FROM DUNEDIN TO HIGHLAY. (from our special reporter.)

Otago Witness, Issue 549, 7 June 1862, Page 3

FROM DUNEDIN TO HIGHLAY. ( from our special reporter.)

I left Dunedin on one of those pleasant mornings that tend to reconcile to their new homes those who have sunny Victoria fre-^h in their memory. The water wa-> placid as a lake, and through its green depths, the shalls and seaweed were di-tiru-Uj visible. As we gently steamed towards the I leads, it was impossible not to adiniiet.'i." i«ari:lj-- wooded sides of the hills that hem in the river, and gaze with awe on the bold peaks tliat, " robed in a garment of untrodden snow,' 1 towered behind them. Oiitsi.le. Hi" ITo ids the sea was smooth ; and the voyage to W.iik.maiti was accomplished in some four hour-, and without any ot the sensations which arc su .:yes- :- tive of " Stt-H'ir.l! lwsiu!! Thc-ie is no pier on the sandy Spit on which you have to land ; and, inconsequence*, the steamer is <ompelledto anchor about half a mile fro • the shore, wiiieii is reached by means of whaleboats, o»vned and worked by a party of'Maories, who have a settlement here. The fairer (?) po.tion of the tribe appear to do the largest portion of the woi-k; and it was most amusing to hear their shouts of encouragement to the sterner sex. as they urg.'d them to renewed efibrts, while personally they tugged at the oar with a vigor and skill worthy of Thnn-.es watermen. Nor drl their work ceu^e when we touched the beach. l!i^^ of sugar, boxes of merchandise, and diggers' swags, were carried by them from the boat with an ea->e aiid rapidity that would have done ci edit to any diaj man. T'»cre are several accommodation tents on tiie Spit, bit at the t(i',vi,-lu;i, known as JlawkesLury, and d ■- tint abuut three .'lilc.i fro'Ti the p'.ncc of landing, there arc two Hotel';, at either of wliich the tiaveller cm be supplied w.th (.he good things of this life. Along the Leach, and as you r.ppioach the town-hip, tlicic is ample c\idenee tint the place has been originally a whaling station. Huge bones aie stiewn on the shore, with hen; and there a portion of the ppinc or backbone of the whale, of the thickness of the nave of a cartwheel. The entire township of Ilawkesbury !in. l m( «t of the land iv the neighbourhood was, Ibclkvc, oriyina'ly owned by John Jones, Esq. but lie has, 1 am I'l.ibiiric J, disposed of some portions to lumajide Keltic: s on viy liberal terms In the township there art> t wen t\ -live to lh'rty houses, occii])ied principally by persons engaged in agricultural pin suits, who vie now looking forward to a change in tbnr mode of life consequent on the large influx e>f diggerp, and the probability of its heccming a Jlouri-hiug port. This latter is, howevtr. not likely lo he the case, from tha^ct th it Ll.o roadsi-ad 'is ivu jiaitiully shelteretC nd the mighty w.ives of the Pacific break on the shoie with a noi.^ that can bo heard for miles. Under the hospitable roof of host Bcal, I remained for the night, and on the following morning, accompanied by Seigeant Major Blacken, whose duly led him to pay the suppoaed diggings a -vis-it, I started for Ilighlay. The road for the first few miio3 is metalled. and, until you reach the flat through which runs

the Pleasant Stream, is comparatively good. The flat is so new-hat swampy, but t!>e Government have bri I ;ed most of tho <.ni,ill r vulets of water, a od, in consequence, it is comparatively passable. Skirting the conical bill known as Pukatapo, the road wi:i Is into the valley, through which runs the i-'liau River, so called fYom a species of duck known by that name, and which frequents its b.iuks iv l.u'fie numbers. This river, which is sluilow and rapid, has to be crossed four times before reaching the „t ition of Hamilton and "Waj'iio, at whicli point tiie trade diverges to the lefc. The bed of the river is composed of gravel, and is very firm ; drays, therefore, have no difficulty in passing over it.

Shag Valley is o.ie of the finest portions of country, either for agricultural or pastoral pursuits, that I have seen in New Zealand. For more than a dozen nii'es you ride over a level country clothed wiih luxuriant gn^s, and surrounded by gently sloping ranges, backed again by high mountains whose serrated peaks kiss the clou Is. It was impossible not to envy the lucky owners and wish for the time when it will be studded with oichar-is, and wr.ving fields of corn.

