Mr. BURNETT'S REPORT on the COAL DISTRICTS OF WANGAPEKA AND THE BATON RIVER.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXII, Issue 51, 10 June 1863, Page 3

Mr. BURNETT'S REPORT on the COAL DISTRICTS OF WANGAPEKA AND THE BATON RIVER.

To his Honour the Supkuintendent, Nelson. Silt — In compliance with instructions conveyed to me in a letter from the Provincial Secretary, dated March 11, 1863, I have the honour to inform you that, to carry out these instructions, I was obliged to make two journeys to the Wangapeka, Baton, &c, as the limited time at my disposal on my first visit wa 8 not sufficient to carry out the work. In this report I shall, in the first place, give an account of the route taken in these journeys, without reference to the formation of the country,and then compile all the information I have collected on this point. This will be better than giving a detailed account of the two separate journeys. I started from Nelson on the 17th of March, and proceeded by the Tadmor road to the Wangapeka, making a hasty examination of the country iv the lower part of that river, more particularly the north side of the Baton. I then went up to the Boiling river (a branch of the Wangapeka Boning from the 9outh), and met Mr. Roehfort's road party, but unfortunately he himself was up in the interior, and, from what I heard, I gave up all idea of meeting him at that time, as it would have been quite impossible even to have gone over the ground necessary for making even the most superficial examination of the coal-ileld during the short time I had to stay. I determined to delay the moro distant parts of my journey till I could accompany Mr. Bochfort, and have the advantage of his previous knowledge of the different localities where he had already found coal, and indications of it. Acting on this idea, I merely devoted one day to the examination of the Upper Wangapeka, which I traced up eight or nine miles beyond the Boiling river. Next day I Btarted for the Baton by the road over the hills near the junction of the Wangapeka and the Sherry, which enabled me to make some observations on the formation of the country between these rivers and the Baton Plain. On this occasion I had not time to examine the ridge spoken of by Mr. Rochfort on the more elevated portions of the district, so I confined my observations to the banks of the river and the lower part of the mountains, aud returned to Nelson by the road through Dove Dale, and arrived on the 29th of March. After finishing my plans and reports on the Buller and Mokihinui, I again Btarted on the 16th April to continue the work I had commenced on my last journey. I joined Mr. Bochfort on the Wangapeka plain, and went with him to the source of that river on the saddle, between it and the Karamea (about twenty-six or twenty-seven miles above the plain), thence down the Karamea about one and a-half miles, and up a small branch from the south, about two miles, to the saddle between it and what now turns out to be the Mokihinui, and not tho Lyell, as was at first supposed. This is called Coal Saddle by Mr. Rochfort, as here a seam of good coal is found. As the line was not blazed further than this point, and the part of the country I wished to see was on the proposed road, I joined Mr. Roehfort's party, and assisted him to blaze above on the south side of the saddle towards the Weßt Const, examining the country as we went on. This, although it caused a little delay in the first place, was, I am convinced, the best arrangement, as it enabled me to take advantage of Mr, Roehfort's information over the whole line of country without interrupting the road work. From Coal Saddle the track is taken down the side of the mountain by an easy gradient, for about six miles. It then crosses the river to the left bank, and continues through a very rugged gorge for about three miles to the juuctionof a large stream from the north. Here we ascended a mountain to get a better view of the lower part of the gorge, and to see over the surrounding country ; and it was from this elevated position the discovery was made that the river we were on was not a tributary of the Buller, but most probably the upper part of the Mokihinui. The flat land supposed to be at the junction of the Buller and tbe Inangahua, proved to be au exteneive flat of 5,000 or 6,000 Bcres, through which the Mokihinui flows. And the wide valley joining it from the south in the same direction as th« Inangthus, together with the

very close resemblance between the mountains there and the Paporoha range to thp south of the Buller, completed the deception, which was almost perfect. It was not till we were sufficiently far to the west to get a view up thi3 southern branch, that the mistake could be discovered. From tins mountain Cape Foul wind was quite visible, and we could even see the sen breaking upon the Buller bur, the mouth of the Buller here bearing southwest by pocket compass. The great difficulty of exploring a mountainous country like this part of the Province of Nelson, almost entirely covered with dense bush, is to fix your position, when, after groping your way for days through the bush, you ore fortunate enough to arrive at some place where a view of the country can be obtained. This may be from the base of a mountain, or from tne top of v tree. From such an observatory, in