HOKITIKA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 1048, 29 April 1865, Page 4

HOKITIKA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

llokitika, 28th April

[Our correspondent details the numerous boat and other river accidents, the particulars of which J have already appeared, and proceeds] :— This makes the .seventh boat accident

within the space of fourteen days, and in the same time six men have lost their lives by drowning. The high tides have now

come on again, and the question as to whether the Storm Bird or Nelson are ever to float again will be decided. For several mornings the former has been almost surrounded at high water, and sways to and fro with the surf. This morning she was got some few feet nearer the water I hear, and she stands a far greater chance of being saved than her sister in adversity, being much nearer the smooth water of the river ; in fact, she is just at the corner of the spit, which the river is steadily washing away. Kwe had such useful pieces of mechanism here as some powerful screw-jacks, I think little difficulty would be experienced in getting both off without incurring a very grefit expense; a sloping platform or " ways" leading into deep water would be ncccssaay, to which the "jacks" would raise her. and whence she could on a fine day be launched.

From the various diggings the news continues Jo be of the same description as when I last wrote. Rushes and re-rushes are constantly taking place, and although no very large find is to be recorded, the amount brought down here is steadily on the increase. The day before yesterday an application wa3 made in the Warden's Court fur a prospector's claim, on a creek running into the Arahura. The creek, named after the prospector—Macdonald, oins the Arahura, 14 miles from the sea in a southerly direction, and the gold has been discovered some three miles from its junction with the river. It is stated that the prospect was ioz of fine gold for two hours' sluicing. A large number of diggers have left to try their luck, but I do not think that the ground will be found very rich.

The rush to the Ilouhou Creek has subsided ; there are three or four hundred men on the spot, but only a dozen claims or so are obtaining gold worth speaking about, and these cannot boast of yielding more than LG or L 8 a week per man, at least a a third of which must go to support life.

The Waimea still continues in favor; the creek itself is of course fully occupied, but recently good finds have been made by sinking on the terraces adjacent to it. The largest amount I have heard of as having been taken out of the creek is 600oz, amongst a party of five. This claim, a double one, was on the left bank of the Waimea,and was secured early in January last—it is now nearly worked out. Fox's Gully is said to be paying high wages to those who hold claims; the ground is all secured, but I'am told on good authority, that the claims will keep the men at work for five or six months. Of Callaghans, Foxes, and the Maori Gully, I have obtained no authentic information lately.

The recent heavy rains will be gladly hailed by many of the diggers, for the supplies of water for sluicing purposes have been scanty during the late dry weather ; and the less remunerative cradle has been in many cases called into requisition. It at all events is a good sign that the ground pays for its use. I have reasons for believing that in a short time new ground will be opened tip to the southward of the Totara Gully. The country has been but little prospected; I but where it has been tried, has proved auriferous, and some parties have left with the intention of giving it a two months' trial. The Maoris on this coast declare that a good harbor is to be found some seventy miles down the coast where vessels can lie safely moored. If this be the case, and another gold field is opened up in this direction, the population of Hekitika may be considerably decreased shortly. I believe that Captain Gibson will take a trip down the coast soon, to ascertain whether the alleged existence of a sheltered anchorage is a fact or not. No gold having been despatched by the MANSE STREET; i

last Nelson steamers, the amount now ready to be shipped is about 8000oz. It must be borne in mind that this has taken more than a fortnight to accumulate, and there are some 8000 men over here. The Canterbury Escort was sent back to Christchurch a few days since, their services being of little use for the overland track. By the way, Canterbury seems to be wonderfully jealous of the supposed, benefits that Nelson is reaping from her gold fields. The public press of Christchurch and Lyttelton teem with articles on dray roads, saddles, and gorges, and to those who are here on the spot, many of the printed remarks appear silly and childish. To make a dray road across the range?, and through the dense swampy bush on this side would sink a sum utterly disproportionate to the value of the field; and if a late writer in the " Lyttelton Chronicle " animadverting on the eupineness of the Canterbury Government in not commencing the work, had ever paid a visit here he would have let his pen remain dry. A road fit for drays could only be made at an enormous expense, and when made would be almost useless. Goods would never be sent b}' the route as long as water carriage could be obtained, even at the present high prices for freight and insurance, for the outlay of transport by land would pay sea carriage and security against loss three times over. In addition to this the time occupied in the transit would in most cases be greater. A track fit for cattle and horses would be useful : beyond this any attempt at a road would be waste of money. At the same time, a good example has been placed before Canterbury by her sister province of Nelson, of what can be done in a mountainous country by means of tramways. The coal fields on the river Grey are now ascertained to be very extensive; and in future ye:;rs a work on a larger scale than, but similar to, the "Dun Mountain Railway," may be found essential, in the absence of any adjacent harbor, to the utilization of this permanent source of wealth by a narrow gauge tramway across the ranges, constructed on the American principle, with wooden rails, would lie, comparatively speaking, less expensive than an ordinary road; and the outlay, unjustifiable in consequence of the uselcssness of the latter, would be more than balanced by the increase of trade which the former would stimulate. A good harbor may, however, be found to the southward ; in which case a tramway along the beach, connecting it with the Grey, might be found to be the most appropriate method of overcoming the difficulty, although the entailed necessity of constructing bridges across the numerous rapid rivers would make the undertaking a most expensive one.

lflth April. The market here at the present time is fully stocked, as no less than, eleven vessels, several of them large schooners and brigantines, arrived insk'e the river. Had the heavy S.W. weather continued, and so kept them outside, prices would, doubtless, have risen again. The horse market is glutted, and those who send horses here, must lose by the spcculat on. Good sound draft horses are obtainable at .£3O ; pack horses at £15 to £25, and light hacks £6 to £15.