THE CRUISE OF THE LUNA.

Otago Witness, Issue 1106, 8 February 1873, Page 1

THE CRUISE OF THE LUNA.

(BY OT7R SPECIAL REPORTER.)

TaTTTUKTT, WAIKAWA, SOUTHLAND COAL

Explorations, etc.

The Government steamer Luna, Captain Fairchild, left Dunedin on the afternoon •of Monday, 30th Dec, on a cruise to the West Coast Inlets, " via Bluff Harbour. Besides Dr Hector, F.R.S., and Captain Edwin, of the Marine Survey Department, a party of gentlemen interested in various branches , of scientific pursuit, accompanied the steamer. Your reporter, in the interest of such general information as the public may desire to have placed at its ■disposal, also joined the expedition. The Luna passed out at the Heads at 6 p.m. on the above-mentioned date, and, with a fine leading wind, shaped a course for the South. At midnight, she was off 3f olyneux Bay, with the fixed white light exhibited at the Nuggets Point full in view.

This important beacon, in moderately clear weather, is visible at a distance of 23 miles, and both by day and by night the situation is one conspicuous as a landmark for vessels making the coast from southward. At six o'clock the following morning, the Luna arrived off Tautuku, described by the chart as a sandy bay six miles in length. Although it is now entirely uninhabited, it was in early days a whaling station of considerable importance. From time to time the bay and its neighbouring "beaches have been visited by nomadic mining parties, and although fair wages are made by washing the sand heaps, the isolated position of the place prevents the pursuit expanding as it otherwise would do. Dr Hector landed and made a hasty survey of the secondary strata at a spot where it forms a headland, protecting the bay from the south, thereby affording a good landing place for boats. The strata, in green sandstone and slate, was found to contain ammonites and other fossils, similar to those which form the base of the series of stratified rocks on which the Waikawa coal seams are found resting. A river falls into the bay at' its western extremity. It is a rapid stream, sweeping over a bar which is left dry at low water. The land about this part of the coast forms a series of irregular hills, rising to an altitude of 1500 feet, with rounded outlines, diminishing both in height and ruggedness towards the northward. The timber growing along the coast line is small, and otherwise scraggy in appearance. Inland it is said to improve both as regards stature and rotundity. Only a very few parties have penetrated the country between this and Waikawa. It is said that a tracfe of open country has been discovered a few miles inland, along the banks of the river, but the report has not been confirmed. For saw-milling purposes, Tautuku looks a very suitable spot. Independently altogether of the boat harbour, there is an anchorage of from seven to nine fathoms, sheltered from westerly and north-westerly weather. The rapid extension of saw-milling pursuits in the Southern districts induces the belief that the attention of timber merchants will, before long, be profitably directed to this quarter. Having spent an hour on shore, Dr Hector and his companions re- embarked, and the Bteamer proceeded on its trip south. At 9 a.m., a landing was again effected on the coast, about 10 miles north of Waikawa. On this occasion, Mr Johnston, of Port Chalmers, who had been engaged sinking for coal seams in the Waikawa district, and whose reported discoveries have from time to time been notified in our columns, accompanied Dr Hector. The section along the coast for some miles north of Brothers Point was •examined, but no seams of sufficient purity, combined with thickness, were found to render the discovery one of importance. The formation in every respect "was found to be the same as that exposed by the bluffs in and around Waikawa harbour. Such being the case the subject ■may be said to have been at once dismissed, as the harbour would, as a matter of course, be by far the most favourable situation for development — the conditions being otherwise equal. At its base the formation consists of a very ccarse conglomerate, on which grey coloured sandstone and grits rest together with thin strata of clay and shale, in "which there are beds of a bright coal, varying from six to twenty inches thick, intermixed with submarine shale. These atrata are full of fossilised plants of the same description as those found at the Mataura Forks and Hokanui Mountains towards the north-west. The sandstone also contains fossilised trees of large size, much of which has been turned into fine jet coal. It tras from a fragment of this that Mr Johnston procured his best sample, and not from a seam of workable dimensions.

During the time Dr Hector was engaged making these observations, the steamer proceeded on to the Waipapapa Point, where Captain Edwin took soundingsfpracorrectedflurveyofthecoast. This

