H.—s

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No. 12. Mr. Warden Bird to the Under-Secretary for Gold Fields. Sir, — Warden's Office, Okarito, 4th April, 1883. I have the honour to forward herewith statistical returns respecting this district for the year ending 31st March, 1883, as requested by your circular of the 9th ultimo. In regard to mining matters generally I have nothing of importance to communicate, little or no alteration having taken place during the past year; in fact, I believe the number engaged in mining has rather diminished than otherwise. But this is accounted for by the high rate of wages, namely, 12s. per diem, offered by contractors who are at present constructing roads through this district; but I have no doubt after the roads are completed a large number will settle down to mining in this southern portion of Westland, which is known to be auriferous, and I think that in the course of time there will be a large return of gold therefrom. I have, &c, Frank Bird, The Under-Secretary for Gold Fields, Wellington. Warden.

No. 13. Mr. Warden Keddell to the Under-Secretary for Gold Fields. Sir,— Warden's Office, Clyde, 28th May, 1883. I have the honour herewith to forward the statistical returns of the mining districts under my charge, which consisted, since November last, of those formerly known as the Dunstan and Wakatipu Districts, I being relieved of that of Mount Ida at that time by Mr. Warden Hickson. Mining throughout the district has not been varied by any discovery of importance or change worthy of lengthened notice, but, at the same time, I do not think there has been any noticeable falling-off of population or of yield of gold. The principal mode of working is sluicing, and, the supply of water being limited and all available sources occupied, of necessity mining progress is limited, and the yield depends upon the chance richness of the ground on which the water is brought to bear. Clyde and its Neighbourhood. —Very little has been done; as I have mentioned in former reports, the few miners are old inhabitants, who are settled down content with small but apparently sure returns, but working in one old groove—as one area is worked out applying for another, and just making a quiet, independent living. Alexandra. —The Chinese continue to make steady progress, and it is from them this year, as before, that the greater portion of the gold returned from this portion of the district is obtained. The dredges that were built here, and from which so much was looked for, have been failures as yet; but a short time since the largest has settled down to one portion of the river near Alexandra, and seems to be on good ground. The Molyneux has silted up to such an extent since 1862, when any uncovered portion of the beaches yielded rich dirt, that it is almost impossible for any dredge to pay. The river does not appear to have " scoured "at all during the occasional heavy floods, and I question, should the coming winter be as severe as the first that attracted the miners to this portion of the colony in 1862, whether the " bars" and beaches would yield anything like the old returns: it is noticeable everywhere by the older settlers. At Clyde there used to appear a large rock just above the ferry-way, and that is now all but covered with the silt brought down from the upper rivers, Kawarau and Clutha. It is under these great deposits that the old wash-dirt and the auriferous sand are to be looked for, and no system of dredging can effect this. Black's, Tinker's, and Drybread. —The result of labour in this portion of the Dunstan district has been, on the whole, most satisfactory. I am sorry, however, that I cannot give a favourable account of the working of the special claims on the Deep Lead; the enterprise was begun in a hearty manner, and no expense spared to make it a success, but it has proved, so far, a failure. One drawback was, I think, the absence of working shareholders. The original party have floated the affair as a company, and are about to resume operations under new auspices. The old reputation of the ground has attracted other venturers, other claims have been granted, and I believe in a short time the ground may be properly tested. The existence of a valuable auriferous lead of gold is an accepted fact amongst the old miners here, and they would appear to have good foundation for their belief; but the method of prospecting is so costly that, in the face of such belief, the fact of the ground being left so long unworked is not to be wondered at. Tinker's. —The Mountain Race (formerly the Blue Duck) Company are now reaping the reward of long labours. The company have been several years working this claim, and have always had the advantage, in my opinion, of having good managers; their works have been made with system and foresight, and there is no more remunerative mining property in the district. They have recently adopted, on a smaller scale, that mode of hydraulic sluicing that has been worked so profitably at Lawjence : they force, by hydraulic pressure, their wash-dirt from a lower to a higher level, so as to reach their tail-race. The tunnel which they made last year, and through which they meant to work the back portion of their claim, proved too high for the deep ground. There is no doubt there is a large auriferous area in this locality, lying at the mouth of the gullies running down from the Dunstan Range at the back of Bendigo on the Cromwell side.