Page:Rambles on the Golden Coast of New Zealand.djvu/92

66 masts of the “Titania;” and nearer home, what was left of the “New Zealand” supplied us with a painful reminder of the dangers of Hokitika. Everywhere from the water’s edge to the top of the spit were scattered portions of the luckless vessels which had gone to pieces. Masts, chains, anchors, standing rigging, windlasses, might all be found, and a sprinkling of old iron sufficient, if it were worked, to give material for a good sized steamer. Never before was such a gloomy sight seen in New Zealand. A year or two before, the Bluff Harbour had the worst reputation of any place on the coast. Captains and shippers had a dread of going there, and insurance companies raised their rates on goods consigned thitherward; but the Bluff Harbour was, at the time I am referring to, a Milford Haven compared to Hokitika. A carefully prepared estimate of the loss occasioned by the wrecks of the year 1865 at this port would have told a curious tale. The value of the ships alone must have been no trifle, but, added to the value of the goods destroyed and damaged, the sum total would probably not be written under hundreds of thousands of pounds.

It was no unusual thing in those days to see 500 or 600 passengers land from the decks of the steamers “Yarra” and “Bruce.” I recollect one morning the “Alhambra” bringing 300 to 400 passengers, the “Egmont” about the same number, and the “Barwon” from 200 to 300 from Melbourne. Next day the “Gothenburg” showed up crowded with passengers, the “Auckland” landed a couple of hundred from Manukau, and a steamer from Sydney came up at the same time with a full complement. Those were the palmy days for the shipping trade.

The news from the various diggings around Hokitika was of the most exciting character, for the first year or two after the goldfields were rushed. It was no unusual thing to have reported that a new lead had been struck at Waimea, yielding fabulous returns; that from 1 dwt. to 2 dwts. to the dish was being obtained with ease in several claims at the Kanieri; that £15 per man per week was being got at Woodstock; that from £6 to £30 per man was obtained at Tucker Flat, and so forth. Any one to read the mining reports of the West Coast Times in the months of June, July, and August 1865, nowadays, will not be surprised that about 15,000 people were, within a few months, induced to congregate on the West Coast. Such paragraphs as “Inglis and party have been making from £15 to £20 per man per week, also Hamond’s and Graham’s parties are doing about the same, and these are not considered the pile claims, but good steady wages ones,” were by no means unusual in a mining report in these times. There were scores of miners, I will venture to say, who, in the latter part of that year made very handsome competences, ranging from £1000 to £2000 each, and this was frequently accomplished with the most primitive appliances.

Early in August of the same year there was a stampede to the Totara district, to what was first known as Jones’s diggings. Here the general run of prospects was reported to range from ½ dwt. to 3 dwts. to the dish. The first mining report published of this locality stated that about 250 men had reached the ground, and it enumerated a few washings which had taken place on that day in sight of the reporter, as follows:—