Page:Discovery of the West Coast Gold-Fields Waite 1869.pdf/20

20 according to the course of action they intend to pursue, and will do anything that presents itself to get money, from jumping a claim to picking a pocket.

In the early part of the rush up the Grey, there was no town on the Nelson side of the river, nor any police. I recollect one day a constable belonging to the Canterbury force coming up the coast from Hokitika after a man who it appeared had been duping all the storekeepers between Hokitika and the Grey, by giving them cheques and receiving the balance in cash. He represented himself as being a wholesale storekeeper, having two places of business in Hokitika, and pretended to be soliciting orders. By these means he would get his food and lodgings, and give a cheque. He tried to impose upon me, but I was too well acquainted with Hokitika: I could not tell where his firm's place of business was situated, so that I had him cut and dried. This fellow had crossed the river on to the Nelson side, and when the constable was told by me that he had crossed over the river, he said, “Oh, I must not go out of my province!” so the fellow got away, otherwise he might easily have been caught. I saw by this it would be an easy matter for a man to rob me, and go over to the Nelson side of the river and grin at me, so I made it my business to inform the Superintendent of Nelson of the circumstance. The Superintendent promptly sent down constables, with Mr. Blackett as Commissioner; this, I believe was the cause of the town of Cobden being laid out. What the gold diggings in the Grey district have been, almost everyone in the province knows. The town of Greymouth sprang up as if by magic—faster even than Hokitika. A short time ago I was at the Grey, walking along one of the back streets, when a man accosted me thus, “Can you tell me which is such a street? mentioning the name of a street, which I do not now remember. I told him I did not know. “Ah,” said he, “I see you are a stranger here like myself.” Guess his surprise when I told him I was the first white resident there. It is needless to add anything more about the scores of different creeks, rivers, and terraces that have been discovered since the opening of these gold-fields, they are of course leading one to the other. I always had a great liking for the Buller, and I always felt satisfied that it would be the finest port and the healthiest place on the coast. So strongly did I cling to this opinion, that I once offered my right to the acre which the Maoris had let me, and the store on the Grey, to Mr. Batty, for £100. This was just before the great rush; a month afterwards, it was worth a thousand pounds; so that it will readily be believed I did not deeply regret that Mr. Batty declined my offer. Still I had a hankering for the Buller, and hearing that a mob of men were there, and that they were killing my cattle, I paid £20 for the Wallaby to land me in there. At that time no steamers went into the Buller unless they were paid in this way. I have repeatedly written about the Buller, and Cape Foulwind as a shelter from S. W.