THE discovery of gold in the infant colony of New Zealand was of paramount importance in speeding up immigration into the country. In the five years from 1861 to 1865 the population increased over 90,000 mainly by reason of the arrivals from overseas anxious to make their fortunes on the goldfields. Some of these became permanent settlers, while others, like the Chinese who flocked in to ‘ fossick’ on the Otago goldfields, left little impression upon the country.

The feverish search for the precious metal led to a rapid superficial exploration of the greater part of the South Island—hitherto the more back­ward island. Unfortunately, the miners rarely brought back records of their journeys. The de­velopment of paying fields and the consequent increase of public revenues had a profound in­fluence on the material side of provincial life in the sixties. Disorganisation of the old order of things followed from the sudden inrush of a new population and the departure for the goldfields of numbers of the original settlers from the towns and farms. Gold export duties and licenses pro­vided the revenue necessary for public works on a grander scale than in the pre-rush days. Surveys were made, roads formed, bridges built, harbour facilities improved, municipal buildings erected, and various amenities provided.

The cultural side of colonial life was influenced to as great a degree as the material. Though crime increased, thanks to the arrival of some undesir­able types of immigrant, on the other hand the new wealth made possible a higher level of general culture. For instance, it was no coincidence that the University of Otago was opened within a decade of the discovery of gold by Gabriel Read. A comparison of the Nelson or the Dunedin of 1860 with the same town of 1870 reveals amazing changes. Gold certainly quickened development. The country districts also benefited greatly. Agri­culture received an immense fillip, since the increased population had to be fed. The gold-producing area was altered physically; land covered with ‘tailings’ was rendered useless for agriculture, but irrigation by means of old mining races increased the productivity of many districts.