WEST COAST GOLDFIELDS

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 February 1928, Page 31 (Supplement)

WEST COAST GOLDFIELDS

First Government Report

AN HISTORICAL DOCUMENT ' \

THE first report published below, was prepared by Mr. W. .Seed, a Government official, who was sent to the Coast for the express purpbse of furnishing a report on the gold fields. This is probably the first time the report has appeared in any newspaper, and those Wlio have any knowledge of what the Coast fields wers in 1865, or even later, will have no hesitation in deciding as to the inestimable value of the report, not only for its accuracy, but as an historical record. The second report by Captain Gibson, is also excellent. It gives a good description of the Grey River as it was in those days and shows how capable were the old time mariners. The Government Buildings, which he refers to as having been removed, were situated on what was known as “Revell’s Camp,” near the mouth of Sawyer’s Creek. Regarding the shifting of the bar which he mentions, that was a matter of continual occurrence; and in the summer time with neap tides and no rain, it was not only liable to shift but very often became completely blocked with sand, so much so, that at dead low water, one could walk from one spit to the other and then there was a general howl for rain and a fresh to clear the channel. It will hardly be credited in these days, but it is a fact that on two or three occasions the Borough Council engaged gangs to shovel a channel through the sand ,to let the river through. The Government-coal wharf which Captain Gibson mentions, was at Cobden, just* near the entrance to the bridge and the Pah to which he refers was near the Grey quarry almost, opposite the bridge. “James Slatker” signalman appointed by the Captain, is a misnomer, the letters of the surname having apparently been misplaced; the proper name was “James (Old Jamie) Stalker. ” Most Greyites, if,they /did not know him, will have heard of- him. The “Whitcombe and Townsend graves” referred to are alongside the'unfortunate George Dobson’s. Regarding the bbuldei’bank mentioned in the report, there may be such a bank, but up to the present there hase been no indication of it; if it does exist, what an' enormous amount of gold must be stowed away between it and the shore.

Report by W. Seed on the West Coast Gold. Fields CUSTOM HOUSE, WELLINGTON. 15th April 1865. gjr,—l have now the honour to furfollowing statement:— Before remarking on the several point's to which my attention; was specially directed) Ii should perhaps give a brief description, based Upon, what I gathered from reliable sources, and what I thyself saw, of the character of the country on the West Coast. Viewed! from on board a vessel, the Coast’ from Cape Farewell, to the Rivdr Grey, presents a very rugged and; broken appearance; but immediately. to the South of the Grey, the land near the sea becomes level and contihiies more or less so, almost without interruption, for upwards of one hundred and! fifty miles down the Coafet; It is covered throughout with a dense forest, which comes close down to the beach. In some places the flat land extends back from twenty-five to thirty miles, whilst in others it narrow to four or five miles. The average width of it from the Grey to Abut Head, is about fifteen miles, including the low hills; and from Abut Head to Jackson’s Bay, where the low land terminates, it is perhaps not more than seven miles in width. From a little distance off shore,, the low terrace land near the sea, between the Grey and the Hokitika (or rather the top of the forest, for nothing else can be seen) looks singularly level. On approaching nearer, however, slight irregularities are observed, and when you land and penetrate into the bush, you perceive that the ground, gradually rises towards the first low range of hills, which run gradually parallel to the Coast; between the level land and the chain of Southern Alps, three separate ranges of hills are distinctly seen. The soil on the flat land appears.to be well adapted for agriculture, if I may judge from what I saw on the banks of the Waimea Creek, about eig'ht miles inland, where the excavations, made by the diggers show about eight to twelve inches of surface soil, composed principally of rich vegetable deposit, then two to three feet of light coloured yellow clay. Below this the gold is found in what is termed ,f the wash dirt” which is of an average thickness of four feet, and is composed of. sand and gravel, mixed more or less with clay, .in which are embedded boulders varying in size from a few inches to two feet or more in diameter, the whole resting on a bed of stiff blue . clay. In some places where, what is called the terraces, abut on to the streams, this clay lies exposed to a depth of more than One hundred feet. The forest is composed principally of red and white pine, matai, miro and birch With here and there some totara. On the low land the' pines predominate, but further back I am told the hills are covered almost exclusively with birch. Ferns and mosses exist in great variety and abundance the ground everywhere, and the trunks of the trees up to the lower branches, being thickly covered with them, furnishing I think, conclusive evidence that the climate must be very moist. Indeed it is generally stated that there is a deal of rain on the Coast; but persons who have been resident there some time, say that there is not more than falls in Otago and that there is much less wind than cn the’ plains of Canterbury; that there is very little frost and that the ebn.-ate is altogether nu'ch milfl.T than th?? of the Eastern side of the Island. The Maoris who have lived for years about the Teremakau and the Grey, corroborate this testimony as to the mildness of the climate, but admit that there is a good deal of rain. The level land may be said to commence at the Northern, and end at the Southern boundary of the ■Canterbury province, Where the high mountains approach close to the sea. Along its whole extent, there are unfortunately no good harbours or at least, none have as yet 7 been discovered. Many people are sanguine that the South Wanganui, will prove io be a better harbour than either the Grey or the Hokitika and that good anchorage and safe landing places will be found at Jackson’s Bay. This point will! no doubt, very soon be settled, as Captain Gibson, an experienced and efficient officer, who has already surveyed the Harbour at Hokitika, for the Canterbury Government, and erected signal staffs there and at

