6
Nelson for a fresh supply. We made an arrangement, however, with Mr. Rogers to show us a white cloth if the Maoris brought any good news while our vessel was still in sight, which he did. To our misfortune, we were sixteen days going up to Nelson; the little vessel stood the buffeting of the waves first-rate, though never since I have travelled to the West Coast have I been to sea in such weather as we had that trip up to Nelson. For several days we were hove-to, and our craft drifted down to nearly off the Grey River. One night we were so close on rocks that we could almost touch them. If we had gone on them at that time nothing could have saved us, and there would have been, I am thinking, no more gold hunting for some time on the River Buller. By the cool management, however, of the two men, Jacobsen and Duncan, we succeeded in steering clear of the rocks. There was no one on the coast then; and, even though we had been saved, the men left at the Buller must have starved, as there was no overland road as there is now.
At length, however, we arrived in Nelson, and it was not long before the Buller gold-field became the leading topic of conversation; and when the gold I had brought up was put in the window of Mr. Drew, the jeweller, there were plenty of people who thought it worth their attention. Nothing was then said of the “madman from Victoria;” they were all very anxious to have some conversation with “the madman,” as they chose to call me. Many who were the first to stamp the expedition as a costly hair-brained enterprise, were now the first to ply their avocations, and hurry to the new found “El Dorado.” But such is the world, more especially the Nelson world, where in striving to pick up a penny, they invariably drop a sovereign. Greedy to a fault, but unwilling to expend that which is necessary for the advancement of the place, they lose the golden opportunity, which for years may not again come within their reach, and then for ever pine over that which might have been accomplished but for the niggardly save-all propensities of their ruling powers. I do not by this mean to brand all the community, but only some, who if they would look to higher ends might attain a loftier position in the opinion of their fellow men than that which they now hold.
But to return to my theme. This first expedition was the commencement of the now world-renowned West Coast gold-fields, though in consequence of the recent discovery of the Otago gold-fields a considerable time elapsed before any great movement was made in the matter.
