THROUGH THE WANGAPEKA WITH A GEOLOGIST.

Colonist, Volume XXXI, Issue 5166, 20 March 1888, Page 3

THROUGH THE WANGAPEKA WITH A GEOLOGIST.

THB TADMOR VALIiET—-CONTIHUM. One oannot help being struck on flawing Colonial settlements, and especially the mor« remote ones, with the very great difference noticeable in the homes of people whoie oiroumstanoei and surroundings appear to be very nearly equal. I have often thought that in suoh places the home is an iudsx to the natural wealth of the locality as well s»s to the energy and brain capacity of the oacupant, and that being so', I should gay that the Tadmor possesses some excellent let tiers, and some who are either indolent or are muddlers. Some of the homes there are all that one could desire, comfortable cottages, neatly painted, with well kept gardens, indeed, just such homes as the majority of those in Nelson, but there were some otkers which I can only liken to cabins, with chimneys of mud and wood, and in whioh families have been reared and trained to be satisfied with an equal want of comfort. A very peasant eight was the bright schoolroom, through the open door of which a number of bright, healthy young faces were visible, and on our return journey, when we came through this valley earlier iv the morning,' we saw many of the owneis of these faces rising to school on their ponies, for some | have n good distance to travel, and oraek or stream to cro3s. The settlers of the Tadmor Valley are not merely dependent on theoaltle they can raise the agricultural produoe, for we have now got into ft widespread region where gold is disseminates with the du»t of the earth. A considerable amount of gold, in the aggregate, has been got in the Tadmor Valley; the diggings are not rich, bat a man cmn always get a. little gold, and several of the settlers now fill in their time by gold washing. A land where fruit grows* to perfection, whsre fras» i» plentiful, and crops of flora,

