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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Station Life in New Zealand, by Lady Barker
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Station Life in New Zealand
+
+Author: Lady Barker
+
+Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6104]
+Posting Date: June 4, 2009
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STATION LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by P. J. Riddick
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+STATION LIFE IN NEW ZEALAND
+
+
+By Lady Barker.
+
+
+1883
+
+
+
+
+Preface.
+
+These letters, their writer is aware, justly incur the reproach of
+egotism and triviality; at the same time she did not see how this was
+to be avoided, without lessening their value as the exact account of
+a lady's experience of the brighter and less practical side of
+colonization. They are published as no guide or handbook for "the
+intending emigrant;" that person has already a literature to himself,
+and will scarcely find here so much as a single statistic. They simply
+record the expeditions, adventures, and emergencies diversifying the
+daily life of the wife of a New Zealand sheep-farmer; and, as each was
+written while the novelty and excitement of the scenes it describes were
+fresh upon her, they may succeed in giving here in England an adequate
+impression of the delight and freedom of an existence so far removed
+from our own highly-wrought civilization: not failing in this, the
+writer will gladly bear the burden of any critical rebuke the letters
+deserve. One thing she hopes will plainly appear,--that, however hard
+it was to part, by the width of the whole earth, from dear friends and
+spots scarcely less dear, yet she soon found in that new country new
+friends and a new home; costing her in their turn almost as many parting
+regrets as the old.
+
+F. N. B.
+
+
+
+
+Letter I: Two months at sea--Melbourne.
+
+
+Port Phillip Hotel, Melbourne. September 22d, 1865. .... Now I must
+give you an account of our voyage: it has been a very quick one for
+the immense distance traversed, sometimes under canvas, but generally
+steaming. We saw no land between the Lizard and Cape Otway light--that
+is, for fifty-seven days: and oh, the monotony of that time!--the
+monotony of it! Our decks were so crowded that we divided our walking
+hours, in order that each set of passengers might have space to move
+about; for if every one had taken it into their heads to exercise
+themselves at the same time, we could hardly have exceeded the
+fisherman's definition of a walk, "two steps and overboard." I am
+ashamed to say I was more or less ill all the way, but, fortunately,
+F---- was not, and I rejoiced at this from the most selfish motives, as
+he was able to take care of me. I find that sea-sickness develops the
+worst part of one's character with startling rapidity, and, as far as
+I am concerned, I look back with self-abasement upon my callous
+indifference to the sufferings of others, and apathetic absorption in my
+individual misery.
+
+Until we had fairly embarked, the well-meaning but ignorant among our
+friends constantly assured us, with an air of conviction as to the truth
+and wisdom of their words, that we were going at the very best season
+of the year; but as soon as we could gather the opinions of those in
+authority on board, it gradually leaked out that we really had fallen
+upon quite a wrong time for such a voyage, for we very soon found
+ourselves in the tropics during their hottest month (early in August),
+and after having been nearly roasted for three weeks, we plunged
+abruptly into mid-winter, or at all events very early spring, off the
+Cape of Good Hope, and went through a season of bitterly cold weather,
+with three heavy gales. I pitied the poor sailors from the bottom of my
+heart, at their work all night on decks slippery with ice, and pulling
+at ropes so frozen that it was almost impossible to bend them; but,
+thank God, there were no casualties among the men. The last gale was the
+most severe; they said it was the tail of a cyclone. One is apt on land
+to regard such phrases as the "shriek of the storm," or "the roar of
+the waves," as poetical hyperboles; whereas they are very literal and
+expressive renderings of the sounds of horror incessant throughout
+a gale at sea. Our cabin, though very nice and comfortable in other
+respects, possessed an extraordinary attraction for any stray wave which
+might be wandering about the saloon: once or twice I have been in the
+cuddy when a sea found its way down the companion, and I have watched
+with horrible anxiety a ton or so of water hesitating which cabin it
+should enter and deluge, and it always seemed to choose ours. All these
+miseries appear now, after even a few days of the blessed land, to
+belong to a distant past; but I feel inclined to lay my pen down and
+have a hearty laugh at the recollection of one cold night, when a heavy
+"thud" burst open our cabin door, and washed out all the stray parcels,
+boots, etc., from the corners in which the rolling of the ship had
+previously bestowed them. I was high and dry in the top berth, but poor
+F---- in the lower recess was awakened by the douche, and no words of
+mine can convey to you the utter absurdity of his appearance, as he
+nimbly mounted on the top of a chest of drawers close by, and crouched
+there, wet and shivering, handing me up a most miscellaneous assortment
+of goods to take care of in my little dry nest.
+
+Some of our fellow-passengers were very good-natured, and devoted
+themselves to cheering and enlivening us by getting up concerts, little
+burlesques and other amusements; and very grateful we were for their
+efforts: they say that "anything is fun in the country," but on board
+ship a little wit goes a very long way indeed, for all are only too
+ready and anxious to be amused. The whole dramatic strength of the
+company was called into force for the performance of "The Rivals,"
+which was given a week or so before the end of the voyage. It went off
+wonderfully well; but I confess I enjoyed the preparations more than the
+play itself: the ingenuity displayed was very amusing at the time. You
+on shore cannot imagine how difficult it was to find a snuff-box for
+"Sir Anthony Absolute," or with what joy and admiration we welcomed a
+clever substitute for it in the shape of a match-box covered with the
+lead out of a tea-chest most ingeniously modelled into an embossed
+wreath round the lid, with a bunch of leaves and buds in the centre, the
+whole being brightly burnished: at the performance the effect of this
+little "property" was really excellent. Then, at the last moment, poor
+"Bob Acres" had to give in, and acknowledge that he could not speak for
+coughing; he had been suffering from bronchitis for some days past, but
+had gallantly striven to make himself heard at rehearsals; so on the day
+of the play F---- had the part forced on him. There was no time to learn
+his "words," so he wrote out all of them in large letters on slips of
+paper and fastened them on the beams. This device was invisible to the
+audience, but he was obliged to go through his scenes with his head as
+high up as if he had on a martingale; however, we were all so indulgent
+that at any little _contretemps_, such as one of the actresses
+forgetting her part or being seized by stage-fright, the applause was
+much greater than when things went smoothly.
+
+I can hardly believe that it is only two days since we steamed into
+Hobson's Bay, on a lovely bright spring morning. At dinner, the evening
+before, our dear old captain had said that we should see the revolving
+light on the nearest headland about eight o'clock that evening, and so
+we did. You will not think me childish, if I acknowledge that my eyes
+were so full of tears I could hardly see it after the first glimpse;
+it is impossible to express in a letter all the joy and thankfulness of
+such a moment. Feelings like these are forgotten only too quickly in
+the jar and bustle of daily life, and we are always ready to take as a
+matter of course those mercies which are new every morning; but when
+I realized that all the tosses and tumbles of so many weary days and
+nights were over, and that at last we had reached the haven where we
+would be, my first thought was one of deep gratitude. It was easy to
+see that it was a good moment with everyone; squabbles were made up with
+surprising quickness; shy people grew suddenly sociable; some who had
+comfortable homes to go to on landing gave kind and welcome invitations
+to others, who felt themselves sadly strange in a new country; and it
+was with really a lingering feeling of regret that we all separated at
+last, though a very short time before we should have thought it quite
+impossible to be anything but delighted to leave the ship.
