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small party of 12 practical miners to join me.”
A-mei says he expended about £20 on each of his party. The sum included their passage, provisions and outfits. The group, accompanied by A-mei, arrived at Dunedin early in 1866; a few days later they set out for the fields at Taupeka, where, according to A-mei, "they were received by all classes with quite an enthusiasm.”
He had also arranged for another group of a dozen or so to follow in a few days. After their arrival, he sent them off to a different area.
He did not accompany either group but remained in Dunedin, where he waited for reports from the miners so that when he returned to Melbourne he could spread the news of riches to be gained in New Zealand by Chinese labourers. However, no news reached him.
There did appear a lone Chinese whom he had met in Australia. He was a gold counterfeiter. Finding the law closing in on him in Australia, he intended to ply his craft in a new place. Unfortunately for his plans to fleece the gullible, A-mei recognised him.
"This nefarious speculator, however, had come to grief, as at my request... he was searched. Apparatus adapted for the manufacture of the spurious precious metal, as also a parcel of already manufactured gold, were found in one of his baskets. He was, of course apprehended, and at my request he was again transported to the place whence he came, under my vigilant escort at my expense. Thus the object of his villainy was cut short without spreading any injury to the country.”
A-mei, of course, had financial as well as patriotic interest in protecting the good name of the Chinese in New Zealand.
Receiving no news from his miners, A-mei finally decided to return to Australia. Here he continued to wait for news. He finally gave up hope. "I certainly felt sick of the delay, and naturally became low spirited from disappointment.”