Banking on the diggings was no sinecure, and the fact that Preshaw carried 350 ozs. of gold dust (almost a stone and a half avoirdupois weight), over ten miles of beach, not in daylight, but at night, when the tide was high and the going extremely bad, is proof of this. It must also be remembered that a river and sundry creeks had to be forded, and at high tide, too, which made them even more dangerous than usual. That this man knew of the hazards of the journey is certain; he had written and warned others of them. Yet this knowledge did not deter him from giving his principals the service he deemed it his duty to render. When the banking history of New Zealand is written the indomitable Preshaw will surely occupy an honourable place therein.
Interrupting Preshaw’s narrative momentarily, once more in an endeavour to preserve the chronological sequence of this work, it is necessary to state here that December, 1864, was one of the most momentous months in Old Westland’s history. From its commencement men simply poured into its rapidly opening goldfields, and in consequence of this other financial institutions became interested, and Peter McTavish of the Union Bank of Australia arrived at the Grey for the purpose of opening a branch. The Totara diggings, too, greatly improved, and on December 1st, Revell visited them on a tour of inspection; he was
