THE HISTORY OF THE GOLD DISCOVERIES IN NEW ZEALAND.

FEW persons, in speaking of the gold-fields of New Zealand, possess a full knowledge of their extent and importance, and still less of the history of gold discoveries in this colony. It is not too much to say that New Zealand is more extensively auriferous than any known gold-bearing country, in comparison to its area. From Coromandel down to the mouth of the Molyneux river, or for a distance of a thousand miles, gold is found in greater or less quantity, at various points. The progress of discovery has been far greater in the Middle Island, but there is every reason to believe that when the alluvial plains and flats of the Thames and Waikato Rivers are thrown open to the researches of the gold-seeker, gold-fields, rivalling those of Otago, will be discovered.

Gold is now being successfully worked in several parts of the colony. At Coromandel, in the Province of Auckland; at Massacre Bay, and in the Buller, Wanganui, Lyell, and Wangapaka rivers, in the Province of Nelson; at Teramakau, on the West Coast of Canterbury; and over a very considerable area of the Province of Otago. The early history of the discovery of gold in New Zealand is enveloped in a good deal of uncertainty. It is somewhat singular that the Maoris, sprung as they are supposed to be, from the Asiatics of the Indian Archipelago, have no traditionary knowledge of the precious metals, nor do ornaments of gold or silver appear at any time to have been in their possession. There is, therefore, fair ground for supposing that Europeans were the first to discover gold in New Zealand-or at least the first to make any practical use of the discovery. As far as the records of the Colony go, gold may be said to have been first discovered in New Zealand in 1842, by a small exploring party under Captain Wakefield, while engaged in examining the country in Massacre Bay for coal and limestone. Several specks of gold, in quantities sufficient at the present day to cause a large "rush" were found, but the discovery seems to have been regarded as simply an interesting and curious accident. When the party returned to Nelson and mentioned having found gold, the story was not considered entitled to much credit and importance, and no attempt was made to verify the statement. It is a singular fact that although the coal and limestone deposits, in the vicinity of which the particles of gold had been found, were afterwards worked by the settlers, no further auriferous indications were noticed by the workers, who probably had not cared to remember the story told by Captain Wakefield's party; and it was not until fourteen years afterwards that the attention of the colonists was again drawn to this locality as a gold-bearing district.

From 1842 until nearly ten years afterwards, the history of the gold discoveries is very vague. A Mr. Palmer, an old settler in the Province of Otago, informed Mr. Pyke, the Secretary of the Otago Gold Fields Department, that many years prior to the settlement of that Province in 1848, a native chief, Tuawaiki by name, had assured him that far in the interior "plenty ferro," or yellow stone, similar in appearance to the seals worn by the white men, could be obtained. The country of the Upper Molyneux r Clutha River was also indicated by the Maori, as a locality in which the

ferro could be found. It is difficult to reconcile this story with the singular ignorance of the uses and value of gold enjoyed by the Maoris. In every country where gold has been found to exist,-at any rate in such quantities as to occasion remark, we invariably find that the native inhabitants have made some use of the metal, generally, if not always, as an article of ornament. The Maoris are not indifferent to the adornment of their persons, and we know that in the case of the pœnamu, or green-stone, they took considerable pains to procure substances adapted to ornamental purposes. We are inclined to consider Tuawaiki's story as somewhat legendary.

The year 1852 was marked by the discovery of gold almost simultaneously at opposite ends of the Colony, viz.: at Auckland and Otago. By this time the important discoveries in California and Australia had imparted an increased value to the vague statements of the Maori and earlier European inhabitants of New Zealand, and many attempts were made to discover the auriferous indications reported to exist. In March, 1852, a party of five Europeans, one of whom had worked for gold in California, started in a whale boat up the Molyneux River, in search for gold. They had been induced to this expedition by the reports of some Maoris. The account of this expedition is thus given by one of the individuals engaged in it, Mr. T. B. Archibald, of Pomahaka :

"Nearly all the Maori residents at the Molyneux, at the time of our excursion, were strangers, having been only a few years in the place. There were only a man and woman who knew the country between the mouth of the River and the Lakes. The man, Raki Raki, had resided on the Waka

tipu Lake, but had left many years ago. He left a brother, who had two wives, behind; and who, he said, were the only Maoris in the interior. He told me he once picked up a piece of simon' (gold) about the size of a small potato on the banks of the Molyneux, but did not know its value, and he threw it into the river. They told us they had seen the small "simon" on the sides of the river, where three canoes had been lying. On seeing a small sample of gold (which, I think, Mr. Meredith brought down from Tasmania, about the beginning of 1852), the natives were the more convinced we should find it in the sands of the Molyneux. As some of us were on the eve of starting for Australia, we thought we would give the river a trial first, more especially as we had the services of a Californian miner, who had left a whaling vessel in the Bay. We made a party of five, and started up the river in March, 1852, in a whale boat which I brought from Dunedin. We prospected the bars and banks of the river, as far as a creek, now named the Beaumont. As none of us knew anything about gold-seeking, except the American, and getting nothing more than the colour, we resolved to return, after having nearly a three week's cruise; the more so, as the river seemed a succession of rapids, which it was difficult to get the boat through. If our Californian miner had been the practical hand he represented himself to be, I have no doubt we should have been successful at least in getting a good prospect."

