THE GOLD SOUTH OF HOKITIKA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 497, 16 June 1865, Page 6

THE GOLD SOUTH OF HOKITIKA.

THE WANGANUI, HOKAKITA AND BOTJTHAVAKD. Tho following communication is from Mr. H. G. H;:nkh), of Hokitika, who has just viEitcd these districts to which we alluded in our last. The letter is addressed to the West Const Times, from which we copy it:— " I have ju?t icfurnid from a tiip to the southward of Hokitika, and as any matter bearing upon tbe mining interest invariabh - re-cen > s tho support of your journal, I feel it a duty to submit any infoimation that may benefit the mining community through that medium. My travels extended as far as tbe Wa'kukupa Creek (distant, I believe, some seventy r .'..-. fouth of this town), in which I obtained a very fair prospect, but was prevented from thoroughly tf-stiDg the locality from want of provisions and the wet weather combined. "It is needless to purticularise nnything further upon the general features of the country on this sido of the Wiingnnui river, it having, I believe, been subject to a very close examination by tbo miners in the. vicinity. 1 will therefore begin from that river; and in passing, may mention that provisions can now be obtained there at very reasonable prices, taking into consideration the cost and trouble of packing— flour being Is. pcrlb., and other stores in proportion. I may :\lso state that Mr. J. Murray, the enterprising storekeeper, bus supplied a boat for crossing the river —a great boon to Snivellers. " The rivers rppcar to be from six to ten miles apnrt, none of them very large, with the exception of tbe Hokarita (the fifth r'ivcr south of the Wanganuij, which has a verj- good entrance and good shelter en tbe inside, with from eight to ten feet of water at high tide. It woul'l be a good position for a store, being distant about thirty miles from th-. Wanganui. From that point the country changes, nnd assumes all the gold-bearing features of the Wukafip district, (>'. (.•, slate wash, and an abundance of quartz), a true index of the existence of gold in or about tho vicinity Gold was obtained by a party of three in the Waikuiupa Creek, during my stay, equivalent to £l per diem ; nnd I have no hesitation in stating that much bettor prospects could bo obtained were men in a position to devote rnoiv time to prospecting the neighbourhood, but the absence of provisions retards tho development of, in my opinion, a very rich and extensive gold-field."