Henry William Harper

“ Ross is a lovely valley, encircled by forest-covered hills, as yet unspoilt by the devastating search for gold that gradually turns the most beautiful places into a wilderness of upheaved desolation of stones and earth. Some 5,000 men at work here, chiefly in deep sinkings ”

“ This is the easiest way of getting gold, so easy, it is called "Hay-making," but it will not last long, as the black sand brought down by the river, with its gold, from the mountains, and cast up on the beach, where it has lain for centuries, is of limited extent. Looked at with a lens, the gold dust is composed of tiny angular nuggets, and is so pure that its value is four pounds an ounce, though the miner, after paying the duty on gold, and the expenses, only realizes about three pounds, seventeen shillings. ”

“ S.S. Tararua, a steamer of 2,000 tons, full of miners and others, bound to Westland; men sleeping in every possible corner; another steamer not far off, the Alhambra, as full as we are. We are lying at anchor after a passage of 1,200 miles from Melbourne, off the West Coast of the Southern Island of New Zealand, waiting for a tug steamer to take passengers ashore.
A lovely spring morning; and before us a panorama of coast-line more than a hundred miles in view, slightly incurving at either end, one unbroken mass of forest which flows down to the top of the low cliffs which flank the beach ”

“ True, there is the romance of personal adventure, and the joy of living a vigorous, healthy, simple life; add to this that it offers a share in the making of a new Colony, and, in my case, the purpose of my life's work, and that I have chosen my furrow and hope to drive it straight to its end, without looking back ”

“ Entering the track, I found myself so shut in by a veritable jungle of lofty pines and thick underwood, that I lost sight of the sunshine,—about three miles of rather rough going, set with sharp stumps of saplings and shrubs. Presently, on ahead, a man emerged from a side-track, who turned to see me, and began to talk, though we could not walk abreast in the narrow path. "I'm working with some mates up there on a terrace, and it's my turn this week to go to Hokitika to sell our gold. I came from California, and have been here six months, and we're doing well! ”

“ Here's a tin; every fellow who lets out a bad word shall pay half-a-crown into it, and we'll give it to the first hard-up chap we meet. That's agreed, is it, so long as this gentleman is with us?" "Aye, aye!" "Well, then, I'll take charge of the tin, and I'm d——d if I don't make you pay up." Shouts of laughter as he had to drop his half-crown into the tin. I don't fancy they recognized the Bishop even as a parson, for he was bespattered with mud from head to foot, as his horse "Dick" had rolled over with him in a swamp, his hat crushed out of shape, reduced to the colour of clay. ”

“ Under a high terrace cliff, topped with big trees, a party of men were working, with the aid of a powerful stream of water, conducted through a hose, with which they attacked the cliff side; as the earth fell it was guided into channels formed of wood, called "tail races," with rough bottoms, in which the gold sinks and is retained, whilst the force of water washes the dirt away. Dangerous work; a man atop of the cliff to give warning, in case of any sudden and extensive slip of earth which might overwhelm the men working below. ”

“ Though their work looks like navvy work, it is work which calls out their abilities of observation and contrivance, for much depends on their rough and ready knowledge of the strata which may prove auriferous, and their skill in tunnelling, sinking, and the engineering of their water supply. They work in parties, in partnership, not for companies at present, and are not mere "hands," doing what a "boss" arranges. All this means much more than mere digging, and implies intelligence above that of the ordinary labourer. In fact, many are well educated men, whatever the external man may seem ”

“ The rainfall on the coast would be reckoned phenomenal elsewhere; six inches a day nothing uncommon; but abundance of water is needed for gold saving, so that wet weather is welcomed more than the sunnier driest days. It in no way hindered our meeting, which realized several hundreds towards the erection of the Church, to be begun at once.
The downpour, however, threatened to bar my return to Hokitika in time for Sunday, as it was impossible to ride down the river in its heavy flood, the only "road" out of Ross to the beach. ”

