A VISIT TO THE TUAPEKA GOLD FIELDS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XVI, Issue 908, 24 July 1861, Page 2

A VISIT TO THE TUAPEKA GOLD FIELDS.

BY T. B. GILLIES, ESQ., JI.P.C, M.H.B

Having long been aware of the existence of gold in small quantities in various parts of the province, and warned by the failure of the Lindis in realising* the high expectations formed respecting it, I was not inclined readily to believe the glowing accounts circulated regarding the discoveries at Tuapeka. Well authenticated as these accounts in many instances were, I still felt that they might be the result of sanguine minds seizing on isolated facts, and forming too brilliant anticipations on insufficient data. With these doubts resting on my mind, I determined to enjoy a few days' relaxation from the toils of business by paying a visit to the Tuapeka Gold Fields and to satisfy myself as to the true position of affairs. A narrative of my visit I will now proceed to give, and as a description not only of the gold fields> but of the road thereto, may be ot some service to those who purpose visiting the gold fields, as well as of some interest to those at a distance who wish to know all about the matter, I will commence at the beginning of my journey, even at the risk of being tedious to some of my readers who know the road as well as I do. It was drawing on towards noon of Monday, the Bth July instant, when, with saddle-bags ined with provisions, 'possum rug, and waterproof strapped before me, and pannikin slung to my waist, I left Dunedin by the main South road. Although mid-winter, the day was one of those delightful ones of which we have so many in a favourable New Zealand winter—clear, calm, bright, warm sunshine, with just sufficient sharpness in the air to prevent the warmth being oppressive, and to cause a feeling of exhilaration as the traveller rides along. Passing over the gentle eminence at Hillside, we descend to Caversham valley, and thence ascend by the winding but easy road to the top of Look-out-point, again to descend into the Kaikorai valley. We push along past Green Island and its grassy fields, and up Saddlehill, by a road which must elicit for our Chief Surveyor and Engineer the gratitude of every traveller who knew the road over Saddlehill in 'former years. Long ere reaching the top of Saddlehill,' the evidences of the gold fever were apparent. Travellers on foot, with their blankets, shovels, picks, and tin dishes, toiled cheerily along ; while drays, laden with the stores, tent, sluice, &c, of a party of diggers, became of more frequent occurrence. The road parties seemed strangely diminished in numbers, and those who remained seemed to look at the stream of gold - seekers with that sort of halfcredulous wonder, which seemed to indicate that they too would soon follow the example. Up to this point the road, which, with some slight exceptions, is metalled, is good for drays in all weathers, but beyond this, the road being only formed and not metalled is thought excellent in fine weather, very heavy in wet weather, and with much traffic upon it would become in many places so cut up as to be impassable. From Saddle Hill we descend to the Taieri plain and following the road along the base of the hills which bound the plain on the east side, we soon find ourselves at the Taieri Ferry some twenty-one miles from Dunedin. Here we find evidence of the rush of people to the 'diggings' in the unusual demand of the ferry man of the payment of his fare before crossing travellers; and having safely crossed the ferry in the punt—-which by the way is a disgrace to the province and dangerous withal. From the Taieri ferry to .Tokomairiro, a distance of some fifteen miles, the road is level and like the road along the Taieri plain, is good in fine weather, heavy in wet weather and liable to be rendered impassable for drays •by much traffic upon it. Having jogged along the road slowly, it was dark ere I reached Tokomairiro, but the distance can easily be accomplished on horseback in about six hours. I found that almost the entire male population of Tokomairiro had left for the < diggings,' and on knocking at a friend's house for admittance, found the whole female inmates in a state of alarm lest it was some prowling wayfarer come to take advantage of their defenceless position. A sound refreshing nights sleep ushered in a pleasant though somewhat lowering morning, and by nine o clock on Tuesday morning I was on my way to the Tuapeka. Keeping along; the mam south road the traveller crosses the bridge over the north branch of the Tokomairiro river, but on arriving at the bridge over the south branch the dray road proceeds onwards, whilst the travellers on foot or on horseback instead of crossing the bridge must turn to the right and follow the road which leads m the direction of the hills on the west side of the Tokomairiro plain. Following the road which is well tracked along the north side of the river the traveller comes to a fenced paddock round (Mr. Smith's station), passing through the paddock (having to take dowS and put up the slip rails of those posts if a horseman), and still following the dray road fora mile or more on the north side of the river till he passes some sheep pens and a wasffing pool he willfind a track leadingacross the river. On the south side of the river a good road leading up the valley guides the traveller until he passes two houses on his left, and arrives opposite a paddock on a hill side to his right, enclosed with a wire fence, the slip panels being obligingly left open by the proprietor. The road lies up the hill through the paddock, and following up the rid ff e the traveller will pass a bush in the gully on the right, and shortly thereafter will find a track leading down to the right across the gully, and up a steep spur on to. the next ridge. Arrived here the traveller may observe that the ridge he has just left leads up to the hie-h hill called Mount Stuart, whilst the one he is now upon leads to another hill to the rio-ht known as the Round Hill. Keeping alono' this long easy ridge, he soon arrives on the top of the Round Hill, whence the Waitahuna flat, where a reserve for a township has been made, is seen below From the top of the Round Hill another lon-gradually-sloped ridge tends away to the

