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year 1865 opened with bright prospects for the West Coast,” states W. J. M. Larnach, C.M.G., Minister for Mines in the Stout Government, who compiled a very comprehensive series of articles pertaining to the mineral resources of the Dominion which appeared in the Handbook of New Zealand Mines, 1887. “The population was increasing rapidly,” he continues, “and men belonging to various nationalities were arriving daily. Others came over from Canterbury, some of whom had taken only seven days to walk from Lyttelton. Two women were reported to have walked the whole distance, and a man with a wooden leg had also braved the dangers of the road.

“Michael Cassius,” he goes on to say, “was appointed Postmaster at Hokitika (January