Image
As the gumfields became depleted, the diggers turned to swamps for kauri gum. Digging ‘on the face’, this gang at Ōmāmari, north of Dargaville, is cutting a 10-metre-deep drain. Once a swamp was drained they would move in with spades and probes. The fact that they worked in large gangs drew resentment from the more solitary British diggers.
Using this item
Auckland Council Libraries − Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero o Tāmaki Makaurau, Sir George Grey Special Collections
Reference: 7-A8467
by E. A. Cook
Permission of Auckland City Libraries Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero must be obtained before any re-use of this image.