was pushed on with the greatest expedition, and in 15 months the road was open for coach traffic, though thousands of diggers passed over it long before it was completed.
The powers that were in Christchurch, now fully convinced of the possibilities of Westland as a gold (and consequently a revenue) producing district, did their utmost to facilitate its development; and to adequately protect the vast amount of the precious metal being won, set up a gold escort on similar lines to those then in vogue on the Victorian fields. A bullet-proof wagon was built, first-class horses purchased, and a number of mounted constables enrolled, the idea being to defeat any attempt that might be made by bushrangers to steal the treasure when en route to Christchurch. Under Inspector James the escort duly reached Hokitika, only to find that all the gold was exported by sea, a wag entrusting them with a single pennyweight to guard during their return to Christchurch.
The next outstanding incident in the story of Old Westland was the coming of what was known as the “Australian Invasion.” Anent this rush “Waratah,” in “Tales of the Golden West,” says: “Our neighbours in Victoria tried to check it, and said it was only a steamboat rush, which would turn out disastrous to the thousands of Victorian miners who were leaving a certainty on their own goldfields for an