t the Grey, is about to examine and report, upon the whole coast-line of the Province. As I understand that a ’. copy of his report will be sent to the • General Government, it will be un- - necessary for me, to make any lengthened remarks on this subject; but 1 as I visited both the Grey and the - Hokitika, I think I may briefly state, 3 that neither of them can be called t good,harbours; that they are unfit for 1 vessels drawing over six feet of ■ water, and that the bar of each, by the . action, either of the surf outside or of J the freshes from within, is constantly 3 shifting. The prevailing winds arc said 1 to he from the South West, round to - the North West. The description of i the weather, given by Captain Drury I in “The New Zealand. Pilot,” for the i northern portion of the West Coast, C I was told, has. proved to be very acs curate. Although the wind seldom i blows for long at a time direct on i shore, yet even in the stillest weather there seems to be always a heavy purf J rolling in along the coast, which keeps - up a constant break on the bars at s the entrance of the ipvers. The Grey, t I understand, is at times more acces- ; sible than the Hokitika. It is a > river; but the Hokitika is said to he 1 fed from the melting of the snow on i the high ranges ihlainl, and in the win- ■ ter, therefore when the snow is frozI en, it may possibly fall very low. Gold I in paying quantities has been found > in all the rivers, from the Buller to the Tbtara —viz., on the Buller, the ■ Grey, Saltwater, Paroa, Teremakau, • Kapitea, Waimea, Arahaura, Hokitika I and the Totara. Fair prospects have • also Iteen found as far down as Mount ! Cook, so that as far as at present as- , certainetl, the northern half of the ’ West Coast of the middle island, ap- ! pears to be auriferous, Mount Cook ! being situate about midway between i WEST COAST GOLD. 1 Gold exported from the West Coast (quartz and alluvial) during the period 1857-1926 totalled 6,483,519 ounces, 1 valued at £25,736,296. The total New Zealand exports for the same period were 23,416,564, valued at £92,403,399, therefore the West Coast production comprised over one-fourth of the total. Gold-dredging is rapidly declin- / Ing in importance.in New Zealand, the number of productive dredges having decreased from 167 during 1906 to five during 1926. Of the total production of £52,969 in 1926, £47,900 was won by the Rimu Flat dredge, £2229 by the New River dredge at Dunganville, and £2840 by three dredges in Otago and Southland. Capt Farewell and the Southern end . of the West Coast. I spoke to numbers .of men on the Waimea, where the principal diggings are, and they all , said that gold in small quantities could be found almost everywhere it was dug for. I saw seven different par- , ties, wash out prospects at various places along the banks of the creek, and in each instance they got gold ■ to the extent of half a grain to a grain : to the dish. Many experienced diggers, i who had been on the Waimea diggings . for several months, expressed it as their opinion that the West Coast ' Gold Fields, would last for many ( years and that any one who worked industriously on them would be sure of a certain amount of success. They all described them as “a good poor . man’s diggings,” meaning thereby ■ that anybody could be pretty sure of earning a living from them, but that few would realise large sums, as the ■ gold was very fine and was scattered , over a wide extent of country. The i want of roads by which supplies could be furnished at a cheaper rate than at present is the greatest impediment that the diggers have to contend with. ! The tracks through the bush, used hitherto, have been made by the dig- . gers themselves, assisted by the store ■ keepers but, arrangements have now , been made by the Provincial Government, to grant for the formation of roads ,an amount of money equal to ■ that raised by the population of any ■ 'district for such purposes. This will . probably get over the difficulty for the ; present; and when it has been fully : ascertained in what direction the greatest digging population will be located; step? will no doubt be taken to . form permanent roads-. Just now this ■ would be premature, as there may be two thousand diggers in one place today, and on hearing of some new rush