hops, and potatoes will follow the toil of the kusbandman, ia not to be despised, but as I havralready pointed out, the distance from market is a Serious, drawback. . However,Jthe pri^eiica of gold ia the soil jdst rriakes the' difference, for instead of oarting produce a long journey for a fewshillings, the settler can wash out gold enough to pay for a few stores, and it is comparatively little that a wan cannot raise on his own land. I have already alluded to the blue marly clay which exists in this locality, and no doubt my readers are aware that marly soils are gener* ally moist fertile, for as long back &i the time of Henry 111. it wai not uncommon in England to enrich soil by putting marl upon it, though now it is more customary to use lime, the chief fertilizer in the marl, alone. What I wish to point out, however, is, that where this blue clay ooours in the Tadmor and adjacent Talleys gold too is found, and therefore its presence is of triple importance, though the fact of its indicating the presenoe of coal is of the greatest consequence. After ascending the Tadraor Valley for a distance of some five miles, our road lies across the Tadmor river, a small stream which hitherto had been upon our right and mostly hidden from view, and at this point we noticed where alluvial mining had been tarried on. We then ascend the hill to a low saddle, over which is the SHEER* VAIiLBt. - Eight on the Saddle is an old miner's claim, and oa the other side, in the gully which runs down to the rear of Mr Phillips' house in the Sherry, are other mining claims. From the summit down there is still some good bush standing, though the owner of the land has been burning off as much as possible, preparatory to sowing down in grass, and making provision for sheep and cattle; The road we are now going down was made some eighteen years ago, I was given to understand, when Cullifords reef was going to convert every Nelson burgher into a bloated millionaire. The dream of the time has passed like other visions, but the road remains and continues in very good repair, though why, when a much better grade could have been got with less trouble and expense, the road* was' taken up and dowu, down and up, is a mystery to me. In a short time we reached tha home of Mr W. H. Phillips, owner of a large section of the adjacent sountry, as well as membar of the Waiuaea County Council and Upper Motueka Road Board, and them we said no more as to why the roads so far were well kept Mr Phillips is a very important member of a small community, for he is the storekeeper, then he is a Justice of the Peace, whilst as member of the County Counoil, Eoad B^ard, Education Board, &c, he has! his hands pretly full. At his establishment there ia also a Post Office and Telephone Station, of which Mr Phillip* is nominally the chief, but greatly as we were impressed with the importance of that gentleman, I am quit* sure my friend thought moif highly of his deputy when ha was handed a letter from home, from wkiek he had been absent some time. Having enjoyed the passing hospitality of Mr Phillips, we start on again, meeting a number of rosy faced school children just let loose from their books. Before descending to the level of the plain, we have some view of the Sherry Valley above where we enter it, but the smoky haze prevents us seeing very clearly. In the valley the grass is much more fresh than that in the Waimeas, and evidently the land is good. Passing through a gateway we soon approach the Sherry river, which runs between tolerably high clay banks on which some native shrubs grow. In times of flood the river, so far as we could judge, rises to nearly the height of these banks, whioh give the stream a muoh more pleasing appearanoe than the usual shingle beds with whioh bo many of the rivers in this put are usually bounded. On enquiring as to why the river gained its name, I was told it was because the color of the water was like that of the wine from whioh it was christened, but I must admit I saw little resemblance. We crossed tht river at the usual ford, but just abore it a suspension bridge of simple construction hag been stretched from bank to "bank for the con-venienca-of foot passengers. We have now reached the excellent run, or rather sheep farm, belonging to Mr Bodajrick M'Eae, of Richmond, and wall known &■ the Wangapeka Bun. In placet we still have n*ticad the blue marly clay of the ooal measumi where Bide cuttings have enabled us to see beneath the surface. The Sherry has for many years yielded good (old ,md while at periods more or less remote small rushes have set in, there are always some men obtaining the precious metal. PROSPKCTS OV THH TA.DMOB AND BHKItRY. . It will have baen noticed that the coal measures extend through tht Tadmor and Sherry, and no doubt this formation connects with that at the Baton, where seams of ooal are exposed. Away up the Tadmor, I was told that coal had actually been exposed, and there is every probability that a very extensive coalfield exists in this district, whioh ia little more than 40 miles from Nelson by road. With the Midland Eailway running from Nelson, through the Tadmor, to the Buller, the field would be brought within easy distance of a port, for the distance would not be so great as to. make the railway, freight on coal prohibitive. As the output of ooal increased, the freight would come down to the lowest payable limit, and as, even without harbor improvements at Nelson, vessels of considerable tonnage tsuld be loaded with despatoh, and would not be s»bjeoted to the delays which sometimes occur in ether places, the export of ooal would 100 a assnme large dimensions. Such a trade would, of course, improve the looal markets, and She settlers of the Motueka, the Motupiko, the Tadmor, Sherry, and adjacent valleys, woild share largely in the increased prosperity of the whole district. When one looks at the developments whioh followed the opening up of tha ootlfielda in the North of England, speculation ai to what would occur hero is almost boundleii, but one must not forget that very maay yean must necessarily elapse bafore there tan bo a vary large local demand for ooal for manufacturing purposes. Still, one industry bring* another, and with raady meant of transport to the shores of Tasman Bay, to tha Wast Coait towns, and through to Canterbury and tha whole south of the Island, supply and demand, while keeping pace relatively, would ipitdily grow apace. XMB WANOAPKA PLAIN. Mr M'Bae's run extends across the Wangapeka plain, aad embraces a largo area of really good country, indeed, the fine sheep browsing on the rich berbaf c as we pass, bear testimony to the excellent! of the pastures, aa well as to tha good judgment of their owner, who seizes every opportunity of improving his flocks, mora espaoially by the introduction of some of the best bred rams to bo obtained. Not f&r below whert wo cross the plains the Sherry joins the Wangapeka river, of which it is one of tke largest tributaries. For many milei down there ii a large expanse of broad alluvial flats bounded by terraces, but before tha Wangapeka joins the Ifotueka the flat land becomes contracted till the bills nearly meet tha river flowing betwaea them. Our course, however, ia upward, and aa we leave tht plain tht road is through bush, and close to the Wangapeka river, tht power of whioh is evident from the huge bouldeu and masses of water-rounded rocks between and around whioh the river swirls. The river is bounded on both side! byjbroken, bash-covered granite ranges, whioh extend up to about where the Dart flows into the main rivor. Our drive up the Wangapeka ia an exceedingly pleasant one, putting aside suoh amor discomforts as being jerked over a big stump at one point and being nearly pitched cut, a wheel having met this obstruction where only yielding climbing plants were visible, and bumping in another place over a shaky wooden bridge hastening to deoay. Nevertheless, the changing scene more than compensates for anyi thing Bbort of a real mishap. Between us land tha river the distance ia only to be measured in feet, but short &b it is, tht space ia occupied by luxuriant vegetation, and bo are the hilliidt and the small flats on our left, Ferns grow in profusion, and some of the most beautiful of the Ntw Zealand shrubs. Hare and there, too, we come upon a bush of/sweet brier, with its brilliant berries, and/then upon great masses of bramble bearing blackberries of such a size as we had not seen before, the moist climate and rich soil evidentfy suiting them well, I have called i attention to the presence of the brier and bramble more especially with a view to point out the danger whioh exists of these becoming an intolerable nuisance. Till now we had seen little of the brier—which hai beoomesuch a pest on the hilliidei near Nelson -7- after leaving the Motueka Valley, bat the blackberry has already gained a firm footing right through the district. It would certainly be wise if those interested would spend a little time and labor now in eradicating these rendered unprofitable. Proceeding along this

bush road, we no iced that soma clearing had bean done on the steep hillside on the oppobrambles, for otherwise they will find good land | site bank of the river, and, as we journeyed wa j tfrfofe to Jfencad flleaiinga on the side on which we were. This work, we found, had been dona by an energetic settler, Mr Rißkie, whose house we soon reached. Adjoining it is a fruit orohard, and the whole place down to the painted gates, shows not only that the owner had determined to carve out a borne for himielf in this o«t of the way valley, and that, by perseverance and labor, ha has snoee£ded ( but that be has gone to work in a most thorough and careful manner. A little later we crossed the river Dart, another tributary of tha Wangapeka, and arrived at our destination for the night, Mir Chandler's house. (To'be continued.)