THE TERAWHITI GOLDFIELDS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 2779, 20 August 1883, Page 3

THE TERAWHITI GOLDFIELDS.

[FBOM OVa SPECIAL COBBESPONDBNT.]

Wellington, Aug. 17.

Now tint you have tho mining epidemic badly raging m Canterbury, and gold has become a general topic of conversation m that Icin'l of wcol, and corn, and talloir, and skint, it may, perhape, be interesting to your readers to hear something of our much-talked of gold* field hpre.

If tho reader will tilio the trouble to look at a imp, ho will find that Wellington is built upon a peninsula, bounded upon the east h) Port Nicholson, on the toulh and west by Cook Strait, and projecting into that stormy strip of water is Cape Torawhiti, unloved of s?a voyagers mindful of its terriblo tide rip. Xho whole of Ihe country between the Oily of Wellington and the Cupo is compose.4 of a series of excbtiiirply strep hills, succeeding c«ch other, range upon rar>ge, and trending generally m a north and south direction, co that m order to walk duo west from tho town one hat to alternately riso over steep bills and plunge into narrow and deep valley*, the progresi of tho wayfarer not being expodited by the bush, or which thcro is itill tome left. Tbe bills rise m Mount Ka-ka to cloie on 2000 feet, and m order that your readers may judge of their steepness, a hill cloie to Capo Terawhiti, upon tbe summit of which is the Rock Drill claim, is rapped with a trig, atation, which, though barely half a mile from tbe sea horizontally, ii 1500 feet above it.

The different claims are upon the ridge that runs cloie to tho sea, northward from Terawhiti Cape, and which forms tho wejtern barrier of the. Peninsula, and though only lomenineortenmilesfromthecivy ma straight line, necessitates a roundabout journey of sixteen or oighleen to reach them, and there is no road whatever. The claims, as I have said, aro situated along the western ridge of the Peninsula, and vary ia size from a dozon to forty acres. Tho Golden Crown claim, which has juet successfully crushed out come fifty tons of quartz, is situated right m the centre of the nest, whilo immediately around it are the Success, Wealth of Nations, Duke of Wellington, Phcenix, and other claims, and to the North and South of this cluster stretch away the others, 18 or 20 m all. Tbe theory is that tho golden reef runs more or lets parallel with tho top of tho hill, and it is thus hoped that by following its lino each claim contains a portion of tho coveted quartz. As, however, some of the companies have not jet so much as put a spade into tho ground, and others havo only scratched it, it ia far too early to give any reliable news as to what claims justify the present price of their shares, and which do not. It may, however, be looked upon as a kind of lottery. Any claim may strike the reof any day, as nothing s really known yet as to its direction, while it is pretty freely hinted that there is no reef at all, but only isolated blocks of quartz, tbe fragments of a onco existing reef that has been smaehed up by tbo powerful volcanio action to which tbo particularly rugged face of the country owes ita formation. That Uiero is quartz, however, m more places than ono ii an undoubted fact; tbat it contains gold m payable quantities has also bean proved, tho Golden Orown having crushed out inoro than any of the Reef ton claims with the exception of the Welcome mine, the shares of which are now standing at £7 ss, while Golilen Crowns are only about 18». The present price of tho shares m other mines is, however, simply absurd, being m many cases five hundred per cent premium on the amount pairt up, and is entirely tbo result of speculation for the "jump." Should any mine strike a reef its shares will naturally rise to a purely fancy price, and it is the bopo of that, that makes them so high now. The prioe is also somewhat due to the fact of the Civil servants going iv very largely as speculators. Civil servants, to judge by their actions m this matter must have a considerable number of loose five pound notes and a vory large Block of credibility. Nothing olso will account for what must otherwise be considered m many cases raih speculation. And hero let me add a word of what is really wisdom to South Canterbury speculators. Be satisfied wit h a moderate profit ; sell out when you cau get that ; put your original outlay back into tbo Bunk, and you have tlio remainder left to gamble with. Not only is quartz found on the western tide of the peninsula, but a large and well defined roef has been found abutting on Wellington harbor itself, about three miles north-east from the town, from which great hopes are entertained, and I understand that no expoose of money, time, or experience is to be neglooted to havo it properly tried. I fancy the truth about this Terawbiti goldfield is tbat there is a reef or reefs m existence, but that they have not yet been discovered, and that it will take many thousands of pounds and much time before steady returns are obtained.