Mataura Ensign GORE : FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1894. PROVINCIA AURIFERA.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 17, Issue 17, 12 October 1894, Page 4

Mataura Ensign GORE : FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1894. PROVINCIA AURIFERA.

Western Austbaiia, towards which so many longing looks are cast and to which thepe is reason to believe a large exodus wiU shortly take place, has been known as gold-bearing country for centuries. On tbe old Dutch charts it is named Provincial Aurifera, and as early as 1688 the adventurous though unfortunate Dampier prospected its coasts in search of gold. On the principle of " weight for age " Coolgardie'a auriferous resources come home to us then accredited by the ancient of days. The present generation, however, is notoriously sceptical, and however much it may 'profess veneration for the remote past, it requires something tangible to excite its energies and draw out practical sympathy. Exacting as such may be, there can be little doubt it is amply provided for in tbe outcome of what has been brought to light during the brief period that has elapsed since existing interest in the place was awakened. Apart from alluvial deposits, slags, reefs, etc., that have been unearthed, tbe history of the premier claim is sufficient of itself to set at rest all reasonable scruples. It is widely known as the Londonderry mine, whicb, in reality, consists of a great "blow" projecting from three to four feet above the surface. The discoverers first formed themselves into a prospecting parly at Coolgardie last February. They are described as ** t'other-siders, enterprising, energetic, laborious." Notwithstanding the almost hopeless look-out from want of water they deoided upon oarrying operations into the interior. Lake Lefroy was selected as the most likely spot to make new discoveries. Like many early pioneers they were unfortunate. They decided upon retracing tbeir steps. Disheartened, dispirited and poverty • stricken they pitched their tent the evening of Bth May, twelve miles from Coolgardie. It was the custom after the camp had been erected to employ the few leisure moments testing the neighborhood. One of the party named Mills was about a mile away when he came upon the " blow " in question. Rubbing his hands over the protruding stone he was astonished, to see the gold standing out in masses. He knocked a large piece from off the boulder, and at his feet lay a mine of wealth — a magnificent specimen of almost pure gold. That settled the question ; his fortune was made, and one of the richest gold-mining claims in the world brought to light. It was altogether an astonishing feat. It was truth stranger than fiction ; real life outwitting romance. A starving digger breaking off a piece of stone with his axe, disclosing a mine of fabulous wealth. The thing reads like an extravaganza of the stage rather than a practical experience. It is characteristic of what life in New Zealand has been brought to, that we find strenuous efforts, made to decry the prospects opened up in this discovery. We are told the hardships are great and the obstacles practically insurmountable, and yet we know tho country has been already tapped — railroad traffic approaching within 100 miles of the actual fiud. Can it be possible that a generation only once removed from the men who rushed Gabriel's Gully, prospected the Molyneux, and explored the Wakatipu, when even the " lay " of the country was unknown, would allow itself to be detorred by considerations like these ? And yet we are afraid it is even so. Under State school auspices and maiden-lady legislation New Zealand is fast developing into a nation of shopkeepers, petty-fogging lawyers and bank clerks — men literally compelled by Aot of Parliament to devote a great portion of the energy God has given them to idleness and slothful recreations. That men nurtured thus shonld be rendered unfit for the sterner duties of life — should be frightened at their own shadow— is just what might be expected. With a territory twelve times that of New Zealand, no one will doubt but that this Provincia Aurifera presents great possibilities.