Untitled

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXVII, Issue 28, 5 March 1868, Page 1 (Supplement)

NARRATIVE OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE SOUTH-WEST GOLD-FIELDS.

BY REUBEN WAITE.

As it may perhaps be interesting to the public to known something of the early history of the SouthWest Gold-Holds, I have drawn up the following account of the events which led to their discovery and development. In the early part of Juno, 1861, eomo Maoris who had come overland from the Buller to Collingwood, Massacre Bay, on a visit to their relatives who resided there, brought with them a small parcel of gold, which they said they had obtained about twenty miles up the Buller River. When this gold, which was a splendid sample, was shewn to me, 1 immediately conceived the idea of going on a prospecting expedition to " that outlandish country," as it was termed by tho Nelson people. Accordingly, I, together with eomo others who were favourable to the project, called a meeting of the diggers to lay the plan before them. I received a great many promises, and made sure that we should get a good meeting, but when the day came I was surprised to find that only one — Mr. Sanders Rogers — attended. My plan was tha there should bo a part? of not less than twelve, who should each pay £20 towards chartering a small vessel and purchasing provisions sufficient to last for threo months, and longer, if necessary. Finding, howovor, that only Rogers attended the meeting, and having great confidence in tho undertaking, I resolved to take the whole upon myself, and with this view Rogers went across to Nelson, and chartered the ketch Jane, Jacobson, master, for the sum of £50 (the Jane had only just been turned off the stocks), this was her maiden trip. Tho people of Nelson laughed at our undertaking, saying that I and my companions were some madmen from Victoria ; tho consequence was that we only got one passenger from Nelson, and I believe he was some way connected with tho Government, but we got fourteen from Collingwood. Wo arrived off the Buller in two days. When wo entored at high water, we found three and a-half fathoms on the bar. Wo had not long been thoro before I sold all my goods for gold to the Maoris ; it appeared that a lot of the Collingwood natives, knowing that I waß going to take round provisions, started overland with two white men, and were thero when wo arrived with the vessel. Before starting back to Nelson, I and Mr. Frederick Berry, of Collingwood, with the mate of the Jane, John Duncan, tried to get up the river with the Jane's boat, but tho frosh was too heavy to get very far on the first day j I shall always remember the first day's. journoy. It came on to rain hard and the river, already swollon, began to rise considerably, so that we had to keep on until we got to what we thought was a place of safety. By this time it was quite dark, and the bushes being wet and very thick with supple-jacks and lawyers, we could not get far into the thicket, and so we had to make the best of a bad bargain. Wo Btood upright nil this cold Juno night with our blankets wringing wet, over our shoulders, our clothes in the same condition. We had no fire, the rain was pouring down incessantly, and the water was- 1 up to our ancles; we had to keep dabbling our feet about all night to keep the blood in circulation. Then we took to singing, and I remember giving them a song called " The Gipsy Tent," when my tall friend, under whose lee I had got for shelter, said what a pretty song that would be under different circumstances. Then we began to talk of something nice, such a3 nice sucking pigs — nice things for hungry and cold beings — whon ftt last daylight appeared, and a welcome sight it was for us. For four days we struggled on towards the place whore the gold had been got by the Maoris, but we could only make but poor headway, and being in the water all day and in wet blankets at night, we gave up after camping two or threo days on the banks of tho river to wait for its falling. To show the strength of the current, 1 will mention that on the return journey we were only two hours accomplishing what it took four days to ascend. Shooting the falls astonished our nerves n bit, and almost mado our hair stand upright; noithor I nor my companions had ever been over any like them before, but I have taken them scores of times sinco without any fear. When wo arrived at the port Mr. Roger 3 told me that some Maoris had been up the River Waimangaroa, where they had lound gold, and that they had brought down a small nugget. We could not at that time etop to get any further intelligence, as our provisions were nearly out, and I was anxious to got back to Nelson for a fresh supply. We made an arrangement, however, with Mr. .Rogers to showUS ft whitu cloth if tlio Maoris brought any good nows while our vessel was still in sight, which he did do. To our misfortune wo were sixteen days going up to Nelson : the littlo vessel stood the buffeting of the waves first-rate, though never since I have travelled to tho West Coast hnvo I been at sea in such weather as wo had that trip up to Nelson. For several duya we were hovc-fo, und our craft drifted down to nearly off tho Grey River. One night wo were so close on rocks that we could almost touch them. If we had gone on them at that timo nothing could have saved us, and there would have been, I am thinking, no more gold hunting fe;' somo time on tho River Buller. By the cool management, however, of the two men, Jacobson and Duncan, we suocoeded in steering clear of tho rocks. There was no one on tho coast then ; and, oven though wo had been saved, tho men left at the Buller must have starved, as thero was no overland road as there is now. At longth wo arrived in Nelson, and it was not long boforo tho Buller gold-field was all tho talk ; and when tho gold I had brought up was put in the window of Mr Drew, the jeweller, there