Page:Old Westland (1939).pdf/200

176 locate themselves in such a wilderness. A typical case of drowning occurred to-day (November 22nd, 1864), when a young man named Shillingford perished in the Taramakau. He had arrived by the last trip of the Nelson, and was on his way to the Greenstone, travelling alone. He had mistaken the ford and got into deep water and was carried down about one hundred yards into an eddy, which sucked him under. The sad news cast quite a gloom over the town. He was well known in Otago, where he had made money, and had come to the Coast with the intention of starting in business. Since my arrival there has been on an average one death per week through drowning, at this ford. On the day following an inquest was held on the body of Shillingford by Mr. John Rochfort.”

On November 24th, Preshaw states: “I went to the Greenstone in company with Horsington and De Silva, and put up at a shanty kept by a man named Tracy. Our lodging,” he continues, “was on the cold ground. We had some old sacking under us, and my blankets, which I had brought up with me, over us. I, as usual, managed to get the middle berth. The day following, though Sunday, was business day, and I visited the few storekeepers in the town. Not being satisfied with this I found out one or two parties who had large parcels of gold, went to their tents, purchased it from them and issued some deposit