THE WAKAMARINA GOLD-FIELD.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 7, Issue 486, 30 April 1864, Page 3

THE WAKAMARINA GOLD-FIELD.

(From the Nelson Examiner ', April 21.) The accounts which have been received from the Wakamarina since our last issue have been quite as satisfactory as those which reached town in the earlier part of the week. A few of our citizens who have visited the gold-field, more as a matter of curiosity, or with a view to prospective commercial enterprises, than with "the intention of taking: part in any mining operations, have returned to town perfectly satisfied, by ocular evidence, of the truthfulness of the statements which have already appeared with reference to the large deposits of the precious metal which have been discovered on the new goldfield. Many experienced Victorian and Otagan miners who have made their way thither, have given it as their decided opinion that the Wakamarina is entitled to take rank amongst the very richest gold-fields of New Zealand. la fact the results which are now before us more resemble the legend-like tales of the early days of Bendigo and Ballaarat, than the more prosaio annals of recent discoveries, with this important difference, that while magnificent prizes there fell to the lot of the fortunate few, here the glittering metal seems accessible to all, and, moreover, at a merely nominal expenditure of labour or exertion. , : .■_■ •_ _.__^_ ■■_ _ _ The effect upon our conSlfibis, socially speaking has been most sudden and startling. Not onlydoes Nelson bid fair to be depopulated of its male inhabitants, but hourly arrivals are taking place from all the surrounding country districts of persons of all grades and conditions of life, attracted from their habitual avocations by the tantalizing reports which have been forwarded to them by their friends and relations at the Wakamarina. Both Picton and Blenheim have, we are told, been nearly deserted by their inhabitants. Not less than 300 persons etiroute for the diggins were met on the road from 2Jelson on Tuesday, and a very large number took their departure yesterday by land, and also by the steamer Lyttelton, which left for Havelock in the afternoon, loaded both with passengers-and merchandize to the utmost of her capabilities. Wages in Nelson, as a necessary consequence, have advanced from fifty to 100 per cent., and a material increase has also been experienced in the price of provisions generally. Indeed, so scarce has labor become, that trade, but for the strenuous personal exertions of the proprietors of the various establishments in town, would have been entirely suspended, the employe* having generally betaken themselves to the goldfield on the first authentication of the reports which had reached Nelson. Upwards of 800 persons, it. is presumed, are already located upon the field at this moment, and, though only four " toms " are at work, all others are " dishing," and, without exception, getting extraordinary returns. Gold has been found in plentiful quantities in the banks of the river, as well as in its bed. In order to explain the present state of these diggings, it may be necessary to mention that a sloping bank rises from the. bed of the river, to a" distance of twelve feet or more, surmounted by ' one of those terraces or plateaux which are so common in the rivers of New Zealand. Upon . this sloping bank the miners are now employed, and it would appear that as they ascend, the heavier the gold proves to be. ■ Information was received in town yesterday, that a payable gold-field had been discovered upon the Kaituna valley, where its presence has already frequently been asserted, and this fact, combined with the good prospects which have been got in the Pelorus, thirteen miles above its confluence with the Wakamarina, leads to the-., conclusion that the whole area of the ranges between the- valley/a.- of ■ the „ Waimea and Wairau is highly auriferous. , It isaEaraark-; , able circumstance that these ranges have all beert declared auriferous by Dr, Hochstetter, and are , so marked on his geological map. .•■',