+
+We have not seen much of Melbourne yet, as there has been a great deal
+to do in looking after the luggage, and at first one is capable
+of nothing but a delightful idleness. The keenest enjoyment is a
+fresh-water bath, and next to that is the new and agreeable luxury of
+the ample space for dressing; and then it is so pleasant to suffer no
+anxiety as to the brushes and combs tumbling about. I should think that
+even the vainest woman in the world would find her toilet and its duties
+a daily trouble and a sorrow at sea, on account of the unsteadiness
+of all things. The next delight is standing at the window, and seeing
+horses, and trees, and dogs--in fact, all the "treasures of the land;"
+as for flowers--beautiful as they are at all times--you cannot learn
+to appreciate them enough until you have been deprived of them for two
+months.
+
+You know that I have travelled a good deal in various parts of the
+world, but I have never seen anything at all like Melbourne. In other
+countries, it is generally the antiquity of the cities, and their
+historical reminiscences, which appeal to the imagination; but _here_,
+the interest is as great from exactly the opposite cause. It is most
+wonderful to walk through a splendid town, with magnificent public
+buildings, churches, shops, clubs, theatres, with the streets well
+paved and lighted, and to think that less than forty years ago it was a
+desolate swamp without even a hut upon it. How little an English country
+town progresses in forty years, and here is a splendid city created in
+that time! I have no hesitation in saying, that any fashionable novelty
+which comes out in either London or Paris finds its way to Melbourne by
+the next steamer; for instance, I broke my parasol on board ship, and
+the first thing I did on landing was to go to one of the best shops in
+Collins Street to replace it. On learning what I wanted, the shopman
+showed me some of those new parasols which had just come out in London
+before I sailed, and which I had vainly tried to procure in S----, only
+four hours from London.
+
+The only public place we have yet visited is the Acclimatization Garden;
+which is very beautifully laid out, and full of aviaries, though it
+looks strange to see common English birds treated as distinguished
+visitors and sumptuously lodged and cared for. Naturally, the Australian
+ones interest me most, and they are certainly prettier than yours at
+home, though they do not sing. I have been already to a shop where they
+sell skins of birds, and have half ruined myself in purchases for hats.
+You are to have a "diamond sparrow," a dear little fellow with reddish
+brown plumage, and white spots over its body (in this respect a
+miniature copy of the Argus pheasant I brought from India), and a
+triangular patch of bright yellow under its throat. I saw some of them
+alive in a cage in the market with many other kinds of small birds, and
+several pairs of those pretty grass or zebra paroquets, which are called
+here by the very inharmonious name of "budgerighars." I admired the
+blue wren so much--a tiny _birdeen_ with tail and body of dust-coloured
+feathers, and head and throat of a most lovely turquoise blue; it has
+also a little wattle of these blue feathers standing straight out on
+each side of its head, which gives it a very pert appearance. Then there
+is the emu-wren, all sad-coloured, but quaint, with the tail-feathers
+sticking up on end, and exactly like those of an emu; on the very
+smallest scale, even to the peculiarity of two feathers growing out of
+the same little quill. I was much amused by the varieties of cockatoos,
+parrots, and lories of every kind and colour, shrieking and jabbering in
+the part of the market devoted to them; but I am told that I have seen
+very few of the varieties of birds, as it is early in the spring, and
+the young ones have not yet been brought in: they appear to sell as
+fast as they can be procured. But before I end my letter I must tell you
+about the cockatoo belonging to this hotel. It is a famous bird in its
+way, having had its portrait taken several times, descriptions written
+for newspapers of its talents, and its owner boasts of enormous sums
+offered and refused for it. Knowing my fondness for pets, F---- took me
+downstairs to see it very soon after our arrival. I thought it hideous:
+it belongs to a kind not very well known in England, of a dirtyish white
+colour, a very ugly-shaped head and bill, and large bluish rings round
+the eyes; the beak is huge and curved. If it knew of this last objection
+on my part, it would probably answer, like the wolf in Red Riding Hood's
+story, "the better to talk with, my dear"--for it is a weird and knowing
+bird. At first it flatly refused to show off any of its accomplishments,
+but one of the hotel servants good-naturedly came forward, and Cocky
+condescended to go through his performances. I cannot possibly-tell you
+of all its antics: it pretended to have a violent toothache, and nursed
+its beak in its claw, rocking itself backwards and forwards as if in the
+greatest agony, and in answer to all the remedies which were proposed,
+croaking out, "Oh, it ain't a bit of good," and finally sidling up, to
+the edge of its perch, and saying in hoarse but confidential whisper,
+"Give us a drop of whisky, _do_." Its voice was extraordinarily
+distinct, and when it sang several snatches of songs the words were
+capitally given, with the most absurdly comic intonation, all
+the _roulades_ being executed in perfect tune. I liked its sewing
+performance so much--to see it hold a little piece of stuff underneath
+the claw which rested on the perch, and pretend to sew with the other,
+getting into difficulties with its thread, and finally setting up a loud
+song in praise of sewing-machines just as if it were an advertisement.
+
+By the next time I write I shall have seen more of Melbourne; there
+will, however, be no time for another letter by this mail; but I will
+leave one to be posted after we sail for New Zealand.
+
+
+
+
+Letter II: Sight-seeing in Melbourne.
+
+
+Melbourne, October 1st, 1865. I have left my letter to the last moment
+before starting for Lyttleton; everything is re-packed and ready, and
+we sail to-morrow morning in the _Albion_. She is a mail-steamer--very
+small after our large vessel, but she looks clean and tidy; at all
+events, we hope to be only on board her for ten days. In England one
+fancies that New Zealand is quite close to Australia, so I was rather
+disgusted to find we had another thousand miles of steaming to do before
+we could reach our new home; and one of the many Job's comforters who
+are scattered up and down the world assures me that the navigation is
+the most dangerous and difficult of the whole voyage.
+
+We have seen a good deal of Melbourne this week; and not only of the
+town, for we have had many drives in the exceedingly pretty suburbs,
+owing to the kindness of the D----s, who have been most hospitable and
+made our visit here delightful. We drove out to their house at Toorak
+three or four times; and spent a long afternoon with them; and there I
+began to make acquaintance with the Antipodean trees and flowers. I hope
+you will not think it a very sweeping assertion if I say that all the
+leaves look as if they were made of leather, but it really is so; the
+hot winds appear to parch up everything, at all events, round Melbourne,
+till the greatest charm of foliage is more or less lost; the flowers
+also look withered and burnt up, as yours do at the end of a long, dry
+summer, only they assume this appearance after the first hot wind in
+spring. The suburb called Heidelberg is the prettiest, to my taste--an
+undulating country with vineyards, and a park-like appearance which,
+is very charming. All round Melbourne there are nice, comfortable,
+English-looking villas. At one of these we called to return a visit
+and found a very handsome house, luxuriously furnished, with beautiful
+garden and grounds. One afternoon we went by rail to St. Kilda's,
+a flourishing bathing-place on the sea-coast, about six miles from
+Melbourne. Everywhere building is going on with great rapidity, and you
+do not see any poor people in the streets. If I wanted to be critical
+and find fault, I might object to the deep gutters on each side of the
+road; after a shower of rain they are raging torrents for a short time,
+through which you are obliged to splash without regard to the muddy
+consequences; and even when they are dry, they entail sudden and
+prodigious jolts. There are plenty of Hansoms and all sorts of other
+conveyances, but I gave F---- no peace until he took me for a drive in a
+vehicle which was quite new to me--a sort of light car with a canopy
+and curtains, holding four, two on each seat, _dos-a-dos_, and called
+a "jingle,"--of American parentage, I fancy. One drive in this
+carriage was quite enough, however, and I contented myself with Hansoms
+afterwards; but walking is really more enjoyable than anything else,
+after having been so long cooped up on board ship.
