140
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

"stances material to be considered in reference
"to the future management of the West Coast
"District," I have now the honor to furnish the
following statement :-

Before remarking on the several points to which
my attention was specially directed, I should perhaps
give a brief description, based upon what I gathered
from reliable sources, and what I saw myself, of the
character of the country on the West Coast.

Viewed from on board a vessel the coast from
Cape Farewell to the River Grey presents a very
rugged and broken appearance; but immediately to
the south of the Grey the land near the sea becomes
level, and continues more or less so, almost without
interruption, for upwards of one hundred and fifty
miles down the coast. It is covered throughout with
a dense forest, which comes close down to the beach.
In some places the flat land extends back from
twenty-five to thirty miles, whilst in others it narrows
to four or five miles. The average width of it from
the Grey to Abut Head, is about fifteen miles,
including the low hills; and from Abut Head to
Jackson's Bay, where the low land terminates, it is
perhaps not more than seven miles in width. From
a little distance off shore, the low terrace land near
the sea between the Grey and the Hokitika (or
rather the top of the forest, for nothing else can be
seen) looks singularly level. On approaching nearer,
however, slight irregularities are observed, and when
you land and penetrate into the bush, you perceive
that the ground gradually rises towards the first low
range of hills, which run generally parallel to the
coast; between the level land and the chain of
Southern Alps, three separate ranges of hills are
distinctly seen. The soil on the flat land appears to
be well adapted for agriculture, if I may judge from
what I saw on the banks of the Waimea Creek, about
eight miles inland, where the excavations made by
the diggers show about eight to twelve inches of
surface soil composed principally of a rich vegetable
deposit, then two to three feet of light coloured
yellow clay. Below this the gold is found in what
is termed the "wash-dirt," which is of an average
thickness of four feet, and is composed of sand and
gravel mixed more or less with clay, in which are
embedded boulders varying in size from a few inches
to two feet or more in diameter, the whole resting on
a bed of stiff blue clay. In some places where what
is called the terraces abut on to the streams, this
clay lies exposed to a depth of more than one hundred
feet.

The forest is composed principally of red and white
pine, matai, mero, and birch, with here and there
some totara. On the low land the pines predominate,
but further back, I am told, the hills are covered
almost exclusively with birch. Ferns and mosses
exist in great variety and abundance, the ground
everywhere, and the trunks of the trees up to the
lower branches, being thickly covered with them,
furnishing, I, think, conclusive evidence that the
climate must be very moist. Indeed, it is generally
stated that there is a deal of rain on the West Coast;
but persons who have been resident there some time,
say that there is not more than falls in Otago, and
that there is much less wind than on the plains of
Canterbury; that there is very little frost, and that
the climate is altogether much milder than that of
the eastern side of the Island. The Maoris who
have lived for years about the Teramakau and the
Grey, corroborate this testimony as to the mildness
of the climate, but admit that there is a good deal of
rain.

The level land may be said to commence at the
northern and end at the southern boundary of the
Canterbury Province, where the high mountains
approach close to the sea. Along its whole extent

there are unfortunately no good harbors, or at least
none have as yet been discovered. Many people are
sanguine that the South Wanganui will prove to be
a better harbor than either the Grey or the Hoki-
tika, and that good anchorage and safe landing-places
will be found at Jackson's Bay. This point will no
doubt very soon be settled, as Captain Gibson, an
experienced and efficient officer, who has already sur-
veyed the harbour at Hokitika for the Canterbury
Government, and erected. signal-staffs there and at
the Grey, is about to examine and report upon the
whole coast-line of the Province. As I understand
that a copy of his Report will be sent to the General
Government, it will be unnecessary for me to make
any lengthened remarks on this subject; but as I
visited both the Grey and the Hokitika, I think I
may briefly state that neither of them can be called
good harbors; that they are unfit for vessels draw-
ing over six feet of water, and that the bar of each,
by the action either of the surf outside or of the
freshes from within, is constantly shifting. The pre-
vailing winds are said to be from south-west round
to the north of west. The description of the weather
given by Captain Drury in "The New Zealand Pilot,"
for the northern portion of the West Coast, I was
told, has proved to be very accurate. Although the
wind seldom blows for long at a time direct on shore,
yet even in the stillest weather there seems to be
always a heavy serf rolling in all along the coast,
which keeps up a constant break on the bars at the
entrance of the rivers. The Grey, I understand, is
at times more accessible than the Hokitika. It is a
rain-river; but the Hokitika is said to be fed from
the melting of the snow on the high ranges inland,
and in the winter, therefore, when the snow is frozen,
it may possibly fall very low.

Gold in paying quantities has been found on all
the rivers from the Buller to the Totara-viz., on the
Buller, the Grey, Saltwater or Paroa, Teremakau,
Kapitea, Waimea, Arahaura, Hokitika, and the To-
tara. Fair prospects have also been found as far
down the coast as Mount Cook, so that, as far as at
present ascertained, the northern half of the West
Coast of the Middle Island appears to be auriferous,
Mount Cook being situated about midway between
Cape Farewell and the southern end of the West
Coast. I spoke to numbers of men on the Waimea,
where the principal diggings are, and they all said
that gold in small quantities could be found almost
everywhere it was dug for. I saw seven different
parties wash out prospects at various places along
the banks of the creek, and in each instance they got
gold to the extent of half a grain to a grain to the
dish. Many experienced diggers, who had been on
the Waimea diggings for several months, expressed
it as their opinion that the West Coast Goldfields
would last for many years, and that any one who
worked industriously on them would be sure of a
certain amount of success. They all described them
as "a good poor man's diggings;" meaning thereby,
that anybody could be pretty sure of earning a living
from them, but that few would realise large sums, as
the gold was very fine, and was scattered over a wide
extent of country. The want of roads by which sup-
plies could be furnished at a cheaper rate than at
present, is the greatest impediment that the diggers
have to contend with. The tracks through the bush
used hitherto have been made by the diggers them-
selves, assisted by the storekeepers; but arrange-
ments have now been made by the Provincial Govern-
ment to grant for the formation of roads an amount
of money equal to that raised by the population of
any district for such purposes. This will probably
get over the difficulty for the present; and when it
has been fully ascertained in what direction the
greatest digging population will be located, steps