"44. 



A USTRALASIA ILL US TRA 77:7 \ 



Coocle, the effect of which must be to still further develope and stimulate the coal-mining 

 industry, and consequently to facilitate- the progress of the town. 



A line of tram-way fourteen miles long connects Greymouth with the inland mining 

 township of Kumara, which is situated on a terrace about a mile from the southern 

 side of the Teremakau River, and on the main road between Greymouth and Hokitika. 

 It is a single line, and runs through a well-wooded country ; but its most novel and 

 interesting feature is the crossing of the Teremakau River in a cage suspended from 



two wire ropes and 

 propelled by a steam 

 engine. The trams 

 from either terminus 

 run to the River's bank, 

 and thence the passen- 

 gers obtain the unique 



THE TRAM-WAV liETWEEN (iREYMOUTH AM) KUMARA. 



THE WIRE TRAM-WAY OVER 

 THE TEREMAKAU. 



and exciting experience of 

 being whirled in mid-air 

 over the turbid and hurry- 

 ing flood to the farther 

 shore. Nineteen miles be- 

 yond Kumara lies Hoki- 

 tika, the capital of the pro- 

 vince of Westland, and the 

 principal town on the west 

 coast of the South Island. 



It is built at the mouth of the Hokitika River, and was the scene of an extraordinary 

 "rush" from Australia, when rich discoveries of gold, in 1865, produced a fever of 

 excitement which recalled the palmy days of Bendigo and Ballarat. The gold has all 

 been worked out, but Hokitika still lives and progresses. It is well planned and substan- 

 tially built, and possesses all the institutions common to places of its size and impor- 

 tance. Lakes Kanieri and Mahinapua are situated in the immediate neighbourhood, 

 and will richly repay a visit. 



The route, however, lies to the east, overland to Christchurch. The trip is made 

 by coach along a good road for a few miles, then across the Arahura River by an 

 ample bridge, and for the next ten miles or so through a mining district, until Kumara 

 is again reached. On again the coach hurries, under great flumes, past tail-races, sluice- 

 boxes, sludge-channels, and all the other evidences of the restless quest for gold. The 