+
+We admired the fine statue, at the top of Collins Street, to the memory
+of the two most famous of Australian explorers, Burke and Wills, and
+made many visits to the Museum, and the glorious Free Library; we also
+went all over the Houses of Legislature--very new and grand. But
+you must not despise me if I confess to having enjoyed the shops
+exceedingly: it was so unlike a jeweller's shop in England to see on the
+counter gold in its raw state, in nuggets and dust and flakes; in this
+stage of its existence it certainly deserves its name of "filthy lucre,"
+for it is often only half washed. There were quantities of emus' eggs
+in the silversmiths' shops, mounted in every conceivable way as cups and
+vases, and even as work-boxes: some designs consisted of three or five
+eggs grouped together as a centre-piece. I cannot honestly say I admired
+any of them; they were generally too elaborate, comprising often
+a native (spear in hand), a kangaroo, palms, ferns, cockatoos, and
+sometimes an emu or two in addition, as a pedestal--all this in frosted
+silver or gold. I was given a pair of these eggs before leaving
+England: they were mounted in London as little flower-vases in a setting
+consisting only of a few bulrushes and leaves, yet far better than any
+of these florid designs; but he emu-eggs are very popular in Sydney or
+Melbourne, and I am told sell rapidly to people going home, who take
+them as a memento of their Australian life, and probably think that the
+greater the number of reminiscences suggested by the ornament the more
+satisfactory it is as a purchase.
+
+I must finish my letter by a description of a dinner-party which about
+a dozen of our fellow-passengers joined with us in giving our dear old
+captain before we all separated. Whilst we were on board, it very often
+happened that the food was not very choice or good: at all events
+we used sometimes to grumble at it, and we generally wound up our
+lamentations by agreeing that when we reached Melbourne we would have a
+good dinner together. Looking back on it, I must say I think we were
+all rather greedy, but we tried to give a better colouring to our
+gourmandism by inviting the captain, who was universally popular, and by
+making it as elegant and pretty a repast as possible. Three or four of
+the gentlemen formed themselves into a committee, and they must really
+have worked very hard; at all events they collected everything rare and
+strange in the way of fish, flesh, and fowl peculiar to Australia,
+the arrangement of the table was charming, and the delicacies were all
+cooked and served to perfection. The ladies' tastes were considered in
+the profusion of flowers, and we each found an exquisite bouquet by our
+plate. I cannot possibly give you a minute account of the whole menu; in
+fact, as it is, I feel rather like Froissart, who, after chronicling a
+long list of sumptuous dishes, is not ashamed to confess, "Of all which
+good things I, the chronicler of this narration, did partake!" The soups
+comprised kangaroo-tail--a clear soup not unlike ox-tail, but with a
+flavour of game. I wish I could recollect the names of the fish: the
+fresh-water ones came a long distance by rail from the river Murray, but
+were excellent nevertheless. The last thing which I can remember tasting
+(for one really could do little else) was a most exquisite morsel of
+pigeon--more like a quail than anything else in flavour. I am not a
+judge of wine, as you may imagine, therefore it is no unkindness to the
+owners of the beautiful vineyards which we saw the other day, to
+say that I do not like the Australian wines. Some of the gentlemen
+pronounced them to be excellent, especially the equivalent to Sauterne,
+which has a wonderful native name impossible to write down; but, as I
+said before, I do not like the rather rough flavour. We had not a great
+variety of fruit at dessert: indeed, Sydney oranges constituted its main
+feature, as it is too late for winter fruits, and too early for summer
+ones: but we were not inclined to be over-fastidious, and thought
+everything delicious.
+
+
+
+
+Letter III: On to New Zealand.
+
+
+Christchurch, Canterbury, N. Z. October 14th, 1865. As you so
+particularly desired me when we parted to tell you _everything_, I must
+resume my story where in my last letter I left it off. If I remember
+rightly, I ended with an attempt at describing our great feast. We
+embarked the next day, and as soon as we were out of the bay the little
+_Albion_ plunged into heavy seas. The motion was much worse in her
+than on board the large vessel we had been so glad to leave, and all my
+previous sufferings seemed insignificant compared with what I endured in
+my small and wretchedly hard berth. I have a dim recollection of F----
+helping me to dress, wrapping me up in various shawls, and half carrying
+me up the companion ladder; I crawled into a sunny corner among the
+boxes of oranges with which the deck was crowded, and there I lay
+helpless and utterly miserable. One well-meaning and good-natured
+fellow-passenger asked F---- if I was fond of birds, and on his saying
+"Yes," went off for a large wicker cage of hideous "laughing Jackasses,"
+which he was taking as a great treasure to Canterbury. Why they
+should be called "Jackasses" I never could discover; but the creatures
+certainly do utter by fits and starts a sound which may fairly be
+described as laughter. These paroxysms arise from no cause that one
+can perceive; one bird begins, and all the others join in, and a more
+doleful and depressing chorus I never heard: early in the morning seemed
+the favourite time for this discordant mirth. Their owner also possessed
+a cockatoo with a great musical reputation, but I never heard it get
+beyond the first bar of "Come into the garden, Maud." Ill as I was, I
+remember being roused to something like a flicker of animation when
+I was shown an exceedingly seedy and shabby-looking blackbird with
+a broken leg in splints, which its master (the same bird-fancying
+gentleman) assured me he had bought in Melbourne as a great bargain for
+only 2 pounds 10 shillings!