an uncertain position, topographical observations are necessarily vague and unsatisfactory, particularly as the rugged mountains of New Zealand present such different shapes when seen from various points. I may here btate that although there is little hope by the route above mentioned of reaching tho InangaIma valley, nnd thus forming a direct road from Nelson to the Grey country, still a very direct road can bo made this way to tho mouth of the Mokiliinui ; thus connecting that part of tho coal-field, and a considerable extent of flat bu3h land situate on the river, with Nelson. From the moutli of the Mokihinui to tho mouth of the Buller, horses and carts can go along the beach without difficulty. The road for the whole distance would be ea?y, except about seven miles through the gorges above named, and this would require a good deal of rock work to make a bridle track, but certainly there are no difficulties which could not be 6unnounted by a moderate amount of labour, though at present it may bo said to be impassable even for foot passengers, for the bed of the river cannot be travelled, and the sides of the gorge are so steep and rocky as to render walking, or rather scrambling along them, without a path, a matter of great difficulty and some little danger. On my return from tho Upper Wangapeka, and the country beyond it, I again visited the Baton, and this time ascended the spur between Clark's and Skeet's river to the baße of the ranges, south and west of Mount Arthur; and after examining that part, and making a more detuiled survey of the base of the mountains, I started for Nelson on the 27th of May, and arrived on the evening of the 28th, after an absence of sis weeks. Having given a sketch of the route, I will now proceed to describe as far as I can the nature of the country, more particularly the coal-bearing part of it. And here let me observe, that the examination of such a rugged broken country, formed of confused masses of rocks of almost every kind, and the whole surface covered with dense bush, is a task of no ordinary difficulty : to reduce my report thereon to any sort of order is more than I will pretend to attempt. I shall therefore confine myself to a few facts which I fear will do little more than illustrate that difficulty. The Wangapeka, Sherry, and Baton Plains, and the low hills between them, as also the base of the mountains, are composed of a soft tertiary formation, consisting of eandstone, marl, limestone, &c, with coal and shale in various places. At the junction of the Wangapeka and the Sherry, the limestone rocks of this formation are found in cliffs from 100 to 150 feet high, dipping pretty regularly to S.S.W. about thirtyfive degrees. Under these rocks there is a small cave, ! with a stream of water running through it, and in this stream drift broivn coal and shale are found, and, , doubtless, seams might be met with. Towards the ! west, and skirting tho base of the mountains between the Wangapeka and the Baton, tho formation is much more broken and confused. About three miles up from the junction of the Sherry, on a small branch of the Wangapeka, a seam of browa coal, about two feet thick, is found. This dips to east about seventy degrees I went about a mile and a half further up this stream, and found nothing but tertiary rocks in situ, generally very much on edge, though in places they were nearly level for a shoit distance. In this Btream there were large boulders, and also angular masses of crystalline limestone. The hills between tho Wangapeka and the Baton, at the base of the mountains, bo far as I can judge, are entirely tertiary, with here and there a soft decomposed granite. The same formation is not met with in tho Baton river, and its tributaries for Borne considerable distance up. Many seams of coal are found here, but, so far as I have seen, they are all tertiary and generally very much confused and broken. For instance one about six feet thick (coal and shale together) crosses the river near the store. This strikes north-east and south-west, with a dip to south-east of sixty degrees. About fifty yards further down the river there is a seam of from two to three feet thick in the same position, and both up and down seams are found, but generally very much on edge and with every indication of violent convulsion, so that, had the coal at present known at the Baton been of good quality, there would have been very little chance of working it extensively ; but all the samples I have seen are of very inferior quality and much mixed with shale. Tho seam opened by Mr. Clark, though at first sight it looks pretty well, on closer examination is found to contain a very large portion of foreign matter, so intimately mixed with the coal as to render separation impossible ; and though it burns freely, the greater portion remains unconsumed, and the lump comes out of the fire almost in the same shape as it was put in. On ascending the spur between Clark's river and Skeet's river, nothing can be seen of the formation for Bomo distance; but about 1,000 feet above the plain several large grilly rocks are found. These certainly bear some resemblance to the grit so largely deposited on Mount Kochfort and other parts of the Grey coalfield, but whether they belong to tho same series I cannot tell. Certainly they appear different from the