they might be all away to some distant point, in more than a week. Timber being everywhere so abundant and the land being level, it will be found, I should think, when the place becomes more settled, that wooden tramways will be the cheapest and most suitable roads that could be constructed. At the end of last month, I estimate that there must have been about 7000 people in the district. Of these about 3000 were at the Waimea or Six-mile diggings; 2000 digging and prospecting in other places and about the same number congregated at the township at Port Hokitika. Among the latter would be included the people who are constantly coming to and leaving the diggings; the packers, storekeepers and a considerable number belonging to a class having no particular occupation, but which seems always to be inseparable from various rushes to the diggings. I found it very difficult to get any reliable information as to the yield of gold, for the diggers as a class are not communicative on the point. I saw, however, on the Waimea, two parties of four men each, wash out between them for their day’s work about five ounces of gold; this would yield about £2/7/0 per man. Very few were getting more than this and many no doubt very much less. The amount of gold purchased by the various banks, during the fortnight J was at Hokitika was about 5000 ounces.’ Estimating’ that there were 3000 people continually at work, and this is perhaps rather above than below the actual number; the amount of gold I have named would give on an average £3/10/- for each man. Owing to the nature of the country, it’is a most laborious undertaking for men to have to prospect at any distance from the banks of the rivers and streams, on account of the difficulty of carrying their food and tools through the bush; it will therefore take a long time to ascertain fully the extent of ground that can be worked with advantage. It. is quite impossible to account for the present rush of people to the West Coast, except by ascribing it to the characteristic restlessness of the diggers, which appears to impel them to join in every rush to now gold fields. Many disappointed diggers will no doubt soon leave, but large numbers who have good claims, will remain for a long time in the district. The only way in which these people can be supplied with stores and provisions at the various diggings until permanent roads are made, is by means of packhorses or bullocks; and as there is no natural pasture, for these animals, a ' large quantity of forage of different kinds will constantly be required; the heavy expense of getting this round by sea, will be the means of inducing people to cultivate green crops and once that settlers have gone to the trouble of clearing and cropping the land, they will become attached to the place, and will not readily abandon it, other local industries will soon spring up and the- bccupaton of the country by permanent settlers will thus be very much promoted. The chief drawback to the settlement of the district, is the want of good harbours; but the presence of gold will stimulate people, to use every exertion to remedy this defect as far as possible, by obtaining vessels of light draught, suitable for the rivers, sitch as those which are ‘ used for some of the bar harbours in Australia. A practicable track, from the Eastern side of the island, to the West Coast, through the Teremakau pass, has, I believe, just been found. 'Phe value of this for travellers, ahd for driving stock overland, as well as for postal’ purposes, can hardly be overestimated; but I imagine that merchandise of all kinds even though a good road should be made; by this route, will be conveyed by sea, as’the cheapest means of transit. The people on the West Coast; beyond the single question of the road across from Christchurch, will have very little concern, in the affairs of the other side of the Province and as most of them come from Otago, Invercargill, Nelson, the Northern Provinces and from Australia direct, it is scarcely to be expected, they will ever feel more interest in the affairs of Canterbury, than in those of any other Province of New Zealand. It is pretty certain therefore, if the settlers about Hokitikaxincrease at all rapidly, or even maintain their present numbers, that they will very soon declare themselves, in favour of having a separate Province; they will require every farthing of the revenue, raised in their district, to lay out on roads to open up the country; and immediately any land fund accrues, they will be jealous of seeing any part of it spent on the Eastern side of the Canterbury Province. It is impossible yet to say with absolute certainty, where the chief town will be. If South Wanganui is found to be a better harbour than Hokitika and the ground in its vicinity, yields a greater quantity of gold than does that which is now being -worked near the Hokitika; it will naturally become the chief centre of trade and population. But without some such advantages in its favour, I do not think it is likely to rival the present township, where already a great many people have settled down and constructed substantial buildings. The Hokitika has also the advantage of having a greater breadth of flat land in its vicinity than there appears to he at any other point of the Coast and is only fourteen miles from the Teremakau (where the road from Christchurch most likely will reach the Coast) and twenty three miles from the Grey, which river it is said, can be entered by vessels at times when it is difficult to cross the bar of th.e Hokitika. The place where the first stores and other buildings were erected at the Hokitika, was evidently selected oply to meet the emergency of the moment, as it is nothing more than a sandbank, -which has been thrown up by the sea near the entrance of the river, towards which it dips, rendering it liable to be flooded in that part, whilst a portion of the other side is exposed to the danger of the sea. The permanent township is being laid off a little further up-the river, where the ground is higher, is not exposed to floods and is quite as accessible to vessels as the point lower down where they now lay to discharge their cargoes. I pointed out to ..the Government Surveyor, a suitable site for the Custom House and the Provincial Secretary has been good enough to give directions for an acre of land to be reserved there for this purpose. This allotment will bo sufficiently large for sites for most of the build-