right, taking the traveller downto~~^T^ opposite a ford in the Waitahuna rive, l > flat having crossed, I recommend him to V i' ich my example by giving his horse an °llo» feed refreshing himself with dinner , l s cup of tea, and winding up with a pir)e **V lies on the grass admiring the bean /• lle of over 1000 acres of rich Sln^fe.** him. Taking a ridge leading up tort, i Ore the traveller soon rejoins the well «T i, > dray track, and follows the rlWe till L lked wbere a board stuck on a stick indicates' T* by turning down the spur to the rieL? may enjoy a meal of bread and meat 2 * c at a shepherd's hut, at the price of & ftrf sign that the diggings are at hand. WW a desiring to take advantage of the w? . refreshment or not, the traveller on font d horseback should take the roaS down t? spur, and follow the track down the X * he finds it lead up on to the ridge on S, and on arriving at the top of °this ,» will see right before him the white w studding the golden valley. He can £ t S loss now, ancfif be be L intn" g^ the sight which to other eyes is a picturp? one will be to him a welcome one caS* him to forget his weariness and to^T^ with renewed vigour. Yes! there lip.*? Tuapeka valley and Gabriel's Gully r U l he into it almost due north and south from H ° high hills.beyond; in the distance IZtl background are the Lammermoor hills win their snow-covered peaks; while to the left across the Clutha river is the black, frowninT snow-capped Tapuanook mbntain rano- e rf arriving at the valley about 4 p.m. (the ti* tance from Tokomairiro being, as I think about 25 miles,.-though some call it 35 whU it probably is by the present dray track) U was a strangesight— draysjust-arrived unload ™g, diggers just arrived looking about for a vacant claim, -men of all ranks, trades and professions (except the clergy) dressed in even! conceivable style, digging or washing- what they had dug—parties working alongside each other, but scarcely a word passing between them, all earnest, intensely earnest, at their work; so that on the arrival of his Honor the Superintendent some few evidently late arrivals got up a cheer, the others looked wondermgly up out of their holes and quietly subsided to work again. The valley or gully in which the greatest number of the diggers are at work is from three to four miles in length, with a slight bend about the middle, which prevents its being all seen at one view. The ridges on each side are pretty steep, with patches of manuka scrub, which supply f ue l f or the diggers; and the bottom of the valley varies in width from a few yards to a quarter of a mile, the upper part of the valley bein°widest. Down through the valley, winding from side to side, runs a small creek or stream of a few feet in width, having in some places a considerable fall, while in others it is almost motionless. The tents studding the valley numbered on Wednesday last, the 10th instant from 150 to 180, which would indicate a population of about 800 men, which I have no doubt by Saturday was increased to upwards of 1,000: The great majority of these had but recently arrived and had not fairly set to work, having been engaged in setting up their tents, putting together their machinery, sluices, &c, and looking- out claims. By the temporary regulations adopted by the diggers, each individual is allowed to occupy twelve feet square, that is to say, twenty-four feet frontage in a right line on the creek, by twelve feet back therefrom on each side; and if any individual's claim is unoccupied by him for one day, it is open for appropriation by another person. The greater part, if not all, of the creek ~ frontage being now occupied, new arrivals are driven to take back claims, unless they happen to pick up an abandoned claim, and from this will arise a fertile source of. disputes, which along with other little difficulties likely to occur, demand the immediate presence of a commissioner on the field; The mode of proceeding to dig- for the gold is usually as follows: —Having selected their claim, a portion of it is marked out to be opened, usually within a few feec of the creek side. A trench of from twelve to twenty feet or upwards in length by from four to eight feet in width, according to the strength of the party, is dug; soil and clay from two to four feet in depth is soon got through, and pick and shovel pierce the gravel, which varies from one to two feet in depth. When from the sound of the pick it is found that the rock is at hand, the sluice, long* torn, or cradle is brought into requisition, and the stuff adjacent to the rock washed. The gold is found in some places lying on the flat surface of the blue slate rock, and in one rich claim I saw it lying sprinkled about as you see oats in a field as you follow the sower. In others and more generally it is found in ledges of the rock and deposited in the hollows, where the ledge or hollow crosses what has formerly been the course of the stream. In some places I saw it imbedded in the blue slate rock several inches. In the course of digging I picked up a quartz boulder with numerous specks of gold imbedded in it, which gives promise of the gold finding operations being extended to quartz-crushing when the country is more fully prospected, and capital and machinery are brought to bear upon this source of employment. In almost all the claims water comes in freely, and has to be kept continually baled out, and many parts of the valley cannot be worked to any advantage until the diggers are furnished with pumps. This is especially the case in the upper part of the valley, where the sinking is deepest, the gold in the heaviest particles, and apparently in the richest deposits. That the gold is distributed over the whole valley in paying quantities is beyond a doubt. I made very careful inquiries from at least 100 individuals who had been longest at work, ascertaining the number of persons, number of days at work, and weight of gold obtained, and I am in a position to state as a fact, that the average earnings of these persons have been over two ounces per man per day; and from all the information I could obtain, I believe the average earnings of all who have fairly got to work with proper appliances, and who have gone steadily and systematically to