tertiary rocks found below. About 500 feet further up shale is found (us stated by Mr. Koch fort), but as the part exposed is very limited in extent, I cannot say much about it. Possibly Mr. Bochfort is correct in supposing that it belongs to the true coal formation, but I cannot express a definite opinion on the subject. This shalo dips to the north about thirty degrees. Further up the spur there is little more to indicate the presence of the coal formation, the rocks being principally slates and Bchista very much on edge. On arriving at the top of the spur, which is quite open, being above the snow lino, I found the rocks, as before mentioned, to consist of slates and schists, with a general strike about north-east, dipping to the south-east from fifty to seventy degrees. In these rocks are peculiar fossil shells, some of which were sent to Nelson by Mr. Kochfort. Although I sought for them as long as daylight would allow me, I found only a few imperfect specimens. The whole of this neighborhood i 3 extremely broken and, bo far as I have Been, there is little indication of any regular and continuous strata ; neither do I think the nature of the district at all encourages the hope that such will be found. Having eaid thus much of the Butou and Lower Wangapeka district, I will now give some account of the higher part of the latter river. For about twenty miles up tho Wangapeka, above the plain, I could see no indication of coal ; a variety of rocks are seen, but they aregenerully very much broken and more or less on edge — seldom or never at a less inclination than forty -five degrees, and often almost perpendicular. Beyond this part, however, there is a marked change. Shale and other rocks belonging to the coal measures are found. Indeed, drift coal, and I think true coal, has been picked up in tbe bed of the river by Mr. Eochfort ; though I wasnot fortunate enough to find any myself. Here there is a very large deposit of shale, literally full of impressions ofleaves and ferns, in a beautilul state of perfection. Mr. Rouhfort has Bent a number of these to Nelson ; and on our return down the river, we both collected as many as wo could carry in addition to our load?, and brought them to Boiling river, to be sent to Nelson by the return drays. There are several beds of very bituminous shale in the immediate neighborhood but I could find no coal. To show how irregular the strata here are, I may state that the dip of the beds containing these fossil leaves is to the west about threedegrees,and,onehundredyardsfurtherdown the river, it is to the north-east forty -five degrees, and a mile and a half further down still it was so nearly perpendicular that I could scarcely determine tbe direction of the dip. A little further up the rircr I

found a good deal of tertiary rock, but for the next seven or eight miles, to the saddle between the Wangapeka and the Karamca, no iiulirntion of coal ; neither did I see nny till near Conl Saddle, about four miles further. Hero I hive no hesitation in saying that there is a formation of true coal, the sams or very similar to that found in such perfection near the mouths of the Rivers Grey, Buller, and Mokihimu. There are similar grits, sandstones, and shale?, and, what is more, a seam of really good coal, the first I have seen since I left Nelson. The following ia a section of the strata, so far as I could measure it : — Grit .... Thickness unknown. Black sandstone . . Oft. 9iu. Coal . . 2ft. Oiu. Coal and shale Ofr. Gin. Coal . . 2ft. Oin. 4ft. 6in. Black sandstone . . Thickness unknown. Dip to S.W. or S.S.W., 45 degrees. The coal burns and cakes freely, gives a very good hpat, and is free from shale or other foreign milter. Several pieces have b:en sent to Nelson, and I have some which will be sent with the return drays. The out-crop of the seam is in a small stream within 100 yards of the top of the saddle. I have no idea of what may be the extent or thickness of the coal-field ; but another half a mile to the east it is cut off by the under-lying formation of slaty rocks, and half a mile ' to the west there is a large deposit of tertiary rocks probably overlying it. On both sides of the saddle coal is found in a great number of places ; indeed, as the path just cut gets a little worn down, you are constantly finding loose coal upon it. In one gully, about 1,000 feet below the saddle, on the Bouth-west side, shale, with impressions of leaves, &c, exactly similar to that found in the Upper Wangapeka, is met with ; and, in the same gully, and within a very short distance, both coal and granite are found. The coal can be Iraced some distance a little below the surface, quite loose, with nothing solid enough to enable me to judge of its position. In the very next gully there is not tho slightest indication of coal, and, in several places on the same hill-side, there is a great quantity of tertiary marl, and places very rich in fossil shells, a number of which I collected, and they will be sent with the other specimens. Coal Saddle is about thirty miles from tho Wangapeka plain, and is 3,200 feet above the level of the sea. The extraordinary way in which the different formations seem huddled together, and the great disturbance which has evidently taken place hero as elsewhere ; together with the circumstance that the whole country is co much