a—3

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Hotel, in the Grey Valley, up the Blackball Creek, for about nine miles. This ends about one mile and a quarter from the head of the workings. A portion of the constructed track, over what is known as Smoke Hill, has extremely steep grades, which will prevent the track ever being made into a passable road. At the same time trollies are being used on it, and recently the machinery in connection with a crushing-battery has been conveyed over this road. There are thirty-seven men at work on the terraces, principally hydraulic-sluicing, and, as far as can be ascertained all are making fair wages. A small paddock was shown me by Mr. Perrotti, of Greymouth, which was taken out by the Minerva Sluicing Company—of which he is a director —where two hundred pounds' worth of gold was obtained. Judging from the small area of ground sluiced away, it must be very rich. The difficulty here is the large quantity of stones in the ground, which have all to be shifted by hand. The Minerva Company have constructed a water-race from the Roaring Meg Creek, said to have a carrying capacity of from twenty to thirty sluice-heads, and there is about 600 ft. of fall between the termination of this water-race and the claim. The company are now cutting up a tail-race at a deeper level to get sufficient fall to work their ground, and when this is done, Mr. Perrotti informed me, they intend to erect two high derricks, to be worked by water power, to lift and stack the stones. The ground on the terraces alongside the creek is from 50ft. to 70ft. in depth. In some instances there is a little gold all through the drift, and in other places the gold is found through it for from 20ft. to 30ft. from the bottom. Were it not for the excessive quantity of loose stones, this ground should pay extremely well for working; and it will take many years to work out. The ground is principally held in extended claims from 2 to 5 acres in area. The only parties having larger claims are the Minerva Company (12 acres) and Marshall and party (11 acres). Sluicing-operations are carried on in a very primitive manner in most of the claims, owing to the difficulty in getting iron pipes brought on to the ground. Those who use iron pipes have very small ones, and none of the parties, with the exception of the Minerva, have sufficient water to work the ground economically. Indeed, when it is considered that everything has to be conveyed on men's backs from the end of the present track to their claims, the miners deserve the highest commendation for the energy they have displayed and the amount of work they have done in this locality. It is a place where gold is likely to be found in the terraces higher up the creek, and when the present track is extended it will afford far greater facilities for prospecting. Greenstone. The country in the vicinity of Greenstone resembles to some extent that about Kumara, only the stones are not so large and there is a much larger percentage of granite boulders. All the stones are greatly rounded, which indicates that they have been carried for a considerable distance by the action of a flowing stream. Judging from the formation of the country and the character of the graveldeposits, there appears to have been at one time a large river flowing in a northerly direction at nearly right angles to the present course of the Greenstone Creek. Where the present gold-workings are carried on the gold is obtained on a false bottom ; but there is a little gold distributed through the whole depth of the wash-drift, which is from 40ft. to 50ft. on Duke's Terrace, on the opposite side of the creek from the township. In the workings in the bed of the creek large quantities of greenstone blocks, or boulders, were found in the early days, and it was in this district where the Maoris in the early times used to come for greenstone — pounamu —to make into axes and adzes for weapons in time of war, and also for constructing their canoes. The same description of greenstone is found amongst the wash-drift at Kumara, but none of this rock has yet been found in situ. Large blocks of greenstone were also found in the early days of the goldfields near Kanieri, but this seems to be the southern limit where boulders of greenstone have been found, and the -northern limit would be set down as the New River. There are indications clearly visible between the New River and the Totara River that enormous quantities of material have been deposited by glacial action, the whole of it being more or less auriferous. It would be difficult to sink a shaft in this moraine matter and not find the colour of gold. In many places the large stones are quite angular, and sharp on the edges, indicating that they have been left near the place where they were brought by the ice; while in other places the boulders and stones are rounded in a more or less degree, showing that they have been rolled about by the action of a violent stream. The latter appears to have been the case with the auriferous deposit of gravel-wash all along where the gold-workings are situate, from Kanieri to Greenstone. The greenstone boulders found amongst the wash-drift at Kumara, as well as at Greenstone, would indicate that the original material came from the same source; but as there is a far greater proportion of granite boulders amongst the wash-drift at Greenstone than at Kumara it would lead one to suppose that, although the material might have originally come from one locality, the glaciers bringing it from the mountains also brought the gold found at Greenstone from the northern side of those glaciers which deposited the morainic matter in the vicinity of Kumara. But, be that as it may, it is evident the whole of the gold leads or runs are formed by the concentration of the morainic matter by the action of a flowing stream. The claims on Duke's Terrace, where the present workings are situate, are far from rich. The manager of the Greenstone Sluicing Company informed me that in some of their washings the ground had not averaged Igr. of gold to the cubic yard, and yet they could make this yield pay all working-expenses ; the reason being that they had an excellent supply of water—about sixty sluice-heads for fourteen hours per day. All the gold-workings in this locality are on the recent deposits. No bed-rock is found for two miles down the creek from the township, where the sandstone begins to appear. Intermixed with this sandstone there are layers of marine gravel, in which very fine colours of gold are found, but not sufficient to pay for working. If the prospecting-shaft at Kumara should show gold at the deep levels, there is equally as good a field for prospecting operations at Greenstone ; and if a deep lead be discovered here it will be found to be of a much older formation than the one from which most of the gold has hitherto been obtained.