to the amount of £750,000. Of this the above mentioned sum of 
£150,000, already obtained, is of course only a very small part. 
The Parapara diggings are the northern continuation of the 
Aorere gold-field at the mouth of the Parapara river , four miles 
East of Collingwood on the shores of Golden Bay. A striking pheno- 
menon at the Parapara Harbour is the large masses of sandy brown 
iron-ore protruding from the white quartz boulders in the form of 
rugged rocks of a dark-brown appearance, and giving rise, from their 
striking resemblance to volcanic scoriae, to the erroneous supposi- 
tion that volcanic forces had been active on the Parapara. 
On the eastern slope of the Haupiri and Anatoki Ranges it 
is principally the Anatoki, the Waikaro (or Waingaro) and the 
Waitui, branches of the Takaka river, as well as the upper Ta- 
kaka valley itself , that are found to be goldbearing; those together 
constitute the area of the Takaka Diggings. Of professional diggers 
1 met but few in those parts; but farmers and wood-cutters settled 
in the Takaka valley, finding markets bad* occasionally exchanged 
their usual avocations for gold digging, thus finding in “hard 
times” among the wildernesses of their mountain heights a sure 
source of gain. Mr. 8., one of these farmers, settled upon the 
fertile, wooded, alluvial plains of the Takaka valley, in whose 
house I found hospitable quarters, was in the habit, whenever lie 
projected a trip to town for the purpose of making purchases, to 
send his sons for a few days previous into the mountains to wash 
for gold; and they would always return with their pockets filled. 
The heaviest nuggets were found in the Waitui River, which takes 
its rise from the Mount Arthur range. A characteristic feature of the 
Takaka diggings is the occurrence of Osmiridium and Platiniridium , 1 
which is washed out together with the gold in small grains of a 
whitish tin colour; likewise grains of titaniferous iron, and magnetic 
iron , and very numerous garnets , — not rubies , as the diggers ge- 
nerally thought-are found there. On the southern slope of Mt. Arthur 
1 To Mr. Hacket of Nelson I am indebted for a piece of Platiniridium, weigh- 
ing 4,57 gr. , which is likewise said to have been found on the Takaka River. The 
spec. gr. of the piece is 17,5. 
