FIRST GOLD POUND

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume XXXI, Issue 8840, 4 November 1942, Page 4

FIRST GOLD POUND

: EDWARD CREWE’S MINE

TRIP UP WAIHOU RIVER

BITE OF CLAIM A MYSTERY “Having read the article in the Issue jrf the Hauraki Plains Gazette Of O&far 7, headed “First Gold Found,’*-1 would like to say that there is another copy of “The Narrative of Edward Cr3we,” in New Zealand and although borrowed is at present in my possession/' writes' “Kaikuri” in a letter to the Gazette. The letter continues:— • “I first read the book some years ago but I would not like to say that it is the truth, the whole truth and ■“nothing but the truth. (However, the person who wrote it most undoubtedly had a considerable knowledge of this district. Not Near Coromandel “It is quite clear that the mine is somewhere in the Coromandel range but not near Coromandel; and if it exists I think I could make a pretty close guess as to its locality. Still, as Mr Crewe did more than find gold mines, perhaps a short account of some of his activities might be of interest. '' “He mentions the names of various persons during the course of his narrative but these are possibly not the correct names as I recognise none of them, Came to N.Z. In 1850 “On August 9, 1850, Edward Crewe a young Englishman of good family, aged 20, sailed from Gravesend in the barque "Edward Paget” to make his fortune in New Zealand and if the tale be true, contrary to the usual run of things managed to make it. “He landed in .Auckland shortly before Christmas, 1850, just under 93 years ago. About a year later he made at trip to what is now Thames and then on up the Waihou river in a small schooner for a cargo of wheat, kauri gum, flax, etc. “The owner and captain of the boat was a man named Janson whose acquaintance he had made soon after landing. The ship was manned by Janson, Crewe and a Maori who belonged to the Thames district and wanted a passage home. Up The Waihou River

“Their first port of call was a native village named Kawranga (Kaueranga) and from its description must have been just about where Tararu now is. The Maori name of the block of land where the Tararu creek empties into the sea is ‘Kaueranga.’

“Later, on the same day with a rising tide and the help of several Maoris they worked their way about 11 miles up the river, where they an-

chored for the night and the Maoris left them. , “Next day with the assistance of tide and wind the two of them got as far as the Puke, where ,they were supposed to pick up some of their cargo, this being about as far up as their schooner couid get. Saw Te Aroha Mountain

“The cargo, wheat and flax, had not arrived but a note from a trader further up the river who was sending it awaited them, saying, the cargo was not ready owing to his Maori canoe men being away at some sort of meeting. (Same then as now). The trader invited them to come on up the river and pay him a visit. They accepted the invitation and leaving their vessel under the care of a settler at the Puke and with the assistance of a Maori paddled up the Waihou ..river in a canoe, reaching their destination in three days. This was probably the place known later as the Stanley landing where there was once a flaxmill and is as far up the river as it is practicable to go by boat or canoe owing to a series of rapids further on.

“On the voyage up the river Mr Crewe mentions passing Te Aroha mountain and the hot springs. Same Trip Made

“About 35 years ago the writer of this with two others made the same trip in a small steam launch, but considerably further up, hauling the launch up several rapids with a rope and getting a thrill in shooting them coming down. “From this place Crewe paid a visit on horseback to Rotorua, via Tauranga and Maketu, but unfortunately there is no account of the trip given. “After a stay of about a fortnight the cargo was ready and a flotilla of several canoes took it down to the schooner onto which it was immediately loaded. The canoe voyage down the river was accomplished in about one-third of the time taken to go up.

Back To Auckland Next day they dropped down the river some miles and picked up a deck load of sawn timber, (no mention of a sawmill), leaving again fairly late in the afternoon. They had to find their way over the shallows at the mouth of the river in the dark. With, a fair wind they set out for Auckland, but now the wind increased to a gale and janson was taken very ill, leaving Crewe to manage the ship single-handed. “Crewe was in great fear of wrecking the schooner in the endeavour to make the narrow passage between Chamberlain’s island and the Sandspit at night. He managed it, however, a little later Janson recovered and they dropped anchor at Auckland about daylight. Search for Kauri

“Crewe now left Janson and built himself a whaleboat with the idea of cruising about looking for stands of kauri for milling purposes. His first

trip of any length was to the Great Barrier Island with Seth Feamley (a friend he had made some time earlier and who was very seasick on the voyage) and a dog.

“After exploring about the island, bathing in a hot spring and collecting about a ton of kauri gum they set sail for Port Charles with two Maori passengers, after shipping their gum to Auckland in a trading cutter.

“On the way they stopped to fish for hapuka and had an adventure with a sea serpent. One of' them hauled a creature on his hook and not liking the look of it tried to let it go; but it wouldn’t let go and climbed in the boat and tried to bite the dog. Fight With Sea Serpent

“After a considerable fight, using an oar and a tomahawk it was killed. It is described as being about 12 feet long, five inches thick, of a yellowbrown colour and having a large mouth with a number of long slender teeth (a nasty sort of insect). “They gave up fishing after that and continued their voyage. About three years later Crewe writes as being set up as a sawmill owner 65 miles from Auckland, also having a store and a cutter of 25 tons for carrying his timber etc., to market. Found Gold Mine “One Sunday when pig-hunting, the dog with a pig fell over a precipice and Crewe, going after them, discovered a very rich gold reef in a small creek some 14 miles from his mill and not very far from the top of a range of mountains.

‘He went to Auckland and got in touch with Seth Fearnley. Together they further examined the reef, and climbing to the top of the range looked down on a creek and a fairly extensive harbour on the east coast. Wishing to keep the find a secret they decided to work it from the eastern side.

“Returning to the mill they procured a supply of provisions, sailed round Cape Colville and down the coast to the harbour, seen from the top of the range. The supplies were carried to the mine, a small hut built and Seth Fearnley installed. Worked On The Quiet

“Mr Crewe returned to the mill and on the quiet kept Seth supplied with necessities and brought out the gold. They shortly installed a small appliance worked by a water wheel for crushing the quartz and amalgamating the fteed gold with quicksilver which had been purchased in Auckland for this purpose. “ After about five months, owing to the increasing difficulty of working and decreasing amount of gold in the reef they decided to close down. To hide traces of their operations they blew in the mine, burnt all woodwork and hid the metal work up a ’tree.

“The amount of gold obtained was 14,376 oz. 7 gr. 23 dwt. half of which went to Seth. Mr Crewe now sold his mill, wound up his affairs in New Zealand and went back to England, taking most of his share with him as it stood, in the year 1855, “On the final page of the book he says that there is a sealed packet be-' queathed in his will to his next-of-kin, containing full directions as to how to find the mine; but apparently these instructions have not been made use of. “Anyway the mine still appears to be awaiting rediscovery—but “I know not if the tale be true, As told to me I tell it to you.” KAIRURI.