made a start ‘on shank’s pony’ for the Grey, a distance of ten miles along the beach. I had a heavy coat on, a revolver by my side—and last, but not least—a bag containing 350 ozs. of gold dust; high tide and the wind and rain right in my face. Fortunately for me a storekeeper named Everest was going down and was kind enough to carry my swag occasionally. Had he not been with me I must have broken down long before I reached my goal; as it was, two or three times I had to lie down on the shingle to rest, till feeling cold, I would jump up and make a fresh start. Owing to the tide being high and the night dark we both had tumbles over logs, stumps, etc. Everest had one nasty fall and cut his lip severely. We called at Meyer’s store (Saltwater) where we had a pannikin of tea each, which freshened us up. I reached Horsington’s store (Blaketown) at eleven o’clock as ‘done up’ as ever I was in my life. I roused up Jones (Horsington’s right-hand man) who pulled off my clothes and rubbed me down with a rough towel. I then had some bread and cheese and a bottle of ale, and then went to bed. I got up at nine o’clock next morning as fresh as a lark, sent my gold by the steamer, and went out hunting for eggs in the afternoon—but had no luck.”
It is of historical importance to note that this shipment of gold from the Grey, by the S.S. Nelson, on November 29th, 1864, was the first from Westland.
