STEWART'S ISLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 1582, 18 March 1882, Page 15

STEWART'S ISLAND.

Professor Ulrich, who has been' on a visit to Stewart's Island for the purpose of making an examination regarding its mineral resources, returned to Dunedin a few dayß ago, and having prepared' his report . on . the matter hns forwarded it to Mr Pearson, commissioner of

■ Crown liands, Invercargill. ' The Professor first of all visited the goldfield reported to have been discoverer] ».fc Pegasus Bay, and hero oa akind rftoWsiaud •' He' saw specimens 'of somewhat shotty 1 gold obtained by sluicing on.the surface, and aooordinsr to appearances sufficiently payable. Ab showing the faith in.the prospects of the field held by the discoverer, Mr Longwood, we may mention "thaTthaf 'gentleman has already purchased 50 acres of land in the, vicinity, but, of Oourse.haßth'egroundasnotbeenproperlytested, nothing definite as toits resources can be stated. Traces of gold h%ve, however, .been discovered throughout the' valley and all over the upper portion, where it expands to a great extent, f teaching -.baok to, the thifkly^poded hills. 1 Well-defined lines of quartz also exist, but the erotlnd 1 has not been tested below the surface. Themain reefs may therefore be supposed to t lie in, the; ridgea enclosinepthe upper end of the extensive valley. The Professor recommends the prospecting of the ground to a considerable extent, .but, to, do, this thoroughly will involve ■tt'laHje expenditure, especially m the case of the ridges, in which the main reefs probably ' exist, btft which are rendered almost inacces- • eible^ra consequence ■of the country at that o particular place bejng covered with dense "it Pbrt'WilUam, where, it will be remem. f 'bered/the discovery of a fairly-rich quartz-reef was reported Borne time ago, the Professor also . landed for -the purpose of making an examinav 'kibri *ut' as the tunnel which had been dnyen into'the & ree& had fallen in, there was unfortunately no opportunity of testing the stone. '- Wtdm the reports presented, however,, of the vi Weia of ithei stone land circulated ■••at the time ( when the -tunnel .was made— if , such be correct —he is of opinion that the driving should be further continued, so that the reef may be properly opened up and the stone tested. We must say that the statement, of the , prospectors with'regard to the represented character 6f the 'stone 1 certainly appears somewhat inconsistent with the condition in which the tunnel at present lies after so much labour has been 'spent upon it. Professor Ulrich also examined the sand hi the neighbourhood— a black ironsand-r-in which traces of gold were clearly visible. There is consequently a prospect of fairly-payable results being ' obtained, but nothing sanguine is yet held forth regarding the discovery of gold on the island, beyond the fact of its being traced . over a large area ; and the main point of interest centres in the probable fact of highly-payable quartz existing \n the neighbourhood, only to be revealed after aome trouble and expenditure in prospecting. The field" may thus hold forth some induce*>t to energetic prospectors. >

The report that copper ore had been found is wholly incorrect, the only signs being the stone here and there coloured green by the ;-jn£Soflce<of.a very small quantity, of carbonate of copper. ' One of the most important suggestions made by '•Professor tHrjch is that .there is a great , probability of ,tin ore being found on the 1 island, as, among other observations, the moist peculiar one was that the formation resembled with remarkable closeness that of the tm country in Tasmania; and this Bhould aißo prove a strong inducement to speculators and others so'interested to .take, measures to carry out a thorough syfstem of prospectmg for this mineral. "'- s- '.■■-•■ -•' „'<■', ,