“ Riding, with a spare pack-horse to carry tent and blankets and food, they took a whole week to accomplish the journey. The track was in places little better than a quagmire, falling timber and snags barring the way every mile; crowds of travelling miners, engaged by the Surveyors at high wages to push the road through as soon as possible. One of my fellow travellers told me a characteristic story of the Bishop. He got to the banks of the Taipo river, a glacial torrent, a tributary of the Teremakau, in a state of angry flood, worthy of its Maori name—"The Evil One. ”

“ The next fifty miles to Hokitika took us through the great primæval forest which clothes the western flanks of the Alps from one end of the Island to the other: pines, birch, hard wood trees, tree-ferns, which often reach a height of thirty feet, underwood so thick that without cutting tracks it is impossible to move ”

“ Everywhere the mountain sides clothed with mountain birch; every variety of rich fern growth and moss, nourished by the never-ceasing waterfalls which pour down from the heights above, where snow is always lying. As you near the top of the pass, which is nearly four thousand feet, the road is amongst huge masses of rock, fallen from above, and continues for nearly eight miles, up and down, until it reaches the western descent ”

“ Boating across the river, it is possible to walk along the further bank, where the forest tapers down to patches of under-growth; the river itself, wide and swift, is scarcely navigable up stream, except by poling, though boats descend with ease. Our destination is a small settlement newly started, opposite the Kanieri diggings, where we have managed to build a small church, in amongst a considerable population. Meeting a man, I made some enquiries. ”

“ With all the treasure they contain, one wonders that burglary and robbery are almost unknown here, especially as the Bank buildings are flimsy structures of wood; the unwritten code of honour with regard to gold on this Coast protects it. Miners bury their gold in the floor of their huts, but no one seems to expect robbery.
Going to Ross, southward, I had to cross the Hokitika, which widens out opposite the town into a considerable estuary. On the further side there is a settlement, with a large rough building used as a hospital; also a stable well supplied with horses. ”

“ At one of the large Company's works I went down a shaft with the Manager; the ground is wet and dangerous; powerful pumps are at work, and work goes on night and day. He shewed me the result of one shift's work, eight hours, a large tumbler full of gold ”

“ I have found that miners are very chary, with ordinary visitors, as to their gains. "Yes," they say, "doing a little, making tucker." But as I never ask inquisitive questions, and perhaps because I'm a parson, they seem to trust me. There were four men in this "claim," Welshmen. The claim was not expected to last more than six months before being worked out, and they were making about ten pounds a week per man. ”

“ On a strongly built bed and wheels, a sort of roofed van, open at the sides, is suspended fore and aft on thick leather bands, which allow it to swing freely in every direction; a very powerful brake, worked on both sides of the box by hand and foot, enables the driver to put on such pressure that he can hold his coach standing even down a steep hill ”

“ We have already some one hundred and twenty children; they pay from one shilling to half-a-crown per week, and also for books and stationery, and with a small Government grant all goes well. Every morning I am there for prayers and Bible teaching, and, finding that we have several children of the well-to-do, I spend an hour in elementary Latin, French, history, and some mathematics. ”

“ Each day we do about a hundred miles, with stables and change of horses every twenty miles, a short halt allowed for breakfast and luncheon. The first forty miles on the plains which gradually rise to the hill country would be monotonous, were it not for the splendid snow-clad ranges which seem to change their shape and increase in height hourly as you approach them. ”

“ Moreover, further discoveries of gold have occurred on the West Coast of Canterbury, and a great "rush" has set in thither of miners and their camp-followers. This affects my future, for I have been appointed Archdeacon of Westland and, having arranged with a clergyman in England to follow me in a short time, I have to undertake the work of organizing the Church on the Goldfields. In all, I have secured seven good men for our Diocesan work. ”

“ It is then poured into iron moulds, which hold from one to five hundred pounds' weight of gold; a pound being worth fifty sovereigns. So elusive is gold, and so valuable, that the clay floor of the furnace room is periodically scraped, washed and burnt, returning an appreciable amount of the metal. ”

“ There is one great advantage in this work. The nature of their employment allows me to be amongst men whilst at work, as few parsons could be in town or country at home. It doesn't interrupt their work ”