FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIX, Issue 16, 16 April 1913, Page 59

FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS.

A CHAPTER IN WAIHi HISTORY. PROSPECTORS V. MAORIS. A LAUGHABLE ENCOUNTER. (From Our Special Correspondent.) LONDON', March 7. In the February issue of the “Mining Magazine” Mr J. McCombie discourses most interestingly of the discovery and development of the famous Waihi mine. Probably, seeing that well over thirty years have elapsed since Mr McConrbie and his friend Robert Lee “struck gold” at Waihi, his reminiscences of those early days will contain much that will be news to newspaper readers of to-day. It was early in 1878 that-Mr McCombie, in company with Mr Lee, an American (who has since passed out to the Great Beyond), started prospecting in the Ohinemuri district. In the month of February or thereabouts the partners travelled eastward to the known belt of mining country then comprised within the Waitekauri district. This took them in the direction of Waihi, where there were then no Europeans, and only a few Maoris, who lived on the banks of the Ohinemuri River at a place about one mile from the present Waihi township. Long before arriving a£ the scene of their subsequent adventures they could see the quartz comprising the outcrop of the now famous Waihi lode glistening in the sun, and, when they came to the ■Maungatoetoe stream, the first “dish” panned showed some “colours” of free gold. On this convincing proof that they had entered upon auriferous country they hastened towards the outcrop plainly visible on the ridge of the Pukewa hill. On arriving there, a cursory examination of the lode made it appear to be about 20 feet thick, and samples of quartz .when crushed and panned yielded a little free gold so extremely fine as to be scarcely visible except under a magnifying glass. As the outlook generally was promising, they decided to pitch their camp and give the outcrop a trial. The following day they commenced cutting trenches across the lode at.intervals, and, getting fair prospects of free gold at every place, resolved to exploit the lode and set about the preliminaries with as little delay 7 as possible. They started driving d crosscut from the western side of the pill. Early one fine morning, when their crosscut had been advanced about 100 ft, they were visited by two hoary-headed Maoris, who told them that Pukewa was <a burial place, and insisted upon them suspending operations at once. This they 7 quietly but firmly declined to do, and Mieir visitors returned to the village. Next morning an old man returned, in company with several young ones, and a number of women armed with taiahas ? , er "'capons of primitive warfare. AVhitt happened is best told in Mr Mctombies own words. He savs: “As soon as I caught sight of the advancing army of Amazons I knew from experience that our troubles were about to begin, for I attributed this raid to the grasping greed of a so-called ‘white man, who wanted to be a sleepin o7 partner witn us. The spokeswoman—an iaged crone—addressed herself to me in a. tirade of abuse that would have done Credit to a fishwife, while several buxom daines took occasion to emphasise their leader’s remarks by waving their weapons in dangerous proximity to my face. Throughout these interest m.-rnroced in

...... proceeuings Lee was working in the crosscut, and at last lie came out with a barrowful of stuff broken from the face. This he tilted over the tip-head, and, when (about to go back, three dusky ladies seized the wheel-end of the barrow. and a general struggle ensued. For a time my 7 partner held his own, but eventually 7 he was overpowered, and was drawn with his barrow towards the tip-head, which was about 44)ft in depth, tapering gradually away in the direction of a fern-covered terrace. Just when the trio reached the extreme edge oft he tiphead, whieh they had not noticed, Lee jet the barrow go, and I shall never forget what followed. There was a momentary struggle on the part of the women to recover their equilibrium, but the effort camp too late, and away they went, taking turn about with the barrow 7 in the matter of ground and lofty tum-

bling. It may have been ungallant, bui Leo mid I enjoyed the performance laughing all the while most heartily Maoris have a keen sense of the ridiculous, and our laughter raised their tem rer. Assisted by their friends, the ama our acrobats pulled themselves to

gether, resumed their weapons, and made straight for us in a most threatening manner. Believing discretion to -be the better part of valour, under the circumstances, we sought refuge in the crosscut, where we remained for fully an hour listening to the choice epithets that were hurled at us by the excited viragos outside.

