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The drift of the lower formation is sufficiently auriferous to remunerate individual enterprise is yet an unsolved question. To determine this very important point, the Government have appropriated a sum, in aid of local contributions, and two sites have been selected for the experiment.

The first is at Wetherstone’s, where a shaft had previously been sunk to a depth of 120 feet. On the bottom, coarse water-worn gold was found, although not in payable quantities—a circumstance attributed by the miners to the “dip” of the rock, by following which downwards they anticipated reaching a deep gutter, where, if at all, a lead of gold would be struck. The difficulty of conveying the excavated soil from the “drive” to the shaft induced a change in the plan of operations, and a tunnel from the hill-side was commenced. This tunnel has now been carried 200 feet into the hill, with a height of six feet and a width of three feet. At the extreme end a shaft has been sunk to a depth of 80 feet, and the miners are now driving in the direction of the original shaft, in the expectation of shortly striking the gutter.

From a recent report of the Mining Surveyor, I learn that—

“The nature of the strata gone through in the tunnel is composed principally of a blue and black consolidated clay, with occasional veins of slate rock, which very much resembles some of the deep sinkings at Ballaarat.”

In the progress of these operations, gold has been obtained in small quantities, and Mr. Van, under whose able superintendence the work is being performed, is very hopeful of ultimate success. The completion of this work is considered important by Dr. Hector, the Government Geologist, who thus refers to it in a recent memorandum:—

“It will help to settle a question which is not only of great theoretical interest, but also of practical importance, in estimating the probable extent to which the Otago gold-fields may become developed—viz., by proving whether there is a layer of ‘wash,’ or auriferous gravel, at the base of the older tertiary conglomerates.”

The second experiment is being tried at Waitahuna, where a shaft has been sunk to a depth of 110 feet, without any bottom having been found. The strata is described by Dr. Samuels, the Chairman of the Local Association, as consisting of blue clay, washed quartz, slate, and drift firmly cemented together, and containing traces of gold.

It may not be out of place here to refer to the Exploration of the West Coast. To the north-west and west of the settled districts of Otago, and of Southland, there is a large tract of unexplored country included within the boundaries of the former Province, but which now appears as a blank upon the map. Coal of a very superior description has been found upon the Coast, at Preservation Inlet and other localities; and this terra incognita is reported to be rich in other minerals. It is on the west coast, for instance, that the Buller River Gold-field in Nelson Province, is situated. Private enterprise has already started on the path of discovery; a small vessel, the “Emerald Isle,” having recently been fitted out for this purpose, and the Provincial Government of Otago contemplate placing a sum on the Estimates for the prosecution of a systematic exploration.

With regard to the future of Otago as a gold-producing country, I entertain the belief that her prosperity will be permanent and progressive. I am not desirous to foster extravagant ideas of the mineral affluence of the Province, but I am, nevertheless, impelled to express my conviction that we are, even yet, only at the threshold of discovery. When it is considered that our mining population has hitherto been smaller than ever before developed the Gold-fields of a new country, and this paucity of numbers is contrasted with the splendid results already obtained, we may reasonably anticipate that the extensive migration which is now taking place to these shores will be productive of still greater results, and more valuable discoveries. Much may also be hoped for from the application of the knowledge and experience which has been acquired by our resident miners during the past year.

To the eye of the Australian miner, Otago presents few of the ordinary characteristics of a gold-bearing country. He misses the quartz-reefs, which serve as an index to the auriferous deposits of the adjacent colonies, and looks in vain for the tilted slate bands which there protrude in bold relief from mountain ranges, almost denuded of soil. In this Province quartz reefs are seldom met with, and throughout the greater part of the country the hills are covered to their very summits with deep black soil, and clothed with luxuriant grasses, concealing from view the schistose rocks, which are much less verticle than in Australia, and only crop out from the surface at infrequent intervals. Here too (as I have before observed) gold is principally found in the drift of the newer teriaries, presenting no true bottom; so that the inexperienced miner is liable to penetrate through and below the auriferous