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Waikerakikari and Le Bon’s, and found no signs in the latter, but there were traces of gold in the former. The men belonging to the mills were all the time in a great state of excitement, and shovels and dishes, and all the articles appertaining to gold getting were in great demand. It is generally supposed that some man wished to play a lark, and placed the quartz there. No result came at any rate from the discovery of the one piece of quartz, and the men gradually settled down to their work again at the mills, after every gully and bank in the Bay had been thoroughly examined.

As may be supposed, there were many strange characters in the Bays in those days. Sailors were continually deserting the vessels, and kept in hiding in the bush until they had gone. Men of all classes and description worked together, and some of them were men of no mean ability.

The bush was so dense, that a trip to Akaroa was quite an expedition. Very often parties lost themselves for days, which can hardly be credited now. The first track was cut by Mr. Cuff, for which he got £100. It can still be traced, running along the ridge on the South side of the Bay across the ranges to German Bay, where it ran almost in the same place the present road lies. About 1864 the Okain’s, Little Akaloa, and Le Bon’s Road Board came into existence. Mr. Henry Barnett was the first representative for Le Bon’s, and Mr. George Hall acted as Clerk to the Board. In 1870-72 the present road to the Akaroa side was formed. Harry Head fixed the grading. He also laid out the road to Nor’-west Bay. Harry Head never lived in Le Bon’s for any time, although he was passing through and staying at the settlers’ houses. Few were as well acquainted with the bush as he. As most of our readers know, he lived in Waikerakikari and Gough’s, then almost inaccessible.