G.—3

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crosses the left branch of Nelson Greek, and in its bed below ; and also where this run of ground crosses very rich deposits of auriferous wash-drift have been obtained. This creek has cut through the belt, and the concentrated material was left in the creek-bed. The range at Owen's Look-out is at too great an elevation to get any water to command it, or else there would be a considerable quantity of gold obtained from this range. In the flat at the foot of the terrace below the Township of Hatter's Terrace, the Nelson Creek Company have held a mining claim for some years, and opened it up close alongside Potts's Hotel. A tail-race was brought in to drain this ground some six or seven years ago, and a paddock was taken out in which the layer of wash-drift near the bottom was very rich, as much as ldwt. to the tin dish could be obtained; but the ground dipped away into the flat, and this party had not the means to erect machinery to lift the water. A company was then formed, and the tail-race extended to drain the flat at the back of Hatter's Terrace Township, where every one in the place considered that rich auriferous wash-drift would be found; but on the construction of this tail-race nothing of a payable character for working was found. There is, however, a great probability of a good run of auriferous gravel drift being found if this tail-race is extended under the bed of Nelson Creek to the junction of Gow's and Claughesy Creeks, known locally as Nos. 1 and 3 Creeks. Work was suspended in the construction of the tail-race, and the company purchased the Band of Hope Water-race, which is constructed from the main branch of Nelson Creek, and capable of conveying about twelve sluice-heads of water. A Pelton wheel was erected in the bottom of the paddock on a level with the tail-race to work bucket-elevators to lift the tailings to the surface, and a hydraulic elevator is used to pump the drainage-water out of the deep ground below the level of the tail-race. The whole of the machinery has now been working for some time, and, from the information afforded me, this claim is likely to become a payable venture. There is a considerable area of ground in this flat, and the company has, in addition to their claim on Crown lands, purchased the right to work a small section of freehold land, about 7 acres in extent, which belonged to Mr. Claughesy. There is a very good claim at the foot of Dry Gully which has now been worked for some years, and giving good returns. The party brought in a tail-race to drain the ground, and are winding the wash-drift up a shaft to the surface. There also are some fair sluicing-claims at the lower end of Try Again Terrace, which, although not rich ground, are payable for working. Larkin and party have a good supply of water from Callaghan's Creek, from a water-race which they constructed over twenty years ago, and have been working on Try Again ever since. There is a considerable area here that will give fair wages for working; the greatest difficulty is an outlet for tailings. Mr. M. Drennan holds some freehold land on the front of the terrace, and also on the flat below, which will eventually be covered with tailings—if not directly from the claim, from the shingle coming down Nelson Creek. Indeed, at the present time a portion of this flat is covered with tailings brought down the creek by floods. The area of the flat is not large, but it is the place where all his homestead buildings are erected, and Nelson Creek being now proclaimed a channel into which tailings from mining claims can be discharged, the buildings on this small portion of his land will soon be uninhabitable. The total number of men employed in mining about Nelson Creek, Kangaroo Creek, Brian Boru, and German Gully, at the time of my recent visit to this place, was about ninety-nine Europeans and eight Chinamen. Bed Jack's. This is a very old diggings, and a considerable area of shallow ground has been worked. The workings extend up this creek and its branches for a long distance, and in the early days there were some very rich claims. At present the miners here can only be said to be making small wages. There are not any extensive mining operations being carried on. In Sunday Creek, which is a branch of Bed Jack's, there are some fair claims, but, as at many other places elsewhere, there is a scarcity of water. Had the Nelson Creek Water-race been constructed so as to command the ground lying between Nelson Creek, Bed Jack's, and No Town Creek, instead of where it was constructed, it would have opened up large areas of valuable ground and been the means of maintaining a large population in this portion of the Grey Valley. There is a considerable depth of wash-drift on some of the terraces here, which would pay well to work by hydraulic sluicing with a modern plant. A few men are making a livelihood at mining in Deadman Creek, and during the last year some new discoveries of auriferous ground was made in Connor's Gully, but, so far, it has not proved to be of any large extent. In March last the total number of men employed in Bed Jack's, with its branches, and in Deadman's Creek and Connor's Gully, was about forty-nine Europeans and thirty-seven Chinese. No Town. Although this is a locality where the alluvial gold-workings have been carried on since the Grey Valley Diggings were first opened, there is still a considerable population engaged in working alluvial claims, some working from adit-levels, driving out the wash-drift, and some by hydraulic sluicing. The area covered with auriferous drifts is very large, and the workings extend up the beds and sides of the No Town Creek to nearly its head. Indeed, the whole of the country here may be termed auriferous in every direction, for several miles from the township, while they are on the belt of the Miocene or Lower Pliocene gravels which traverse the whole of the terraces on the south side of the main and Little Grey Bivers, and run about parallel with these streams. The width of this belt is very considerable in places; nowhere can it be said to be less than about four miles. Some portions of the original deposits have been denuded, and the rewash of this denuded material has left the deposits of auriferous wash-drifts in the beds of the creeks. The same belt of country crosses the Arnold Biver, Maori Gully, and goes into Maori Creek, and to the south of Marsden. There