+
+After five days' steaming we arrived in the open roadstead of Hokitika,
+on the west coast of the middle island of New Zealand, and five minutes
+after the anchor was down a little tug came alongside to take away our
+steerage passengers--three hundred diggers. The gold-fields on this
+coast were only discovered eight months ago, and already several canvas
+towns have sprung up; there are thirty thousand diggers at work, and
+every vessel brings a fresh cargo of stalwart, sun-burnt men. It was
+rather late, and getting dark, but still I could distinctly see the
+picturesque tents in the deep mountain gorge, their white shapes dotted
+here and there as far back from the shore as my sight could follow,
+and the wreaths of smoke curling up in all directions from the evening
+fires: it is still bitterly cold at night, being very early spring. The
+river Hokitika washes down with every fresh such quantities of sand,
+that a bar is continually forming in this roadstead, and though only
+vessels of the least possible draught are engaged in the coasting-trade,
+still wrecks are of frequent occurrence. We ought to have landed our
+thousands of oranges here, but this work was necessarily deferred till
+the morning, for it was as much as they could do to get all the diggers
+and their belongings safely ashore before dark; in the middle of the
+night one of the sudden and furious gales common to these seas sprang
+up, and would soon have driven us on the rocks if we had not got our
+steam up quickly and struggled out to sea, oranges and all, and away
+to Nelson, on the north coast of the same island. Here we landed the
+seventh day after leaving Melbourne, and spent a few hours wandering
+about on shore. It is a lovely little town, as I saw it that spring
+morning, with hills running down almost to the water's edge, and small
+wooden houses with gables and verandahs, half buried in creepers, built
+up the sides of the steep slopes. It was a true New Zealand day, still
+and bright, a delicious invigorating freshness in the air, without
+the least chill, the sky of a more than Italian blue, the ranges of
+mountains in the distance covered with snow, and standing out, sharp and
+clear against this lovely glowing heaven. The town itself, I must say,
+seemed very dull and stagnant, with little sign of life or activity
+about it; but nothing can be prettier or more picturesque than its
+situation--not unlike that of a Swiss village. Our day came to an end
+all too soon, and we re-embarked for Wellington, the most southern town
+of the North Island. The seat of government is there, and it is supposed
+to be a very thriving place, but is not nearly so well situated as
+Nelson nor so attractive to strangers. We landed and walked about a good
+deal, and saw what little there was to see. At first I thought the shops
+very handsome, but I found, rather to my disgust, that generally the
+fine, imposing frontage was all a sham; the actual building was only a
+little but at the back, looking all the meaner for the contrast to the
+cornices and show windows in front. You cannot think how odd it was to
+turn a corner and see that the building was only one board in thickness,
+and scarcely more substantial than the scenes at a theatre. We lunched
+at the principal hotel, where F---- was much amused at my astonishment
+at colonial prices. We had two dozen very nice little oysters, and he
+had a glass of porter: for this modest repast we paid eleven shillings!
+
+We slept on board, had another walk on shore after breakfast the
+following morning, and about twelve o'clock set off for Lyttleton, the
+final end of our voyaging, which we reached in about twenty hours.
+
+The scenery is very beautiful all along the coast, but the navigation is
+both dangerous and difficult. It was exceedingly cold, and Lyttleton
+did not look very inviting; we could not get in at all near the
+landing-place, and had to pay 2 pounds to be rowed ashore in an open
+boat with our luggage. I assure you it was a very "bad quarter of an
+hour" we passed in that boat; getting into it was difficult enough. The
+spray dashed over us every minute, and by the time we landed we were
+quite drenched, but a good fire at the hotel and a capital lunch soon
+made us all right again; besides, in the delight of being actually at
+the end of our voyage no annoyance or discomfort was worth a moment's
+thought. F---- had a couple of hours' work rushing backwards and
+forwards to the Custom House, clearing our luggage, and arranging for
+some sort of conveyance to take us over the hills. The great tunnel
+through these "Port Hills" (which divide Lyttleton from Christchurch,
+the capital of Canterbury) is only half finished, but it seems wonderful
+that so expensive and difficult an engineering work could be undertaken
+by such an infant colony.
+
+At last a sort of shabby waggonette was forthcoming, and about three
+o'clock we started from Lyttleton, and almost immediately began to
+ascend the zig-zag. It was a tremendous pull for the poor horses,
+who however never flinched; at the steepest pinch the gentlemen were
+requested to get out and walk, which they did, and at length we reached
+the top. It was worth all the bad road to look down on the land-locked
+bay, with the little patches of cultivation, a few houses nestling in
+pretty recesses. The town of Lyttleton seemed much more imposing and
+important as we rose above it: fifteen years ago a few sheds received
+the "Pilgrims," as the first comers are always called. I like the name;
+it is so pretty and suggestive. By the way, I am told that these four
+ships, sent out with the pilgrims by the Canterbury Association, sailed
+together from England, parted company almost directly, and arrived in
+Lyttleton (then called Port Cooper) four months afterwards, on the same
+day, having all experienced fine weather, but never having sighted each
+other once.
+
+As soon as we reached the top of the hill the driver looked to the
+harness of his horses, put on a very powerful double break, and we began
+the descent, which, I must say, I thought we took much too quickly,
+especially as at every turn of the road some little anecdote was
+forthcoming of an upset or accident; however, I would not show the
+least alarm, and we were soon rattling along the Sumner Road, by the
+sea-shore, passing every now and then under tremendous overhanging
+crags. In half an hour we reached Sumner itself, where we stopped for a
+few moments to change horses. There is an inn and a village here,
+where people from Christchurch come in the warm weather for sea-air and
+bathing. It began to rain hard, and the rest of the journey, some seven
+or eight miles, was disagreeable enough; but it was the _end_, and that
+one thought was sufficient to keep us radiantly good-humoured, in spite
+of all little trials. When we reached Christchurch, we drove at once to
+a sort of boarding-house where we had engaged apartments, and thought of
+nothing but supper and bed.
+
+The next day people began calling, and certainly I cannot complain of
+any coldness or want of welcome to my new home. I like what I have
+seen of my future acquaintances very much. Of course there is a very
+practical style and tone over everything, though outwardly the place is
+as civilized as if it were a hundred years old; well-paved streets, gas
+lamps, and even drinking fountains and pillar post-offices! I often find
+myself wondering whether the ladies here are at all like what our great
+grandmothers were. I suspect they are, for they appear to possess an
+amount of useful practical knowledge which is quite astonishing, and
+yet know how to surround themselves, according to their means and
+opportunities, with the refinements and elegancies of life. I feel quite
+ashamed of my own utter ignorance on every subject, and am determined
+to set to work directly and learn: at all events I shall have plenty
+of instructresses. Christchurch is a very pretty little town, still
+primitive enough to be picturesque, and yet very thriving: capital
+shops, where everything may be bought; churches, public buildings, a
+very handsome club-house, etc. Most of the houses are of wood, but when
+they are burned down (which is often the case) they are now rebuilt of
+brick or stone, so that the new ones are nearly all of these more solid
+materials. I am disappointed to find that, the cathedral, of which I
+had heard so much, has not progressed beyond the foundations, which cost
+8,000 pounds: all the works have been stopped, and certainly there
+is not much to show for so large a sum, but labour is very dear.
+Christchurch is a great deal more lively and bustling than most English
+country towns, and I am much struck by the healthy appearance of the
+people. There are no paupers to be seen; every one seems well fed and
+well clothed; the children are really splendid. Of course, as might be
+expected, there is a great deal of independence in bearing and manner,
+especially among the servants, and I hear astounding stories concerning
+them on all sides. My next letter will be from the country, as we have
+accepted an invitation to pay a visit of six weeks or so to a station in
+the north of the province.
+
+
+
+
+Letter IV: First introduction to "Station life."
+
+
+Heathstock, Canterbury, November 13th, 1865. I have just had the
+happiness of receiving my first budget of English letters; and no one
+can imagine how a satisfactory home letter satisfies the hunger of
+the heart after its loved and left ones. Your letter was particularly
+pleasant, because I could perceive, as I held the paper in my hands,
+that you were writing as you really felt, and that you were indeed
+happy. May you long continue so, dearest.
