24

Depth of water in the channel is, I have no means of
knowing, there being too much surf either to wade
out or send the "Gipsy" dingy. Mr S. Mackley
reports that he walked over the river on or near the
bar in the early part of 1860, and though I could
scarcely credit it at the time, from what I have seen
lately I have no reason to doubt the accuracy of the
statement. I think however, it must require the com-
bination of a very low tide and a remarkably smooth
bar to make the passage practicable for most passen-
gers. I may here state that the evening of Jan-
uary 23, 1863, the "Gipsy" struck on the bar, with
two and a half hours flood and remained there for
two hours; fortunately she was very remarkably
smooth and she was not injured. I was not on board
and cannot say whether she was in the channel or
not, but Mr. McCann, the master, is used to bar
harbors, and scarcely likely to make a mistake in
smooth water in a straight channel, though it was
the first time he had been there. The entrance is
very straight with the mouth of the river, and out-
side of the spit the water deepens rapidly. In smooth
weather there cannot be said to be more than one
regular roller, but if there is even a moderate sea it
breaks quite across, and no channel is to be seen.

I have observed that when there is any westing in
the wind, it draws up the river, thus making a foul
wind for vessels going out; and as the prevailing
winds on this coast are westerly, a sailing vessel may
be detained in Mokihinui an indefinite time, and that
with a smooth bar and a fair wind outside either to
go north or south. On the other hand, like the Grey
and other rivers confined by a narrow gorge near the
mouth, and having an extensive valley behind, there
is generally a strong land breeze in the morning; thus
giving vessels a good chance of getting out when the
tide suits early. We had no difficulty in getting over
the bar in the "Gipsy" on the first of the ebb, on
the morning of January 24th, 1863; for though the
land breeze was light the bar was perfectly smooth,
so six men at the sweeps and a strong ebb tide soon
took us into deep water.

For the information of people at a distance I may
state that the "Gipsy" is a fore and aft schooner of
25 tons, drawing five feet of water when loaded and
four feet in ballast, and that she was in ballast both
in and out of Mokihinui.

It will be observed that inside there is no place for
even a small vessel to bring up except in the river
itself, exposed to the full force of the current, so that
in case of a heavy flood, a vessel must depend en-
tirely on her moorings if she remains inside. What
the force of the current in a heavy flood is likely to be
near the river mouth, may be judged from the follow-
ing facts, viz., at E.No. 3 plan, in the Gorge where the
coal crops out, I measured the flood mark 20ft. 5in.
above the ordinary height of the river, and some feet
above that there were indications of flood, but I could
not be certain about them. At C near 22a the
measured rise is 18ft. 2in. At Stony Creek one side
of the bridge has been under water, and this is about
24 feet above the river. Of course a great deal of
flat land on the side of the river is flooded, and this
will be a great drawback to the place when it is
settled; which embankment it will be before long, for
independent of the coal, it is a fine district and of
considerable extent.

There is a great rise and fall of tide, I should say
at least 10 feet, but I had no chance of measuring it
as I was not at the mouth of the river at spring tides.
Spring tides, high water, flow up the river beyond
Hunter's Creek, and ordinary coasting vessels can get
up as far as station 22, near the point A, which being
a substantial post in front of the large hut, I have
fixed as a permanent survey station. With these
observations I leave the question of the Mokihinui
harbor for the consideration of nautical men.

I take this opportunity of stating to your Honor,
that a great deal of actual work has been done by the
company which has applied for a lease of part of the
land on the right bank of the river, including the out-
crop of the coal at the Gorge. They have made a
road from station XXXIII to station 23g, shown by my
traverse lines between these points (see No. 3 plan).
From XXXIII. to XXIV. there is some heavy cutting
on the side of the hill, perhaps 100 yards of the
heaviest part has been entirely destroyed, partly by
floods and partly by landslips, leaving it in a much
worse position than than at first. For now, the soft
rocks which form the hill side here, (see section on
the margin of No. 1 Plan at the point II) are left
standing almost perpendicular, and any cutting ne-
cessary for the road will have the effect of loosening
the superincumbent mass, and causing slips probably
more extensive than the first. I can scarcely see how
a road can be securely carried past this place, except
by building it up solid from below, without tampering
with the base of the hill at all. As this would require
to be more than 20 feet high, the expense would be
considerable. The road is Hunter's Creek
where a bridge is necessary, and beyond that the line
is cleared of bush the whole distance. Before I left
a party arrived who had undertaken to complete the
road and make it fit for drays.

I cannot conclude this report, without expressing
my thanks to several of the members of the above
mentioned company, for much valuable information
on this part of the coal field,—to Messrs. Hunter
Battey especially,—and to them is due the honor of
discovering workable coal in this district. I know
that they have spent many months exploring in the
neighbourhood, and have thus got a great deal of in-
formation with regard to the coal, and this they have
freely imparted to me both on the spot and elsewhere.
In short their former labours very much facilitated
my work.

The quality of the coal is good, it burns freely and
is very bituminous, but as some tons of it have already
been sent to Nelson, it is unnecessary to enter into
particulars.

I have, &c.,

JAMES BURNETT.

REPORT ON PART OF THE GREY
COAL FIELD NORTH OF THE BULLER
RIVER.

HIS HONOR THE SUPERINTENDENT,

Sir,—In compliance with your letter of instruc-
tion dated Nelson, November 1, 1862, I proceeded to
the Buller on board the steamer "Wonga Wonga"
and arrived at that port after a passage of 26 hours.
The "Wonga Wonga" entered the river two and a
half hours before high water, and left again by the
same tide on her voyage to Auckland.

After arriving at the Buller and securing the stores,
I got a quantity of provisions packed up to the
bottom of the Wariatea River, and carried thence
to the base of the mountain, where I established a
depot and built a small house as a store; this is
situated at the edge of the bush near station 10 of
my former survey, and marked WATA on Plan No. 2,
Sheet II.

The Plans and Diagrams to illustrate this report
are numbered, and will be referred to as belonging
to the same series as those attached to my report of
September 3, 1862, indeed this will be a mere supple-
ment to that report, and most of the work has been
added to the old plans instead of making new ones.