Page:Rambles on the Golden Coast of New Zealand.djvu/87



HE rapid rise of towns and sometimes of large cities consequent on the discovery of gold has furnished a theme for many pens and for divers comments. In many instances these centres of population wane into deserted places as quickly as they waxed crowded and noisy. They are mostly of mushroom growth, springing up, so to speak, in a night, and perishing surely and utterly when the production of that gold which caused their birth has ceased to be remunerative. Occasionally however, goldfields towns which have sprung into existence in a phenomenally short time remain permanent centres of life and activity. Hokitika, Greymouth, Ross, Westport, and Reefton, as indeed several smaller and less known townships in the interior, are of the latter description.

To begin with Hokitika. The discovery of gold in 1865 on the West Coast first caused a large rush of people to this place. There were, during the latter part of 1864 a few stray tents, with a very limited number of residents, on the bank of this river. Beyond Walter Ramsay, the saddler, and John Hudson of the Cleveland Hotel, I do not know of any of the 1864 pioneers who are still resident in the town. It was on the 20th of December, 1864. that Captain Leech, now harbour-master in Westport, crossed the Hokitika bar with the steamship “Nelson.” This date may therefore be accepted as that of the opening of Hokitika. The tidings of the gold diggings at that time were very meagre, and it was not until the first quarter of the following year that anything like a stir was made. In the month of March 1865, the place was rushed in the truest and fullest sense of the term. Early in April, the steamship “Alhambra” was despatched from Dunedin to Hokitika, crowded with passengers, amongst whom was the same special correspondent of the Otago Daily Times, to whom reference was made in the preceding chapter upon the West Coast Sounds. The rich finds on the West Coast soon began to be spoken of in Otago and Canterbury. In a few months, hundreds, ay, thousands, from here, and subsequently from all parts of the Australasian Colonies, found their way thither by land and sea. Many adventurous men, before the road from Christchurch to Hokitika was formed, faced the difficulties and dangers of a long journey through a dense bush, over the great range which runs along the South Island, and across many rapid and dangerous streams and rivers. In Otago and Canterbury much excitement was caused by the news that gold had been found, and curious eyes scanned the maps to discover the exact position of the “Okitiki” river as it was then called. In the early days of the field from 1865 and for several years afterwards Westland formed