were plenty of peoplo who thought it worth their attention. Nothing was then said of tho " madman from Victoria ;" they were all very anxious to havo some conversation with " tho madman," ns they chose to call mo This was tho beginning of tho West Coast gold-Holds, though, in consequence of the Otago goldJlolds having, just broken out, a considerable time wont by boforo thoro wosjany great stir mado iv the matter. In tho month of January, 18G2, the steamer Tasnuuiiun Maid, Captain Whitwell, came from Otago with a great number of diggers from that province. Tho Tasmanian Maid was tho first steumer on the coast, but she did not continue running. Then gold was obtained inoro abundantly from tho Waimangaroa, and from tho first diggings up tho river. Very often thero were scarcely any provisions to bo had on tho diggings, as only one vessel, the Gipsy, was at this time trading there, and she would sometimes be six weeks away, and wo could get no other vessel to trm\e, sxieh n ilraul hail thoy of tho dangerous coast. On one trip the Gipsy was away actually thirteen works! I happened to be on board of her on that occasion ; and wo were six weeks at sea on the return voyage from Nelson. Wo entered every harbour in Blind Bay— Port Hardy three times, aud West Wanganui twice. While we wero at the last-named place, William Hunter, and some Maoris, who hud travelled overland by the coast, came on bonrd just as wo were about putting to sea again, and right glad they were to ccc U9. They wero the bearers of the news to tho Superintendent that wo wero supposed to be lost, and of a request that ho would send some provisions down, as all the people at tho Buller were Btarving. ilow wo wished for a fair wind then ; I slept neither night nor day, and when we came on" Hocks Point rt sou-wester met us again, and when off tho Karamea, or between that river and the Mokihinui, wo wero becalmed two days. These wero trying times when the vessel full of provisions was in sight of tho two or three hundred diggers almost starving, and yet could not get

> in. At length, a light breeze brought us off the Buller, aud we could plainly hear their shouts of " Welcome " on shore. A south-east wind is a head wind to go into the Buller, but our captain (Captain M'Cann) launched his little dingy on the bar, to carry out the kodge. After we had got as close as we could, we hove manfully on the windlass, and worked her over the bar amidst the clamour and cheers of the hungry diggers, who were watching us. While we were still in the roll of the sea, canoes came alongside ; oil' went the hatches, and out went the flour and other provisions. A line was taken ashore, and lota of eager hands were ready to pull. There had been a whaleboat there, belonging to the Maoris, but she had been started off to Nelson by sea, and a letter forwarded by Mrs. Waite to the Superintendent, praying him to send a steamer at once. The whaleboat readied Nelson without seeing us, which caused some excitement in the town. When I got ashore, I found the baker already making dampers in his oven, for when he saw the vessel so close, ho lit his fire, for baking. Mrs. Waite had oll'ered a pound to the first man who brought the news that the vessel was in sight. There were eight claimants for the pound, so they got a pound of pototoes each, which was as good to them as a pound note. For a long time there had been nothing but potatoes left, and oi those there was a scarcity. Money oi 1 no money, one man got no more than another, and that was only about a pound a day. The diggers had (scattered themselves along the coast with the Maoris, getting mussels and other native food. The Maoris deserve great praiso for the help the} gave by bringing in lots oi eels, nikau, pipis, &c, which they gave away freely to the pukuhus. As soon as the natives along the coast saw tho vessel, they all mude their wa} to the port. All my poultry had been killed, and the pigs, goals, and Boiue cows. Some three cows were spared, because there were three white women and children on the Buller, and these three cows were left on account of the milk they were giving. There was a lot of damaged Qour which liail turned quite yellow and musty : that was intended for the pigs; but it all went for bread, siuh was the stale the Buller was in in October and November, 1562. Soon after the above events, a Maori, named Simon, discovered the Lyell Creek, which, while it lasted, was a very rich diggings, and turned out some ol the finest nuggets in New Zuiland. Tin ie is a large manuka flat on the right bank of the Lyell, and I believe that if this was properly tried— which it never has been up to this time — it would turn out a good gold-field. I have had many opportunities of seeing it, Inning been across it several times, and I am of opinion that the gold found m the Lyall has come from thin ilat. It is a made terrace, with gravel a little below the tup soil, similar to YVaito's Pukihis, and is of considerable extent. I may mention that just about this time a great many men came o\erland from Canterbury, by wa} of the Grey: these poor Icllowm were in such an emaciated slate that iht'j weiv eiarcily able to crawl, and it was pitiable to see them. Several were left behind to starve, us tho\ iglUI not walk any farther, while their mates just managed to get through to the Buller and report it. I sent several parlies out to fetch in those who had been left behind. Amongst them was ilannnell, the survivor of Howitt's party, which was lo>t on lhe Lakes while exploring The poor fellow bad gone into the bush, as he said, to lie down and die, for he could not walk, lie had a dog with him, which would bring him a wood-hen now aud thin, and he had to eat it raw. lie stated that he hud been living on the raw glutinous stuff he culled beche-de-mev for several days. The first party 1 scut out did not find him, after being away four days, but they no sooner came back than 1 despatched another party of four men, with instructions how to act if they found him alive. These last four men took wilh them a gun, powder and shot, and provisions for a week, with oatmeal, brandy, &c. ; and they followed up my instructions to fire the gun at intervals of a quarter of an hour. By this means they found the poor fellow, who, hearing the report of a gun, crawled out of the biu-h within sight of the party. After resting for a time, and giving him souie refreshment, they managed to bring him back to the Buller. 