the good things waiting for anybody lucky enough to get there, never expecting a ohance to offer; but there is an old saying ''Everything cornea to he who waits," and so it proved with me. Hearing that Mr George Park, of Hokitika, of oanoe fame, and widely known for his daring trip aoross Cook Strait in his frail craft, was bent upon another trip "over the Buster," and this time to endeavor to reach the head waters of the Kellery, 1 put myself in communication with him, and, everything being arranged, joined him and his brother, Robert, on the Waito in December last. On the 12th January we made our first start, taking swags weighing 451b. After this they were all §Qlb. 4* ifc J 8 impossible to go up the river bank, for the ranges come down in sheer bluffs and precipices to the > water's edge, we had to go over Mount Mueller, 3,717 ft high. How oan I describe this ascent ? The nearest simile, on a small scale, is to imagine Knox Church covered with bush and sorub, and then wend your way to the top of the steeple, and then over the ridges. Ido not think that is far out, for in some places the tourist has to pull himself up by his hands, and then use his teeth and eye brows to help him along; and with a 501b swag on the back it is no |oko. By steady plugging in and plenty of "winders," we reach the top of Mount Mueller; but, alas! our difficulties are not by any means over, for there are three more peaks, each higher than the other, and then the mighty Bister itself—all of which have to be surmounted. Over these peaks there are some very ugly places to negotiate; nearly the whole time you are walking along the top of a ra?or-back ridge, with a clear drop or slide of some hundreds of feet on one side, and nothing to hold on to but small sorub on the othor. The worst place of the lot is Tim's or Madman's Pass; and surely nobody but a madman would attempt to oross it. This delightful Bpot has prevented numbers of hardy miners from proceeding further, and plenty who started with a big swag of tucker*and plenty of confidence have turned back here, having first had the confidence, and perhaps fjome of the spirit, knocked out of them by the climb up the Mueller, and then coming to this place the thirst for gold completely oozed out of their boots. We came across a camp where two enthusiasts a short time before started for " over the Buster," got as far as Tim's PaBS, had a look, felt very ill, turned back, camped, and went home next morning. When we reached this place it was almost impassably, but a short time spent with the pick and shovel made things a little better, and with great care we were able to crawl across and reach the other side. As we watched the stones we loosened bounding down the steep side until lost to view, we could not help shuddering to think of what our fate would be if we lost our balanoe.

Up another peak, and then we oome to the Long Ridge, with the only pool of water between the foot of Mount Mueller and the other side of the Bustor. Here we determined to camp for the night, as the weather looked fine, intending to go on over Mount Buster next day, fix camp, and return for another load. We had decided to take over three loads each so as not to be hampered and have to come out for fresh supplies of tucker. Sunset on the ranges is a most glorious sight. How an artist would have revelled in what we saw. Before us Eli de Beaumont and the Minaret Peaks, each over 10,000 ft high, and covered with perpetual snow, whioh caught the dazzling golden rays of the setting sun, and, passing along from peak to peak, makiDg the snow glisten like diamonds in its peerless beauty—and then the night mists forming in the valleys and gradually creeping up the mountain sides, making an ever-changing panorama of the most beautiful sights we ever saw, and which will be remembered as long as we live. We saw many such sights as these ; but, no matter how many, nothing could take away their beauty or make them monotonous. To return to everyday life. Having refreshed the inner man, and had a "blow o 1 'bacoa," bunk was the next consideration, and before long we were in the land of nod. At daybreak next morning we were astir—but what a change had come over the landscape. The day before was gloriously fire, with not a cloud in the blue, vault of heaven, and we could see before us miles of seaboard and low-lying country, small lakes, nestling in between the hills, and the rivers ' looked like streaks of silver as they found i their way down to the mighty ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see like a gigantic lake, and looked as if inviting the weary to go out and be lulled to rest upon its ample bosom, and, in imagination, we could hear the waves as they gently rolled on shore. Jflow all this was changed. Everything around was coveredwith a tnipk blaok mist, making it impossible to see ten yards ahead, and the wind ww whirling in

angrygustswithblood-curdlingmoans. What we expected happened, for wo had just got the billy boiled when the downpour Btarted; and bow it rained ! We remained in the tent until noon, and then decided to start baok for the " hospital." The hospital is a hot purchased a long time ago by the County Council for the use of invalids and others who came to the hot springs, and is situated at the foot of Mount Mueller. Our trip baok was purely and simply terrible. The wind had inoreased to a gale, and came rushing up the mountain sides in gusts that made it necessary to hold on or erouoh behind the scrub, and when going across the passes and dangerous plaoes we had to wait for a lull and then scramble across in hot haste. To make matters worse, the rain was descending in torrents, and the thunder was rolling above our heads, too close to be pleasant. In due time the hospital was reached. A good fire on, into dry clothes, and then we were all right and comfortable. The next day it rained as hard as ever, so we had to sit in the hut calmly contemplating the beauty of the scene with what patlenoe we could muster.