+
+F---- says that this beautiful place will give me a very erroneous
+impression of station life, and that I shall probably expect to find its
+comforts and luxuries the rule, whereas they are the exception; in the
+mean time, however, I am enjoying them thoroughly. The house is only
+sixty-five miles from Christchurch, nearly due north (which you must not
+forget answers to your south in point of warmth). Our kind friends and
+hosts, the L----s, called for us in their comfortable and large break,
+with four horses. Mr. L---- drove, F---- sat on the box, and inside were
+the ladies, children, and a nurse. Our first stage was to Kaiapoi, a
+little town on the river Waimakiriri, where we had a good luncheon of
+whitebait, and rested and fed the horses. From the window of the hotel I
+saw a few groups of Maories; they looked very ugly and peaceable, with
+a rude sort of basket made of flax fibres, or buckets filled with
+whitebait, which they wanted us to buy. There are some reserved lands
+near Kaiapoi where they have a very thriving settlement, living in
+perfect peace and good-will with their white neighbours. When we set
+off again on our journey, we passed a little school-house for their
+children.
+
+We reached Leathfield that evening, only twenty-five miles from
+Christchurch; found a nice inn, or accommodation-house, as roadside inns
+are called here; had a capital supper and comfortable beds, and were
+up and off again at daylight the next morning. As far as the Weka Pass,
+where we stopped for dinner, the roads were very good, but after that
+we got more among the hills and off the usual track, and there were many
+sharp turns and steep pinches; but Mr. L---- is an excellent whip, and
+took great care of us. We all got very weary towards the end of this
+second day's journey, and the last two hours of it were in heavy rain;
+it was growing very dark when we reached the gate, and heard the welcome
+sound of gravel under the wheels. I could just perceive that we had
+entered a plantation, the first trees since we left Christchurch.
+Nothing seems so wonderful to me as the utter treelessness of the vast
+Canterbury plains; occasionally you pass a few Ti-ti palms (ordinarily
+called cabbage-trees), or a large prickly bush which goes by the name of
+"wild Irishman," but for miles and miles you see nothing but flat ground
+or slightly undulating downs of yellow tussocks, the tall native grass.
+It has the colour and appearance of hay, but serves as shelter for a
+delicious undergrowth of short sweet herbage, upon which the sheep live,
+and horses also do very well on it, keeping in good working condition,
+quite unlike their puffy, fat state on English pasture.
+
+We drove through the plantation and another gate, and drew up at the
+door of a very large, handsome, brick house, with projecting gables and
+a verandah. The older I grow the more convinced I am that contrast is
+everything in this world; and nothing I can write can give you any
+idea of the delightful change from the bleak country we had been slowly
+travelling through in pouring rain, to the warmth and brightness of this
+charming house. There were blazing fires ready to welcome us, and I feel
+sure you will sufficiently appreciate this fact when I tell you that
+by the time the coal reaches this, it costs nine pounds per ton. It is
+possible to get Australian coal at about half the price, but it is not
+nearly as good.
+
+We were so tired that we were only fit for the lowest phase of human
+enjoyment--warmth, food, and sleep; but the next morning was bright and
+lovely, and I was up and out in the verandah as early as possible. I
+found myself saying constantly, in a sort of ecstasy, "How I wish they
+could see this in England!" and not only see but feel it, for the very
+breath one draws on such a morning is a happiness; the air is so light
+and yet balmy, it seems to heal the lungs as you inhale it. The verandah
+is covered with honeysuckles and other creepers, and the gable end of
+the house where the bow-window of the drawing-room projects, is one
+mass of yellow Banksia roses in full blossom. A stream runs through
+the grounds, fringed with weeping willows, which are in their greatest
+beauty at this time of year, with their soft, feathery foliage of
+the tenderest green. The flower beds are dotted about the lawn, which
+surrounds the house and slopes away from it, and they are brilliant
+patches of colour, gay with verbenas, geraniums, and petunias. Here and
+there clumps of tall trees rise above the shrubs, and as a background
+there is a thick plantation of red and blue gums, to shelter the garden
+from the strong N.W. winds. Then, in front, the country stretches away
+in undulating downs to a chain of high hills in the distance: every now
+and then there is a deep gap in these, through which you see magnificent
+snow-covered mountains.
+
+The inside of the house is as charming as the outside, and the
+perfection of comfort; but I am perpetually wondering how all the
+furniture--especially the fragile part of it--got here. When I remember
+the jolts, and ruts, and roughnesses of the road, I find myself looking
+at the pier-glass and glass shades, picture-frames, etc., with a sort of
+respect, due to them for having survived so many dangers.
+
+The first two or three days we enjoyed ourselves in a thoroughly lazy
+manner; the garden was a never-ending source of delight, and there
+were all the animals to make friends with, "mobs" of horses to look at,
+rabbits, poultry, and pets of all sorts. About a week after our arrival,
+some more gentlemen came, and then we had a series of picnics. As these
+are quite unlike your highly civilized entertainments which go by the
+same name, I must describe one to you.
+
+The first thing after breakfast was to collect all the provisions,
+and pack them in a sort of washing-basket, and then we started in an
+American waggon drawn by a pair of stout cobs. We drove for some miles
+till we came to the edge of one of the high terraces common to New
+Zealand scenery: here we all got out; the gentlemen unharnessed and
+tethered the horses, so that they could feed about comfortably, and
+then we scrambled down the deep slope, at the bottom of which ran a
+wide shallow creek. It was no easy matter to get the basket down here, I
+assure you; we ladies were only permitted to load ourselves, one with a
+little kettle, and the other with a tea-pot, but this was quite enough,
+as crossing the creek by a series of jumps from one wet stone to another
+is not easy for a beginner.
+
+Mr. L---- brought a large dog with him, a kangaroo-hound (not unlike
+a lurcher in appearance), to hunt the wekas. I had heard at night the
+peculiar cry or call of these birds, but had not seen one until to-day.
+"Fly" put up several, one after another, and soon ran them down. At
+first I thought it very cruel to destroy such a tame and apparently
+harmless creature, but I am assured that they are most mischievous, and
+that it would be useless to turn out the pheasants and partridges which
+Mr. L---- has brought from England, until the numbers of the wekas are
+considerably reduced. They are very like a hen pheasant without the long
+tail feathers, and until you examine them you cannot tell they have no
+wings, though there is a sort of small pinion among the feathers, with
+a claw at the end of it. They run very swiftly, availing themselves
+cleverly of the least bit of cover; but when you hear a short sharp cry,
+it is a sign that the poor weka is nearly done, and the next thing you
+see is Fly shaking a bundle of brown feathers vehemently. All the dogs
+are trained to hunt these birds, as they are a great torment, sucking
+eggs and killing chickens; but still I could not help feeling sorry when
+Fly, having disposed of the mother, returned to the flax-bush out of
+which he had started her, and killed several baby-wekas by successive
+taps of his paw.
+
+I have wandered away from my account of the picnic in the most
+unjustifiable manner. The gentlemen were toiling up the hill, after we
+had crossed the creek, carrying the big basket by turns between them;
+it was really hard work, and I must tell you in confidence, that I don't
+believe they liked it--at least I can answer for one. I laughed at them
+for not enjoying their task, and assured them that I was looking forward
+with pleasure to washing up the plates and dishes after our luncheon;
+but I found that they had all been obliged, in the early days of the
+colony, to work at domestic drudgery in grim and grimy earnest, so it
+had lost the charm of novelty which it still possessed for me.
