TRIP TO THE THAMES GOLD-FIELDS, By a Traveller
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TRIP TO THE THAMES GOLD-FIELDS
By a Traveller
The little information that has reached your quarter relative to these diggings, and the very contradictory nature of what you have heard will no doubt render acceptable a few notes made by me during a personal visit to that quarter on Saturday, October 11 [1867]. Previous to my arrival in Auckland, by the Lord Ashley, so little had I heard of the Thames Gold-field, that the existence of such a place had passed from my memory altogether; my astonishment was therefore proportionately great to find that nearly the only topic of conversation amongst the people of Auckland was the auriferous character of that district. With a vivid remembrance of a previous gold bubble in this province, known as Coromandel, I felt naturally very dubious about placing any great reliance upon what I everywhere heard respecting the newly discovered El Dorado, and determined to bring a little personal practical experience to bear on the subject, before I attempted to make you better acquainted with what is actually going on here at the present time. The specimens that I so frequently saw, were without doubt wonderfully rich, and two heavy bars of gold obtained from quartz crushed from one of the Thames claims, and exhibited in the shop window of Mr. Beck, of Queen-street, were convincing proofs that there must be some truth in the rumours which were current about the place. Therefore the natural result was, that I had hardly been here a week before I determined upon at once proceeding to the Thames. Taking time by the forelock, I shipped myself on board the local steamer Tauranga, on the Saturday before mentioned, in company with several friends and acquaintances, and a far larger number of strangers. As there were three steamers leaving within an hour of each other, all bound to the same locality, we were not quite so crowded as we should otherwise have been. We cast off from the wharf about 6 o'clock, and scudded down the harbor with a fair wind to the tune of something over eleven knots an hour. The distance from Auckland to Shortland town which is estimated at fifty miles, in favorable weather, is but a pleasant cruise of some five or six hours duration. The fair winds which followed us soon reached the height of a strong gale, with thunder, lightning, and rain ad lib. Our captain with some consideration for the convenience of his passengers, after pursuing about three parts of his journey, came to an anchor under the lee of the land, where we remained comfortably until daylight the following morning, when we started again for the
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mouth of the Thames. About two hours' pleasant sail, and right before us we caught a faint glimpse of the scene of our destination --a prominent range of hills, running nearly north and south. As we got still nearer, the broken character of the landscape was at once observable, whilst by the aid of a glass one was able to discover that at the foot of these hills lay a narrow, swampy flat, bordering the sea shore. At intervals along the whole view, the ranges were dotted with the white tents of the miners, showing forth very conspicuously against the dark back ground. In due time we arrived at the landing place in the river, and jumped ashore. As there remained a good hour before breakfast, of course I made the best use of my time in looking round the township. The principal building yet completed is Capt. Butt's Hotel, a neat weatherboard construction of considerable dimensions, and certainly on the day we visited it (Sunday), it was a grand claim, and one too which I think will not speedily be worked out; at all events, not while the present 'prospect' lasts and he continues to get 'good stuff'. Stores, restaurants, bakers, butchers, &c, were also erected there in numbers more numerous than payable; and the large stacks of timber that had just arrived, showed the active preparations already instituted for converting the present frail, canvas, or calico structures into something more durable. But I must restrain my pen, or else I shall not have either time or room to acquaint you with the real subject matter at issuer--the practical worth of the Thames as a goldfield. After a hasty breakfast on board the steamer, I at once started away in company with several others, who from a previous visit had become acquainted with the locality, in order to inspect as many of the claims as could be readily seen in the short space of a few hours. Taking the claims as they came, the first I visited was about a mile from the township, and consisted of a drive of about a hundred feet into a prominent looking 'spur'. The tunnel was evidently not made by practical diggers, being too extensive in girth. Being Sunday, the owners were quietly ensconsed in their tents at the foot of the range; however, I have learnt since then that they have been rewarded for their labor by striking good payable stone. A few yards further on, a party were 'terracing'. One of the proprietors very kindly showed us some specimens of great richness, and proceeded with us over a number of the adjacent claims, all of which looked A1. A dishful of rubble, taken promiscuously from one of them and washed, yielded, according to my judgment, nearly half an ounce of gold, whilst the whole character of the stone (a kind of conglomarate) was surprisingly rich. Tookey's, Williamson's, and several other really good claims, are situated in close proximity. The former
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party have made a deep cutting into the side of the hill; their stone gives promise of an immense yield when crushed, but when machinery will arrive is a problem which no one at present can solve. The sleepy Auckland capitalists seem to have closed their eyes to the fact that by sending a smart agent to Victoria, they might have purchased any quantity of idle, and therefore, to its owners, useless plant, and by shipping it to the Thames, they might now be reaping a rich harvest from such a speculation. Truly they are a dull, apathetic set, who have 'no speculation in their eyes', nor will they discover their error until their 'spry' Victorian brethren step in and completely shut them out from all chance of participating in the profits which may, and will be reaped by the introduction of suitable quartz crushing machinery on the Thames goldfield. There are but two or three small Berdan machines on the spot, which are in the hands of private parties, so that the diggers as a body are unable to obtain the use of them. There are hundreds of tons of quartz ready for crushing, and thousands of tons to be raised, and the constant cry of the miner is 'machinery'! For months has this cry been echoed by hundreds; yet it is still too feeble to rouse our sleepy nabobs, who, in consequence of having gorged so much lately, have sunk into a state of stupor, and refuse to hear, or hearing, heed not the voice of the charmer.
I was somewhat disappointed at not seeing a large quantity of quartz 'stacked', but I was informed that the diggers carry away their day's work in bags, and store it under cover. One fact that struck me above anything was this: that converse with whoever you would there was no grumbling. After visiting many claims, all of them good, we at length arrived at the far-famed Hunt's, about which there has been so much talk, and certainly it looked very attractive. A solid mass of quartz stands out in bold relief, over which plays a small waterfall. Here they have a Berdan machine, which is fully employed. Hunt himself was there, and showed me between two and three hundred ounces of amalgam, the result of his previous week's crushing; in addition to this he had a quantity of stuff to crush which I believe has yielded 130 ozs. By the next steamer to Sydney they are confident of being able to ship at least a thousand ounces. This is the claim from which by far the greater portion of the quartz crushed in Auckland has been taken, the yield being quite fabulous.
To attempt to give you any detailed account of what I saw during my visit to this field, would be simply out of the question. I purpose, therefore, in a few general observations to sum up my present impressions. In the first place, reefing is all that is being done; some few are sluicing, but not with any very satisfactory
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results. As a reefing country, I am convinced that the small portion of land now open is wonderfully rich. Let the reefers once obtain machinery, and depend upon it the yield will be enormous. Such facilities attending a reefing country I never saw before; the quartz is readily get-at-able, easily attainable, and speedily transferrable, and I am confident that the amount of gold which will be produced within a week or two after machinery is once set in motion will be such as to astonish the eyes of your West Coast diggers, and create a wonderful sensation throughout the length and breadth of the Island. The Superintendent is at present at the Thames, with the object of getting more country opened--country, too, which is expected to produce alluvial diggings of great wealth. That this country will shortly be opened no one can for a moment doubt, as the exodus that is going on from all parts of this province is prodigious. What the consequences will be when the Southern provinces and the Australian colonies once become fully alive to the value of the discovery, cannot be readily estimated.
