THE GREY GOLD FIELDS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1331, 15 December 1864, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE GREY GOLD FIELDS.

[PBOM OUB OWN CORRESPONDENT,] Totara River, West Coast, November 16,1864. Ik my last letter I informed you that the Maoris were prospecting to the south of the Hokitika, but to the date of my sending that letter they had found nothing of any importance. It appears they first prospected the Mekonui and the Waita, passing the Totara, which empties into the sea some ten miles south of the Hokitika. Finding nothing however in the Mekonui and Waita they, returned to the Totara, where they obtained payable gold. On Sun* day week last they returned to the Teremakau and reported to a few white men and all the native population that they had found a payable gold field capable of supporting many thousand miners in the Totara and its tributaries. They added further that thqjr had obtained 17£ ozs. of gold in one day prospecting; that there was any similar amount of ground equally good, that " piles" could be obtained, and that the day had come when good fortune had crowned their: exertions. Maori messengers were dispatched to all the different natives above the Teremakau and the Greenstone Creek to acquaint them of the happy news, and all night long on Sunday Maoris and white men were' working their way down the river and through the bush to be enabled to get a fair start on Monday morning. Pennyweights got expanded into ounces, ounces into pounds, and rumours as amusing, as absurd, became the prevailing; talk of the day. It was a regular Victorian rush on a small scale. I arrived among the first at the rush on Tuesday, about noon, and have | spent a week; examining the country and i ascertaining what its probable character will be.

About a mile from the beach the Totara divideß in two branches, the southern branch being considerably the smallest. At the junction of the two rivers we met Donnelly, the discoverer of the well-known Donnetlly's Creek in the Gipp's Land gold field., From him I learnt that he had found fold also in the southern branch of the 'ot&ra, and that I may as well take a look at thiß place he had found, before I went on the ground that the .Maoris had reported to be so rich) which he had well examined and entertained a far different opinion. 1 accordingly went up the southern branch and had a look at the ground and the prospects obtained. There are some thirty or forty men employed prospecting and working in that branch, and from all that ,is yet known of the stream, the less said thebetter. Hitherto it has been a failure, as the ground is difficult to wprk, and "the weather bad. 'It ? i& ai large -piece of country, cannot be prospected easily, and (worse, I fear) the gold is not there in quantities sufficient to pay. ■ Beturning to the junction, I went up the river the Maoris reported to be so rich, and to see if any better chance existed in that stream supporting a large number of men. Some five miles from the junction, the river has cut its way through a gorge, where* the travelling is very rough and difficult. On the sides' of the gorge, in the crevices of the slate rock, the Maoris obtained their prospect, which they scraped together with a knife, and Washed with a dish. All the gold found in this stream hitherto has been in. the crevices of the rock, the terraces not yet being proved. The gorge is aibout four miles in length, where you have to wade alternately through the water and scramble over the terraces, holding on to the roots of the trees, and any branch that may chance to be available.

In this gorge some 100 men have taken up claims that are paying from 5 dwts. to 1 oz. a man per day, fossicking in the crevices of the rock, knocking up the bottom and washing it. All the points and small beaches in the,gorge are occupied, and from the precipitous character of the banks small hopes can be entertained of any gold in payable quantities being found in the terraces. The river is very flat and is as yet unprospected, but should any amount of payable ground be found in the Totara,it mil be certainly found in this gorge in the bed of the river. It will have to be worked with crates like the Shotover and other rivers, cutting the river in two, and turning all the water on the one Bide while the other half is being worked. But from the flatness of the stream no. tail race can be obtained, and all the leakage will have to be baled out, thus making the working of the bed of the river difficult and expensive in the extreme. Ixi a couple of mouths, when the fine weather sets in, the river will be tried, - and until that period nothing definite about it will be known. About the head of the gorge the river again assumes an open character, the terraces receding farther from the waters' edge and beaches becoming again prevalent. On those beaches a small prospect can be obtained, and several parties have taken up claims and commenced working. How the ground will pay is not as yet ascertained. Two miles above the head of the gorge the river divides in two branches. In the north branch the Maoris and white men also obtained payable prosand, a considerable number of claims have been taken up in that stream. "It , was reported like the main river to be rich, but I am sorry to say that very few payable prospects were obtained in the ,creek. I was acquainted with most of the people on the creek, had the chance of taking the next claim to the prospectors, but thpught so little of the affair that 1 again returned to the mouth of the river.

