THE BULLER RIVER

Otago Witness, Issue 567, 11 October 1862, Page 2

THE BULLER RIVER

(I'KOM THK OANTBIUJURY PRESS, 20TII SFPTEMBEU.

(To the Editor of thr Press.)

Sir, — T beg to hand you an extract from a letter which I have just received from my sun from the Buller River. It will be in the recollection of your lo.uler^ tliat he, with hi e . brother, left Canterbury in July 1-ibt, with the intention of exploring the \Vf-st C )ast, and for which purpose they chartered the schooner Ada, 30 tons. The inftinnation which his letter conveys is, I consider, ofsuffiuent public importance to be made kno.vn through your columns, if only for the purpose of aoqiuiinting the public with what is doing on this coabf, in tiio way of developing th»j resources of a district in which the people of this province have considerable interest.

I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, J. OLLIVER.

"Iliver Buller, Nelson' Province,

•' August 8, 1852. "My den* Fafher, — On Tue day last, we were some distance past this river to the southward, but a S.W. sale, in every smse of tbe teim, comp'-lleJ ua to return to Capo Foulwitid for shelter. There we found that even under its lee, the sea was running so heavy that we decided to attempt the bar of the Buller, a rather hazardous stup, as none of us knew the river. Tub was nlwut 2 p.m., the tide was at its highest at 5 p,m , and we had plenty of time to run i'o\vn and survey from the main-top the entrance. I need say nothing further, than at o p.m. we got on every Suitch ot sail tho vessel would bear to carry her over, in. ca-se of bumpinir, and with, a'l hands at staiorw made, a mo^t successful entrance.

To our burprise we found Ihe place thickly populated with digufei'3, Maoriia, &c, and stores and hotels in canvas aU around. The diggers are doing very well -want of provisions is the great drawback-. How ileeply I regreLtecl not luivi- a brought, as I ilrst suggested, flour, Sec, it is selling- for L3O a ton, and other stores in proportion. The coast dig?^inos are 12 miles from the Buller, and the yield is very heavy, the gold is nuggety, the ground is covered with boulders, aud they have to be blasted to enable the diggers to mi'sh the face of the rock, on the hill side, where the gold is found. One nugget shewed to us weighed 13 oz, and is worth LSO. A digger also shewed us a bag of nuggets weighing in the aggregate GO oz. The Buller iliver Diggings are ten miles from hero but though only that sliort distance, the communication is solely by water, and the mean 1 ' of navigation aiD from necessity limited to canoes. For three miles ti e channel is very fair, though the current is very swift; after that waterfalls and races follow in rapid succession, compelling the voyageurs to track the cargo. The ten miles tnke three days iv ascending. The gold obtained is fine in quality, and scaly, but tho yield is regular— 2oz. per man per week, in some cases more, and no instance has been known ot a less return. The only drawback is — want of provisions. One party returned to-day who had beui twenty-five miles up Ihe river, aud living on flour and water alone for twenty days. ** * The country, at the head of the Buller, cun be reached from Canterbury by the track cut by the occupier of some Nelson country on the Grey. We could uot venturo up this way, twelve men having been drowned making the ascent of the river.