95

this wealth may be best extracted from the
soil. Considering that Mr. Washbourn was
able to pay his men wages from ten to twelve
shillings a-day, and still to make a considerable
profit, the richness of the deposit of gold in the
conglomerate is clearly proved.

You may allow me to add, from inquiries I
made on the spot, the number of diggers
working on the Aorere and Parapara diggings
is not more than about two hundred and fifty.
Although the diggers cannot be at work con-
tinually, a large portion of time being occupied
in bringing their provisions across a rugged
country ill-provided with roads, and occasionally
stopped by floods in the rivers, it is considered
that a digger earns on an average twelve shil-
lings a-day.

The history of the gold-field does not record
any large fortunes made by single diggers, but
steady average gains. The largest nugget
found was in the Rocky river, a nugget of 9 oz.
18 dwts.

The whole produce of the gold-field, from
the beginning, in 1857, up to the middle of
August, is recorded, in the General Government
Gazette, as about £150,000.

I may add that, looking to the position of
the gold-field generally, and its proximity to
the sea, there is probably no other gold-field
which, with moderate outlay upon roads,
could be made more easily accessible, or might
afford greater facilities for being worked. I
have very little hope that quartz reefs will be
found in this district rich enough to pay for
crushing.

The country on the western side of the gold-
bearing ranges, further south than the Clarke
river, has not yet been perfectly explored with
regard to probable gold-fields, and I proceed,
therefore, to the eastern side of the gold-bearing
formations.

I may remark that there is no foundation for
the belief, so generally entertained amongst
diggers, that gold-fields are only found on the
western side of ranges, and not on the eastern.

The Anatoki and Takaka Diggings.—From
the same mica-slate and clay-slate zone, from
which on the western side the gold-bearing
branches of the Aorere valley run, on the
eastern side the Takaka river with its branches
takes its rise. It is, therefore, not surprising
that gold is also found on those rivers. If
the farmer settled on the rich alluvial plains
of the Takaka finds markets bad, he has but
to ascend to the higher parts and branches of
the river to fill his pocket. Gold is found in
sufficient quantity to pay river diggings in the
upper Anatoki, Waingaro, and Takaka, the
heaviest nuggets in the Waitui river, which
takes its rise from the Mount Arthur range.
In the Anatoki valley a quartz reef is spoken
of, which promises well. The interesting

metal, osmiridium, as has been proved, by
specimens forwarded for analysis to Mr.
Clarke, of Melbourne, is a peculiar accom-
paniment of the Takaka gold. Titaniferous iron,
magnetic iron, and garnets—not rubies as
generally thought—are everywhere found on
the river diggings of the province. It must
be left to the energy of explorers, to
determine if there be not, as it is most proba-
ble there is, a similar gold field as the Aorere
gold-field, hidden under the dense forests on
the eastern slope of the ranges.

Wangapeka.—With a view to exploring the
country lying to the south of the Takaka, on
the eastern side of the gold-bearing formations,
I made a journey to the Wangapeka. My
guide to that country, most difficult of access,
was Mr. Clarke, who had formerly been pros-
pecting there for gold. On this occasion I
had the pleasure of the company of the Super-
intendent. The Wangapeka, as large if not
larger than the Motueka, near its junction
with the Sherry river, runs through a wide
terraced valley.

The hills bordering the valley are composed of
tertiary strata, marl, sandstone, and limestone.
At places on the sides of the valley granitic
rocks show themselves as the foundation of the
tertiary strata. The boulders and shingle
brought by the river from the deep gorge,
through which it enters the broad valley, prove,
on examination, that the river takes its origin
in a zone of hornblende-schists, and crystalline
limestone, the continuation of the formations
between Takaka and Riwaka. There is, there-
fore, no reason to expect an auriferous river bed.
I might here mention that this valley seems
the peculiar home of wild pigs, the immense
number of which have rooted up the whole
surface. The wet weather we experienced
prevented my exploring those rivers which
take their rise further westward, in the mica-
slate and clay-slate ranges as I expect, as, for
instance, the Batten river and its branches.
It was here that Mr. Clarke found the best
result of his prospecting expedition. He found
not only gold, but, on the edges of the tertiary
formation towards the crystalline ranges, large
seams of coal cropping out.

As a very probable gold country, I should
recommend the exploring of the high range
situated between the sources of the Wangapeka
and the gorge of the Buller. That range is,
so far as I can judge, the continuation of the
Mount Arthur, Anatoki, and Haupiri ranges.

I shall hereafter find an opportunity to re-
mark upon the Motueka diggings, and will
conclude this portion of my lecture by stating
that the Nelson gold-fields are a fact, and that
which is at present known is but the beginning
of a series of discoveries which time will bring
to light.