In the same year, several specimens of quartz, supposed to be auriferous, were sent from Otago to the New Zealand Society at Wellington; but after a careful analysis, only a few specks could be found, and the opinion was expressed that the discovery was of no value. The discovery of gold at Coromandel in this year (1852), was of much greater importance, and attracted considerable attention throughout the Colony. Small pieces of gold were found in a stream running into Coromandel Bay, and further search revealed the existence of other strong indications of the auriferous

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nature of the ground. There were many persons living in Auckland whe had worked in the gold-fields of Victoria, and they immediately conceive that the glories of Bendigo and Ballarat were to be reproduced at Coro mandel. Auckland went wild with excitement, and a great rush of peopl took place to the locality of the new discovery. But the work of prospect ing was checked by the opposition of the Natives to whom the land in the Coromandel district belonged. The Maoris looked with great disfavor on this sudden invasion by a host of unprincipled and unscrupulous diggers, and at once prohibited the Europeans coming on the land to search fo: gold. Serious complications would have arisen had not Sir George Grey then Governor of the Colony, succeeded in concluding an arrangement with the Natives, by which, for a certain payment, the permission to dig for gold was given. But beyond a very partial examination of the district, nothing was done to develope the supposed auriferous resources of Coromandel; and the excitement died out almost as speedily as it had arisen. Gold was found, it is true, but its possession was only secured at a cost of labour and appliances exceeding the value of the metal obtained. Some 1,100 ounces of gold were thus procured after much trouble and great outlay. Of course this process was too unprofitable to last, and the diggings became quickly deserted. It is believed that the Natives continued to find gold in the district after its desertion by the Europeans, but nothing like a systematic search was made. Occasional visits were paid by some of the more ardent believers in the gold-bearing character of the district, and specimens of auriferous quartz were frequently brought surreptitiously to Auckland, where, however, they served only as interesting additions to geological cabinets, all public excitement on the subject having subsided.

In 1856, Nelson was again the scene of further gold discoveries, gold having been found in the Motueka district. This time the rumoured discovery of the precious metal was eagerly caught up, and a large number of anxious gold seekers at once rushed to the spot. But the gold was found to be exceedingly minute in quantity, and quite unremunerative to work ; consequently the diggers were not long before they left the place, and Nelson again subsided into its wonted quiescent state.

In the same year, Mr. C. W. Ligar, then the Surveyor-General of New Zealand, and who at present fills a similar position in the Colony of Victoria, wrote officially to the then Superintendent of Otago (Captain W. Cargill) stating that during a visit to the south part of Otago he had found gold very generally distributed in the gravel sand of the Mataura River, and expressing the opinion that a remunerative gold-field existed in that locality. Strange as it may seem, the Pilgrim Fathers of Otago paid no particular attention to Mr. Ligar's statement, and it appears to have attracted but little notice at the time anywhere. Later, Mr. Thompson, the Provincial Surveyor of Otago, whilst engaged on a reconnaissance survey of the Province, found gold distributed over several localities, but he expressed the opinion that it did not exist in sufficient quantity to pay for working.

In the early part of 1857, the Massacre Bay district, in the Nelson Province, again excited public attention, gold having, it was alleged, been found in payable quantities not far from the deserted diggings of Motueka. The new discovery was made by a storekeeper in Nelson, who in company with a man who had had some experience in gold mining in Australia, visited Aorere to prospect for gold, induced thereto by a reward of £500, which the Nelson merchants had offered for the discovery of a payable gold

field. The two adventurers found gold readily in most of the gullies and places that they tested, and some three or four ounces were brought back to Nelson. The discovery having been made known, a considerable number of persons flocked to the place, and a systematic search took place, which was attended with considerable success. The population rapidly increased, and within three or four months of the discovery, about 1000 persons were working on the spot. A township sprung up, and in an incredibly short space of time, shops, stores, and hotels were erected, and a Custom House established. But during the summer months no provision had been made for the ensuing winter. There were no roads, and the communication with Nelson was unfrequent and tedious. When Winter arrived, it found the miners utterly unprovided against its severities, and great distress ensued. Numbers left, and a temporary falling off in the yield of gold caused a partial rush from the place, and although fair average returns contined to be made, the population never again reached its former number. Some estimate may be formed of the extent and value of these diggings from the fact that up to the 1st October, 1858, sixteen thousand four hundred and seventy-three ounces of gold, the produce of this gold-field, passed through the Custom House.

