THE BULLER AND GREY VALLEYS.
EOUGH NOTES OF AN OVEELAND JOUENEY. (by a correspondent.) On leaving Westport on a visit to the Upper Buller there are two roads which the intending traveller may take. The first is by boat to the Landing, or, at high water, ho may go as far up the river as Snag Ealls, and thereby evade some of the worst parts of the road. The second is by crossing to Packers' Point, and proceeding thence along the Pakihis to the Junction Hotel, where the road up the Buller turns off to the left. The road thence to the Ohika is pretty good. In some places it is grown over by a pretty close scrub, but for an outlay of a lew pounds this might be cleared. Along this part of the track some parties are farming on a small scale, and there is some fine flat land, lightly timbered, which might be cleared and laid down in grass at a very small cost. The Pakihis, though clear, are very poor and wet, caused by a layer of cement immediately beneath the surface soil, through which the water cannot penetrate. The plan which parties gardening should adopt would be to break through this cement, which they might easily do by opening main drains through their ground, and covering them in again. The road from the Big to the Little Ohika has slipped into the river at several places, and is elsewhere grown over with small timber, so that whether there is rain or not you are bound to get wet, but that is nothing on this part of the coast. The next obstacle after leaving the Little Ohika is Hawk's Crag, and there is there some likelihood of the traveller going wrong, and of getting on to the old track, but this difficulty will soon be removed by the projected cutting round the Crag, and is partially removed at present by a boat being stationed there. Beyond this again, and towards the Blackwater, the road has slipped away in several places, but might be repaired for a small sum, and between the
Blackwater and the junction of the Inangahua with the Buller the road is in some places very bad, as it has not all been cut, and there are several diverging tracks. It is at this part of the river that the workings begin. There are a few parties still at work at the Old Diggings on the north Bide of the Buller, and I heard that there are a few men also at work some distance up the Blackwater. At the junction of the Inangahua there is the best laud on this part of the river. Some of it is taken up, and one fine paddock has been laid down in grass. On the north side of the Buller there is also some fine fern land which is out of the reach of floods, and which, I believe, has been taken up for agricultural purposes. On crossing the Inangahua, you here get on to a fine stretch of flat land, but it has the fault of being liable to floods. The road then runs through the bush, which in some places is very light and easily cleared ; and I think that there is every chance of this part of the country being taken up, for there is a large population setting into work in the neighbourhood, and as they are likely to be here for some time, vegetable gardens should pay well. Between Inangahua and the Lyell a considerable number of men have set into work, and there would be more if it were not for the difficulty of bringing water to the claims, some of which are very good. A party of Maoris are bringing in a race, which is a fine piece of work, and they seem to be very sanguine of succeeding well when they have finished. The Lyell township consists of several stores and huts, and is built on the top of a very narrow spur between the Buller and the Lyell creek. In the neighbourhood there are several large water-races being brought in, one of the parties having to flume 5000 feet, and having been occupied for six months on the work. Between the Lyell and the Newton there are parties at work on both sides of the Buller, and some of them seem to be doing very well, but there is still a scarcity of water on several of the terraces. Altogether the population on this part of the river must number several hundreds.
On leaving the Newton the road, as far as Jacklin's, is very flat and soft in many places, but, as in other parts, it might be made good at very small expense. TJp the Marauia, there are a few parties at work, but how they were doing I did not learn. They seem, however, to have somo hopes of the place, for they have sent a petition to the Superintendent, asking that a track should be made up the river. Jacklin's is situated some ten miles above tho Lyell, and it is certainly the finest part of the district for farming. Beyond Jacklin's there are several workings, but, not having time to visit them, I returned to the Lyell. The parties who are at work there, I may state, get their supplies chiefly or solely from Nelson. In your next number I shall give a few humble notes of my observations along the Inangahua and on the country on the Grey river side of the saddle.
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Bibliographic details
Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 510, 29 May 1869, Page 2
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931THE BULLER AND GREY VALLEYS. Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 510, 29 May 1869, Page 2
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