109 
towards the South confirmed the supposition that the auriferous 
formations continue in that direction. Dr. Haast in his expedition 
to the West coast found traces of gold in the rivers forming the out- 
lets of the Lakes Rotoiti and Rotorua, and also in the Owen and 
Lyell river. On the West coast, the precious metal was discovered 
in the Wakapoai (or Heaphy river), in the Karamea (or Makay 
river), in the Waimangaroha , seven miles North of the mouth of 
theBuller, 1 in the Buller and Grey river district. But the Nelson 
gold-fields were totally eclipsed by the surprising discoveries and 
splendid results obtained in the Province of Otago in 18G1. 
To Mr. Ligar, the former Surveyor General of New Zealand, 
the merit is ascribed of having first proved the existence of gold 
in the Province of Otago ; already in 1857 and 1858 reports were 
current of various gold discoveries on the Mataura river, upon 
the Waiopai plains and on the mouth of the Tokomairiro, more- 
over on the Tuapeka, Pomahaka and Lindis , tributaries of the 
Clutlia river; also near Moeraki and various other points. Even 
in the immediate vicinity of Dunedin, the capital of the province, 
in the Northeast Valley, reports of gold discoveries were noised 
abroad; and claims were made by two parties, in 1859, to the 
reward of £500 fixed for the discovery of a paying gold-field. 
Yet all these discoveries were not sufficient to rouse the general 
attention. The existence of gold in remunerative quantities was not 
established as a fact, and there were many among the colonists 
who would not even consider the discovery of a rich gold-field as 
a peculiar blessing to the young colony , but deemed the quiet and 
steady development of agricultural pursuits and the breeding of cattle 
more beneficial to the common weal than the richest gold-diggings. 
It was not until 1861 that the gold-fever broke out. Thousands 
1 According to the testimony of Dr. Haast Hie granular or gunpowder-like gold 
in the beds of the rivers Rotoiti and Rotoroa is derived from the decomposition of 
rocks of a granitic and syenitic character. In the Waimangaroha diggings (in the 
Papahaua range North of the Buller) the gold is nuggety and angular. A few Maoris 
washed with a tin-dish, in two weeks, 80 ounces! In August 1861 there were about 
60 diggers, mostly Maoris. — In the Grey River district in 1864 there were about 
700 diggers. 