point forms the eastern extremity of Tois Tois Bay. It slopes gradually down to the sea from a mountain summit fourteen miles to the north-east. The Guide Book says :—": — " The sea breaks heavily at times five miles off this point in seven and ten fathoms ; it should therefore be approached with great caution." The special object Captain Edwin had in view was to discover the exact position of a reef supposed to exist about three miles S.W. by W. of the point. At the spot assigned to the reef Captain Edwin found seventeen fathoms, and from nineteen to twenty-six within a radius of half a mile. The steamer thereafter returned to Waikawa Harbour, where a few more soundings were taken ; the bottom of the harbour being found perfectly regular. Here Dr Hector, who had walked over the adjoining range from the beach outside Brothers Point, rejoined the vessel. The coastline between the Tautuka and Waikawa is both irregular and otherwise deeply indented. Chasland's Mistake is a bold outstanding cliff, with a high rock about a mile from the shore. It forms a provincial boundary for the extended district of Southland — whatever that phrase may mean. Between this and Brothers Point there are a number of beaches, all more or less auriferous. On some of these parties are at work, making good wages, so long at least as they command a plentiful supply of water. The beaches not occupied are what is called "spotted." Parties iave left ad interim for some reason or another, with the intention of again returning to work them. This temporary desertion may arise from a variety of causes. A scarcity of water during particular seasons of the year very often induces the miners to go elsewhere and take other employment until the dry season has passed. Other causes may exist, such, for example, as a " stand by" for the occurrence of a heavy surf, to sweep away the top stuff, leaving the black sand exposed. This process of " stripping " saves the miner a world of trouble. It prepares the ground, without any preliminary trouble on his part, for being passed through the sluice-box. Whatever the cause of absence may be, it is a well-known fact that these beaches have been wrought over and over again by the same men. They disappear for a month, or perhaps a year, but they invariably turn up sooner or later. Being what is known as "making beaches," when the sands get poor it is no uncommon thing to allow them to lie undismrbed until the gold gets time to accumulate. The different beaches are tolerably well supplied with huts, water-races, dams, and, in some cases, kitchen gardens, so that when the men return they have little or nothing to do but set in to work.

Waikawa is considered a good, passable harbour. It has three fathoms on the bar at low water. Its narrow entrance, however, is a great drawback. In the immediate neighbourhood of Waikawa the coast line decreases in elevation. Inside the bar there is a fine lagoon harbour, a considerable proportion of which is dry at low water. The Waikawa river is navigable for crafts of the whaleboat size some four or five miles inland. The Luna's boat was manned, and a trip was made some distance up. It is a tidal stream, in many places completely overhung with luxuriant timber growths. At low water, the channel is badly interrupted with fords and rapids. At high water, however, these obstacles disappear, and a wellladen whaleboat or a timber raft can go either up or down, its progress being facilitated by the flow or, as the case may be, the ebb of the tide. The bush on the river forms a belt of heavy timber, with a fine stretch of clear land beyond, leading through a succession of flats to the open country adjoining the Mataura. It is as far as the upper end of this timber belt, that the river is navigable. Both for agricultural and pastoral purposes, the "clear," as it has been named, seems well adapted. For the latter purpose it has been in use for years, the runs being used exclusively for depasturing cattle. There is a saw mill erected at the Waikawa, but for some reason it does not appear to do much good. Both as regards the raw material and its facilities for shipment, no place could be more favourably situated. The principal timbers are the pines, birch, ironwood, &c. Waikawa, as our readers are aware, has been selected as the site for a special settlement, but no 'action has as yet been taken towards giving effect to that purpose. The following morning (Wednesday, Ist Jan.), the steamer left Waikawa, and proceeded South. It was originally intended that Dr Hector should leave the vessel at Waikawa, and proceed inland to Southland. That intention, however, was abandoned, and he remained by the steamer until reaching the mouth of the Mataura, where he and a travelling companion landed. They proceeded up the Matauradn a boat for about 15 miles,, and thence on foot. Haying been wrongly, directed, they did. not reach their destina-

tion till the morning of the following day. In the meantime they got "bushed," and were compelled to camp out on the ranges for the night, without either food orshelter. At Seaward Downs (Southland) they met two representatives from a Southland Coal Prospecting Association, who pointed out the indications. On examination, it was found that at least one well-de-fined seam existed, extending over a considerable area, but unfortunately too thin to be worth the trouble of working. The formation in which this seam occurs is like that of the Waikawa. A similar seam has been found at the Tois Tois, where extensive underground operations have been made by Mr Brunton, C.E., on his own property, but as yet without profitable return. In reporting upon the merits of a seam found some considerable time ago in the same neighbourhood, Dr Hector describes it as belonging to the secondary coal formation. It is not, as was originally supposed, brown coal, but carbonaceous shale, the larger proportion consisting of clay. In that report, the following significant observation occurs :—"lt: — "It is probable that there are only a few inches of really good coal in the seam as indicated." That opinion, expressed some five or six years ago, has now been verified. Although this particular seam is to all appearance a failure, Southland is nevertheless a promising coal country. Samples obtained from the tertiary brown coal formation have been analysed. They are described as of a very superior quality. The report adds :—": — " All that remains to be done is to find the most convenient and accessible locality for opening a mine ; and, if worked cheaply, a demand for the coal is certain." In the meantime it is only necessary to add that the Luna, having landed Dr Hector at the Mataura, proceeded direct to the Bluff, where she remained until the morning of Friday, the 3rd January.