THE GOLD COUNTEY SOUTH OF HOKITIKA.

Colonist, Volume VIII, Issue 794, 6 June 1865, Page 3

THE GOLD COUNTEY SOUTH OF HOKITIKA.

THE WANGANUI, HOKARITA, AND

SOUTHWAED,

The following communication is from Mr. H. G. Hankin, of Hokitika, whohasjust visited these districts to which we alluded in our last. The letter is addressed to the West Coast Times, from which we copy it: —

" I have just returned from a trip to the southward of Hokitika, and as any matter bearing upon the mining interest invariably receives the support of your journal, I feel it a duty to submit any information that may benefit the mining community through that medium. My travels extended as far as the Waikukupa Creek (distant, I believe, some seventy miles south of this town), in which I obtained a very fair prospect, but was prevented from thoroughly testing the locality from want of provisions and the wet weather combined.

" It is needless to particularise anything bearing upon the general features of the country on this side of the Wanganui River, it having, I believe, been subject to a very close examination by the miners in the vicinity. I will, therefore, begin from that river; and in passing, may mention that provisions can now be obtained there at very reasonable prices, taking into consideration the cost and trouble of packingflour being one shilling per lb., and other stores in proportion. I may also state that Mr. J. Murray, the enterprising storekeeper, has supplied a boat for crossing the river—a great boon to travellers. " The rivers appear to be from six to ten miles apart, none of them very large, with the exception of the Hokarita (the fifth river south of the Wanganui), which has a very good entrance and good shelter on the inside, with from 8 to 10 feet of water at high tide. It would be a good position for a store, being distant about 30 miles from the Wanganui. From that point the country changes, and assumes all the gold-bearing features of the Wakatip district (i.e., elate wash, and an abundance of quartz), a true index of the existence of gold in or about the vicinity. Gold was obtained by a party of three in the Waikukupa Creek, during my stay, equivalent to £1 per diem ; and I have no hesitation in stating that much better prospects could be obtained were men in a position to devote more time to prospecting the neighborhood, but the absence of provisions retards the development of (in my opinion) a very rich and extensive gold-field."

The Customs duty collected on imports at the Port of Hokitika from the 13th to the 27th inst. amounts to £1481 Is. 3d. The total West Coast gold on which duty has been paid at this Port since March 21—or ten weeks—is 38,744 ozs., giving a duty of £4843. Besides which, since January Ist, more than 8000 ozs. have paid duty at Nelson —giving a total yield of not less than 46,744 ozs. in the first five months of 1865, during half of which period the number of diggers was not above 3000. — West Coast Times, May 31.

A parcel of 12£ onnces of gold was lately seized upon a person named Antill, on board of the Miskin, just leaving port. As he pleaded ignorance of the law, and stated his intention to pay the duty at Nelson, the strict letter of the law was not carried out, which subjects the offender to fine and forfeiture ; but he was allowed to retain his property on payment of the export duty. It cannot be too widely known that the law does not allow gold to be taken from the port under any circumstances unless the same is declared and duty paid. Any infraction of this rule will entail the inevitable consequence of forfeiture, and a heavy fine to boot. — Ibid. Progress of Hokitika Township.—The West Coast Times of 31st May has the following : —" The town of Hokitika assumes daily larger proportions, and while a month ago it was limited almost to a single street, now it has developed into a dozen, and thore are signs of its increasing still further. The influx of business people and progress of building have not occupied a fiftieth part of the .available allotments ; and yet, with all this addition of building ground, the difficulty of finding a site is as great aa ever. New coiners, or merchants desirous of erecting larger premises or forming a branch house, look iv vain for a vacant space on which they may commence operations : the word ' Eegistered' stares them in the face at every turn, and if they require ground they must pay for it, for it is all taken up. That this is a result merely of a demand for land is out of the question, for few care about entering-into great expense till the Hokitika gold-fields are more developed ; but the true reason is the ' fatal facility' with which land can be held for an indefinite time at a merely nominal rate. A man has a business license: he takes a section, puts up a tent, and lives in it, thus holding that allotment. He then takes another and gets its registered, on the same license, and watches his opportunity to sell one or both. Others take half a dozen sections on as many licenses, and get them registered as long as they please, or till they can see an opportunity to sell them. The rule which limits registration to twenty days is a mere dead letter here, for we know ofseveral sections that have been registered for a couple of months, and in all probability will contiuuo so for the same period longer. No questions appear to be asked if the necessary fee be paid ; and thus while some half a dozen cormorants hold the majority of the best business sites in the town, the honafide improver—the man who would build if he could get a tolerable site-—is debarred I from obtaining his right unless he choose to buy at an exorbitant, or at all events, a high price from monopolising harpies. If Mr. Sale would insist upon building being commenced and continued within tho twenty days, at farthest, and decline to register for a longer time, it would soon put matters on a. level; but while the present system of favoritism and partiality—we use the words advisedly—continues, so long the abuse wo complain of will exist, and the town present the appearance of a piece of land in a state of mild eruption—just one building here —another a mile off, and the rest a mere waste, with the exception of such evidences of civilization as the boards bearing the word ' registered' present, glaring from nine-tenths of the sections in Hokitika. Those who may feel inclined to doubt tho correctness of our remarks, or who censure our warmth on the subject, may amuse themselves with taking a turn round tho quay, Weld-street, Sewell-street, Fitzherbertstreet, and others, and try to find an allotment above water that is not registered or 'occupied,' and compare them with the number of buildings erected, in course of erection, or of which signs exist that they ever will be erected. Thenlet them fancy to themselves the injury likely to accrue to the town by suoh a pettifogging system of land-jobbing or swindling—for it is the same thing; and ask themselves should not that man deserve the thanks of the community, through whose culpability such system is practised P"