GABRIEL’S GULLY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22883, 18 May 1936, Page 5

GABRIEL’S GULLY

FIRST IMPORTANT GOLD RUSH .*•, -v. •: •■.j .. ; • ■ i .»'■■■ ’ '' ! . ' i v ; .-••• ■ % SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY —* " ROMANTIC DAYS OF OTAGO c ■« •/* " “ v 1 • ' ' • * ' rr- \ - i ■. Perhaps to a greater extent than any other province of New Zealand, Otago honours, its early pioneers—the men and ■ women who left their native country and came out to a. new land, herP to fight against almost insurmountable obstacles in.a wild and unknown district, as they selected sites for their homesteads and turned out their flocks and herds to graze * on fertile plains and mountain uplands of the interior. And no one did more to raise Otago from the obscurity of j a small pioneer settlement to the prosperous agricultural and pastoral district it is to-day than the early gold seekers. Hardy men, sound of wind and limb, they made an ideal type of : settler, and, if they did not develop the country for permanent I occupation, they worked its great mineral wealth so that in , a few short months O£ago had been elevated to the position ;; of the foremost province in-NeiV Zealand. , ■ *; This week there will be .celebrated the seventy fifth ! : anniversary of the first important discovery of gold in Otago, | and .during, that time, the story of . a man whose name is now | fampus—Thomas Gabriel Read-will be made to live again I as the romantic days of the Gabriel’s Gully rush are recalled.

MRLIER GOLD DISCOVERIES GABRIEL READ’S LETTER NEWS THAT STARTLED COUNTRY i’Qn, Juno 4, .18GJ,.ihere appeared in the press portion of a loiter to Major who was then Su perintendent' of Otago, which startled first the province, then thp whole of the Dominion, and finally Australia and 'the' test of the Empire. The letter was from Gabriel Read, a miner with experience in both California and Victoria, and in it he made the following statement:— I take the liberty of troubling you with a short report on the result Of a gold prospecting tour, which I commenced about a fortnight since,; and. which occupied me about ten day's,;Dui>;, ing tliat per about; 35 miles,..and ravines’, and tributaries the Waitahuna and Tuapeka rivers. '■■■■■ ■ '.,r My equipment consisted of a tent,blanket and Spade, tin dish, butcher’s knife,' and ’ abput s v a week’s supply 'of provisions- <T exiimmed a large area of country, and washM pana of earth" in different localities* I found at many places prospects Milch would . hold out a certainty that -men With the proper tools would be munificently, remunerated; and in one place foisted:, hours’ work, with pan and butcher’s’ knife, I was enabled to collect about seven ounces of gold. '

