THE RUSH TO THE DART.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1775, 11 August 1888, Page 3

THE RUSH TO THE DART.

Interest or excitement once let on foot anent a Dew gold field or "ruih " there is no •atisfying the thirst for partioulari, there being mrao danger cf even the reporter Hmself biirg curried off by the fereriih puliatioud of the oooasion. The following aridi ional particular! are furnished chicly fur the be->ffi L , of those who are, or may be, about to j >in in the rueh t There are two routes, both nearly equally practicable, to the new field from l he head of Lake Wakatipu. The one from Kinlook is possibly the shortest, but thafe haying Glenorohy for it* starting point is undoubtedly the lafeit. The two plaoes mentioned lie on the oppoiito shores of Lake Wakatipu. The GLnorohy route offers a good dray road—in fact, a oarringe roadfir the greater part of the distance and avoids seme of the most dangerous fords of the Dart river, while the Kinlook route ia via a pack traok, and is pretty rough at that, and a greater number of crossing* o? the rirer. A c •tile track, ending near the lover wot kings, was out through some of the worst country by Mr Wei'burn many years ago, and has d- w been oleared from the rank growth of tutu and other rcrub by the Ohinere, who are working in the timbered pat of the river about 10 or 12 miles from Glerjoroby. The European miners ere said to be 20 miles further up the rirer, but distances in th se rough regions, so difficult of aoceis, are not easily judged, and theterm" a day's journey" would convey, perhaps, a clearer idea of the dislanoe thau any s' aliment in milei. The Europeans are working in dear country, where scrub for fuel ia a»yail»ble. Bo much for the roads and distances. As to the gold, ib may be mentioned that ibis of a rough and coarse nature. Two parties of Chinese are working in the river bed, and a party of tiro Europeans are tepor ed to have been making £4 or £6 per woek per man on a tcrrioe probably 10 or 12 miles further up stream, so thit god has been proved to exist over a considerable stretch of the river, and in the river bed *s well as on the terraces. There a-e not many tributaries falling into the Dart river below i.s upper part, commencing, say, where the Europeans are woiking. The country is mica ohist reck, hornblende occurring in large blocks near the bead of the valley, wbioh is shaded on the north-east by the stupendous ramifications of Mount Barnslaw, upwards of 9000 ft high. The best time for going to the valley is approaching, as in November and December the river is flooded and the upper part of the vt-l'ey next to inaccessible, lc was only last year that two men were got out at the imminent ritk of the reioueri. Snow still li-if in all the higher portions of the valley and in moat of the tributaries.

The previous and present accounts comprise all the availible information up to date, and are compiled from my own knowledge of the locality, and from other reliable sources. It must bedistiotly understood that I advise no one to go to the rush, and indeed it would be too muoh to expeot me to act as any one's private fortune teller. That gold exists in the valley I know from my own experience, but in what quantities remains to be proved, and tha valley and its brunches are of sufficient extent to give employment for hundreds of miners, if not more.—Correspondent Otsgo Daily Times.