1 then paid his passage to Nelson, and gave him a letter to the Superintendent, who forwarded him on to Canterbury. For this the munificent Canterbury Government, thinking, I suppose, that I was hard up, sent £5 to the Superintendent of Nuhoii for me. One poor fellow 1 sent for was found sitting on a musselbed eating raw mussels ; he considered he was in clover, for he had had nothing to eat for several days. Another who was travelling the same road, when all his provisions were gone, consoled himself by reading a cookery-book which he had with him. I almost despaired of one man, who was so weak when they brought him in to the Buller that 1 did not think he would recover; but, by a little care, we brought him round, and, to this day, he is thankful to me for the attention shown to him, which is worth more than the above £5. Eurly in the year ltiO'3, a lo* of Maoris came to the Buller overland from the Grey. 1 suy "overland," although their style ol travelling from the one to the other was really tint they would go up the Grey or Mawhera in a canoe as far us the Little Grey or Mawliera-i<i, and up (hat river to the head. There they would haul up the canoe out of the way of the 'l'eshets and walk over the saddle; and on the other side they had another canoe whie.h they always kept there; thence they went down the Lnangahua into the BulSer, ami down the Buller to its mouth. These Maoris had with them some very nice pieces of gold which they said they had got in the Grey district, so, after 1 had tried to get parties to go prospecting in the Buller district by suppling them with provisions, 1 made up m> mind to Ip, the Grey district. I wrote a letter to the Superintendent of the Canterbury province, asking what bonus they would give for the discovery of a payable goldfield on the western or Grey district of that province. Four months afterwards, or thereabout, I received an answer that the Government was not prepared to give any bonus tor that district, as it would bo ol no benefit to Christchurch. However, before 1 had received the answer back from Christchurch, I had made arrangements with the captain of the cutter Dunnes to go down from Nelson with a cargo of goO'is; while he was getting his vessel ready for the trip the llavelock diggings opened out, and as he got plenty of work for the vessel there without so much risk, ho kept her in thai trade. We were thus without a vessel for tho Buller, and consequently I had to go overland to Nelson, carrying with me a heavy parcel of gold. While 1 was in Nelson, preparing for the voyage to the Grey, v letter was brought to me by a Maori chief, mimed Tninati Ptrimona, from the Grey, stating that they were anxiously looking for my vessel. I also received one from Mr. J. Rochfort, to the same effect, but giving me poor encouragement about the gold. As, however, the Maoris were sanguine, 1 determined to try my luck. Two men started from the Buller to tho Grey when they found I was likely to send a vessel down there, and these men pretended they had discovered the gold ; another man named Hunt pretended that he was the discoverer. When I arrived at the Grey, I found i these fellows loafing amongst the Maoris. It was not these men who found the gold at all, but the Maoris; yet the former had the impudence to ask the Government of Canterbury for a bonus ; in fuel, I believe Hunt did get a bonus. As I have before stated, the Maoris had gold in their posses-

e sion which they had found at Teremakau long bcfori s Hunt was at tho Grey. But I am going out of tin i straight truck, so I will return to the chartering o i- the Thames. a Captain Games "was in Nelson when I arrivec t there from the Bnllor, and I was about to charte: - him for the trip, but speaking to two or three aboui r going down with me, the news soon got spread, am - there being a great many diggers in Nelson at th( , timo they wanted to go with me. The steamer If el' i son had just then arrived from England, and Ilu a croakers were about to wind up the Nelson ami b Marlborough Steam Nnvisjation Company, and woulc i, have done so had it not been that 1 oll'ered to tuk( I her. Well, the company took her on, but woulc i. not charter her unless I would guarantee forty pas i sengers at £3 per head. When I went with tin i money for more, than forty I was told thai i all over forty must pny £-h each ; but, with perseverance, 1 managed to get them for £3. Perhaps it i will be said, (hit. has nothing lo do with the opening ) of the gold-field, but 1 have written it to show you . through what penny-w ise and pound-foolish ways > Nelson has been brought to what it is, instead oi . being, what it ought to be, the grand emporium for ' the West Coast. » Well, we stnrted in the good steamship Nelson, I from Nelson, in the middle of July, 1861, wilh a ) cargo of provisions and every requisite for the dig- ' gings, F>om my long experience on gold-fields i t. knew exactly what was wanted; the diggers took ) no tools (as it was only a prospecting trip), or proi visions from Nelson, and were satisfied with niy ; prices for all that was- wanted. I may state, by-lhe-way, that things are higher in price at the present day on the coast than when I wen) first. The Government of Nelson, finding I was going to the Grey, i gave me a contract lo procure for them forty tons of coal as a sample from the Grey Coal Mine; so 1 culled into the Buller, and got two canoes and five M (ion's for that purpose. We had a vn'y good run down, which was foiUmtite, as then 1 wiis not bleeping room for all hands, about seventy being on board, some ol whom were compelled lo lie on the cargo, to my loss — for they "walked" into my bottled ale rather heavily. On arriving at the Grey, we entered it in first-rate style, and steamed up to the landing opposite to what is now called Mawhera-quay. Here we landed the goods, which were of course left exposed on the i bench, and all hands staituloli' on a prospecting spec. My Maori* set cheerfully to work, and, with plenty of help, 1 soon immi<j»cd to get up v temporary <ow. In the meantime, ihe goods were going out as fast as I could possibh sell them, ay, before 1 could get them out of tli. 1 \essel the} were jumping down the hod for tin m. At the Maori pah I here were none hut women, and when they saw the steamer IW} couui not lell what to make of it; it was the first stunner that was ever in the Grey. The Maori n.cn had nil gene to get gold, which made the white mm all the more anxious to go, and before long 1 wa> left almost alone, all the diggers having gone to I lie Teremakau Kiver, where the Mauris were dicing, and wilh lhe exception of my slotemnn mid Mr, Bully, who cume down wilh me lo get the cof.lt-, there was no other while man left at the Grey. About a w(ck after I had been at the Grey some Mauri's came dowi from the diggings, nnd brought with them a suinplu oi' nbout fifty oi.m-es of I lie lineal gold 1 hud ever s en. 1 was pleased to s-ec it, and purchased it of them. Ihe«e natives told me that the whole of the men that went up were coming down with the intention of killing me, and soon alterwards two white men en me down and advised me to get out of the way, as the. whole parly i were close at luuid, aud were coming down to vansack my store and hang me I stood my ground, howiver, and the Maoris promised to help me if I was inlerferod wilh. Next day the whole crowd cime down, and camped near the store, so that 1 could hear some, as ihcy pur-sul lhe More, cursing and swearing at me, while others said nothing. There was one Dutchman there who had most to say, and who stole a case of gin from my store at night. This same Dutchman came inlo the store and said 1 was n anted oulside. 1 h«d neither arms nor ammunition of any kind, for up to that time they were not warned on (he West Const. I went to the lire, a large one, which b\-the-by was being fed by coals that had been brought down the river I for the Nelson Government. There were a great many men round the lire vailing for me, and when I made my appearance, Uu-y beasm to usk questions of mo. I may as well slate here that all the Maoris, men and wonvn, were then close by, and ready to gi\e me any assistance. There is no need to tell what they were armed with, but (here would have been some blood shed that night, had the diggers inieifered wilh me, as some of the parties had taken the potatoes our. ot the Muori pile at Turcmukuu. The fir.-t question put to me, was by the aforesaid Dutchman, " Veil, vat did you corse dis ru.-h vor ?" I answered I did not cause the rush, and that I was in Nelson to get it small vessel to bring me to the Grey ; that I luid culled them all together in Nelson ami told them that 1 was only going prospecting, and not for thorn to be led to believe that they were going to a gold-field ; but that, according to the letters I had received, there was gold in the country, which 1 still believed, and that a proper trial would prove it. The next question put to me was by a Cockney ; T am sure he was, for he so murdered the letter]!: " Yell, Mr. Vaite, ow wud you like to cum ere without money, an avo lo starve as ye aye to do ?" My answer was, that I did not a-k him to come ; he pleased himself. " Veil, Mr. Yaite, you seems to treat this ere matter werry lightly, but hi think* hits no joke to come down ere and spend hall vun's nuiny, and not to git eny gold." The aforesaid Dutchman (hen spoke up again, and said : " Veil, poys, ye vill tak vat ye vnnts vrom Vate's More, -and ye vill hang him aftervards." Just at thai moment, an Irishman whispered in mj ear the words, " Cheer up, my boy, don't be frightened ; you have more friends thai enemies in this crowd." Wilh that, I felt that 1 was safe, but just at that moment a man who had come down to hear what was going on, one of Mr. J Eochfort'h men, fell down in a fit close to my feet, and that put an end to the meeting. But 1 was 6.1 ill annoyed by Ihe discontented, and the most of them brought back what provisions they had, with tin ii" picks and shovels, tin dishes, &c, and I gave them their full value for them. One man, an Irishman, annulled me one night and tore my coat, and had it not been for two of his countrymen, who were friendly to me, I have no doubt I sliould have had everything smashed in the store. The two men referred lo took him away and gave him a good drubbing. I shall ever feel thankful to the person called Peter (now in Nelson), who happened to be in the store at the time. A fellow had a bottle in his hand about half full of Old Tom, ready to strike me a blow on the back of the head; Peter stayed his hand by grasping the bottle, or perhaps I should not have been here to write this account. The men who came down and were engaged in this business were now only waiting for a steamer to take them away, but while they were waiting two parties, with more patience than the rest, had penetrated a li trie farther up the country and had found out a track which led them to the Greenstone Creek, iiere let me add, that shortly after Greenstone Creek had been discovered by the white man, I was told that the Maoris, hearing that a large party of diggers had arrived in a steamer, had slopped up the truck to the Greenstone and came down to the Teremakau, and began to work where they could not earn their salt, for the sole purpose of leading the