The following day broke fine, so we determined to make a trip with a load to the tent, and baok the same day. This we did, and found everything in order at the tent, though rather damp. Owing to broken weather, we did not make another start until the 22nd; but before we reached the top of Mount Mueller it commenced raining, so, as we had our things in oilskin bags, we left them there and returned. On the 26;h we were joined by Mr James Park, of Hokitika, also an enthusiastic oanoeist, explorer, and amateur photographer, who came for a holiday and brought his camera with him. On the 27th we determined to brave the elements and start again, but as before it was raining ere the top of Mueller was gained. As time was limited, we pushed on, and reaohed the tent, where we found that the rats had been at work, and evidently appreciated and preferred our goods and chattels to the snow grass roots. Rata are bad enough in town, but they are calculated to make a person rather inclined 1 to use bad language when he finds hie tucker attacked by the rodents after carrying it the distance we had. It rained all that day and night and the next day, so we had to stay in the tent four of us was close packing in a 6 x 8 tent, but we kept comfortable and warm at night. On the 29th the weather cleared, and it took us all th at day to get the swags to the top of Mount Buster and one of them down to the oampiog ground. The track from Mount Mueller was bad, but up the Buster was worse. One place, the most dangerous on the whole route, is an immense rock, over whioh the traveller has to crawl; but coming baok 1b very dangerous, for then he has to oatoh hold of some small Bcrub and let himself hang over and dangle in mid air, with cleir drops of hundreds of feet on either side, until the toe catches a small ledge about 3in out, down which he has to work himself until he reaches terra firma. It took us all next day to get the remaining Bwags from the top of the Buster, and as we were leaving one tent there we had two as a sort of headquarters, we made things comfortable. Our real difficulties now commenced, for we were [»oing oyer country where nobody h&i e?er*heen, and amongst dense hush, through which we had to cut a track, for we had heavy loads to take, and could not get along without one ; and from this day forward it was one succession of track cutting. We had not gone far before our further progress was stopped by a big slip, bo wo decided to take a light load aud make a flying survey oi the ground ahead. On Monday, February 2, we started, taking a 301b swag eaoh, and forcing our way through the bush and over the slip were pulled up suddenly by another big slip, with precipitous sides, extending from the river to the top of Mount Spencer, 6,000 ft high, and whioh we struck about halfway up. We oould see no tyay out of thiß difficulty except by going to the top of Spenoer, to off we started. After a hard hand-over-hand climb of about three hours we reached the top, and from there could see nothing but broken aud rugged oountry ahead, but a thick mist coming up compelled us to retrace our steps. While on the top we indulged in some snow sliding—very good amusement, but calculated to wet the nether garments and make things unoomfortable. Our artist took some instantaneous photographs of us whilst in very undignified positions—they will serve as a memento of the only bit of fun we had on the whole trip. Oa our way down we found a passage through the slip, and fallowed it for a short distance, but before long came to a deep fall of a hundred feet or more, with solid rock on each side, and no possibility of getting down, so we had to take to the scrub. Our traok now led us over precipices and ravines, covered with thick bush, through which we had to scramble and struggle, our swags being an additional impediment to our onward progress. Descending the precipice was easy enough, for then we only had to launch oqraelvea on the sorub, and our weight, together with the swag, carried us to the bottom ; rather risky work, but we were in a hurry, for night was coming on, and we could not find a fiat place large enough to fix the tent upon. Our scramble through that scrub will be remembered by all of us for many a long day, Just at dark wo reached the rmr bank and found a flat piece of ground a few yarda square; but before the teut was up it commenced raining, and before things were fixed there waa a regular downpour. But use is second nature, and we had got used ro drenchiDga before this. At daylight the followiug morniug we found we were camped