Professor Ulrich's Report.

Otago Witness, Issue 1645, 2 June 1883, Page 19

Professor Ulrich's Report.

The following i.i the conclusion of Professor Ulrich'a report on the Mount Bengor District:—

The' si cond or centr.il small lake basin liej a mi'e south of Kox.burj,'b, ami is ca, 1-jil " Hercu es Plat." It is filled throu K 'h'.u!; with lover torracu drir'r, and its size e\eeedß hard.y half a xuilo i-quare Tho river enters it at tho north-east corner, and, traversing it diiunnally, leave lit at Che south-west cornor. The third aid latest lake ba-in stret-hss southward from (he southern rock banier of theH -rcules i-lat; t-asin to a considerable distance bolow the townshi > of EUrick, from where tho Clutha Kiver has worked out a narrow rocky ehannol through the ranges towards the Boaurnout. I s total length is betweon 11 and 12 miles, and it. wide.ism the upper pa>tt > over four miles, but contracts l>«low Btr.rick g aduaily to less than half a milo in width. Elevated terraces ot older drift are only visi lo frinuinj; the foot of the ranges in the wide part of the liasin, the remainder of the area uoin.r ociupied by lower torrace deposits tb.it form extens-ive flits on hoth side-t of the Clutha Hi vor. fhe-elflats are called by local n imes at follow : — •in ius aide of river, Andor-on s *F!afe, commencing b low the Dumbarton Rick (an outlying rock of the southern banie. of the Hercules KUtbwn , and extendinjf about f ur mida-haif n.ile* south— widih in puts, ah 'tit two miles; Mill r's Flat, next below Ande bo I's—aboir. seven miles long and up to one mile wide ; nn oast bide of river, Mua Fiat - about five miles lonjf und up t j three miles wide. It is of jntercbt to noio .hat in too wide part of the bibin there mi doubt exi-t-, simitar to fcha in the v..per large ! ako bd>in, a deeper trough that is oixupied i y older fci riii j' dip :j.it-<. Tnii is evidenced by tho fnct thai north oi Xt ri' 1; tV 1 >uvr ttr ace. drift rests forsome distance on b In i auks ot ilia livui on a Mmilar sandy yellow clay to tint, at Coal Ureek, whll»t along the re•niiindcr of iho river couii-o tne bottom counts of mi tatnorphic reck. It is a que tion of importance to tne district, and theref re worth testing by bo ing, whethor the clay noes not here also, a in the upper luke I asln, enc o-o aso-irn of workai le brown coal. With re<ard to tho anr forous capibili ies of tho two teriac-s drifts, they hive bf en te ted to only a very limited txtont ; in f .et tho older drift has n where us yet been Wurkod, th u>,'b, I,'oid hat been found in it in at ioa-.t, o c place, namely the riccco .rse fUt near Koxbnrgh, on digging holes for fence p i-ts Jud.ing from it-i character I have no doubt that it contains g >ld throughout, and the fact of it-i n"t having hitherto been worked seems to me partly owing to tho great expense of brin.-ing sufficient water to bear on it for Blnicinfr, and partly to m isfc of the high terrac;- 1 md being priva r e property and under cultivation. The lo»er te raCn drift has throughout the combined lengths of the ihree Jake iisin* been worked for comparatively only a short di-t'inre from the river'w edg« -in the average for not mote than five to mx chains. This -ac 1 ; would seem at lir-t i-i-ihr. to augur very unfavourably for tho payable aurife ous character of the extensive drift areas hti i lying untouched. However, its true oxp.anation is that since tho early times of the goldfleid tho number <-f worUi'ig miners has greitly dimi'ii-hed and uotiNihts at praxenc only of ft (muted number of paitos who, by owni'ir water-race-., can woik tho drift to a'lvant<ge by B>uioinij. And an examination of tho claims in couri-e of bei^g worked revtals the fact th.it nearly all lio in placet) wn> re the bottom rock » long tho idgeof tho river shows tho existence of either broad ii'dentatiorjs and gntteru, or of unmistakeabto old nvur ohanno a which run into the flats, and the bottom of which is in mot ea.-03 conhiderahly lower than the surface of the water in the rker when at low level. One of the old river . hauue's running: into Benger Flat, can, for i>ista>ico, be seen hi the claim worked by Mr Manuel ; whilst in Teviot *lat, in tho c'aim of Wintosh and pa ty, another ol I channel of very promising character ia disclosed at tho end of the workings—a distance of about 400' yardo from tho livey'n edue. Tho bei.d of this latter channel ou either side of the workings into tho flat ha* not as yet bien determined. Considering these facts io connection with the fact that along both banks of the river in all the lake basins there nro numeroui indications of the exiatiiiice nf gutters and eh imel« Muiilur to 111 1 so just, noticed, an the courso or" rtJiiuh in o a .d ihr-Miun the flan is quite a nmtter of uncvrtiii ity. I am uirb o t" p lint out <my forcsou of lower driit tmi'»cf> flits, as nut being piyab'j' nurifeiom nn lei present woiking conditi uja seiie^t of i;|.-e y-adj >imnsr tri>i) ohmta • ft'i "»>ly determ'no tl W poi'iS . but l r ijpcciivu of tho-e i>oui>t toooxpen«i\p, it. iiiii^t bo ri'inemhored lha v>h»6 miy not p%y by common sdu,ati£ may do so by tho hjdrau.ic procesi, wh eh hi r i not its jo; t-eeii introduced into tho dktrict. 1 hereforv if I were asked the qaet-f ion whethor, mtlKnrc injury ttj the mining: uitterrtft of tire distrir/t,

any portion of the several low torraci? flatn flt for ngil cuittiremightbeso'd(larj;o |virtioiw. f «h eh a,w iiulexd tinsuitahie for tlii-ipuriio.se, us the ifiavei shows lijrliton tne s irface), I ch'-uld curtunly a:i-wer no. It is an imoorta. t lact that, on account, of il o manner 111 whlh iho drift w rl.iiu'» lw"o to b.- cun.don, tho land is rendered tot-)K v lueliss, and it w.juM tlioie-fo-e ofrt\in!y bo :id>is.vbli' 111 1 niiUe in • <>r are is t-nic ttblo for anicultnral pur. osua at Ww-t a> loiu iis tho, are not rtqniiedf >r mining, whicn maiv i • casei be f >r many j'e.trs to come The ho«t w.ty this could b« doi>e would be by allowing tho land to be taken up und-.r permanent leas-oat a I w yoaily i-enia', Imohubjccli to ltsh.ivin<to be burrcixieteii to thu miner on reciipt o compensation f r imprjvcinonM and tho right on the part of th» Kase ownir to take an interest in the mieiidtd niininir vtntu o 1' In- duoirn Thi> is, to mr Unowlidgo, the hw aoo,iteil 'ii Viotnria, ;vid it is tho hanio alvi in Oe nnny, «i h Itw <)uier<w,u On'y, that t< ac ihe land is ab olu" y sold but ImbtT bo givon up if ie<|iiired for itiimnir. In c ncluiian, 1 mixv bu pctmittcd to point out that, a i-pccial to.oL'tapliicnl and j;e logie'l »uney o' the poition . i the tluthft Valley ii«>i:iii>cd woulu h, t not only of i-centifij iuttrett, bus also of great p.actical \aluu ta tin. tuboi'.