fraction of any moral obligation, but rather a laudable achievement, to beguile the Dunedinite out of his money under any pretence whatever. And so the merry old game of mining swindle has been played with variations more or less intricate, for the last two decades at least. Enormous sums of Dunedin capital have been invested in perfectly worthless enterprises on the West Coast; and a swindling speculation which consists in puffing up a "duffer claim," or rigging up a reputation for a worn-out mine, is a favourite occupation with many keen-witted characters in New Zealand. The claim, or mine, so manipulated, is called "A Wild Cat." There are many legitimate mining enterprises, and a wide field for bonâ-fide investment, on the goldfields of New Zealand, but let the prudent man beware of "Wild Cats."
Just as a Highlander of the days of our grandfathers looked on smuggling as a virtue, and cheating and hoodwinking the gauger as an honourable achievement; so the Reefton promoter or projector looks on a Dunedinite as his fair, natural, and legitimate prey.
I make bold to say, however, as the result of my own rather limited observation, that in the long run the Wild Cats get rather the worst of the rubber with the Dunedin men. This mutual game of "Beggar my Neighbour" does not, as may be imagined, tend to elevate the moral tone of the people. "Trade fictions," to use a mild phrase, are considered justifiable; and of a great many