+
+As soon as we reached a pretty sheltered spot half-way up the hill among
+some trees and ferns, and by the side of the creek, we unpacked the
+basket, and began collecting dry wood for a fire: we soon had a splendid
+blaze under the lee of a fine rock, and there we boiled our kettle and
+our potatoes. The next thing was to find a deep hole in the creek, so
+over-shadowed by rocks and trees that the water would be icy cold: in
+this we put the champagne to cool. The result of all our preparations
+was a capital luncheon, eaten in a most romantic spot, with a lovely
+view before us, and the creek just like a Scotch burn, hurrying and
+tumbling down the hill-side to join the broader stream in the valley.
+After luncheon, the gentlemen considered themselves entitled to rest,
+lying lazily back among the fern and smoking, whilst we ladies sat a
+little apart and chatted: I was busy learning to knit. Then, about five,
+we had the most delicious cup of tea I ever tasted, and we repacked the
+basket (it was very light now, I assure you), and made our way back to
+the top of the terrace, put the horses in again, and so home. It was
+a long, bright, summer holiday, and we enjoyed it thoroughly. After a
+voyage, such an expedition as this is full of delight; every tree and
+bird is a source of pleasure.
+
+
+
+
+Letter V: A pastoral letter.
+
+
+Heathstock, December 1st, 1865. All I can find to tell you this month is
+that I have seen one of the finest and best wool-sheds in the country
+in full work. Anything about sheep is as new to you as it is to me, so I
+shall begin my story at the very beginning.
+
+I am afraid you will think us a very greedy set of people in this part
+of the world, for eating seems to enter so largely into my letters; but
+the fact is--and I may as well confess it at once--I am in a chronic
+state of hunger; it is the fault of the fine air and the outdoor life:
+and then how one sleeps at night! I don't believe you really know
+in England what it is to be sleepy as we feel sleepy here; and it
+is delightful to wake up in the morning with the sort of joyous
+light-heartedness which only young children have. The expedition I
+am going to relate may fairly be said to have begun with eating,
+for although we started for our twelve miles' drive over the downs
+immediately after an excellent and somewhat late breakfast, yet by the
+time we reached the Home Station we were quite ready for luncheon. All
+the work connected with the sheep is carried on here. The manager has
+a nice house; and the wool-shed, men's huts, dip, etc., are near each
+other. It is the busiest season of the year, and no time could be
+spared to prepare for us; we therefore contented ourselves with what was
+described to me as ordinary station fare, and I must tell you what they
+gave us: first, a tureen of real mutton-broth, not hot water and chopped
+parsley, but excel-lent thick soup, with plenty of barley and meat in
+it; this had much the same effect on our appetites as the famous treacle
+and brimstone before breakfast in "Nicholas Nickleby," so that we were
+only able to manage a few little sheeps' tongues, slightly pickled; and
+very nice _they_ were; then we finished with a Devonshire junket, with
+clotted cream _a discretion_. Do you think we were much to be pitied?
+
+After this repast we were obliged to rest a little before we set out
+for the wool-shed, which has only been lately finished, and has all the
+newest improvements. At first I am "free to confess" that I did not like
+either its sounds or sights; the other two ladies turned very pale, but
+I was determined to make myself bear it, and after a moment or two I
+found it quite possible to proceed with Mr. L----round the "floor."
+There were about twenty-five shearers at work, and everything seemed to
+be very systematically and well arranged. Each shearer has a trap-door
+close to him, out of which he pushes his sheep as soon as the fleece is
+off, and there are little pens outside, so that the manager can notice
+whether the poor animal has been too much cut with the shears, or badly
+shorn in any other respect, and can tell exactly which shearer is to
+blame. Before this plan was adopted it was hopeless to try to find out
+who was the delinquent, for no one would acknowledge to the least snip.
+A good shearer can take off 120 fleeces in a day, but the average is
+about 80 to each man. They get one pound per hundred, and are found in
+everything, having as much tea and sugar, bread and mutton, as they can
+consume, and a cook entirely to themselves; they work at least fourteen
+hours out of the twenty-four, and with such a large flock as this--about
+50,000--must make a good deal.
+
+We next inspected the wool tables, to which two boys were incessantly
+bringing armfuls of rolled-up fleeces; these were laid on the tables
+before the wool-sorters, who opened them out, and pronounced in a moment
+to which _bin_ they belonged; two or three men standing behind rolled
+them up again rapidly, and put them on a sort of shelf divided into
+compartments, which were each labelled, so that the quality and kind of
+wool could be told at a glance. There was a constant emptying of these
+bins into trucks to be carried off to the press, where we followed
+to see the bales packed. The fleeces are tumbled in, and a heavy
+screw-press forces them down till the bale--which is kept open in a
+large square frame--is as full as it can hold. The top of canvas is then
+put on, tightly sewn, four iron pins are removed and the sides of the
+frame fall away, disclosing a most symmetrical bale ready to be hoisted
+by a crane into the loft above, where it has the brand of the sheep
+painted on it, its weight, and to what class the wool belongs. Of course
+everything has to be done with great speed and system.
+
+I was much impressed by the silence in the shed; not a sound was to be
+heard except the click of the shears, and the wool-sorter's decision as
+he flings the fleece behind him, given in one, or at most two words. I
+was reminded how touchingly true is that phrase, "Like as a sheep before
+her shearers is dumb." All the noise is _outside_; there the hubbub, and
+dust, and apparent confusion are great,--a constant succession of woolly
+sheep being brought up to fill the "skillions" (from whence the shearers
+take them as they want them), and the newly-shorn ones, white, clean,
+and bewildered-looking, being turned out after they have passed through
+a narrow passage, called a "race," where each sheep is branded, and has
+its mouth examined in order to tell its age, which is marked in a book.
+It was a comfort to think all their troubles were over, for a year. You
+can hear nothing but barking and bleating, and this goes on from early
+morning till dark. We peeped in at the men's huts--a long, low wooden
+building, with two rows of "bunks" (berths, I should call their) in one
+compartment, and a table with forms round it in the other, and piles of
+tin plates and pannikins all about. The kitchen was near, and we were
+just in time to see an enormous batch of bread withdrawn from a huge
+brick oven: the other commissariat arrangements were on the same scale.
+Cold tea is supplied all day long to the shearers, and they appear to
+consume great quantities of it.
+
+Our last visit was to the Dip, and it was only a short one, for it
+seemed a cruel process; unfortunately, this fine station is in technical
+parlance "scabby," and although of course great precautions are taken,
+still some 10,000 sheep had an ominous large S on them. These poor
+sufferers are dragged down a plank into a great pit filled with hot
+water, tobacco, and sulphur, and soused over head and ears two or three
+times. This torture is repeated more than once.
+
+I was very glad to get away from the Dip, and back to the manager's
+house, where we refreshed ourselves by a delicious cup of tea, and soon
+after started for a nice long drive home in the cool, clear evening
+air. The days are very hot, but never oppressive; and the mornings and
+evenings are deliciously fresh and invigorating. You can remain out late
+without the least danger. Malaria is unknown, and, in spite of the heavy
+rains, there is no such thing as damp. Our way lay through very pretty
+country--a series of terraces, with a range of mountains before us, with
+beautiful changing and softening evening tints creeping over the whole.
+
+I am sorry to say, we leave this next week. I should like to explore a
+great deal more.
+
+
+
+
+Letter VI: Society.--houses and servants.
