117

a—3

Some idea may be had of the extraordinary statements of some of the miners in regard to the fabulous quantity of gold that lies buried between the foot of the terraces and the ocean from the following extract which appeared in the Grey River Argus: — " The twenty-five spurs here, which we call terraces, would, if placed in a line, measure 10,300 ft. They are all that is left of what must have been an unbroken terrace ten miles long and I,oooft. wide, with 30ft. deep of sea-gravel. This 62,500,000 cubic yards must have held gold to the value of £1,500,000, for we have extracted from the terraces 75,0000z. of gold since 1866; but as the water from the twenty-five creeks carried away eight miles of the lead and 50,000,000 cubic yards of golden drift, it is clear that 25,0001b. weight of gold is gone with it, and is now resting, we may be sure, on the first level that is clear of the slope of the back range." It is hard to credit that even Mr. Edward Meagher, who wrote this statement, believed onehalf of what he was writing ; but possibly he wished, to induce some capitalist to visit the Barrytown field to bring it prominently before the public. Such ideas of the richness of Barry town Plat are not likely to be realised; at the same time the ground on the terraces in this locality deserves more attention from the mining community, as it is likely to afford at least small wages to a much larger population than is found here at present. Between Barrytown and the Grey Eiver there are parties here and there working along the beaches, all of which may be said to have claims on ocean-beach leads. Many of the men have been here for over twenty years, and are still making a small livelihood in this locality, but none of them appear to be making large wages. About thirty-seven Europeans are working claims in this locality. Greenstone. This is the place where gold was first discovered on the West Coast. In the early days the Maoris used to visit here to collect quantities of greenstone, and it was on one of these excursions that gold was first found in the bed of the Greenstone Creek. A considerable area of ground in this locality is covered with auriferous drift, amongst which is a considerable quantity of large rounded boulders, showing that they have been subjected to river action at some remote period. Mr. McKay, the Mining Geologist, who made recent explorations in Westland, is of opinion that the Teremakau Eiver once flowed across the country on the high-level terraces above the Greenstone, and afterwards crossed over again to its present valley and came down the Kumara Flat. It is evident, however, that, wherever the gold originally came from, that now found at Greenstone certainly did not come from the Teremakau Valley, as, after passing Jackson's for some distance, the rocks occurring there are not of the character to lead any one to expect much gold to be found in that formation. It is quite evident that the terraces in the vicinity of Greenstone, Westbrooke, and also Kumara, in which the gold is found, consist of nothing but a mass of concentrated material which, to all appearance, is the result of glacier denudation. A considerable amount of gold, however, was found at Greenstone, and the place maintained a large population for a long time; but of late years this has dwindled down to a very small number. The workings are principally confined to Duke's Terrace, the terraces on the south side of the creek, near the junction of the Hokitika-Greymouth Eoad with the Greenstone Eoad, also in the bed of the Greenstone Creek, where some Chinese are still working by wing-damming the creek, and working one side of the bed at a time. Most of the water used in this field belongs to the Greenstone Sluicing Company. In former years this race was constructed, and money borrowed from Government to complete it; but after carrying on mining operations for many years the water-race fell into disrepair, the company that owned it went into liquidation, the fluming became decayed, and for a long period the water-race lay abandoned until within a few years ago, when the present company acquired it and reconstructed it, and brought the water on to Duke's Terrace to work the ground taken up by the company previously. The ground where the company is at present working is from 50ft. to 70ft. in depth, and Mr. Briggs, the manager, informed me that he can by the system which he has adopted make half a grain of gold to the cubic yard pay all expenses of working. In ordinary weather this company has a supply of about sixty sluice-heads, and the only trouble they experience is that, as the ground gets back into the terrace, the fall is so slight that in the case of very poor ground there is not much profit in working it, on account of being unable to run away a sufficient quantity of material through the sluices on a low gradient. With the exception of the men employed by the company there are not many Europeans now working in this locality. The reason given by Mr. McKay to account for the gold found at Greenstone is that at the time of the glacial period the Arahura Glacier and the Teremakau Glacier came forward to that point where the two met, but the Arahura, being larger in volume, kept, as it were, the Teremakau in check, and compelled it to take a more northerly course. This could not be effected at once; but on taking the western slopes of Mount Smart, and being relieved on the northern side, the Teremakau spread over the country in a northerly direction as far as the Upper Greenstone, and on the western side of the valley opposite the Greenstone Township, where it was again held in check by another great body of ice passing from the mountains by way of Lake Brunner and stretching over the country north of the Blackwater junction. There is abundant evidence of this as far down the valley from the township as the Threemile Creek. The main glacier, however, continued to run parallel with the northern margin of the Arahura Glacier on the southern side of the present valley of the Teremakau, and both brought material towards the accumulation of the vast moraines that mark the limits of each glacier, and now extending as a range of hills from the western foot of Turiwhate to Dillmanstown. About forty-two Europeans and eight Chinese were working claims about the Greenstone at the time of my last visit. Westbrooke. A considerable quantity of gold has been obtained from the auriferous drift on the terrace below the Greenstone Township, between the Greenstone Creek and the Teremakau Biver, and for