510 Transactions. 



that things were not satisfactory — in fact, it was said that a 

 dray-load of kerosene had been sent from Gisborne to the well 

 a few weeks previous to the explosion, and the inference was that 

 the oil in the well-tube was none other than the kerosene that had 

 been taken from Gisborne. Be that as it may, I visited the well 

 in company with the late R. T. Walker, of the Hawkers Bay 

 Herald, and we drew oil from the well that was certainly not 

 kerosene. Since then till now I have kept a bottle of the crude 

 oil, and the sample shown here is taken from the bottle into 

 which the oil was put so long since. It will be seen that when 

 held against the light it possesses a fine rich colour, almost ruby- 

 red, but otherwise it appears to possess a dull muddy-greenish 

 tinge. The report that will be found in the context from an 

 American manager of oil-wells will give information as to the 

 quality of the oil. But when speculators grow suspicious, when 

 " calls " are made upon investors in shares, and when times are 

 bad, there is danger of a collapse unless directors can show 

 something for the expenditure of large sums of money. And so 

 it came to pass that the destruction of the derrick in the Pacific 

 Company's well destroyed also public confidence, and soon 

 afterwards the Minerva and Pacific bores were abandoned, and 

 everything was sold that could be sold to meet liabilities. 



Since then till now nothing has been done along the east 

 coast in the way of further attempts at boring for oil, except 

 that some years ago a gentleman from England, interested in 

 oil, spent some time in Poverty Bay obtaining " optiojis " in 

 places where traces of oil or of gas-springs were known to exist. 

 Those " options," I am informed, are not now of any value, so 

 that there appears no hindrance in the way of any one that 

 chooses to try for oil in the places formerly worked. 



The discovery of oil at Moturoa at a depth exceeding 2,000 ft. 

 has brought up this question for reconsideration. The sinkings 

 in the east coast district were not as deep by nearly 1,000 ft. as 

 is the Moturoa bore. Fortunately a sectional copy of the Pacific 

 Company's well is available, showing the general character of 

 the various beds passed through in the 1,321 ft. of the Pacific 

 Company's well. This section appears in vol. xxi of the New 

 Zealand Transactions, and a comparison between it and the 

 Moturoa well sections (Plate XXIV) should prove both suggestive 

 and of value in any future work that may be undertaken to 

 test the oil-deposits along the east coast of this Island. 



Many years ago Sir James Hector, the late Director of the 

 Geological Survey, published in one of his reports an account of 

 the east coast district extending, I believe, from Hicks Bay to 

 Poverty Bay. Unfortunately the report is not available in the 

 library of our Institute, and whatever is stated here must be 



