43 



As 91 feet of the bore were now imlined, and the strong inflow 

 of water from the grey sand was continually choking the hole 

 with sand and clay, it was thought advisable to cease work 

 until a supply of smaller pipes could be obtained, by means of 

 which the lining could be continued to the bottom of the bore. 

 A delay of some months was thus caused, and it was not till 

 the 13th August, 1880, that work was recommenced, when the 

 hole, which had filled up for a height of 80 feet, was again 

 cleaned out, and a lining of 5|in. pipes inserted through the 

 Sin. pipes to the full depth of the bore. From that time to 

 the present date (November 8th) 240 feet of the blue slate 

 have been traversed, and the hole is now down 550 feet from 

 the surface, the lining being carried to a depth of 495 feet, 

 and completely cutting off the water, which at first caused 

 great difficulty in driving the pipes, by choking the tools with 

 clay and rock powder. The blue slate varied in hardness at 

 different depths, the veins of quartz and ironstone with which 

 it was intersected being wanting in places. At 480 feet a 

 strong vein of the sal test water yet met with was encountered. 

 For the last 30 feet there has been an increase in the quantity 

 of quartz, both grey and crystallised, and a small proportion of 

 a mineral supposed to be mundic, and a sample taken from one 

 of the veins shows talc. 



So far there is no sign that the expenditure will result in a 

 supply of water suitable for locomotive, or indeed for any 

 other purposes ; and the depth at which it was hoped that fresh 

 water would be obtained has already been exceeded. Samples 

 of the borings, which accompany these notes, have been 

 arranged in such a manner as to give a continuous section of 

 the strata to a scale of half an inch to the foot. There is also 

 a separate sample of the slate taken from near its commence- 

 ment, and another from the lowest portion yet reached. 



Postscript. — The bore was afterwards continued through 

 the same rock with veins of white quartz, mundic, and talc. 

 At 650 feet the proportion of quartz began to diminish, and 

 ceased altogether at 705 feet, the rock being much softer. No 

 alteration in the ground being discovered at 765 feet, the hole 

 was abandoned. — W. E., Feb. 4, 1881. 



