Page:Old Westland (1939).pdf/231

Rh remains of the Oak might be observed; further on, a confused mass of ruin, a heap of splintered planks and ribs marked the place where the Sir Francis Drake and the Rosella had finally succumbed to the force of the waves. Yonder could be seen the masts of the Titania, and nearer home all that was left of the New Zealand supplied us with a painful reminder of the dangers of Hokitika.”

Yet nothing daunted by these dangers the great Australian Invasion continued, and as most of the new arrivals were experienced diggers, they soon swarmed all over the Coast, and new ground, for the most part exceedingly rich, was opened up daily. This greatly increased the returns, it being calculated that the yield of gold for the first five months of this year was over 52,000 ounces.