ings required by the General Government for a long time to come and will I think, be found to be so situated as to be equally convenient for them all. Full reports have no doubt long since, been made to the Government, relative to the coal found at the Grey, but as I went up' the river and saw the mine, I may here furnish one or two particulars, respecting the working of the coal, which may not have been previously noticed. The seam lies exposed on a cliff, on the north side of the river, several feet above the water. It is also seen on the Canterbury side, but there it is only just above the surface of the river and appears to dip downwards. The mine is on the north or Nelson side of the river and consists of a simple tunnel driven into the coal-seam at right angles to the river. Only a few men are working at

it and they turn out about forty tons a week, which is all they are able to take down the river with the single boat they have for the purpose. They have penetrated into the seam ,about one hundred and eleven feet and at that distance in, it has been-measured and found to be sixteen feet two inches in thickness. The coal has to be conveyed down the river in flat-bottomed punts, on account of some shallows there are, about half way up to the mine. There is at present a demand for more coal than can be supplied for the use of the small steamers trading on the Coast. The mine is distant from the entrance of the river about six and a-half miles. The several particulars furnished above, supply information on most of the points-, to which my attention was directed and I will now briefly reply to the questions which sti.ll remain unanswered, in the order in which they stand in my letter of instructions. The "West Coast district, I think is not “yet ripe for being formed into a separate Province” but as the opportunities for communication, between it and the seat of Government are at present less frequent, than those enjoyed by most other settled parts of the Colony, I am of opinion, that it would be found advisable to allow some officer on the spot to act as a kind of agent for the General Government, as in addition to carrying out their instructions, he would always be prepared to advise them whenever it might be found necessary to adopt any fresh arrangements to meet the varying necessities of the district. In the event of being formed into x a separate Province, its natural and proper limits I think, would be the, portion of the Canterbury Province, West of the great dividing range of mountains. Communication overland from Nelson, I am told- is even more difficult than from Christchurch, as the only practicable pass yet discovered is one at the head of the Teremakau; anyone travelling from Nelson overland must therefore go almost to the southern boundary of the Province before a practicable track to the Westward can bo reached. The only present practicable means of intercommunication overland, between the different ports of the district is by the sea-beach. For the reasons stated in a previous part of this letter, I think that the proper Capital of the district would be at the town at Port Hokitika. It is impossible yet to arrive at any estimate, of the revenue which may be expected from the district, as the customs duties on most of the goods consumed there, are at present paid at the ports from whence they are shipped. ITie Hokitika will however no doubt soon be declared a warehousing port, when all the articles, liable to the higher rates of duty, will be shipped under Bond and pay duty there. As soon as that is the case and the number of people is ascertained more accurately, a tolerably coi’rect estimate of the revenue can be furnished. Most of the officers required just now for the West Coast, who hold their, offices under the Provincial Government, have already been appointed. A gentleman enjoying the confidence of the Canterbury Government, has been sent there as Resident Magistrate, with ample discretionary powers, in all Provincial matters'; a Warden for the Goldfields is also stationed there, as well as a body of police. Pilots for the Hokitika and the Grey have also been nominated. A Custom House has boon established at the first named port, as I have already reported, in a letter addressed to the Hon. the Commissioner of Customs, referring to matters specially connected with his department. In that letter I recommended that an experienced officer should be appointed, sub-col-lector for the West Coast and he might also, I think, act as sub-treasurer and Registrar of births, deaths and marriages; the Coroner’s duties for the present, might be undertaken by the Magistrate or Warden of the Gold Fields. A postmaster is urgently required, but this I have already pointed out in a, separate communication to the Hon. the Postmaster General, who at once, I believe, gave directions for an officer to be sent from Nelson without delay. ’ I have etc., WILLIAM SEED, Collector. REPORT ON HARBOURS OF WEST COAST HOKITIKA, April 29, 1865. Sir —i fiave the honour to report, that in accordance wilh my instructions, conveyed by letter from the Provincial Secretary, I proceeded to the River Grey on the 7th inst., and on my arrival there, having ’.com-