+
+
+Christchurch, January 1866. I am beginning to get tired of Christchurch
+already: but the truth is, I am not in a fair position to judge of it
+as a place of residence; for, living temporarily, as we do, in a sort of
+boarding-house, I miss the usual duties and occupations of home, and the
+town itself has no place of public amusement except a little theatre, to
+which it is much too hot to go. The last two weeks have been _the_ gay
+ones of the whole year; the races have been going on for three days, and
+there have been a few balls; but as a general rule, the society may
+be said to be extremely stagnant. No dinner-parties are ever given--I
+imagine, on account of the smallness of the houses and the inefficiency
+of the servants; but every now and then there is an assembly ball
+arranged, in the same way, I believe, as at watering-places in England
+only, of course, on a much smaller scale. I have been at two or three
+of these, and noticed at each a most undue preponderance of black coats.
+Nearly all the ladies were married, there were very few young girls; and
+it would be a great improvement to the Christchurch parties if some of
+the pretty and partnerless groups of a London ball-room, in all their
+freshness of toilette, could be transferred to them. What a sensation
+they would make, and what terrible heart-aches among the young gentlemen
+would be the result of such an importation! There were the same knots of
+men standing together as at a London party, but I must say that, except
+so far as their tailor is concerned, I think we have the advantage of
+you, for the gentlemen lead such healthy lives that they all look more
+or less bronzed and stalwart--in splendid condition, not like your pale
+dwellers in cities; and then they come to a ball to dance, arriving
+early so as to secure good partners, and their great ambition appears to
+be to dance every dance from the first to the last. This makes it hard
+work for the few ladies, who are not allowed to sit down for a moment,
+and I have often seen a young and pretty partner obliged to divide her
+dances between two gentlemen.
+
+
+Although it tells only against myself, I must make you laugh at an
+account of a snub I received at one of these balls. Early in the evening
+I had danced with a young gentleman whose station was a long way "up
+country," and who worked so hard on it that he very seldom found time
+for even the mild dissipations of Christchurch; he was good-looking
+and gentlemanly, and seemed clever and sensible, a little _brusque_,
+perhaps, but one soon gets used to that here. During our quadrille he
+confided to me that he hardly knew any ladies in the room, and that his
+prospects of getting any dancing were in consequence very blank. I did
+all I could to find partners for him, introducing him to every lady whom
+I knew, but it was in vain; they would have been delighted to dance with
+him, but their cards were filled. At the end of the evening, when I was
+feeling thoroughly done up, and could hardly stand up for fatigue, my
+poor friend came up and begged for another dance. I assured him I could
+scarcely stand, but when he said in a _larmoyante_ voice, "I have only
+danced once this evening, that quadrille with you," my heart softened,
+and I thought I would make a great effort and try to get through one
+more set of Lancers; my partner seemed so grateful, that the demon of
+vanity, or coquetry, or whatever it is that prompts one to say absurd
+things induced me to fish for a compliment, and to observe, "It was not
+worth while taking all the trouble of riding such a distance to dance
+only with me, was it?" Whereupon my poor, doleful friend answered, with
+a deep sigh, and an accent of profound conviction, "No, indeed it was
+_not_!" I leave you to imagine my discomfiture; but luckily he never
+observed it, and I felt all the time that I richly deserved what I got,
+for asking such a stupid question.
+
+The music at these balls is very bad, and though the principal room in
+which they are given, at the Town Hall, is large and handsome, it is
+poorly lighted, and the decorations are desolate in the extreme. I am
+afraid this is not a very inviting picture of what is almost our only
+opportunity of meeting together, but it is tolerably correct. Visiting
+appears to be the business of some people's lives, but the acquaintance
+does not seem to progress beyond incessant afternoon calls; we are
+never asked inside a house, nor, as far as I can make out, is there any
+private society whatever, and the public society consists, as I have
+said, of a ball every now and then.
+
+My greatest interest and occupation consist in going to look at my
+house, which is being cut out in Christchurch, and will be drayed to our
+station next month, a journey of fifty miles. It is, of course, only of
+wood, and seems about as solid as a band-box; but I am assured by the
+builder that it will be a "most superior article" when it is all put
+together. F---- and I made the little plan of it ourselves, regulating
+the size of the drawing-room by the dimensions of the carpet we brought
+out, and I petitioned for a little bay-window, which is to be added; so
+on my last visit to his timber-yard, the builder said, with an air of
+great dignity, "Would you wish to see the _h_oriel, mum?" The doors all
+come ready-made from America, and most of the wood used in building is
+the Kauri pine from the North Island. One advantage, at all events, in
+having wooden houses is the extreme rapidity with which they are run up,
+and there are no plastered walls to need drying. For a long time we were
+very uncertain where, and what, we should build on our station; but only
+six weeks after we made up our minds, a house is almost ready for us.
+The boards are sawn into the requisite lengths by machinery; and all the
+carpentering done down here; the frame will only require to be fitted
+together when it reaches its destination, and it is a very good time of
+year for building, as the wool drays are all going back empty, and we
+can get them to take the loads at reduced prices; but even with this
+help, it is enormously expensive to move a small house fifty miles, the
+last fifteen over bad roads; it is collar-work for the poor horses all
+the way, Christchurch being only nine feet above the sea-level, while
+our future home in the Malvern Hills is twelve hundred.
+
+You know we brought all our furniture out with us, and even papers for
+the rooms, just because we happened to have everything; but I should not
+recommend any one to do so, for the expense of carriage, though moderate
+enough by sea (in a wool ship), is enormous as soon as it reaches
+Lyttleton, and goods have to be dragged up country by horses or
+bullocks. There are very good shops where you can buy everything, and
+besides these there are constant sales by auction where, I am told,
+furniture fetches a price sometimes under its English value. House rent
+about Christchurch is very high. We looked at some small houses in and
+about the suburbs of the town, when we were undecided about our plans,
+and were offered the most inconvenient little dwellings, with rooms
+which were scarcely bigger than cupboards, for 200 pounds a year; we
+saw nothing at a lower price than this, and any house of a better class,
+standing in a nicely arranged shrubbery, is at least 300 pounds per
+annum. Cab-hire is another thing which seems to me disproportionately
+dear, as horses are very cheap; there are no small fares, half-a-crown
+being the lowest "legal tender" to a cabman; and I soon gave up
+returning visits when I found that to make a call in a Hansom three
+or four miles out of the little town cost one pound or one pound ten
+shillings, even remaining only a few minutes at the house.
+
+All food (except mutton) appears to be as nearly as possible at London
+prices; but yet every one looks perfectly well-fed, and actual want is
+unknown. Wages of all sorts are high, and employment, a certainty. The
+look and bearing of the immigrants appear to alter soon after they reach
+the colony. Some people object to the independence of their manner, but
+I do not; on the contrary, I like to see the upright gait, the well-fed,
+healthy look, the decent clothes (even if no one touches his hat to
+you), instead of the half-starved, depressed appearance, and too often
+cringing servility of the mass of our English population. Scotchmen do
+particularly well out here; frugal and thrifty, hard-working and sober,
+it is easy to predict the future of a man of this type in a new country.
