The Otago Witness. DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, MAY 2.

Otago Witness, Issue 1170, 2 May 1874, Page 17

The Otago Witness. DUNEDIN, SATURDAY, MAY 2.

There are several million acres of waste lands in this Province that remain in their primeval state, utterly neglected, contributing nought to our exports and revenue, and towards the opening and developenient of which comparatively nothing has been done. Not a track nor a survey line has been cut through almost any portion of it — the miner has never had a favourable opportunity of roaming through this wilderness for the purpose of prospecting its rivers and creeks; the squatter has only taken up a few isolated patches on its outer parts, for pastoral purposes ; and the kiwi and kakapo still wander by night through its forests with the same impunity irom danger as when Captain Cook first sailed into its harbours. It need scarcely be said that we refer to the South-west Coast of Otago. From the mouth of the Waiau to the entrance of the Hollyford, a seaboard of over two hundred miles in length, not a white man has a residence ; and although the coast line is indented with magnificent harbours, no attempt has been made at settlement, save the survey of the township of Dingwall at Preservation Inlet, and the unfortunate experiment at Martin's Bay. The Suunds swarm with fish of excellent quality, that can be caught in abundance ; the hill sides and valleys are clothed with timber of valuable varieties, badly needed for the construction of our public works ; while coal, copper, and other valuable minerals are known to exist in this unexplored waste. Several years since Dr Hectob gave as his opinion the probability of another alluvial goldfield being found west of the Waiau River, in continuation of the one on the Longwood Range ; but the opinion has never been tested. And less is known of the auriferous character of this country than of Ohinimuri or Tuhua. The prospecting of this portion of our Provincial estate by private enterprise would be a cosily undertaking — a work requiring much time and the careful selection of first-class men. To make the attempt by going inland from the "Waiau would be impracticable, there being no means by which provisions and tools could be trans- 1 ported save on the shoulders of men 3 The only feasible plan would be for a party with a whaleboat to form a depot for their provisions in one of the central Sounds, and by the use of their boat wander from one Inlet to another. Inland, the rivers and creek beds would answer the purposes of roads. The safety of such a mode of exploration is proved by the Maoris' from Wakapitu yearly making sealing excursions in open boats, as far north as Cascade Point. This piece of country cannot, as many suppose, from looking at the map, be overrun from either the Te Anau or the Manipori Lake. The fiords of the Te Anau are only a few miles from the heads of the Northern Inlets, a high range of mountains separating them ; while the western arm of Manipori cannot be more than twelve or fifteen miles from the head of Doubtful Sound. It is to the south of Manipori where any auriferous discovery will probably be made, and where the largest portion of this block of available waste land is to be found. The discovery of gold in this district would obviate the necessity of the formation of special settlements — the only mode, apparently, by which we can hope to get this portion of the country peopled. Open land, adapted for grazing purposes, it is asserted by the Natives, can be found west of the Lakes Monowai and Howloko, to reward the explorer, could he obtain a right of preemption for his discovery; and most probably valleys a3 well adapted for settlement as the Hollyford would be discovered that would repay the Province for any outlay it may incur in ascertaining the character of this terra incognita. Special settlements have formed in the North Island with success, in districts possessed of fewer advantages than this portion of Otago, y«wr iwwftd, to » basely wooded, 4i*

trict, without harbour communication or the food the sea ever provides for those who live on its Bhores, Scandinavians, and those who have come among us under the auspices of the Colonisation Aid Society, have commenced forming homesteads and adding to our revenue, while we allow a portion of our Province larger than Hawke'a Bay or Taranaki, to remain unpeopled and unexplored. There seems no hope of any amendment in this matter. By the decision of the Waste Lands Board all our timbered land is prohibited from sale, or lease, only at a heavy rent; and although we have to send to Oregon and Western Australia for sleepers on which to lay our lines of rails, and the General Government offer a handsome bonus for the exportation of cured fish — for the curing of which these Sounds offer exceptional advantages — proposals to form a special settlement, by private enterprise, in this locality, meet no favourable response from the Provincial Government. The liberal land regulations that were in operation at Martin's Bay extend not here, and pioneers of a new undertaking are not allowed any • exceptional privileges, which they might reasonably have expected in the carrying, out a new and costly experiment, New kinds of industry will be requisite when the bulk of our public works is completed, to employ our increased population ; while scores of families would be found eager to make homes for themselves on our South West Coast, were inducements offered them. The struggling vitality of the Martin's Bay settlement abundantly confirms the above statement. Although having no communication with the rest of the Province by land, and only over a dangerous bar by sea, the settlers there, despite hunger and neglect and privation, have in many instances stuck resolutely to their allotments ; and had the settlement received that fostering care it was intended, the number of its residents would have now been quadrupled. It is impossible to forecast the results of the opening of this piece of neglected country. Kawhia and Aotea harbours have long been coveted by our colonists in the North Island as a means of opening up a portion of their West Coast ; and probably, wei c our western sounds inhabited and held by a tribe as resolute as the Ngatimaniopoto, we should as eagerly wish for their possession as the people in Taranaki hunger for the Mokau, or those at Alexandra for Kawhia. It is probably because we have secure possession that we are so supine. The Provincial Council during the ensuing session will do well to give this subject its earnest consideration.