Page:Discovery of the West Coast Gold-Fields Waite 1869.pdf/25

 precious metal, thousands of ounces more would have come from there than has come. I have had a great deal of travelling about in that district, and I am of opinion that there is just as rich ground there as on any part of the West Coast.

Some portions of this narrative were published in the “Nelson Examiner”, at the latter end of 1867; and a great deal of what I then predicted concerning the River Buller has since come true, and I am still of the same opinion, that the day is not far distant when it will become the most flourishing district in the Province of Nelson.

Before concluding this brief description of the discovery and subsequent development of the West Coast, I will endeavour to give the uninformed reader some idea of the present state of that part of the country, to show how rapid is the progress of any place where gold is discovered. I will also make a few remarks that may be beneficial in some degree to those who, never having yet ventured to seek their fortunes in new and unexplored regions, may at some time determine to cast their lot amid the energetic pioneers of some of the new gold-bearing districts.

The subjects to which I shall first allude are two prevalent diseases, namely, scurvy and diarrhoea, which on all new diggings, and even on those of long-standing, are generally of great annoyance to the inhabitants. The first-named of these is frequently caused, in my opinion, from what at one time, and even now in some places, cannot be avoided, that is the consumption of too much salt provisions, without making use of vegetables of any kind to relieve the system. Now on the sea coast and in the bush, especially at old camping grounds, there is to be found a quantity of sowthistle, which if properly cooked makes a good article of vegetable food, and will be found highly beneficial in the prevention of the above-mentioned disease. If sowthistle cannot be obtained, young fern tops, plucked and cooked in the same manner, will also answer the purpose. But as there are now plenty of gardens on the West Coast diggers cannot want vegetables, which they should use freely. The next disease, diarrhoea, is often brought on by a sudden change from coarse, hard diet, to rich and abundant living, together with the use of liquor, that the person for months, very likely, has been unaccustomed to. This is easily cured, in the first stage, if only taken in time. There is a plant or shrub growing in various parts of this colony, and commonly to be met with nearly all over the West Coast, named “coarimikakoromiko [sic];” if the leaves of this are plucked and eaten, or made into tea in a similar manner to mint tea, it will be found an