c new chums astray. Thus it was that the new are rivals went wrong ; I cannot say if this is true, but f it was told me by a half-caste, and it seems probable enough. As I have before stated, the two parties I penetrated further into the country and discovered r the track, and seeing the fresh prints of men's feet t. they kept on unlil they came to the Greenstone; .1 and I will now give their own words for it. They s came into the sfore, and one of them (Michael Spil- - lan) asked me when I was going to get my bullocks :» and dray down. I told him I was sorry to say they 1 would be down next steamer. "You ought to be I glad," he. said, " look here, my boy, 1 have got this ? in a day wilh a dish off the bottom of a paddock six 1 feet deep and seven feet square." They had 7 ozs - ] 2 dwts. The other party had 3 ozs. of the same i kind of gold, and the same as that which I had purt chased of the Maoris. The parties who were wait- - ing for the steamer came in, and seeing the gold t could scarcely believe their eyes ; but when I showed \ them the 50 ozs. I had bought of the Maoris, they i wanted to known why I had not shown them that i before. My answer was that they would not have f believed me had 1 shown it them. Then came a ■ general rush for stores again, and those who had been among the giumblcrs 1 charged extra price, as , they hud compelled me to take back (heir stores and , tools. From that time commenced the great rush, which up to the present date hai brought out of the earth forty tons of gold, nnd for winch I wns to be hanged, because those first arrivals chose lo call the expedition a duffer rush. After this the gold begnn to come down pretty freely, and all were satisfied ; in fact, I believe th.it Ihe greenstone was as good as any diggings on the coast afterwards found. 1 have seen many of the crowd since who were in that circle to hang me, but I have not seen the Dutchman. Perhaps he did not forget the case of gin, and so kept out of the way. But tho worst had to come, for, in consequence of the disagreement I have narrated about tho rush, I had ordered no more goods to be sent j down By the second arrival of the steamer she i brought mo; c passengers and no provisions, so thai we ran short of them, and 1 had to curtail a great many, and especially those who had been so hard on me. These 1 put upon half rations until the steamer | came in again. -When sho came she brought my bullocks and dray, nnd with two horses and a mule I had purchased of Mr. Dobson, C.15. (who had ju&t completed the survey of the Coasl), I sent goods lo the mouth of the Teremakim, and up that -treum lo its junction with the Uoliona by canoe about nine miles 1 , where it was carried by the diggers (until some »nore puck-horses came) to the j Greenstone Creek. I blurted a store at thellohoua's mouth. The next digging? were ngnin found by the Maoris I — ever re-llets, llrm seemed to be pioud oi' being i the first lo find the gold. This was the Tolara ■ Cnek, about twelve miles south of Ifokitika, and j was very rich. My bullocks, dray, and horses 'crossed to llokitika (loi'g before there was a hou«e iin llokilika) to take gooiU lo tho Totura. The only shelter that was there, was a small lent or store {belonging lo Mcsms. Price und Hudson, who got their supplies from meat the Gre}, and the ferry-hom-e, which con-istcd of brushwood and beach timber. The fern -boat was formed from a large tree dug oul all in one piece. 1 had al&o a wliale- { boat", which I purchased from Mr. I)o!>.-i/:i, who had lit built 'o cioss iheac rivers with. For crossing in this primitive affair at llokitika (he ui'idest sum of 2s. 6d. n head was demanded, and 4s. each horse; at Terciimkau, 2s-. 6d. each person and ss. eacii horse, s The next, diggings discovered were those called j the Throe-mile, the spot being about that distance i: from Teremakau ; and the next were tho Six-mile, t so named I'or lhe same reason. Tin's has been one c of the best aud most lasting disrgings on the Wesl i Coast, and is now known as tho Waimea. There h was a lull for some time, and things began to look i slack, but I think it was owing to Ihe sudden influx c of diggers. I ptarled a party up the Tercmaknu to ' tr} the Taipo, or Devil's River, and T really believe, i .had they perseven d there, they would have found r some goo'l gold, a 1 * ilic gold they did get was coarse $ and rough. The iioltilika .River had been trie! and ( given up by the Maoris and some men that had \ been in the employ of Mr. Dobson. But the Maoris t had no idea of fine gold working. They did not i understand working with quicksilver or plush, as a t proof of which I recollect one time on the Buller I 1 gave some provisions to n party of Maoris to go f south, towards what is now called Charleston, to \ prospect. After being away some time they came t back saying there was fine gold everywhere, but no ( heavy gold. They have learned belter since. I About the month of November, ISGI-, Caplain I Leach, of Ihe steamer Nelson, went from the Grey i overland to look at the Hnkitika bar, nnd he pro- j nouuecd it a fit bar to tako. On reporting this to t the owners in Nelson, they agreed to let tho Nelson J go to llokitika on her next trip. I was, up to thi-> t | lime, the only person who had goods coining in the 1 Nelson in any quantity, and from my having been r the first to start her, tho owners were pleased to t grant me a free passage. Jiut they were on their ] feet again now, and I got notice that my free passage ] was to be discontinued this trip; consequently, I v took the Wallaby on her first trip to llokitika; and p although the whole, or nearly the whole, of the cargo ] in her belonged to me, the generous firm she be- i longed to would not give me a free passage. I write this merely to show the generosity of some of the f Nelson people who had been benefited by the West t Coast. f Arrived at Hokitikn, the goods were landed as at p the Grey. 1 had to put up a temporary store for t my