municated with Mr. John Revell, in charge of the depot, commenced to remove the Government Buildings from the original site, and after rafting them down the lagoon, completed their erection, on the Police Reserve at Blaketown, on the evening of Friday, April the 13th. Having availed myself of all the information obtained, and after a careful inspection of the entrance to the river, I felt convinced that the North Spit, situated in the Nelson Province, was the most suitable position for the erection of a flagstaff. I therefore selected that site, and the tidal signals were exhibited for the first time on the 21st inst. The mast is so constructed as to face both channels, having two sets of cross trees, placed at right angles, each furnished with semaphoric arms, thus obviating the necessity for erecting a second mast on the South Bank or Canterbury side of the river, which is very low and over which the sea sometimes washes.

The river Grey is situated in latitude 42deg. 23 ’ S., Longitude 171 deg. U’E. The bar at its entrance, like those of all other rivers on the West Coast, is constantly shifting; .and-after a. heavy fresh when the channel breaks straight out in a westerly direction, it is perfectly safe and easy of access for small vessels drawing from 8 to 9 feet, whereas in the absence of any fresh in the river, the channel makes either to the North or to the South, but usually in the former direction, running for a short distance nearly parallel with the coast line and at such times the entrance to the Grey is far more dangerous than that of Hokitika, because vessels crossing the bar take the sea abeam when in the heaviest break and unless under command of very small helm, stand in danger of becoming stranded on the beach before they are in a position to keep away for the entrance to the river, which of itself, although of great depth of water, is very narrow. It is high water, full and change at 10 hours 15 minutes, but the highest tides often occur the day following. I have carefully sounded the river as far as navigable for vessels, or a distance of rather more than a mile from its mouth and the least water I obtained was from 3 1-3 ft. to 4ft. at dead low water, while at the same time of tide I found from 15 to 18 feet both at the entrance and abreast the Government Coal Wharf. I have placed a buoy, painted red, on the only dangerous snag lying in the fairway, the Maori Pah, and I have appointed Mr. James Slatker to be signalman, subject to the approval of His Honour the Superintendent. I have the honour to enclose you a copy of the instructions I gave him. Before leaving Grey, I assisted Mr. Revell in enclosing Messrs Whitcombe and Townsend’s graves, with railings forwarded by the Government for that purpose. Having completed my instructions, I proceeded by land to the Teremakau, both tor the purpose of examining the entrance of that river, as well as enabling me to report more fully on the suitability of the coastline between the Grey and Hokitika for surf-boat comriiunication. This river is situated 10 miles south of the Grey, empties itself into the sea at the present time by two channels, the one running northwards, which is nearly dry at low water, and the other in a. South Westerly direction, in which I found 5 to 6ft. The entrance is not so confined as that of the Grey, nor yet is it equal to Hokitika, but small vessels drawing from 4 to sft. could cross the bar without incurring a greater risk than they would at either of the other rivers It is my belief that a boulder-bank exists, extending the whole distance from the Grey to the Hokitika, running parallel with the beach, at a distance of from five to six hundred yards seawards—that it is on this the heaviest of the break takes place—through this the freshes down the rivers burst, forming the channels over the bars and I cannot help thinking that this portion of the coast is extending to the Westward, being gradually formed by the sea, through a series of lagoons. The whole coast immediately above highwater mark tends to confirm this opinion, not less so the low-water to the north of the Arahura, where the sea has nearly completed its work in forming a new .lagoon. I have etc.,

FREDK. D. GIBSON.

Port Officer. G. Gale Esq. Commissioner, Hokitika.