THE TECHNOLOGIST. [June 1, 1864. 



512 HISTORY OF THE 



earlier European inhabitants of New Zealand, and many attempts were 

 made to discover the auriferous indications reported to exist. In March, 

 1852, a party of five Europeans, one of whom had worked for gold in 

 California, started in a whale boat up the Molyneux Kiver, in search for 

 gold. They had been induced to this expedition by the reports of some 

 Maoris. The account of this expedition is thus given by one of the 

 individuals engaged in it, Mr. T. B. Archibald, of Pomahaka : — 



" Nearly all the Maori residents at the Molyneux, at the time of our 

 excursion, were strangers, having been only a few years in the place- 

 There were only a man and woman who knew the country between the 

 mouth of the river and the Lakes. The man, Raki Raki, had resided 

 on the Wakatipu Lake, but had left many years ago. He left a brother, 

 who had two wives, behind ; and who, he said, were the only Maoris in 

 the interior. He told me he once picked up a piece of ' simon ' (gold) 

 about the size of a small potato on the banks of the Molyneux, but did 

 not know its value, and he threw it into the river. They told us they 

 had seen the small ' simon ' on the sides of the river, where three canoes 

 had been lying. On seeing a small sample of gold (which, I think, Mr. 

 Meredith brought down from Tasmania, about the beginning of 1852), 

 the natives were the more convinced we should find it in the sands of 

 the Molyneux. As some of us were on the eve of starting for Australia, 

 we thought we would give the river a trial first, more especially as we 

 had the services of a Californian miner, who had left a whaling vessel 

 in the bay. We made a party of five, and started up the river in March, 

 1852, in a whale boat which I brought from Dunedin. We prospected 

 the bars and banks of the river, as far as a creek, now named the 

 Beaumont. As none of us knew anything about gold-seeking, except 

 the American, and getting nothing more than the color, we resolved to 

 return, after having nearly a three wecdts' cruise ; the more so, as the 

 river seemed a succession of rapids, which it was difficult to get the boat 

 through. If our Californian miner had been the practical man he 

 represented himself to be, I have no doubt we should have been suc- 

 cessful at least in getting a good prospect." 



In the same year, several specimens of quartz, supposed to be auri- 

 ferous, were sent from Otago to the New Zealand Society at Wellington ; 

 but after a careful analysis only a few specks could be found, and the 

 opinion was expressed that the discovery was of no value. The discovery 

 of gold at Coromandel in Ibis year (1852) was of much greater im- 

 portance, and attracted considerable attention throughout the colony. 

 Small pieces of gold were found in a stream running into Coromandel 

 B ly, and further search revealed the existence of other strong indications 

 of the auriferous nature of the ground. There were many persons living 

 in Auckland who had worked in the gold fields of Victoria, and they 

 immediately conceived that the glories of Bendigo and Ballaarat were 

 to be reproduced at Coromandel. Auckland went wild with excitement, 

 and a great rush of people took place to the locality of the new dis- 



