Page:Discovery of the West Coast Gold-Fields Waite 1869.pdf/4

4 than twelve, who should each pay £20 towards chartering a small vessel and purchasing provisions sufficient to last for three months, and longer, if necessary. Finding, however, that Rogers only attended the meeting, and having great confidence in the undertaking, I resolved to take the whole upon myself, and with this view Rogers went across to Nelson, and chartered the ketch Jane, Jacobsen, master, for the sum of £50 (the Jane had not long been turned off the stocks.) She was to call at Collingwood on her way down.

The people of Nelson laughed at our undertaking, saying that I and my companion were madmen from Victoria. The consequence was we only got one passenger from Nelson, and I believe he was in some way connected with the Government, but we got fourteen from Collingwood.

You may be well assured that the business people of Collingwood were not very thankful to us for taking the diggers away from their locality; but it mattered little to us, we had taken the field for adventure, and cared not a jot for the thoughts of any.

We started from Collingwood with a light breeze, which soon brought us well up to the Sandspit, in nearing which we unfortunately got ashore, but without sustaining any damage, or suffering any great loss of time, as the sea was perfectly smooth.

Various were the suggestions made by those on board as to the best method of getting the ketch off. One, who was evidently not suffering from hunger, proposed throwing all the provisions overboard to lighten her; another rather waggishly observed, that he thought it was nearly time for all hands to get out and walk; but, nevertheless, while these jokes were being passed round, we, after a little trouble, having plenty of help at hand, soon got our craft afloat again.

Besides the human cargo, we also had ten four-footed passengers on board, in the shape of cats. I have a slight notion that some Collingwood housewives made their silvery voices echo in vain with the cry of “puss” over the dancing waters of the bay, the day following our departure.

We arrived off the Buller in two days. When we entered at high water, we found three and a-half fathoms on the bar. We had not long been there before I sold all my goods for gold to the Maoris. It appeared that a lot of the Collingwood natives, knowing that I was going to take round provisions, started overland with two white men, and were at the Buller when we arrived with the vessel. They were catching fish and gathering pipis, on the first river north of the Buller, named by them at the time Orawaiti, meaning, “Come on, Waite,” because they could see the vessel approaching, and were in want of provisions.

Before starting back to Nelson, I and Mr. Frederick Berry, of Collingwood, with the mate of the Jane, John Duncan, tried to get up the river with the Jane’s boat, but the fresh was too heavy to get very far on the first day. I shall always remember that first