As will be seen from the increased number of men who rushed the Totara River and Donnelly’s Creek diggings, Westland was now attracting more attention, and in consequence more men. Quite a pretentious centre of activity had sprung up at Blaketown, where as early as November, ’64, there were ten stores, many shanties and eating houses, as well as commodious livery stables which hired out horses at exorbitant rates. These were in great demand, particularly when it was whispered that “the best field ever” had been discovered some thirty miles away. Everyone would want to get there in a hurry and competition would be very keen, for now an air of confidence prevailed and it was considered certain that a big strike would be made at any moment.
With the stage thus set for the dawning of Westland’s golden era it was meet that on October 26th, 1864, G. O. Preshaw, pioneer goldbuyer of the province, should arrive at the Grey by the S.S. Nelson. He was attached to the staff of the Bank of New South Wales, and had had considerable experience on the Australian goldfields prior to coming to New Zealand. A keen observer and a humorist in the full sense of the word, his contribution, long since out of print, to literature pertaining to the golden days of Westland, entitled, “Banking Under Difficulties or Life on the Goldfields,” is a most valuable one, and is, in fact, the only
