Nearly all early gold-mining settlements sprang up beside rivers. Water was needed for cooking and washing, and also for mining operations. This Central Otago settlement was built beside the Clutha River Mata-Au, which appears benign in the painting. But miners soon learnt that all rivers were liable to flood after heavy rain, and that it was prudent to live well above flood level.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference:
A-253-035
Watercolour by unidentified artist
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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