broken up into gullies, and the Bides of the gullies so covered with debris from the mountains, and this again with dense vegetation, has I confess defied all my efforts to reduce it to any sort of order. This apparent confusion of the strata may to a certain extent be accounted for by the circumstance that everything is so much on edge, so that a very thick formation may all crop out in a short distance on the surface, though, had it been moderately level, it might have been extended over hundreds of square miles. Of course the rapid rising to the surface iv a coal formation will expose a great number of seams in a short distance. Thia is certainly the case on and near the saddle, though doubtless many of these seams are covered up by debris, composed of coal and other rocks connected with it. This, on being cut through by small streams, exposes loose coal iv large quantities, though in no regular seams. Indeed the quantity of broken coal found on and under the surface is very confusing to the explorer. All that I can feel sure of is that on this saddle, nnd in the immediate neighborhood, there are seauis of good coal, but very much broken and confused, though there is more appearance of regularity here than in most other parts of the district. Still I am not at all sanguine that regular and continuous seams, even with the heavy dip of forty-five degress, will be found here. Looking from the saddle towards the south, you are struck with the very peculiar shape of the Lyell mountains, rising regularly from the S.S.W., at a very uniform angle of thirty degrees, to the height of upwards of 4,000 feet, and then breaking suddenly off towards the N.N.E. in perpendicular cliff* of many hundred feet in height, forming deep ravines, then rising again and falling away in the same manner ; giving the whole a remarkably sharp serrated appearance. The whole upper part of these mountains, several hundred feet in thickness, is composed of regular stratified rocks, dipping the same way as the sur-» face, and apparently without break or confusion, the whole having the appearance of being forced up in a solid mass, till it broke off suddenly at the highest point. These rocks are destitute of vegetation, except enowgrass, &c. ; and though I have not been on the top of the mountains, the close resemblance of the strata to the overlying rocks of the coal formation on tho west side of the saddle, leaves little reason to doubt that there also coal will be found below, and at a rather more convenient angle for working than in the east part of the field. Of course in that locality the coal is only accessible from the West Coast, and as there is such an abundant supply there, in much more convenient position, it is not likely that this part of the field will be required for mauy years. I neglected to Btate that in the river bed at the base of the Lyell mountains, the formation is granite. Should it be thought desirable to explore this coalfield further at present, I would recommend driving a level at the outcrop of the seam on Coal Saddle in such a way as to cut the several beds at right angles to the strike of the strata ; for as the dip is at an angle of forty-five degrees, a horizontal drive would only require to bo the same length as a perpendicular shaft to cut through the same number of stratified beds ; and as it is less expensive to drive than to sink, the drive ia to be preferred. Boring in such broken and irregular Btrata is very unsatisfactory. A section of the strata thua obtained would be very valuable, even supposing that in this position it was of no commercial importance, for it is very useful to have correct sections of a coal-field wherever they can be obtained, and this I think is a favourable position for the purpose. There is also reason to hope that near this saddle the strata may be found a little more level and regular, for on both sides there is certainly a tendency to flatten. After the above remarks, your Honour will not be surprised when I state that I do not anticipate coal can be extensively and cheaply worked in the part of the province treated of in this report ; and this, not on account of the absence of good coal, for, as I have before stated, it exists in large quantities in some parts, and I believe will be found extensively scattered over the mountain ranges between Nelson aim the West Coast. But I think, from the very broken nature of the surface of the country, and the still moro broken and irregular geological formation, there is not much ground to hope that an extensive and continuous field of coal in a workable position will be found here. However, many seams may be discovered in different localities, and I do expect that coal will be found in many parts of these mountain ranges where, till my last journey I had no idea that there was a chance of its existence. Persons not familiar with the practical part of ooal mining, may think that the position of a seam of coal is not of much consequence, provided the quality is good, and the locality convenient. I think it is therefore only reasonable to explain why the position of the seam in the ground is one of the moat important considerations in working coal. The most convenient position fora seam of coal is for it to be as nearly horizontal as will allow water to run freely from it, (say an angle of three