OUR HOMELAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20402, 2 November 1929, Page 4 (Supplement)

OUR HOMELAND.

jj BT ZLSIB K. MOKTON. | i

THE LAND OF GREENSTONE AND GOLD. .As the Silver Plane header] down the West C'oast toward Uokitika, the guide told the children something of the early history of this wild, rugged strip of country set between the barrier of the Alps and the Tastnan Sea. lie told them of the greenstone treasure of Arahura, the river that held in its stony bed tho rare and beautiful stono from which tho tribal ornaments' and weapons of the old-lime Maori were fashioned. All the way from far lvaiapoi caliio tho treasure-seekers, and many a light was waged in the early days before the pakeha came, and every other quest was forgotten in the all-conquering 1 lifts of gold. " In the yeiir 1853," said the guide, Sir George Grey decided to purchase the native interest in tho West ('oast, and after several years' negotiations a settlement was reached, a sum of about £BOOO being paid to the Maoris. Since that time many millions of pounds' worth of gold have been taken from the gold-bearing rivers and beaches of the West Coast, but gold meant nothing whatever to the Maoris, arid it was left for the white man to wrest this treasure from Westlarid." "When did the gold rush start?" asked Pixie, ".and how did they first discover the gold ?" " There had been rumour?, ol gold in the South Island river beds and mountains for many years," was the reply, "but it was not until 1864 that a prospector found gold in payable quantities on Greenstone Crwk. Tn 1865 the great gold rush started, and despite tho fearful obstacles of Alpino barrier, swift rivers and dark, trackless forests, thousands of treasure-hunters from all parts of New Zealand began to flock to the Land of the Golden West. There were less than 1000 people on the Coa'st in 1864, but by 1866 the population was well over 50,000. After a few years the gold was worked out and lhe flourishing townships of the Coast gradually dwindled in importance. Some of them have survived and found new prosperity in dairying and timber industries, but others have simply fallen to wrack and ruin, and aro of interest only as pathetic reminders of the busy days of 50 years ago. Soon tho broad, swift waters of the Arahura River gleamed below, and then tho Plane was circling over Hokitika, set so close to the edge of tho ocean tho sand drifted into the backyards of the houses along the main street. Then the Piano continued its journey southward to the Land of the Glaciers, past tho little village of Rinju, with its tumble-down, deserted homes of long ago, and over the first of the glorious forests that lie between Hokitika and the lake and glacier country of South Westland.