j GABRIEL READ’S DISCOVERY Gabriel Read arrived in Otago in May, 1861, attracted by reports of gold in the Matkura district, buj, after satisfying himself that the prospects there were not encouraging enough, he turned his attention to the Tuapeka district, having heard from Edward Peters—better known as Black Peter —of the presence of the metal in that district. Procuring Sufficient stores for himself at Dunedin, Road set off for. Tuapeka, little knowing that he wa,s on the verge of a discovery which would have a lasting as well as an immediate effect on the province. After spending a night at the hut of d shepherd, where he made no secret ■of his expectations, he passed the Tuapeka River, climbed a gully, which later became famous as Munro’s Gully, and proceeded dowA a stream in the valley which now bears his name. He was at that moment walking oyef-groppd that was, in a few. weeks,’ to become the sCjß.ne of one of thfe-.most awe-inspiring Sights—a big gold rush,. : happened next is beat described iif Gabfiel,. Read’s f own w.ordsi “At a place .yvhprb. a kind of road crossed on a shallow bar, I shoyelled away about ,two feet and a-half of gravel, arrived at a beautiful soft slate, and saw the go|d shining like the stars in Orion on a dark, frosty night.” Before nightfall he ha|l washed up several ounces of the' pricious metal; and it was .then that he realised ; he- had disco vered a payable goldfield. . ' ' ' ,effect of Read’s report to Major, , Ri|hhrds6ix apd , itpi sphsequent appear- 1 anfib in; the press Was electrical. At it wap received with incredulity, for the news' seemed too good to be true. Men had been seeking gold for nearly JO years,; and reputed discoveries had been numerous and frequent, but nothing had come of them. The Lirdis strike had raised people to a high pitch of excitement, but already it was appaijmtly being worked out. . Was, this new J discovery another Hindis, or was it the one. for which everybody had been waiting and hoping? The. population ’Was bewildered. There was . a natural period of suspense as confirmation of the news was eagerly awaited, and only a few.of the bolder spirits undertook the difficult journey to Tuapeka, the more Vary desiring further information before they ventured into the interior. Tpe confirmation was not long in coming, for Mr John Hardy, a member for the district, who had accompanied Gabriel Read on a thorough investigation of the new field immediately after the latter had . found gold, announced to the Provincial Council that "in every hole they had sunk they had found the precious metal.” Early in June, too, the goldfipld was visited by many wellknown settlers, and the columns of the two weekly newspapers, the Witness and the Colonist, soon teemed with correspondence concerning the richness of the gully. 1 VMr |:T. B. Gillies wrote a graphic •Ibttcin; y to " the Colonist' giving an ,cxhSu|!;ive , report; of • the goldfield and Its surroundings, and in the course of it he >described the curious ’ effect the discovery had had on the gold seekers already in the gully. “ The deep gravity, afipostj solemnity, on every ' visage,” he said, “struck me as very peculiar. Men whom I had never met before save with a smile on their countenances, and a joke on their lips, I met there, grave and solemn, as if the cares of a nation were centred on them—they could not even appreciate a joke.”

This dramatic hows fell upon tho ears af a country: which was aware that the district of- Centra! Otago contained auriferous deposits, but- which, up till that time, had failed to find-gpld in payable quantifies. A, brief retrospect of the earlier\piino£ discpyieries of pre will serve to show that, although' its presence was known, np systematic search was conducted Until 1861, FIRST INDICATIONS OF GOLD It is a difficult matter to say exactly when, and ,by . yjfhom, gold was first discovered in Otago, but that'the Maoris were aware of' its existence before the arrival of the’ first European settlers is an undisputed fact,: The -Natives knew, that it could be obtained.in the interior of the country- and The district of the Upper Molyneux, op, Clutha. River, was particularly indicated as a gald-bearing locality. , ~v , v . ; ; , Other Natives confirmed these statements at a later period, and at least one party of colonists ( endeavoured to discover the ore, but although they struck colour in tlte vicinity of - Beaumont they did not continue their search. Gold was also discovered by the settlers themselves in various parts of the province, “but the fact was either suppressed, as likely to produce mischievous results, or neglected, The fiffetf official intimntioW 51 ' dT 'discovery of* auriferous deposits in Ota’go appears to' have emanated from Mr Charles Ligar, a former Surveyor-general of New Zealand. who found gold in the gravel and River, but although he was of the opinion that “ a remunerative goldfield exists in the neighborhood,”... no .effort was made to test the value/ of the discovery. From then on, vague rumours continued to be circulated at different times, of gold being found in the mountain streams, and small quantities were occasionally brought into Dunedin, by different individuals. These circmristances, hqtvcvcr., attracted very little attention, as for the most part the discoveries werq inconsiderable. Late in 1857 and during the early part of the following year ample confirmation of the presence of gold was given by. Mr Alexander Garvie, who was the assistant surveyor. Mr Garvie made a full reconnaissance survey of the south-eastern districts of the province, and iii a Comprehensive report he offered the opinion that the deposits in the Clutha River, and Tuapeka ■ stream were in payable quantities if the work were carried out in a systematic manner. This rftay be looked upon as the first practical • dojnpnsfrgtion 6f the mineral wealth 'bTOtago. EarHeT prospectors had’ - Garlic’s report was sufficient to convince even the most incredulous. Little notice whs taken of the. announcement, ■ however, and it was left to Mr Gabriel Read antT Messrs Hartley and Reilly to develop the hidden wealth to which Mr’ Garvie undoubtedly referred, although at the time he was unaware of the importance, of .his discovery, „ y . In 18p8 gold, was also discovered in the Lindis River, but notwithstanding these accumulated proofs of. the presence of the ore throughout the province, itwas not until, 1861 that;the first rush — a smalt one—occurred. In March of that year some men, who wore engaged in the formation of a new road to the pastoral districts beyond the Lindis ■Pass, in, The Duiistan mountains, acci-. *«ntally/ ! stnick upon ' a deposit of the precious metal, and; there immediately followed a .-minor stampede, to the locality .1.,- Although; fair prospects were obtained; the general yield was not very encouraging, and the field, was pronounced a failure, This, then, was the position when Gabriel Read’s discovery set the small settlement of Otago aflame, caused an instant rush to the Tuapcka district, and started Otago on a quick road to prosperity.