Tbe ground is shallow, the crevices of the rock being visible on both sides of tl^e^washNo prospect payable can be in th§ gravel, and all tne has been Qb? taine4 35. W the of the soft $£$e. £[a 4 thf creeV been rich, pounds weight would haye been easily obtained, and the parties, first up the creek would have fieen the gold laying on the bare rock. The beat claim as vet on the stream yields a VW) da; in reef, wltfcfy ia

soft and easily worked. A third share in this claim was offered to a friend of mine for £25 aterling, so that had the ground been rich as reported, no such chance would have occurred. The read is rough, in fact, the roughest I have seen on the coast, and an idea can be formed of its nature from the fact that on Sunday morning last, a man throwing a tree had the. misfortune to break his leg, and though there were 50 volunteers ready to carry him down to the Grey, no track could be found, nor any chance of cutting one to remove him to a place where his wants could be better attended to. It was known that no doctor had been hardy enough to venture his reputation and chance of success in lite, on the hope of practice on the West Coast, and. the consequence was that the man's, mates had to run up and and down the river to find any person who thought himself able and willing to set the fractured limb. They were fortunately successful, and thus good hopes are now entertained of the man's recovery. He is a Greek, and his wants are attended to by his country men# A subscription was talked of, but the Greeks stated that they did not want any help, and that they would take care of him. A doctor, a blacksmith, and a shoemaker, would all find constant and profitable employment here.

Stores in considerable quantities have been taken to the * mouths of the Hokitika and Totara. At the foot of the last mentioned river flour is selling at Is per lb.; bacon, 3s; sugar, Is 6d; tea, 65.; and other articles at a similar ratio, so that gold in considerable quantities must be found before men can be paid for their labour; 25s or 30s a day is not inducement sufficient for men to work at the head of tHe river, and carry provisions oq. their backs up the stream, through the gorge, and over the terraces. Other parties are gone further south prospecting, and should another payable stream be found there is no doubt a large rush will be the resuit.

At the present time there is no inducement for any man to leave remunerative employment to come here. The fact of all the goods being landed on the Grey and having a long expensive land carriage will render comparatively worthless any discoveries that may take place further south. The bars at the mouths of the Teremakau, the Hokitika, and the Wanganui so constantly shifting, precludes the idea of ports being made available to the south. The only plan that could be adopted would be to let a vessel lay at anchor some distance from the shore and use surf boats for the purpose of landing cargo as at Oamaru.

i You will have heard from other sources of the accident that occurred at the first cross-, ing of, jfche Teremakau after-leaving the plain at Lake Brunner. Three men were drowned out of the party that attempted t6 cross the river. Were the track made more plain; over the terrace that Mr. Drake cut, the lower fords would be avoided, and people could travel with a greater amount of safety. This portion of the road is the worst in the river, arid requires only the outlay of a small sum to render it safe. It will be also a great blessing when the piece of road some miles in length around the Lake is also completed. ■. . The schooner Mary was chartered in Nelson to land goods at the Teremakau. After a long passage she arrived off the Grey, and without even attempting to land at the Teremakau, tried,.like the,, Gypsy, to cross the bar at the Grey at low water. The vessel got. aground, and the master and men, it appears, abandoned her. Some men. on shore observing the vessel to be abandoned, went on board, and when the tide began to flow, managed to get her off, and brought .her in safely, when the master of the vessel came again on board and took possession of her. At the present time I heap : they are busy discharging her. It is a singular affair altogether, and wears an ugly aspect. The men who succeeded in getting her off claim £50 salvage-money, which claim, I hear, is disputed. How a vessel chartered for the Teremakau should enter the Grey without even trying the place for where she was chartered is a thing I do not understand, not being conversant with nautical affairs. I hear the vessel was insured as well as cargo. "We have had very bad weather here lately—rain almost every day. It promises, however, now to change for the better. There are great complaints rife amongst the miners here about the postal arrangements; and it is most possible that the complaints, from being so general, are not unfounded. .... [Finally, the pospects here are slightly improved, and only slightly. There is nothing found here to warrant a rush, and all the reports, that may have reached you by the last steamer as to the richness of this new gold field are as absurd as untrue. Storekeepers will be far better paid than miners.