to four degrees), for then the wagons for bringing out the coal from the face of the workings oan go in any direction. It will be readily understood that to work, say 100 acres of coal in this position is a comparatively simple operation j but if that 100 acres were set on its edge, instead of lying flat, the work would be much more difficult and expensive. And as a seam deviates from the horizontal, so in proportion will the difficulty increase. It is true that edge seams have been and probably still are worked in some places ; but it is done under great disadvantages, and only to a limited extent, and generally where there are a number of seams near each other, so that several can be worked from the same level. It is also important that the rocks connected with the coal snould be strong and solid. It is also true that most mineral veins, such as copper, lead, &c, aw found in positions more nearly ver-

< lical than horizontal, and yet are worked successfully; but it must be remembered that the difference of value of a ton of copper or lead, and a ton of coal, ia so great, that a Kltlo extra expense in working the one would scarcely be felt, wliereas in the other it might amount to more than the value of the article. Speaking on this subject, I may mentiou that the Kawai coal, in Llie Province of Canterbury, which I examined and reported on about a year and a half ago, i-, so far as I could then see, all on edge, or rather dipping at an angle of from sixty-five to eighty degrees. At that time I wrote to a friend in the north of England (Mr. Lawa, Colliery Viewer to Sir Matthew White Kidley, Bart.), a gentleman of long experienco in coal mining, asking for any information he might have on working edge seams ; and I beg to quote the following paragraph from his letter on the subject : — " I wish I could have given you some useful information regarding the working of such seams of coal as yoj describe. The dip, eighty degrees, seems to me so unnatural a position for a seam of coal, that I should hope you will find as you follow it a gentler dip, which will render it easier to work. lam not aware of any book describing the working of such a seam, and the only coal approaching it which I have seen, was in the Bristol coal-fiolda, and there they seemed to work it by dropping the coal from one gali lery to unother ; the shaft being sunk in tho first place to cut the coal, and the first gallery set away from ita bottom; and then, by working to the rise of the gallery a sufficient distance to set away another from which the- coals were dropped to the first or the loweht, to be taken to the shaft ; and so on, one gallery or drift above the other. And after a certain portion of coal is worked in this way, another portion is obtained by sinking the shaft lower, and drifting out to cut the coal again, which, of course, can be repeated as often as found practicable. Should I find anything written on the subject, you shall have it ; but at present Ido not recollect to have seen the working of such a seam referred to. I fear you will find a difficulty in working so as to obtain any quantity ; but where coal is scarce, it is valuable, and a price to cover some extra expenses will, no doubt, be paid for it." The very circumstunce which makes ooal mining so difficult in this part of the province makes it very hopeful that other minerals will be found. If so the coal may prove most valuable, as all smelting, <fee., might be carried on at the rivers. For though I fear that extensive coal workings cannot be carried on in this district, there is nothing to prevent it being done on a small scale, where the value of the article will pay for the expenso of the working, and a large quantity is not required in any other place. It is quite possible also that in some localities a good deal might be quarried, where the dip of the strata happens to coincide pretty nearly with the slope of the hill sides. I am sorry that, after spending so much time, my knowledge of the coal-field should still be so vague and limited, but without actual mining it is impossible, to get more than a very superficial acquaintance with even the most regular districts. To sum up the result of my observations in a few words I may state that, though good coal is found in various parts of the districts, so far as I have seen there is no place where I could say, with any sort of confidence, if such and such work was done, so many thousand tons of coal could bo obtained, or a regular field of so many acres could be relied on as containing workable coal. Ido not say that such places do not exist but that I have not found any, and the nature of the country does not encourage me to expect that they will be found. But I may be mistaken ; it is merely my opinion reasoning from the facts I hare endeavoured to lay before you. Before closing this report I must acknowledge my obligation to Mr. Eochfort, who was my companion during the greater part of last journey. ll is assistance and information were of the greatest service, as he had previously explored the district, and knew so many places where coal and indications of coal had been previously found, to all of which he kindly accompanied me. As the discoverer and first explorer of this coal-field,, the Province is much indebted to him. I have, &c., James Bubnitt. Nelson, June 5, 1863.