Ironsand

abounds on Stewart Island, particularly between Half Moon Bay and Patorson's Inlet. A parcel was sent some years ago to Melbourne, and the assayers for the Victorian Government, and the Oriental Bank, after smelting and manufacturing a steel bar from it, reported that it was not only superior to the Taranaki sand, but contained a sufficient quantity of gold to pay the expense of smelting. In view of the success lately achieved at Auckland in smelting the Manakau iron-sand, our local deposits may become of great importance.