goods, which were placed on the beach anyhow, ] on a point close to the sea. The consequence was f that, a storm coming on, my store was blown clown, ( and a heavy fresh being in the river, and the wind a from lhe N.W. beating against the fresh, the point. t of land on which were all my goods was carried f away, by which I sustained damage to the extent of t £1,000. Messrs. Langford and Fruser shared a like t fale. This is another of the evils of a storekeeper's f life on the gold-fields. ) I had the wreck of my store boated over to the c other, or north side, where the Town of llokitika ( now stands, and again the place 1 put up my store ( on, although two chains from Ihe water's edge, was ( washed away. Disheartened with the losses 1 had | sustained, I sent what was remaining away, aud | went back to the Grey. A billiard room I had put ] up at llokilika had to be shifted on account of the ( bank washing away, and it was fixed where now stands the fine hotel called the Criterion, belonging to Edwards and Mather. This table was the first on the coast. Where the Town of llokitika now is was then one vast pile of drift-wood, so thick that il was impossible to thread your way through it. Messrs. Price and Hudson had cut a track through it to get to their store. I remember one night coming from the Totara ; Mr. Walmsley, Mr. Revell, and myself came up to the above store (Price and Hudson's), and finding we could not get anything to eat for ourselves or horses, we started about eleven o'clock at night for the Grey, a distance of twentyfive miles. There were no ferries or bridges as now, and crossing every river on our horses, arrived at the Grey about four in the morning. We had three dangerous rivers to cross, the Teremakau being the worst. I write this to shew what risks the pioneers of a gold-field have to go through, and I may slate that I have frequently been detained on the bank of a river for a day or two, without food or blankets, on account of a fresh. In the month of January, 1805, 1 supplied a party with provisions to prospect up the Grey River, the

party consisting of white men and Moons ; amongst them there was one well known on the Collingwood gold-fields, named G-eorge Cundy. After an absence of about two months, they came down with a very fair prospect of heavy gold, consisting of several good-sized pieces of gold got from a creek which they named' Maori Creek, and one nugget weighing Blake's store near (lie lagoon. But the news of the nugget soon got spread, and the people began to come in fnst from the other diggings. There was no conveyance up the Grey except by the Maori canoes and Batty's coal '„ boats. Gradually, however, we got up a small fleet of boats, which were kept plying to and fro between (he Nelson and Canterbury sides of the river, and a good deal of monry they made, charging Is 6d. each, and sometimes taking a dozen in about a quarter of an hour. The Maoris, who had hitherto been averse to persons building on their land, now began \o see the value ofletting it. When I first 1 went to <he Grey, they let me an acre of ground on condition that I would let no one else build on it, as they would not allow another store to be put up there, although repeated offers were made to them. But when the groat rubh came they asked me first if I hey should let it, and I told them to do so by all means, as it would bring them in money ; then of course I bad the chance of letting mine. One day there was a perfect rush for Maori ground, and any amount of speculation in it. Some people have done a good thing with it. From this time we may say that the Grey district, formerly pronounced useless, has proved to be a fi rat- class gold-field. This is an example of a good diggings being left for a long time unworked through the inexperience of men who pretend to go prospecting. Several parties, a 9 I before observed, had been up this river for what they chose to call prospecting, and this is a proof of how much faith is to be placed in the opinions and experience of those sort of people, many of whom call themselves practical diggers. There are others, ugain, who, as t«oon as they hear of gold being found, are olf to the spot directly, and it the gold-field should not tun out any good, are (he first to create a disturbance for thp'sole purpose of robbery. The towns on the West, Coast are crowded with these ruffians, though" luckily they are getting to be pretty well known now in spite of ilieir shipping about from place to place. In the early part of this rush up the Grey, there was no town on the Kelson side of the river, nor any police. 1 recollect one day a constable belonging to the Canterbury force comin» down the coast from Hokitika after a man who it appeared had been duping all the storekeepers between Hokitika and the Grey, by giving them cheques mid receiving the balance. He represented himself as being a wholesale storekeeper, having two places of business in Hokitika, and pretended to be soliciting orders. By these means he would get his food and lodgings, and give a cheque. He tried to impose upon me, but I was too well ac quaintod with Hokitika: I could not tell where his firm's place of business was situated, so that, I had him cut and dried. This fellow had crossed the river on to the Nelson side, and when the constable was told (l)v me) that he had crossed over the river, he s-aid, "Oh, I must not go out of my province;" so (lie fellow got away, otherwise lie might easily have been caught. I saw by this it would be an easy matter for a man to rob'me and go over to the Nelson side and grin at me, so I made it my bu-iness to inform the Superintendent of Nelson of the circumstance. The Superintendent promptly sent down constables, with Mr. Blackett as Commissioner ; this, I believe was the cause of the town of Cobden being laid out. What the gold digsrinjrs in that district have been almost everyone in the province knows. The town of