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.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
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.