The Sliag Paver lias been tested at various points, and on each occasion gold was found, though not payable. The grouud worked was on the edge of the bank ; the paitics who ],r. spectcd it did not consider the p.'ospeet sufficient 10 i.iduce them to turn the liver.

At Ilamilto'i an I Wayne's station muUoii is being supplied to the diggers at 9d, per lb., and flour at 5i., while, with considerable goodnature, the proprietors arc allowing them to sleep in thei. woolshecis and outhouses, free of' charge. Personally, I received from llr. Wayne, who was on the station — 3li\ Hamilton bcinj absent — the utmost attention, and I here dcs cv to record my acknowledgments.

After passing-this station the diiGculties of the road begin. For about five miles, and until you reach what is known as the Cuitiuj;, the course of the track is a continuous aslant o\er hills covered with pitches of snow. From this p lint onward the road is comparathely level, and ru Ining parallel with Ilighlay Hill, until \ou leach Diop Dell, w!ien, by a series of abrupt descents, jou arrive at llo;;kin-ou'& station, the diggiiu.^ being now d.sta'.t about ten mile?. Leasing llopkinson's, you pass close to S.ixlon's home station and a^ceti'l a high range, tho sides and summit of which, when I pawd over it, were covered with about two feet of snow. Fiom tiii.i to TiuibreH's Gully the ro.rl is very he ivy, intersected by small ravines an I treaoher.ms bog B , to n\oid w'uch a considerable dttoui has to be midc. I was vain enough to imagine I hid discovered a short track, aud, in endoavi/iiu^ to follow it, found myself in a ravine, " 'moug^t d irksome rock-;, whence icicles dcponi!," iiU & further on managed to land the horse in a bog. up to the pars in .>uo\v and mud. As may be imagined, after this mishap I tjok care to follow whatever track I could fiud, being painfully aware of the fact that I had seaue'y bufn"ient time to try another Miort one

Iv Timbrell'*. G ally I found about GO men at work, engaged in sluicing. The first party I accosted (L\noo.isand mite-) were lour in lmmhc I',1 ', and had been on the field for about a fortnight. They stated the} coul ! make about 1.")-. a day per uiaii, but that the fro -it and miow had been scveic as frequently to prcK-nt th^ni lrom working. Moreover, they were or* opinion that it would require at least two day, of' the week to got timber, ..nd, a^ one of the party added, with a .^omowhat violent expletive, " It was no joke feeling through two !"cet of miow for iiccivood." I may here mention that tho timber obtainable is foiiiid 0:1 Highhy mo'mlnin, and alb ; in so.ne of tho gallics running from it. It appears to be a species of cedar, is about leu inches through, and Js fou • I at wide intervals lying on the gioand. It appcu-d to be pailially |ch-<neil, and ifiay either have be-on destroyed by iiie or by the growth of thick grass which feeds on and de^trovs the roots of tree-. I w.is informed, by ;i ;;jnMuni'in on Saxtou's station, that about four mil.-s on the other side of Hiirhlay from the diggings there was a quantity of bush with treos of a sufficient t'nekness to saw out a b ard a foot wide. Parson's party were hard at work when I visited them, and at my request kindly ran the shii'-e down in order to show me what kind of gold they were getting. They had scarcely turned on t!ic water when two pretty heavy spots about a quarter of a psiiny weight each, became visible. The How was immediately stopped, and I was thus unable to ascertain -vhat amount of fine cold might have been in the rillles, as the result of their day's work. I obtained from them a sample of the gold. It is rough and angular, and' has all the appearance of having been beaten out of quartz. Passing through the gully i came across various other pin ties at work, one of whom infbrmcJ me " it was no good, and ho intended to hook it" Another thought he ''could rub along," and believed there was gold in the gully, while a third, although very cAutious as to actual details, ollt'red me about 10 oz for s ile, but would neither say how long it had taken them to get It, nor whether they had obtained it fiom Timbreil's gully. The sample I saw was of the same description as that I received from Parsons and party.

Timbreil's Gully is very tortuous, is several miles long, and does not exceed 50 yards in breadth at the bottom. The sinking is very shallow, se (lorn exceeding five feet, through alluvial black soil, clay, and drift, composed of rounded pieces of slate, intermixed with a little quartz. The bottom is a soft, blue, sandy slate, containing large quantities of mica. There is not much thickness of wash-dirt, but those at work appeared to be putting through the sluice everything they could find in the shape of gravel, with the result I have before raentio ted.

