SEEKING GOLD AND DEER

Taranaki Daily News, 11 September 1934, Page 11

SEEKING GOLD AND DEER

LIFE IN SOUTH WESTLAND. MR. ALLAN A. CRON’S ACCOUNT. An account of gold prospecting and deer culling in South Westland and views of the amount of damage that can be attributed to deer, were given by Mr. Allan A. Cron, says the Christchurch Press. Mr. Cron, who, after three • years at ’ St. Bede’s College, has spent many years in the South Westland district, is at present on a holiday in Christchurch, and is' spending part of his time in training as an aviator.

Mr. Cron’s activities have been centred in the region of 'the, Haast River, some 80 miles south Of the Fox River. There he has assisted on his father’s farm, engaged in gold prospecting profitable enough to produce a double figure return for the week, and culled deer on his father’s and adjoining property. Tall and tanned, Mr. Cron was emphatic as to the healthy nature of "the hard out-of-door life to which he had become accustomed, and spoke . with much force on the subjects in which he is particularly interested. DESTRUCTION BY DEER. “Deer certainly are destructive to grass and small shrubs,” said Mr. CrOn, “but they are not as bad as they are made out to be. According to the Government, one would think that the bush would be killed out shortly by them. This is,, of course, wrong.' What they do kill is of no use to anyone. Those employed by the Government have advanced theories. One is that the deer form deep tracks ’ on the mountain sides, so causing slips. - Another is that they destroy tire moss which, acting as a sponge, holds the water; this sponge being no longer there, streams form, which cause slips, the rivers are bafiked up in consequence, and floods are caused. These arguments are absurd; there is little moss on the ground, though there is much on the bush itself, and in any case it would not act as a sponge. Also, it is to be- remembered that the first deer seen in the district was in 1914.” The country, continued Mr. Cron, is beech country, fairly open, and with little undergrowth. The Government had thought this to be due to the deer, but actually it was as thick as it ] -d ever been. Mr. Cron admitted seeing some’ trees that had been killed by deer, through their barking the trees while polishing their antlers. The Government had had parties culling in the district for the last two years. Mr. Cron’s was a private enterprise, the deer skins being sold to the Government. GOLD OBTAINED. Gold was obtained by Mr. Cron by using, the copper plate method. A copper plate, four feet by two and a half, is fixed to a table and cleaned with cyanide of potassium. Mercury is then placed on the plate. A wooden frame, with a flat top, is constructed, the copper plate going into this at an angle. On top of the frame is a box of water, and attached to it another for the sand. The water washes the sand on to the copper plate, the sand passing off and the gold adhering to the mercury. This work was carried out on the North Haast beach. The sea, washing away the opposing bank, carries off the light sand and haves the heavy black sand and gold. “I lived in a tent,” said Mr. Cron, “cooking my own food. Supplies came from Hokitika by a small boat the Gael, which puts in at Okuru, nine miles south of Haast. The Government steamer, which makes its round of the lighthouses between Bluff and Hokitika every three. months, does not call.” “The tent,”- continued' Mr. Cron, “has to be rolled up daily to prevent the keas from tearing it. The kea certainly does kill sheep. There may be only one killer in a flock of them, but that one will act as leader. They attack the isheep only when there is snow; the. kea is then short of food, and the sheep | helpless. On Makaroa station, just over ■ the Haast Pass, at the head of Lake Wanaka, they have been most destructive.”