about 500 yards below the Spencer glacier, and that acoounted for the intense cold we experienced here. This was our No. 3 or glacier oamp. As the weather looked bad, we determined to get back to the headquarters camr, so we started at 9 a.m., luckily found a way over the slip, and reached our destination at 2.30 p.m. As J. Park's time was limited he had to return next day (February 4), so Gfeorge accompanied him, rejoining us again on the JQthj we (oi-her two) remaining behind. We did not envy them their trip, for it was raining hard and suow was low down oa the mountain*, and we reckoned we had the best of it that day, under the blankets in the tent. Ooe moie day's rain, and then the weather cleared, and another day saw us at No. 3 camp again. Six more days elapsed before we oould again shift camp, having had to find a path over some fearfully rough places, and on the seventh we took our oamp on and pitched at No. 4, or Hill camp. Another day's cutting, our last, enabled us to again shift oamp to No. 5, or Birdie Creek, and there we had two days' spell—the first Sunday, and on Monday it rained. On Tuesday, February 17, we were able to dispense with tracks, for it was possible to get up to the grass level; and on this day our mission was completed, for we reaohed the Head and camped by Edelweiss Creek, which we so named from the quantity of that pretty and rare Alpine flower that grew about. Previous to this we had given up all hope of finding gold, for although we tried the river wherever possible, we never got a color above the Spencer glacier. The Head was our destination, and before starting we made up our minds to try every possible means to get there—so we had now reaohed the end of our journey. The scenery about the Head is indescribably grand aud magnificent. Somo distance above the Burton glacier tne rangeß open out, formiDg a valley down whioh the Kellery glacier comes in horseshoe shape. At the entrance to the valley is a moraine extending up for about half a mile, and then the glacier commences and runs up iu an almost unnoticeable incline for about two miles, the mountains on either side rising up in perpendicular faces many thousands of feet high, the tops all covered with immense icefie'ds, ar-dnow and then great masses of rock and ice would break off and come rolling down with an almost deafening roar, which, the hills taking up, would echo from one to the other until it gradually died away in the distant ranges. Sunrise and sunset are magnificent sights in these alpine regions, but moonlight equals if not surpasses them in point of grandeur and beauty. The snow, catching the soft, silvery rays of the queen of the night, causes to stand out in bold relief the dark masses of rock, which appear ready to come down in mighty avalanches, carrying death and destruction to whatever might be in their path. We spent a day exploring here, ascending the Burton glaoier, and seeing many wonderful sights and works of Nature, One, a

perfeotly outlined figure of a man, appeared on the face of the rooki, aome distance from the entrance to the valley, bat upon closer inspection it vanished, again reappearing when we were at a diatanoe; and so we left it—a grim sentinel to watch over these desolate ice-bound regions. The snow-beds in several places had a rich delicate crimson tint that greatly enhanced its beauty. This is a rare sight and very seldom seen. Having now finished oar gold exploration expedition with sach unprofitable results, to return was the next consideration, bnt before leaving we built a cairn of stones at the end of the moraine, and branded tbe top one "P.R.," to show future explorers that some one had been there before. It took u6 two long days to reach the hospital, where we arrived on the thirtyninth day from our first start, thoroughly tired out, as anybody who has carried a 501b swag day after day, with traok ontting thrown in, can well imagine. Having completely exploded the theory held by the West Coast miners, who thought they knew everything about it—viz., that the source of the gold supply was far up, and near the head of the river, we set to work nearer home, and were fortunate enough to find several reefs, all of whfch carry gold, but whether they will pay to work or not will only be known in the future. In conclusion, I may say although we were not successful in finding gold, which was the chief object of our expedition, still we have had the satisfaction of throwing some light on, if not having solved the problem of, the source of the gold supply of the Waiho River of South Westland.