sea and head wind. After breakfast went on shore; not much to be seen. A good coal seam was discovered here a short time after this by some passengers, who, like ourselves, had put in there unexpectedly. About noon, the wind having lulled and the sea gone down, we made a fresh start, and reached the Grey at 10.30 p.m.
8th November.—Great excitement; a new goldfield having been discovered at the Totara, about forty miles south of the Grey. Met Constable O’Donnell, a fellow-passenger on my first trip, who, with Sergeant Broham and Constable Cooper, formed the police force on the West Coast; their camp was pitched at Blaketown.
The Grey River divides the provinces Canterbury and Nelson. The diggings are on the Canterbury side.
10th November.—Made a start for the Totara on foot. My swag, containing a pair of blankets, gold scales, &c., I put on Sweeney’s waggon, a light American one, and the only one on the coast. Heavy walking along the beach. At Teremakau met Walmsley and Mr. Revell, the Government storekeeper, whom I shall particularly mention in another chapter. They too were on their way to the rush. Lunched at an eatinghouse, which had been erected since my last visit, kept by a Mrs. King (one of the first women on the West Coast). We slept in a Maori whare (building); were all very tired, and were soon in the arms of “Morpheus.”
11th November.—Raining hard all day; could not stir out, so amused ourselves by playing euchre and whist. Up betimes next morning; crossed the river soon after breakfast, but found we could not get along, owing to the high tide; discovered an old whare, in which I lay down, but not to sleep—that was impossible—sandflies (a little black fly which bites hard and raises a lump like a mosquito) being here in thousands. Walmsley and Revell went on, driving a pack-horse before them, on which they had a tent, provisions, &c. When the tide was about half out I started in company with two or three others; we met seven or eight Maories on horseback returning from the Totara. They told us there were five hundred men on the ground, and that they were returning to the Greenstone; my own impression was to take up some of the ground left by the Pakeha (whitemen), and this eventually turned out to be the case. We jogged along till we came to the Arahura, where we camped. We were informed that to catch the low tide we must turn out early. This we did certainly. At 12.30 a.m. we were roused, and shivering and shaking, up we got, thinking it a most unusual hour to start. We found when on the tramp that Morey (the driver of the waggon) had mistaken the time, and had thought it was 4.30. It turned out just as well that he did so, as by starting at that hour we had a splendid beach to walk over, the tide