Leaving Timbreil's by a narrow gorge, I proceeded, under the guidance of an obliging miner, to the quartz reef where Mr. Builoy has ta'Cen up his claim. There was no one at work on the reef; indeed, in many places it was covered with snow, but I managed to trace it ior over a mile. In some places tho reef is nearly three fl-rt thick, solid, and is what would be termed in Victoria " likely-looking quartz," but as no work has been done on it save the smashing of a lew bits on the surface, it would be foolish to attempt to determine the probable value of the discovery. I was _ informed by -various partiesth.it they had obtained gold from the reef, and I saw several specimens of quartz said to have been lnokwi trom it, containing t.pecs like pln-jiolnts. These I endeavoured to obtam from the miner, who had them in his possession, but as ho somewhat churlishly refused, and had " just a wee drop in his 'c" I gave up the attempt. The reef runs nearly north and south, and apparently has an underlay to the west, in my eagerness to follow it-, couioo, I quite fotgol the distance to be tra-vcllc-d before I could return to where I hud tied my iior.-i 1 , it being utterly impossible to get into '1 jiubreil's on hor.si.baek ; it got quite dark, and there' wys nothing le-fc but the pleasant piospect of peeing a nig.it among the snow* at an elevation of two th nisand feet above the level of tho sea. Fortunately, 1 managed to come ;>ci\;ss some tiiendly ui..ynn.n, and, with their assistance-, to pass through a somewhat miserable night. There w«s a e-oid, culling wind blowing from" the south-west, and but for this rencontre your correspondent might have been numbered among the Ihinsjs that were. By the first streak of dawii I was in the saddle, and, reaching daxton's, was hospitably entertained, and afterwards accompanied by a pei sen from the. station to the diggings in Deep Dell. Here I found collected at one some 7 or 8 tents, and was informed by the miners that there were over 100 people scattered up and down the ravine. As it is over 7 miles long, and in some places so crooked, that when you think there is no one at work, you suddenly come across two or throe tents, I have no doubt the number is lather under than over-estimated. Tho work going on here consists of washing the bed of the creek, which has been in some places turned for this purpose. The persons at work thought they could make wages, but I could extuict nolhimj definite from them, save that the gold was water worn, and differed cansiderably from that obtained in Timbreil's, and that they hud only come over to Deep Dell because they could not stand the cold in fhc former gully. Deep Deil lies considerably lower than Timbreil's, and is, therefore, wanner. ' There is a very raind stream of water running through Deep Dell. and the wash dirt is of the same dc+eription as that found iv Timbreil's. On ascending the only practicable opening by whii-h it is possible to get out of Deep Dell, I came across a well defined quartz reef. In some placet, it was over four feet thick, and was in ap l.iai.'uicc pieciselv similar to many of the auriferous reds of Victoria. Returning" to Waikouaiti, I met large numbers of diggers jill eager to obtain information as to the new gold fields. My replies to their queries I will now give, as it will enable me to narrate the conclusion at which I arrived, as to the difficulties of working and the probable uay able character of the Ilighlay gold field. In the fust place the road is, comparatively speaking, a good one for Otago,— tho distance

from Waikouati to Ilighlay is from 40 to 50 miles, and there are various accommodation tents at intervals on the tmek. These will have to bo made, for there is not a bush visible after you. leave Waikouati.

Provisions can be obtained at the various stations, aiirt there is a store already erected in TimhiuU's gully, in addition, I passed four drayheavilv laden with iirovisious and btoie.s.

Fncwood iscl'L.iimble with greht dilKculty ai»d loss of ti.ne, Iro.n the fact th.it the ground \< covered with snow. The weather, so far as I could judge of it, is intensely cold, freezing the tailings as they arc thrown from the sluice box into a solid mass, in an amazingly short time. Of the numerous character of the field, judging fiom the yields obtained by those on the Ili^hl.ty, lam most favorably hnpiessed. It Victorian expciiei.ee he worth amthinsjiu New Zealand, — which is perhaps doubtful — then the country .•uou.l.l Ilighlay is a more likely looking gold fie LI than cither Timpelca or Waitahuna.

Notwithstanding these favorable indications, no ■person oii';lu to co there who is not prepared to endure any amount ot hardship and stick to work, hiFtod of doing ni many ha\e done, take a look at the S'luW-clu'l mountains and then ictuni. Ir the spring, I h.ivc no doubt, tiie>e will be a large rush to lliu.i<iay, and that a permanent and payable gold iield w ill be developed.