“While this was going on we had prepared a couple of charges of blasting powder, with long pieces of fuse attached thereto, ready for emergencies. It was a happy thought, because, finding that they could not lure us out, the Maoris combined their forces to pull down the walls of the open-cut leading up to the mouth of the crosscut, and it looked as if they 7 intended burying us alive. We considered it time to retaliate. Stealing quietly out under cover of the darkness caused by the filling of the open-cut, we lit the fuse attached to both powder charges simultaneously, and, watching our opportunity, threw 7 them out of the small opening just in time to see them well covered by a heavy 7 fall of earthy matter. Then we returned to the face of the crosscut, where we had scarcely ensconced ourselves when we heard a double-barrelled explosion outside, followed by loud exclamations of surprise on the part of the Maoris. This was followed by a general hubbub, which gradually died away 7 in the distance. Then we thought it safe to make an exit. A few minutes of hard shovelling enabled us to force -our way out, and we hastened to the top of the hill in -time to see the Maoris tramping in Indian file eastward to the coast. That night we decided not -to do any 7 more work until we could ascertain what our coloured friends were likely to do. Next morning we were not surprised to observe the same crowd of Maoris put in an appearance at the mine. ... It

took them some time to realise that we had no intention of resuming work that day, and eventually one of the party favoured us with his presence. Taking it for granted that I understood his language, be delivered a long oration descriptive of the system under which he and his people had been robbed of their lands by the Government, both past and present. He charged Lee and me with desecrating an ancient cemetery, where his ancestors had 'been consigned to Mother Earth long before there were any 7 thieving white men in New Zealand. Should we persist in our search for filthy lucre on the sacred Pukewa, our camp and belongings would be burnt, and we ■ourselves would be slung like pigs on long poles, and carried out of the district. Compensation to the amount of £l,OOO ‘-would not assuage the grief of his people for disturbing the graves of their forefathers, -and, iu his young days, he had seen white men tomahawked for a much lighter offence.

“So far as the men were concerned we knew there was nothing to fear, but, having no desire to meet the women in a free fight, we strolled about .the camp for a long time. Day after day from sunrise to sunset the Maoris kept watch and ward over the crosscut, until, wearying of the enforced idleness, we determined to euchre them by working at night. Superstitious to a degree, they never gave us any trouble after dark, and the crosscut advanced just as rapidly as would have been the case had we worked in daylight. Now they began a succession of petty annoyances, extending over several weeks, and culminating in a complete clearance of everything portable in our camp. This robbery was carried out when we were away on a game-shooting expedition, and the’plun derens had a long start before we became aware of our loss. For fully a fortnight we took turnabout, watching the camp and driving the crosscut, and thereafter we were allowed to continue our work in peace. Within four months of the time of starting the crosscut penetrated the lode, which proved to be 17ft. thick. On the footwall side, for a width of 2 feet, there was a vein of laminated ore which yielded fair pannings of fine gold, and the remainder of the ore-body contained only colours of the precious metal. Wo broke two tons of ore, whieh we conveyed on bullock-sledges, at a cost of £5 per ton, to Owharoa, where it was crushed in 'the Smile of Fortune Littery. Previous to treatment we had taken average .samples, which were assayed at the Bank of New Zealand. Thames, with the following results: Bullion, 4oz. (kiwi; gold content, loz. 2dwt.: silver content, 3oz. 4dwt.; value.per ton, .-£4 31/. ■ “ After cleaning up our trial crushing dhe yield was loz. 3dwt. bullion, worth £2 17/(1 per oz„ realising £3 6/, which did not represent more than 35 per cent of the real value of the ore.

“Armed with the results of this crushing, as well ’as the essay-certificate setting forth its contents before treatment, we did not anticipate much difficulty in obtaining the necessary capital to exploit the mine, but iu this respect we were off our reckoning. The whole concern was reported upon most unfavourably by everyone who paid 'the place a visit, and who considered themselves authorities on the subject of gold and silver mining. Briefly, all the leading experts, acting on behalf of capitalists, politely informed us that they could not conscientiously advise their principals to put up any money for development, and that no one but an enthusiastic optimist would have anything further to do with it.

“Even now, at this distance of time, I often have a quiet laugh when I think of the opinions expressed on the Waihi in the early days, and, especially when such opinions are compared with the performances of this great mine.” And so McCombie and partner lost their interest in a mine that has produced to date not far short of 10 million pounds worth of gold, and has paid dividends to the tune of over 41 millions pounds, and in whieh Mr. McCombie still has faith, as witness his concluding words: —

“Although this mine is now under a cloud, who will venture to assert that exploitation below No. 10 level will not reveal a second zone of ore infinitely higher and more extensive than the first one? That the management have strong faith in this possibility is shown by the fact that they intend sinking the main shaft to a depth of 300 ft. below No. 10 level, before opening out for lateral development, and it is quite on the cards that their efforts will be crowned with success.

“Leaving the Martha lode-system out of the question altogether, the Union and Silverton lodes have not yet been tested below the 400 ft. level, and, as they were both richer in bullion in the upper workings than any part of the Martha lode-system, they offer a fair field foi 7 exploration by crosscutting, say from the No. 8 level. This would intersect them at or about the random of the richest sulphide zone in the parent mine, and it is only reasonable to assume that the work would be attended by satisfactory results.”