448 Transactions. 



for road-metal. In the early days of the diggings in Otago, 

 the discovery of gold to the north near Lake Waihola caused 

 a rush to set in thither, but it soon passed on, as the gold was 

 not present in payable quantities. 



Failure to recognise the Nature of the Phosphate. — It has long 

 been considered possible that deposits of phosphate of lime 

 should occur in this neighbourhood. It is stated that Sir James 

 Hector, then Director of the Geological Survey, believed that 

 a careful search would reveal the presence of rock-phosphate. 

 Those who did search for it seem to have looked only for 

 dark-coloured coprolite-deposits. Massive outcrops of rock-phos- 

 phate, some 20 ft. high, are plainly to be seen at several places. 

 The manner in which the deposits escaped recognition now 

 seems marvellous. A specimen of the phosphate was to be seen 

 in the Otago Museum, labelled " decomposed limestone from 

 Clarendon." The lime-burners found that the " decomposed 

 limestone " crackled loudly in the kiln, and would not burn 

 as it should have done. They sent a sample to their analyst, 

 who estimated the calcium-carbonate in it ; finding it low, he 

 reported that the limestone was of poor quality, and not worth 

 burning : he did not dream of testing for phosphate. One of 

 the lime-burners, however, persisted in burning the decomposed 

 along with the fresh limestone, and though he apparently used 

 poor material for his work, still, the lime he produced gave 

 just as good results to the farmer. 



Discovery of the Phosphate. — Meanwhile, Mr. Ralph Ewing, 

 of Whare Flat, Dunedin, had been travelling in America, and 

 had inspected the phosphate-deposits of Florida. Returning 

 to New Zealand, he speedily realised the true nature of the 

 " decomposed limestone," and in June, 1902, he announced his 

 discovery. Then the lime-burner and the farmer understood 

 why the poor limestone made just as good a land-manure as the 

 ordinary limestone. 



In the neighbourhood the discovery naturally excited keen 

 interest, and now the apparent reluctance to recognise the de- 

 posits of phosphate was succeeded by a great eagerness on the 

 part of some of the landowners to discover them on their pro- 

 perty. One farmer had heard that some of the phosphate is 

 white and soft. In his fields there was a white, soft clay, formed 

 by the weathering of the mica-schist which lay all around : he 

 jumped to the conclusion that his " find " was phosphate. After 

 some days (spent largely in receiving the congratulations of his 

 less fortunate neighbours) he sent a sample to an analyst : his 

 hopes vanished. Another landowner had heard that some 

 phosphate was hard and flinty — so was a quartzite which lay 

 in abundance around his house : he likewise drew a conclusion 