The richest diggings on the Aorere gold-field were on the Slate River, a stream which takes its rise in the Aatoki range, and afterwards falls into the Aorere. On each side of the river are high precipitous banks, composed of slate, quartz, and granite rocks, 400 or 500 feet high, and mostly clothed with dense forest to the water's edge. The river bed was filled with huge boulders, lying on the top of ridges of slate, which run across the river, and it was in these ridges or crevices, in yellow gravel, that the heaviest gold was found. The cases of individual success were numerous and brilliant, some lucky miners getting as much as a pound weight per day. The gold was traced up into the Anatoki or Snowy range, and heavy nuggets found.

In the latter part of 1857 the Provincial Government of Otago, influenced by the rumour of the existence of gold, offered a reward of £500 for the discovery of a payable gold-field. It is curious to note what the idea of a "payable" gold-field was. The conditions of the reward were to the following effect :-One moiety of the reward to be paid when a quantity of gold exceeding 100 oz. should have been brought to Dunedin or exported from the Province within any one year, and the balance of the reward to be paid when 500 oz. should have been exported. Singularly enough, this reward had hardly been announced when Mr. R. Gillies, Sub-Assistant Surveyor, wrote stating that he and party had found gold in a creek running between the Waikioi and Makerewa bush, and emptying itself into the Makerewa. Their attention was drawn by the very large amount of mica mixed with the quartz gravel, iron-sand, and blue clay forming the bed of the creek. Mr. Assistant Surveyor Garvie also confirmed about this time the existence of gold in Otago. During a reconnaissance survey of the south-eastern district of the province he found traces of gold in the gravel and sand of several streams and rivers. One of the survey party happened to have previously worked on the Australian gold-fields, and his experience was of considerable value in the searches that were made. The gold found was small and scaly, and the opinion was expressed that it existed in several localities in payable quantity. It was ascertained that a man named Peters had for some time been engaged in obtaining small quantities of gold from the sands of the Tokomairiro River, now known as the Wool

shed diggings, and from which large quantities of gold have been taken.

In March 1858, Mr. Garvie brought down to Dunedin some specimens of gold which he had obtained in the neighbourhood of the Dunstan ranges. The gold was mixed with iron-sand and oxide of tin, and found in every dishful of earth they washed. And yet this district was the site of Hartley and Reilly's great discovery four years afterwards. On the 23rd of the same month, Mr. Garvie wrote as follows to the Chief Surveyor of Otago :-"I have the honor to inform you that while engaged in the survey of the Tuapeka country one of the men belonging to my party discovered gold to be pretty freely distributed even among the surface gravel near the mouth of that stream." Still no public interest appeared to be felt in the discovery. Well might the local newspaper comment on the strange apathy of the people. During this year (1858) gold was also found in the Lindis River, in the north-eastern part of Otago.

The Nelson gold-fields were tolerably prosperous during the year, but a prevalence of very heavy floods, which swept away the tools and appliances of the miners, interfered considerably with mining operations, and the yield of gold fell off. Still fresh discoveries continued to be made, and great confidence was expressed in the permanency of the diggings. In the early part of 1859 several large nuggets were found in the Rocky River, weighing from two to nine ounces. In March gold was found on the Waikaro, for a distance of nearly twenty miles along the bed of the river. During 1860 the population on the Aorere gold-fields suffered considerable diminution, and although the yield of gold bore a very satisfactory proportion to those engaged in the pursuit, there was no excitement, and but little attention was paid to the diggings out of the Nelson Province.

In March 1861, gold was found in sufficient quantity to create excitement, by a number of road makers, in the River Lindis, a tributary of the Molyneux River, in the Otago Province. The gold found consisted of large, water-worn nuggets, about the size of a bean. Immediately on the discovery being made public a considerable number of persons abandoned their ordinary employments for the more tempting and exciting pursuit of gold seeking. Some three or four hundred people proceeded to the scene of the new discovery, but only a small proportion obtained any gold worth the labour and expense of procuring, and in a short time the diggings were deserted by all but a few experienced hands, who managed to earn good wages. Just about this time gold was discovered on the Kakanui, and also near Moeraki. The credit of discovering gold in the Lindis was claimed by a man named McIntyre, who was induced to search for it in consequence of the resemblance the district bore to the gold-bearing regions of California, where he had previously worked. He found gold in small quantities from the Lindis River to the Hamea Lake. In the early part of this year (1861) the Nelson gold-fields again attracted the notice of the colonists. The older diggings were yielding satisfactorily, and several important new discoveries were made. The Rangapeka River was found to be gold-bearing, and the reports spread concerning its auriferous character caused great excitement throughout the colony. The season was, however, unfavourable for mining operations, and the real value of the discovery was not ascertained for some time afterwards. News was also received of the discovery of gold on the west coast, some Maoris having brought to Nelson 27 ounces of gold procured in the most primitive manner. These Natives had picked up a light knowledge of gold mining on the Aorere gold-field, and on returning