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judging from the character of the work done in connection with opening out and working the ground, the men must be at least making small wages, as the work done is of a permanent character. At the Upper Blackball, the workings are principally hydraulic sluicing, but, from what could be learned from those working here, the ground is not as good as formerly. The upper working in this creek is carried on by the Minerva Sluicing Company, who constructed a waterrace from the Meg Creek, and can get from fifteen to twenty sluice-heads of water from an elevation of about 600 ft. above the level of their workings; but the full head of water is, however, not used. The water is allowed to flow some distance down the side of the range before it is conveyed in pipes to use in the face. The ground that this company is working is in the side of the range, where there is an alluvial deposit containing a little gold all through it for about 100 ft. in depth. There is a very large quantity of boulders amongst the drift, many of which require blasting before they can be shifted. The quantity of large stones here is so great that shifting them by manual labour seems a waste of money. There should be a high derrick erected, having a long boom or jib, with a small Pelton wheel to work a winch, which should be attached to the bottom end of the derrick. The smaller stones could then be lifted in skips and stacked on the stone heap, while a derrick of this description should be sufficiently strong to lift boulders of 4 tons in weight. The stones by this means could be removed from the wash-drift at one-third of the present cost. There are splendid prospects to be got in some parts in the face ; but, the stones forming nearly one-half of the material, the expense of removing them by manual labour absorbs all the profit. At the present time the claim is let on tribute. At Ford's and Soldier's Creek the most of the miners are Chinese. A great deal of work has been done here in the past, and at the present some of the claims worked by the Chinese must yield a fair quantity of gold to pay for the labour and expense they have gone to. Taking the Blackball and the Ford's Creeks, with the beds of their tributaries where the miners are working, there were at the time of my recent visit to the locality about forty-nine Europeans and forty-four Chinese engaged in working alluvial claims. In the different terraces and creek-beds between Ford's Creek and Brunnerton there are about twenty men employed in alluvial gold-workings. On some of the terraces there is a considerable depth "of Wash-drift, having a little gold through it; but to get water to command some of these terraces would cost a considerable amount of money or labour to construct a water-race, and, judging from the primitive method of working the ground in this locality, the men at present here have not sufficient means at their command to enter into such an undertaking as the construction of a long water-race. The terraces are greatly broken by the numerous creeks coming out of the Paparoa Eanges, and, while water might be easily brought on to some of the spurs, to get a good supply several of the principal creeks would have to be tapped to get sufficient water at such an elevation as would command the different terraces facing the Grey Valley. No large amount of work has been done in opening out mining claims in this locality. All the gold-workings as yet have been carried on by small parties of miners. Barrytown. This is a far more important diggings than many are aware of. A large number of miners are employed in sluicing-claims on the different terraces, and the returns from some of these claims are truly surprising. Some of the miners informed me that their claims are paying £10 a week per man for working. No doubt these are exceptionally good claims, but where auriferous drifts of this richness are met with on the terraces there is no reason that ground of similar character will not be got elsewhere along them. These terraces run along almost parallel with the coast-line, and about one mile back from the ocean-beach, for a distance of seven miles, and are known by the following names : — Between Deadman's and Canoe Creek there are, commencing at the north end—Blue Jacket, Albion, Scotchman's, Parnell, Tipperary, Black Sand, Yon Moltke, Buckley's, Wilson, Geordie's, and Canoe Creek Terraces, on which forty-one miners are employed; and from Canoe Creek to Baker's Creek there is the South, Loughnan's, Granite Creek, and Barrytown Terraces, on which nineteen men are getting their livelihood at mining; and on the ocean-beach, within the limits as before described, there are eighteen men working, making the total number of miners in the vicinity of Barrytown to be seventy-eight, and these, for an outlying place, support a considerable population. The greatest drawback the miners complain of here, is the state of the road along the seacoast from Greymouth, and the difficulty they have of getting iron piping of a sufficient diameter brought from Greymouth on pack-horses to work their claims in an efficient manner. Between the foot of the range and the ocean-beach a low swampy flat runs parallel with the ocean-beach for a long distance. My attention was directed to this, and the miners stated that they had at one time formed themselves into an association to construct a tail-race through this flat from the beach to cut any inland beach-leads that may exist and to sluice the ground near the foot of the range, water being taken from Canoe Creek to effect this object. However, they stated that a Mr. Nelson wished to take the whole work in hand, and had made application for a subsidy to the Government to construct the tail-race referred to, and they had given up the idea of having anything further to do with it. As an application had been made for such a subsidy by Mr. Nelson, this led me to inquire into the scheme he proposed. The flat referred to has at one time been a lagoon, formed by the banking-up of the gravel and sand on the ocean-beach, and has afterwards been filled in from the denudation of the terraces on the side of the range and the numerous creeks which flow into this flat. The only prospect of getting gold would be near the foot of the range, and a tail-race could not be brought up with sufficient fall to work the ground by hydraulic sluicing. The scheme proposed by Mr. Nelson would cost a considerable sum to carry out, and its speculative nature leaves grave doubts on my mind whether success would attend the efforts made.