, | THE RUSH BEGINS Such letters as these, and the continuance of favourable reports from the field ifself, ended all doubts, and the excitement spread with amazing rapidity, increasing daily in intensity. Men in every walk of life, no matter what their station! or occupation, became infected with the fever, and by the middle of July the rush had commenced in earnest. The -recognised routes from Dunedin to Gabriel’s Gully were three in number. The first was the track, through the Taiori Plain to Tokomairiro, and thence over the. low ranges to Tuapeka. This was the route followed by Gabriel Read himself. A round-about way - of reaching the field was to take a small steamer along the coast to Taieri Mouth, thence up as far as Henley, and from that point a boat or canoe could be used as far as the head of Lake Waihola, where th; Tokomairiro track could be , joined. The third and best route was over Maungatua .and thence direct by way of Waipori.' The only danger to the third track was the possibility of snow, and in the winter of 1861 the miners had to be warned against using it because of severe weather. Gabriel’s. Gully was soon the scone of fevprish jactivity, as excited and determined diggers marked out their claims, 24-feet square, and commenced the hunt for tho Imetal that would bring them wealth. IThe first on the field were the ones whb obtained the best results. The report of the chief surveyor (Mr J. T. Thomson-}', stated that Gabriel Read’s party of! three men had obtained 112 ounces ini 3.4 days; John Jenkins’s party of five, 1,49 ounces in four days; Peter Lindsay's party of three, 30 ounces in'thteer.'days and a-half; and Burnside and J. L. Gillies, eight ounces in six days " with a spade and tin dish.” Cargill and Ris party of four washed out 10 ouncei in a single afternoon, and Peter Lindsay gathered seven and a-half ounces in : five hours and a-half. There could only bo ono result when such information became known—the popula-

tion gave up all ideas except the one to take a shovel and a dish and go out to try their luck in the goldfields. Fortunately there was no shortage of food in the Tuapeka district. In the surrounding hills were plenty of wild pigs, and there was an abundance of manuka scrub for firewood; the distance from Dunedin was not great, so that no great hardships were endured by the new population in this wealthy valley. By ■August, ships were pouring gold seekers into Otago. Dunedin was practically “ under canvas,” as the tents of the new arrivals were pitched in all available spaces. The routes to Gabriel’s were thronged with men of all ages and occupations, wending their way slowly but surely towards their goal, with but one idea in their minds. There were soon thousands of men on the diggings, and hotels, banks, stores, courtrooms and dancing saloons—all made of canvas—sprang up as if by magic. It is worthy of note that a census taken in July, 1861, revealed the fact that the population of Dunedin was only 5850, while that of Tuapeka was 11,472; hut out of that great number in the field only 148 were women.

on which I could rely, that we were on the eve of important gold discoveries. The dim foreshadowing of that hour lias changed into the wellestablished reality for the present. Whatever may be tiic character, extent, richness, and remunerative value of our goldfield, I have no doubt that for many a day to conic it will yield to industry a fair return for labour, and to capital a fair return of profit. How true were those words was amply proved as the years passed on. THE EFFECT OF THE RUSH It might be said that before the end of 1861 the rush to Gabriel’s Gully had finished. It is a peculiarity of human nature that men will invariably leave remunerative work if they think something better is offering, and this is never more vividly illustrated than in gold mining. Consequently when, within a few months after the discovery at Gabriel’s Gully, other profitable fields were opened up by the miners, the diggers hastened to the areas where they believed greater wealth was to be found. Rushes took place to Munro’s Gully and Wethcrstones, on either side of Gabriel’s, then to Waitahuna, Woolshcd, Waipori, Evans Flat, Paddy’s Point, Dunstan, Fox’s, Cardrona, and Cromwell, and then to the West Coast in 1864.

