A CACHE OF GOLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23204, 31 May 1937, Page 10

A CACHE OF GOLD

HIDDEN IN MILFORD DISTRICT ROMANTIC STORY RECALLED LINK WITH REPORTED OIL DISCOVERY (Special to Daily Times) INVERCARGILL, May 30. Linked with the report of a recent investigation of oil deposits on the West Coast in the vicinity of Martin's Bay is a romantic story of a hidden " plant" of gold dust which was stolen from a mail steamer in Melbourne 50 years ago, and was valued then at £40,000. The facts, as related to a Southland Times reporter by Mr H. Hubber, of Invercargill. read more like the popular fiction writers' conceptior. of buried treasure than an account of actual happenings, but even New Zealand, young though it is, is not lacking in well authenticated stories of caches of gold. According to Mr Hubber, the gold was stolen by three men from the London mail boat at Melbourne, and, a peculiar feature of the theft is that its loss was not discovered until the ship reached London. The strong-room was not damaged, but when it was opened the gold was simply not' there. Having gained possession of the gold, the thieves next stole a cutter from Melbourne and sailed with their booty across the Tasman, eventually reaching the Cascade River below Jackson's Bay Two of the men went ashore in a dinghy with the gold, leaving the third on board the cutter Suddenly a storm sprang up and when the two men ashore looked out to sea they saw their vessel dashed to pieces on the rugged coast line, and their comrade on board was drowned. They were now placed in an awkward predicament, as all their supplies were on the cutter, so, after hiding their gold in a cave up the river, they decKed to seek assistance. Disagreeing about which direction to take, one struck north and the other proceeded south. The man who went south *vas never seen a*ain, but his partner was picked up near Jackson's Bay in a bad way, and was taken to the Dunedin Hosnital.

While he was' there the doctor warned him of his condition and advised him to send for any friends he had. : ' I would like to have a talk with a miner," said the patient. A miner was sent for. and to him the sick man told the whole story ,of the theft and the secreting of the booty, and drew a plan of the locality, saying that the gold was hidden in a cave on the river below Jackson's Bay. The miner noted in the sketch a distinct resemblance to the Cascade River, and a party was organised to locate the gold if possible. LOCALITY DISCOVERED

It is at this point that Mr Hitbber ccmes into the picture. At that time he was engaged in an expedition on the West Coast under the leadership of Mr R. Paulin Another member of the party was a Mr Stuart, a very wealthy man from Scotland. Paulin had heard of the efforts being made to find the gold, and at his suggestion Mr Hubber quietly left the party, and,, after a brief exploration, he found the tents of the men who were working on the search He returned and told Paulin that he had found the locality, whereupon Paulin said that he would not mind spending some money on the search. "I was sceptical of the whole story," Mr Hubber said, " but Paulin assured me that he had verified from Melbourne the report of the theft of the gold and the subsequent disappearance of the cutter. Moreover, signs of the wreck had been found near where the men were supposed to have landed. A further investigation showed that a big slip had occurred over the spot where the cava was supposed to be. Evidently the men conducting the search failed to penetrate far enough through the slip, or missed the direction. Mr Stuart announced his intention of returning the following season to conduct a systematic search for the gold, but he suddenly fell heir to his father's estates in Scotland and was called home" THE OIL DEPOSITS

Mr Hubber's acquaintance with the oil deposits of that locality also dates back a good many years. He and the late Mr Harry Fisher were camped near the Golden Creek, near Martin's Bay, looking for gold. The account of this interesting discovery is best told in hia own words. "We entered a little cove," he said, " and in the rock formation there I noticed a thick, heavy liquid, something like molasses, gushing sluggishly from a fault in the rock. I put some of it in a bottle which unfortunately 1 broke while descending a cliff. I had previously noticed a flavour as of kerosene in the water, and the water in the vicinity had that filmy iridescence peculiar to oil when it is spread on the surface of water. In fact, we became sick after drinking it." Mr Hubber returned to the locality about 10 years ago to look for gold, but the weather was too rough, rain falling all the time, "I got into Madagascar beach," he said, "and had to camp for three days. I was unable to find the place again in the time at my disposal. The creek when I saw it many years previously was running through a limestone cave at one point, and yet on the second visit I was unable to find it. I remembered it distinctly because it was as white as chalk, and was light and feathery in its composition."