(c) Schist Series of Otago.

Leaving the west coast, covered with dense forests and blessed—so far as the gold-miner is concerned—with a very copious rainfall, the province of Otago is reached, for the most part devoid of timber and possessing a very much drier climate. The reefs occur in a great formation of contorted phyllites and schists, which occupies nearly 8,000 square miles of this province, and which is of unknown age, possibly Silurian, or—according to Hector—even its late as Lower Carboniferous.

Near the town of Palmerston the Nenthorn reefs occur. These page 10 sprang into sudden notice a few years ago, and rich but small reefs were found to exist in great profusion, and the usual craze supervened. Before proving the properties, crushing plants were erected, water races cut and expenses incurred in every direction. At very shallow depths the rich yields ceased, and disaster came upon the field, Some day, no doubt, it will receive a proper trial; and it frequently happens in cases of this kind that when a quantity of machinery has been prematurely brought upon the ground, and the reaction after a baseless excitement has caused a cessation of operations, future adventurers, who work without the expensive paraphernalia of a limited company, and with cheap machinery, reap a rich harvest.

Farther in the interior lies the Cromwell gold-field, where there is now but little reefing. An English company, with a capital of £108,000, has been engaged in re-opening the old Cromwell Quartz Mine, from which, in the early days, one private party obtained gold valued at £500,000, and a subsequent company about £100,000. The machinery is of an excellent character; electric light, compressed air, and rock-drills. Ample water-power is available, and if only some of the formerly-worked rich rock can be found, fortune will favour the spirited proprietors,

In the neighbourhood of Lake Wakatipu are several quartz mines, the most noteworthy being the Phoenix, which has been worked since 1863, when it was the first quartz mine in the South Island, So far as is known, about 20,000 ounces of gold have been taken out of the ground since the commencement-Since 1885, electric transmission of power has been in use for driving the machinery at the mine and battery, which are about two miles from a pair of 6-feet Pelton wheels, driven by water with a vertical head of about 170 feet. The current is conveyed by a copper wire to a motor in the battery building, where the machinery, consisting of thirty stampers, two air-compressors, and a rock'-breaker, is situated. From the last advices the yield of gold appeal's to be very good, and during the last four weeks of 1891, 267 ounces were obtained.

One quartz mine in this neighbourhood is worked at an altitude of 7,400 feet above sea-level.

Farther to the south are isolated reef workings, but they have not, so far, met with any conspicuous success.

In the vicinity of Dunedin is an auriferous deposit, which—not on account of the rich yield from it, for that is yet to come, but on account of its lithological character—is of considerable interest. The matrix is described by Professor Ulrich as a peculiar, hard, diorite-like rock, the structure being holocrystalline and medium coarse-grained; the mineral page 11 constituents are triclinic felspar, hornblende, and some quartz, with iron pyrites finely and uniformly impregnated, more especially through the hornblende part. He considers that a whitish mass overlying the crystalline rock is either a decomposition-product or move probably a decomposed rock of genuine trachytic type which has flowed over the other. This is indicated, he states, by the fact that on its line of continuation only a few feet distant from the shaft, there exists on the hillside a massive outcrop of hard rook, which, according to all appearance, is of trachytic origin, consisting of a very fine-grained greyish or yellowish-white base, with impregnated crystals of sanidine-like felspar, hornblende not being observable.

Several trials have been made to work the deposit, and have yielded respectively 7½ dwts. to 10 dwts., 8 dwts., and up to 1 oz. per ton, but for some years nothing has been done. Situated close to the city of Dunedin, and occurring in apparently large quantities, the deposit is, if only the lowest of the above-mentioned yields can be maintained, of great value.

In the south-west of Otago is an enormous tract of country, which is almost entirely unknown; when this is opened up and thoroughly prospected the vast quantities of hidden riches which are probably waiting there will be developed, and will afford a remunerative field for the British capitalist. Then will the colony resume its place among the great gold-producing countries of the world.