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Already other claims on the same side of the Matakitaki Biver as White's have been taken up with the view of bringing in a supply of w#ter to work them. The great depth of gravel-drifts there is here, having a little gold all through it, will make very poor ground pay; but, judging from my knowledge of the gold that has been obtained, and the quantity of drift sluiced away, unless some runs or leads of gold be found further back in the terraces, the value of the ground will be something like lgr. of gold per cubic yard, which ought to give fair returns for working with a good head of water and. fall for tailings. This may seem a low value to many, but when it is known that a sluice-head of water in ordinary gravel-drift, where there is plenty of dump for tailings, will carry away about from 4 to 6 cubic yards per hour, or, say, an average of 5 cubic yards, then twenty-five sluice-heads, which is a comparatively small supply to work this class of ground, will give, even with a grain to the cubic yard, over 2oz. gold per shift of eight hours, and only about three men are required for the work. Maruia. The difficulty in getting into this country is so great that it is astonishing that even the small number of men engaged in mining here will stay in the place. The cost of provisions must necessarily be high, on account of the dreadful state of the bush-tracks, for there are no other means of transit. It is true that a horse can be taken down from the junction of the Alfred River'to the mouth of the Maruia, but in doing so, the course of the river cannot be followed for a considerable distance. The miners are scattered here and there, and, from the information afforded me by many of them, a good livelihood can be obtained here by mining, there being plenty of ground, if only a road or Dack-track were made up the valley from the mouth to the junction of the Teviot River. Above this there is a large, stretch of shingle-flats and open river-beds, where horses can be easily taken up as far as the Alfred River, where there are some miners at work. The alluvial-drift terraces where mining is carried on are only small, in comparison with the immense area of country which is covered with quartz conglomerate, similar in character to that which is being worked at Johannesberg in South Africa, and yielding such large returns of gold. That .the quartz conglomerate in the Maruia district is auriferous there is no doubt. Some of this was packed out on horses and tested at Reefton, giving from 2dwt. to sdwt. to the ton. This return is not sufficient to pay for working ; but it is not to be expected that gold will be found in payable quantities for working over the whole area of this class of material, which runs through the country from Station Creek, above Mr. Walker's homestead, to the Matakitaki River, across the Glenroy, being a distance of not less than sixteen miles in a straight line, and the width of these conglomerate beds having not yet been ascertained. They lie in some parts on a pyritiferous slate and schist, and in places on granitiferous rocks, and in other places rest on the coal formation, which forms an extensive field in this district. A seam of brown coal on the opposite side of the river, and a little further up than Mr. Walker's homestead, was taken by Mr. Walker for a seam of jet, and he was quite surprised when Mr. McKay and myself told him it was a good sample of brown coal. A sample of this was analysed at the Colonial Laboratory, with the following result :— Fixed carbon ... ... ... ... ... ... 50-11 Hydro-carbon ... ... ... ... ... ... 29-76 Water ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 15-12 Ash ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5-01 100-00 Evaporative power, 6'slb. The coal here at the present time is of little or no value, as it is too far in the interior, with no road or means of transit to bring it to a market; but if the quartz conglomerates were to prove payable for working it would be the largest field in any of the Australasian Colonies for the employment of pulverising-and reduction-machinery, and also for appliances for saving the gold. Judging from the appearance of the material, the gold it contains is not in the quartz pebbles, but in the sand forming the cement, and it will be of a very fine character, entirely suitable for the cyanide process of extraction. In such materials as these conglomerates there will be little or no base minerals in the ore, therefore a large percentage of the gold could be easily obtained. At no place in the colony is there a field more worthy of being prospected than the country between the Maruia River and the main branch of the Matakitaki River. As far as could be seen of this deposit, the area that is covered with hV is scarcely suitable for any other purpose than mining, as the hard conglomerate comes close to the surface. Also, to all appearances, it is from these conglomerates that most of the gold in the valleys of the Glenroy and Matakitaki Rivers is derived. Inangahua Valley. There are a few miners working on the bed and on the beaches of the Inangahua River; but the first alluvial diggings that are met with coming up from the Buller is in the valley of Coal Creek, where a few Europeans are still at work. The gold in the drifts in this valley and flat is partly derived from the " Old man bottom," partly from the quartz conglomerate, and partly from a more recent formation. The quartz-drift conglomerates extend from the Buller River to the Inangahua River, except in some places where this material is denuded, as, for instance, at Larry's Creek. The alluvial workings at the Landing Creek are on a false bottom, consisting of quartz pebbles and schist, which has the appearance of being auriferous. Although this false bottom has been taken as the stratum on which the concentrated drifts lie, it is very questionable if gold will not be found in it; and possibly another layer of auriferous material will be found underlying it. Between Goal Creek and the main Landing Creek there is a low ridge containing auriferous gravel-drift, a portion of which has been worked, and there is also a low ridge between the Landing