[Page 107]

But it is evident that that creek will only afford room for a very limited number of diggers. The valley into which this steep gully falls is of considerable length, and about half a mile wide—flat, and rather swampy. It is obviously probable that gold will be found in it; but the soil is deep, and the water will be heavy. Stirling’s party sank 40 feet in it without reaching the bottom. The material they excavated is precisely the same as the “wash-dirt” in the small gully, and contained traces of gold all the way down.

As far as I could learn, the prospecting in the neighbourhood has been of a very limited and languid character.

1st. The bed rock on which the gold is found is a chlorite slate, not unfrequently intersected by small veins of quartz, irregularly disposed between the cleavage planes as well as the transverse joints of the slate. The western limit of this formation seems to be in the vicinity of the Eyre Creek—the Dome Mountain, and those rising on the north side of the Five Rivers Plain, being apparently composed of compact porphyry and greenstone. My time, however, afforded very little opportunity for exploration, and I was obliged to content myself with the general conclusions, that—

1. The gully now being worked is generally remunerative, but it will not afford room for more men than are already there, and on the road.

2. That there is a considerable extent of country of similar formation, which affords a reasonable encouragement to prospectors.

3. That deep-sinking in the flat is a fair speculation for a party that could afford to risk the large outlay it would require, and, generally, that it would, at present, be highly imprudent for any parties to proceed to these diggings, unless they are prepared to expend a considerable time unremuneratively in prospecting.

For a small population, there is a present stock of firewood, near at hand, in the dead scrub scattered over the flat, and within about a mile are two small patches of birch, high up on the hill; but for a large population, or for slabbing, a great deficiency would be found. I understand that the Messrs Rodgers have had timber sawn on an island in the lake-brought by boat to its southern extremity, and thence by dray, about fifteen miles.

I have the honour to be,

Sir,
Your most obedient servant,

THEOPHILUS HEale,
Chief Surveyor.

His Honor the Deputy Superintendent.

[Republished from the New Zealand Gazette, June 11.]

A. F. MORRIS APPOINTED HARBOUR MASTER.

Colonial Secretary’s Office,
Auckland, 9th June, 1862.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to appoint

ALEXANDER F. MORRIS,

to be Harbour Master in the Province of Southland.

WILLIAM FOX.

P. GILROY AND D. BRAY APPOINTED PILOTS.

Colonial Secretary’s Office,
Auckland, 9th June, 1862.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to appoint

PATRICK GILROY

to be a Pilot at the Bluff Harbour, vice Gilbert Everingham, whose appointment is hereby cancelled, and

DANIEL BRAY

to be a Pilot at the New River.

WILLIAM FOX.

CUSTOMS.

GOVERNOR’S ORDER No. 28.

APPOINTING RIVERTON A WAREHOUSING PORT.

By His Excellency Sir GEORGE GREY, Knight, Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty’s Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same,
&c., &c., &c.

IN exercise of the power in me for this purpose vested by the “Customs Regulation Act, 1858, I, Sir George Grey, Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, do hereby appoint that the Port of Riverton shall be a Warehousing Port for the purposes of the “Customs Regulations Act, 1858,” and do hereby approve of the same as a Port for the Importation of Tobacco.

Given under my hand, at Auckland, this sixth day of June, in the year of Our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.

By His Excellency’s command,
G. GREY.

R. H. WYNDHAM.

PROVINCE OF SOUTHLAND.

ACT ASSENTED TO.

Colonial Secretary’s Office,
Auckland, 9th June 1862.

THE following Bill passed by the Provincial Council of the Province of Southland intituled—

“Provincial Government Ordinance, 1862,”

which Bill was reserved for the signification of the Governor’s pleasure thereon, having been laid before the Governor, His Excellency has been pleased to assent to the same.

WILLIAM FOX.