will be at least one ounce per man per day. One Part^ * know averaged four ounces sixteen dwts. per man per day; but this I believe is the' most fortunate on the iield. In-one day a party of seven took tliii-ty-eiglit ounces for their day's work ; and other remarkable finds have been made, such as from three-quarters to an ounce oi' gold, to tin dishful of washing stuff. These, however, must not be supposed to be the general rule,'but only remarkable instances, showing that'the gold is there in large quantities, not that everyone who,goes.there can expect such good fortune to fall,to their lot. Many have ffone there unprovided with, the means and appliances for successful operations, and will return disappointed. Some have gone well provided, but take a felaiin, dig one hole, and finding nothing, march off to some other claim, to repeat a similar process and meet with disappointment j while a more persevering1 party take up the abandoned ground, and jnake handsomely out of it. Many, too, have gone who are utterly unfitted for the exposure % cold and damp \vhich diggers must endure, 7 aud I have no doubt but ere long, many will return convinced of this fact by serious illness. The cold at night and in the morning is severe, the ground damp, and in wet weather, of which we may reasonably expect a considerable share, during winter and spring the privations to be suffered will not be small. Hitherto the weather has been most propitious, but it cannot always be so, and when a few weeks of bad weather set in, so as to stop draying, there will be considerable risk o f a scarcity of provisions for so large., a multitude. Prom my own observations and from information received I am satisfied that the gold is distributed over a large tract of country, in some places as richly as in the valley in which the mass of diggers are now assembled, and that it is therefore likely to be a permanent as well as a rich gold field. The country around is beautifully grassed, and in the Tuapeka and Waitahuna valleys there is some of the richest agricultural land that I have seen in the province. Although so large a number have been congregated together/great harmony and good feeling seem, to exist, and the deep-gravity, almost solemnity, on every visage struck me as very peculiar. Men whom I never met before, save with a smile on their countenance, and a joke on their lips, I met there grave and solemn as if the cares of a nation were centred upon them, they could not even appreciate a , joke. All seem intensely earnest in the pursuit of gold ; and even round their fires of an evening, the sound of mirth and jollity, which one might expect in the midst of such success, is all but unheard. To their credit be it said, that they unanimously resolved that they wished do grog to be permitted to be sold on the diggings, and we only trust that in pursuance of their resolve, they will make short:-work with the supplies of liquor which I observed on the road. The person who, in face of such a resolution, and in defiance of law, dares to place the temptation in their'; way ought to.be held up to public detestation.: Men who purpose going to "£Ee; diggings really to y^erk . and obtain gold^ should go in parties of from three to seven or eight.; * The:v smaller; number may be sufficient in dry.: claims and where the sinking is shallowest, *ahd these small parties have hitherto teen most successful, but my impression,is, that the larger numbers will ultimately v ; prove successful. Each party ought: to be rprovided with a tent, or at least a strong canvass roof for a sod hut which can easily be erected; blankets, supply of dry clothing, cooking utensils, and provisions for two months, 1 a pick; spade, shovel, and tin dish for each individual; a couple; at least of iron buckets, a sluice,, long-torn : or cradles ready to nail together on the; ground, and hammer, nails, and: a few of the common carpenter's tools will be founds very useful in' a variety of ways • also a pump of from 8 to 12 feet in length. Sluices have hitherto been the most successful method of washing for the gold but my impression ; from,what I saw is that cradles will soon become mqrein demand, for though not so speedy in forking,. I. think there is less waste of fine gold: by that and sluices can only be worked oh '.the stream where there is a fall. Lorig-toms, do'not appear to be great favorites among the diggers. It would be difficult to describe these several implements satisfactorily without the aid of diagrams, but there are many who can give intending diggers such a description as to enable them to construct them at a small expense. There should be immediately provided by Government a strong receiving house on the field under the charge of the Commissioner and a guard, in which the diggers could Gaily deposit their earnings, so as to obviate the risk of robberies which with the probable jnnux o f population will be certain to occur. ■iais too would prevent'the necessity of an escort so frequently as might otherwise be necessary. " •