Page:Rambles on the Golden Coast of New Zealand.djvu/205



HE town of Greymouth, like that of Hokitika, was the scene of a large and bustling rush of miners in the summer of 1865. The bulk of the diggers who happened to locate in that direction found themselves at once in luck’s way. New rushes throughout the district were then frequent and numerous. Many a lucky one’s yarns of the earliest days of the Grey would rival those of the young Victorians, when naught was heard of but “gold, gold, bright and yellow, hard and cold.” First a digging township, with its primitive buildings, diminutive stores, canvas signs, and shingly river banks; now a flourishing and permanent centre town of a large and promising district, an established shipping depot with great natural facilities, in the possession of an industrious and zealous community, who had good reason to be confident in their own resources. Besides their large annual out-turn of gold, the enterprise of the citizens of Greymouth has been the means of discovering, and is now the means of developing, a most valuable estate in the shape of an extensive, workable, and permanent coalfield.

which takes its name from Mr Brunner, the explorer and discoverer, to whom reference has already been made in a previous chapter, is situated about eight miles up the Grey River. Samples of the coal were tested as early as 1862, and work was first commenced in 1864. Matthew Batty and party were the first to lease the mine from the Nelson Provincial Government. They were unable, however, to comply, profitably to themselves, with the terms of the lease, which was ultimately cancelled. A second company from Ballarat got possession of the mine, and obtained a lease subject to certain royalties, and reserved rental, and a stipulated output of coal annually. Little or no attempt was made by this company to comply with the conditions of the lease. All they did was to provide a couple of coal barges, which they employed in bringing coal from the mine to the port, where it was sold to any ship in the harbour, at prices varying from 18s. to 25s. per ton. Finally the Nelson Government cancelled the lease, after being about four years in possession of the Ballarat Company. The Provincial Government then worked the mine on its own account, getting the Warden to supervise the payment of the men employed and to receive the proceeds from the sale of coal. Mr J. Dent was at this time the mine manager. In this way the mine was worked up to 1874, when a lease for 21 years was granted by the Superintendent of Nelson to a Melbourne firm, Messrs Croker, Hughes,