In August, the first armed gold escort arrived at Dunedin from Gabriel’s Gully, with 5056 ounces of gold, but previous to that 2000 ounces had been brought down. With the rush at its height it was a common occurrence for the escorts to arrive with 8000 and even 11,000 ounces of gold. The startling revolution. which is everywhere wrought out by the discovery of gold, had, in a few months, the effect of raising Otago from tho position of a comparatively unknown settlement to the foremost rank among the provinces of New Zealand. It was with considerable justification that the Superintendent of Otago, referring to the events of this remarkable period in the history of the province, addressed the Provincial Council in the following terms, when it assembled in October: — When I last had the pleasure of addressing you, scarcely four months since, I communicated the intelligence, which had reached me from sources

Gabriel’s Gully, although it still remained productive for many years, ceased to hold the interest of the goldseeking population as richer finds were reported, hut it will always retain its significance in tho history of the province. It commemorates the name of the man who, by his diligence and generosity, did something that made Otago progress as nothing else could have done. It was thanks to him that 1861 marked the beginning of an immense stride forward; it was duo to his efforts that gold was discovered at that time; that it was not discovered earlier was due to the policy of the Government, which at that period appeared to have been adverse to the encouragement of prospecting, and to the settlers’ apparent de-

sire not to have the country over-run with gold-maddened diggers. The value to the province of Gabriel Read’s discovery cannot truly be estimated in terms of money, and to show its appreciation tlie Government gave Read a bonus of £IOOO. For some time after his-first strike, Read continued to give the benefit of his experience and knowledge for the development of the mineral wealth of the province, and then drifted back to Tasmania, where he died a poor man in 1894. INCREASE IN REVENUE Statistics may be wearying things, but certain figures are available, which convey some small idea of the direct result of the rush to Gabriel’s Cully. In 1860 only 69 vessels entered the Port of Dunedin, but the following year the total was 256 vessels, many of them of large tonnage. The population, computed in December, 1860, at 12,691, bad increased by the end of 1801 to 30,269 souls. The revenue advanced from £83,040 2s, the amount received for the financial year ended September 30, 1801, to £280,097 2s in 1862, while a comparison between the half-year ended March 31, 1861 (prior to the discovery of the Tuapcka goldfields) and the corresponding period of 1862, shows an increase of £128,234 14s.

The quantity of "old exported from Dunedin from -August, 1861. to July of the following year, was 4.">7,2t00z Odwt, and in addition 120Soz T2dwt, the produce of Otago, were exported from extraprovincial ports, making a total of 455,4480 z ISdwt. Reckoning 20,000 ounces to the ton, the total aggregate of the year’s produce, as exported, amounted to 10 tons 2041 b, representing a value of £1,833,792. ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

On AVednesday next, the date on which Gabriel Read made his momentous discovery 7o years ago, celebrations will be held at Lawrence to commemorate the event. It is fitting that they should be held in this little country town that owes its birth virtually to the discovery of gold in Gabriel’s Gully, Wetherstones

and adjoining districts. Lawrence has not been blessed with any very extensive stretches of country at its immediate back that arc suitable for pastoral and agricultural pursuits, and while up to a certain point farming has more or less been successfully carried on in its neighbourhood, gold mining has since its very commencement up to within recent years been its principal industry. The growth of the town has all along been closely identified with the discovery and development of rich goldfields in its immediate vicinity. The gradual disappearance of Gabriel’s Gully and the VVetherstones township gave it the permanency it still retains, although its rate of progress has not been maintained of recent years.