Greymouth sprang up as if by magic — faster even than Hokitika. A short time ago I was at the Grey, walking along one of the back streets, a man accosted me thus, " Can you tell me which is such a street " (mentioning tlie niunp of a street, which I do not now remember). I told him 1 did not know. " Ah," s-iid he, " 1 see you are a strangpr here like myself" Gupss his surprise when I told him I was the first white resident there. It is needless to add anything more about the scores of different creeks, rivers, and terraces that have been discovered since the opening of these gold-fields, they are of course lending one to the other. I always had a great liking for the Bnllor, and I always felt satisfied that it would be the finest port and the healthiest place on thp cna«t. So strongly did I cling to this opinion, that 1 once oiiorod my right to the acre which the Maoris had let me, and the store on the Grey, to Mr. Batty, for £100. This was just before the great rush ; a 'month afterwards it was worth a thousand pounds ; so that, it will readily be believed I did not deeply regret that Mr. Batty declined my ofl'er. Still I had a hankering for the Buller, and hearing that a mob of men were there, and that they were killing my cattle, T paid £20 for the Wallaby to land me in there. At that time no steamers went into the Duller unless they were paid in this way. I have repeatedly written about the Buller and Cape Foul wind as a shelter from S.W. winds, but no notice was taken of it. I have known several vessels go to Nelson or into Blind Bay for shelter, from Hokitika, when they might have got quite as good under Cape Foulwind or in the Buller. That the Buller will be the largest and finest district in the province, T feel satisfied. It will take time to dcvelope it, it is true, but this is rather an advantage, as no good ever came of a sudden rush ; and it is not always those who go first into a place that do the best, especially when the rush is great. Business gets in a confused state, and, with sending goods here, there, and everywhere, the storekeeper finds at last that the diggers have given him the slip, and he inny look long for his money. There is a certain class of men on the diggings who call themselves merchants, who put as many airs on as though they were the greatest merchants possible— in fact, they need to do this to make themselves somebody, and to keep the ball rolling. These are the men who have done more injury to the diggings than any other class. They start with nothing but a good suit of clothes on their back, which, by-the-by, is usually obtained at the expense of some tailor in the place they last left. They make a start on credit, and, if they succeed, well and good, but if not, why, when their hat is on, their castle is roofed — nothing from nothing, nothing remains. But when a place is quietly settled, it steadily improves itself, and such L think the Buller will now be. It has great natural resources, such as no other part of the province possesses ; it has a good harbour, and, close at hand, stands a vast mountain of the finest coal in the world ; there are thousands of acres of country yet unexplored for gold and other minerals; there is a large tract of good land along the coast running either towards Cape Foulwind, or north towards Mokihinui; and both sides of the Buller River, as far as the gorge, are capable of growing anything. I have seen lots of wheat that was grown by Maoris when I first came to the coast, and the primitive style of sowing and harrowing there was not ploughing or digging ; the seed was merely thrown down, and a large bush harrow, drawn by four or five Maoris, with two women riding on the brush to keep it down, was all the cultivation thought of. This was at the Grey. At some of the old cam ping-grounds up the Buller I have seen both oats, and wheat, and vetches that have been shaken from a potatoe bag or something else, self sown, growing as finely as if they had been on cultivated soil. When the diggers on the old diggings up the river had settled themselves down, they dug a piece

of ground, and planted cabbage and other vegetables, and brought down some to the Buller ; indeed I have seen some fine large cabbages at the Buller free from blight when there was scarcely a cabbage 22 ozs. 12 dwts. Now several parties had been up the Grey previously, but had not succeeded in getting anything like a payable prospect. These men who brought down this heavy gold I had confidence in ; they were men whom I had known for years, and I felt satisfied that if there was any gold to be found, they would not leave a stone unturned but they would find it. The Grey district was then very quiet, .there being only my store at the lauding, and to be got in Nelson. Again, at the junction of the lnangahua w r ith the Buller, about thirty miles up on both sides the Buller, there are somo fine fern flats, and what will be some day in that locality a payable gold-field, when provisions find their level. I have often wondered that men having families have not been up there, for there is digging close by that would keep the pot boiling, and some of the finest soil in the Province of Nelson, with nothing but fern and flax to clear, which could be done with a lighted match, and there iB plenty of feed for cattle or pigs. In the immediate neighbourhood is plenty of white pine, rimu, and birch. The Maoris who used to carry the goods to the Lyell had a patch of potatoes just here, and, instead of carrying them in their canoes, used to stay and get some as they wanted them. As before stated, I came to the Buller in the Wallaby for the purpose of putting a stop to the slaughter of my cattle. I took up my old residence at Westport, and had not been long there when the rush to Mokihinui started, and a vessel of mine went in there with a cargo of goods, which she delivered, but in coming out was wrecked on the North Shore. I went down there to see