BURIED GOLD

Hokitika Guardian, 12 June 1937, Page 6

BURIED GOLD

SOUTH ISLAND CAVE. STOLEN HOARD NEVER FOUND. ROMANTIC PAGE FROM PAST. Linked with the report of a recent t investigation of oil deposits on the . t West Coast of the South Island, in; tho I i viciuitv of jVfartiri’sbßay, is a romanti. j,l ■story of . a hidden hoard of gold dust . 'which was stolen from a mail steamei j in Melbourne 50 years ago, and which was valued then at £40,000, states the.- , Southland lated By Mr’H. Hubber, of Invercargill. According to Mr Hubber, the gold was stolen by three men from the Lon don mail boat,at Melbourne. The loss was not discovered until the ship reached London. Having gained possession of the gold, the thieves next stole a cutter from Melbourne, and sailed with tlieii booty' across the Tasman, eventually reaeijjng the Cascade River below Jack son’s Bay. Two of the men went a shore in a dinghy with the gold, leaving the third on board the ,cutter. Vessel Dashed to Pieces Suddenly -kl'storm sprang up, and when the two men ashore looked out to, seif (they saw their vessel -thikhed to pieces] oiiUfcllej. ragged an(l ' tlieii’ coin Fade' 4m board was' drpvfned. The'two men were now placed in an awkwdrff^frediCiffhkiffj- 1 as all their sup plies •.were on the cutter, so, after hiding their, -gold in a., cave up the river,, they decided to seek assistance. Disagreeing about which direction to , take, one struck north and the other south. The man who went south was never seen again, but his partner was picked up near Jackson’s Bay in a bad way, and was taken to the Dunedin Hospital. While he was there the doctor warned,. him... of,..his condition and advised him to send for any friends he bad. “I would like to have a talk with a miner,” said the patient. A miner was sent for, and to him the sick man told the. whole- story of the theft and the planting of the booty. He drew a plan of the locality, saying that the gold was hidden in a cave .on the river below Jackson’s Bay. Search,for Locality The miner noted in the sketch a dis tinct resemblance;;!© the Cascade River, and a party was-organised to find the gold if possible. 1 It is at this point that Mr Hubber comes into the story. At that time lie was engaged - in' ajii expedition on : the | West' Coast,under the Leadership of the late Mr R, Paulin. Another member !. of the party wakst&Mr Stuart, a very, wealthy man from. Scotland. Mr Pauljn had heard of the efforts being made t’ ' find the gold, and at his suggestion Mr ’ Hubber quietly left the party and, after* a brief exploration, he found the J tents of the men who were working on the search. He returned and told Mr ’ Paulin that he had found the locality. whereupon Mr Paulin said that he ’ would not mind spending some money on the search.

“I was sceptical of the whole story,” Mr Hubber said, “but Mr Paulin assured me that he had verified Horn Melbourne the .report of the theft of the gold and the subsequent disappearance of the cutter. Moreover, signs of the wreck had been found near where the men were supposed to have landed. A furtheE investigation showed that a big slip had occurred over the spot where the cave was supposed to he. Evidently the men conducting the search failed to penetrate far enough through the slip, or missed the direction. ' -

“Mr Stuartf annomiced his intention of .returning* t'hdiifbllowing oskason to conductor .systematic *; search ', for the g01d,4 hut he>ivsuddenly .fell heir to his fatheL’so.estate's in-; Scotland;! and was oallecj home. ’ Lw- v ■■> ■ a •' f ° •■ •