to it, and the weather being bad, I was compelled to stay there three or four days. I caught what is called the swamp fever, and was so bad that I had to be carried on board the st>amer and taken to Nelson. More than once my life was despaired of, and I was bad for eight or nine months, so that I cannot tell you much about Charleston or the diggings known as VVaite's Pakihis. I was surprised, on my return to the Buller, to see a large town sprung up, though it was nothing more than I had predicted long ago. When I stood on the point looking at the steamers, shipping, and about thirty $ ferry boats plying for hire, and the hundreds of people walking to and fro, the numbers of horses aud drays, I thought what a change in the scene from the time I first landed on this point when we pitched our first tent to put our stores in. We had (hen to clear the bush to pitch it. The first night the vats were constantly running over us, and we bad to cover our heads over with the blankets to keep them off the face. Afterwards we rented a Maori whare to start a store in, and the little craft was the only vessel in the Lagoon. So, thought I, that little ketch was the forerunner of all this greatness on the whole of the West Coast. I will here just mention that the diggings known as Waite 1 s Pakihis are named after me, it being my rig! t of runs— G.ooo acres and 3,000 acres — which entitles me to pre-emptive right. 1 have been seeking to obtain a recognition of this, and which, had it been granted at the time I first applied for it, the runs would have done me some good. But I could not succeed. There was any amount of putting off from time to time, while thousands of diggers traversed the Pakihis everywhere, and my cattle had been scattered in all directions, been shot down and driven so wild that I had to sell them at a nominal price. Mr. Kynnersley writes to the Government in this strain : — " To the Peovinciai Secretary, Nelson. " Sib — I am informed by Mr. Reuben Waite that he has applied to the Commissioner of Crown Lands to purchase eighty acres for a homestead on each of his runs on tho Pakihis, south of the Buller. I therefore think it advisable to inform you that, upon the run nearest to the River Buller, Mr. Waite has erected a house and fenced in some twenty or thirty acres of land, and that upon this run, although it has never been stocked, 1 consider that he is fairly entitled to the pre-emptive right of the homestead ; but upon the other run to the southward no improvements whatever have been made, aud it has never been stocked. If Mr. Waite is permitted to purchase his homestead, he will probably select the prospecting and adjoining claims on Addison's Flat, where the present rush is situated. " Westport, June 1, 1867." I have proved to the satisfaction of the Waste Lands Board that these runs were stocked, and that I have held them since 1863, and my statement was never contradicted. The Government has always received the rent up to this day. It would seem strange that I should keep two men on these runs besides employing others at various times, if the runs were never stocked. As to my choosing to exercise my pre-emptive right where the diggers claims are, I have been long enough on gold-fields to know better than that. If Mr. Kynnersley had looked on the left hand side of the road by the Bald Hill, going towards Addison's Flat, he would have seen a house and stockyard : that is where I had intended my second pre-emptive right sliould be exercised. It would seem that every obstacle was thrown in my way to prevent me from getting what I consider is my just rights. Although this is by no means all that might be said on this matter, I will not give further particulars, as it could have no interest for the general reader, and must apologise for having taken up so much space with a private grievance ; this account, however, shows what treatment may be expected on the gold-fields. I will just make one or two further remarks, and then conclude my narrative. That the Maoris were the firnt to find and bring in gold in any quantity there is not a shadow of a doubt, and that they were the leaders for a long time, iB, as I have before shown, quite certain. I believe, however, that some years ago, when Mr. J. Eochfort, the surveyor, was exploring the Buller district, he found some little gold up tho Buller river, and I believe it was in consequence of this discovery that the Maoris went to look for gold. It is evident they knew but little about gold, as, when they cauio to the Aorere, they did not know the value of it. I may as well state here that the Buller Maoris first brought gold from the Karamea. They used to take provisions from the Buller to the Karamea on their backs, and bring back us mack as (iftecn or twenty ounces of gold as fine as flour. How they saved it I cannot tell. All tliat a Maori wanted was flour, tea and sugar, and tobacco. He could get* every thing else, and live where a white man would starve. My opinion is that the whole coast, from Wanganui Inlet to the Buller, is more or less auriferous and will eventually be worked. Had the Collingwood district had the trial the West Coast has had, and with the same »pplianeoß that are now being used for getting the precious metal, thousands of ounces more would have come from there than has come. I have had a great deal of travelling about in that district, and I am of opinion that there is just as good digging in thai district as there is on the West Coast. I hope that what I have written will give offence to no one, as I have done it with the desire to please, if possible. I h»ve written entirely from memory, and there may, therefore, be some little errors I trust, however, that the account which I have given will be of interest, and as the main particulars are at all events correct, that my narrative will be of some value to those who care to know what was the true origin of the Went Coast gold-fields.