+Naturally, the whole tone of thought and feeling is almost exclusively
+practical; even in a morning visit there is no small-talk. I find no
+difficulty in obtaining the useful information upon domestic subjects
+which I so much need; for it is sad to discover, after all my
+house-keeping experience, that I am still perfectly ignorant. Here it is
+necessary to know _how_ everything should be done; it is not sufficient
+to give an order, you must also be in a position to explain how it is to
+be carried out I felt quite guilty when I saw the picture in _Punch_ the
+other day, of a young and inexperienced matron requesting her cook "not
+to put any lumps into the melted butter," and reflected that I did
+not know how lumps should be kept out; so, as I am fortunate enough to
+number among my new friends a lady who is as clever in these culinary
+details as she is bright and charming in society, I immediately went
+to her for a lesson in the art of making melted butter without putting
+lumps into it.
+
+The great complaint, the never-ending subject of comparison and
+lamentation among ladies, is the utter ignorance and inefficiency of
+their female servants. As soon as a ship comes in it is besieged with
+people who want servants, but it is very rare to get one who knows how
+to do anything as it ought to be done. Their lack of all knowledge of
+the commonest domestic duties is most surprising, and makes one wonder
+who in England did the necessary things of daily cottage life for them,
+for they appear to have done nothing for themselves hitherto. As for a
+woman knowing how to cook, that seems the very last accomplishment they
+acquire; a girl will come to you as a housemaid at 25 pounds per annum,
+and you will find that she literally does not know how to hold her
+broom, and has never handled a duster. When you ask a nurse her
+qualifications for the care of perhaps two or three young children, you
+may find, on close cross-examination, that she can recollect having
+once or twice "held mother's baby," and that she is very firm in
+her determination that "you'll keep baby yourself o' nights; mem!" A
+perfectly inexperienced girl of this sort will ask, and get, 30 pounds
+or 35 pounds per annum, a cook from 35 pounds to 40 pounds; and when
+they go "up country," they hint plainly they shall not stay long with
+you, and ask higher wages, stipulating with great exactness how they are
+to be conveyed free of all expense to and from their place.
+
+Then, on the other hand, I must say they work desperately hard, and very
+cheerfully: I am amazed how few servants are kept even in the large and
+better class of houses. As a general rule, they, appear willing enough
+to learn, and I hear no complaints of dishonesty or immorality, though
+many moans are made of the rapidity with which a nice tidy young woman
+is snapped up as a wife; but that is a complaint no one can sympathise
+with. On most stations a married couple is kept; the man either to act
+as shepherd, or to work in the garden and look after the cows, and
+the woman is supposed to attend to the indoor comforts of the wretched
+bachelor-master: but she generally requires to be taught how to bake a
+loaf of bread, and boil a potato, as well as how to cook mutton in the
+simplest form. In her own cottage at home, who did all these things for
+her? These incapables are generally perfectly helpless and awkward at
+the wash-tub; no one seems to expect servants to know their business,
+and it is very fortunate if they show any capability of learning.
+
+I must end my long letter by telling you a little story of my own
+personal experience in the odd ways of these girls. The housemaid at the
+boarding-house where we have stayed since we left Heathstock is a fat,
+sonsy, good-natured girl, perfectly ignorant and stupid, but she has not
+been long in the colony, and seems willing to learn. She came to me the
+other day, and, without the least circumlocution or hesitation, asked
+me if I would lend her my riding-habit as a pattern to give the tailor;
+adding that she wanted my best and newest. As soon as I could speak
+for amazement, I naturally asked why; she said she had been given a
+riding-horse, that she had loaned a saddle, and bought a hat, so now she
+had nothing on her mind except the habit; and further added, that she
+intended to leave her situation the day before the races, and that it
+was "her fixed intent" to appear on horseback each day, and all day
+long, at these said races. I inquired if she knew how to ride? No;
+she had never mounted any animal in her life. I suggested that she had
+better take some lessons before her appearance in public; but she said
+her mistress did not like to spare her to "practise," and she stuck
+steadily to her point of wanting my habit as a pattern. I could not lend
+it to her, fortunately, for it had been sent up to the station with my
+saddle, etc.; so had she been killed, as I thought not at all unlikely,
+at least my conscience would not have reproached me for aiding and
+abetting her equestrian freak. I inquired from every one who went to the
+races if they saw or heard of any accident to a woman on horseback, and
+I most anxiously watched the newspapers to see if they contained any
+notice of the sort, but as there has been no mention of any catastrophe,
+I suppose she has escaped safely. Her horse must have been quieter and
+better broken than they generally are. F---- says that probably it was a
+very old "station screw." I trust so, for her sake!
+
+
+
+
+Letter VII: A young colonist.--the town and its neighbourhood.
+
+
+Christchurch, March 1866. I must begin my letter this mail with a piece
+of domestic news, and tell you of the appearance of your small nephew,
+now three weeks old. The youth seems inclined to adapt himself to
+circumstances, and to be as sturdy and independent as colonial children
+generally are. All my new friends and neighbours proved most kind and
+friendly, and were full of good offices. Once I happened to say that I
+did not like the food as it was cooked at the boarding-house; and the
+next day, and for many days after, all sorts of dainties were sent to
+me, prepared by hands which were as skilful on the piano, or with a
+pencil, as they were in handling a saucepan. New books were lent to me,
+and I was never allowed to be without a beautiful bouquet. One young
+lady used constantly to walk in to town, some two or three miles along a
+hot and dusty road, laden with flowers for me, just because she saw how
+thoroughly I enjoyed her roses and carnations. Was it not good of her?
+
+Christchurch has relapsed into the quietude, to call it by no harsher
+name. The shearing is finished all over the country, and the "squatters"
+(as owners of sheep-stations are called) have returned to their stations
+to vegetate, or work, as their tastes and circumstances may dictate.
+Very few people live in the town except the tradespeople; the
+professional men prefer little villas two or three miles off. These
+houses stand in grounds of their own, and form a very pretty approach to
+Christchurch, extending a few miles on all sides: There are large trees
+bordering most of the streets, which give a very necessary shade in
+summer; they are nearly all English sorts, and have only been planted
+within a few years. Poplars, willows, and the blue gum grow quickest,
+are least affected by the high winds, and are therefore the most
+popular. The banks of the pretty little river Avon, upon which
+Christchurch is built, are thickly fringed with weeping willows,
+interspersed with a few other trees, and with clumps of tohi, which is
+exactly like the Pampas grass you know so well in English shrubberies.
+I don't think I have ever told you that it has been found necessary here
+to legislate against water-cress. It was introduced a few years since,
+and has spread so rapidly as to become a perfect nuisance, choking every
+ditch in the neighbourhood of Christchurch, blocking up mill-streams,
+causing meadows to be flooded, and doing all kinds of mischief.
+
+Towards Riccarton, about four miles out of town, the Avon shows like a
+slender stream a few inches wide, moving sluggishly between thick beds
+of water-cress, which at this time of year are a mass of white blossom.
+It looks so perfectly solid that whenever I am at Ilam, an insane desire
+to step on it comes over me, much to F----'s alarm, who says he is
+afraid to let me out of his sight, lest I should attempt to do so.
+I have only seen one native "bush" or forest yet, and that is at
+Riccarton. This patch of tall, gaunt pines serves as a landmark for
+miles. Riccarton is one of the oldest farms in the colony, and I am told
+it possesses a beautiful garden. I can only see the gable-end of a house
+peeping out from among the trees as I pass. This bush is most carefully
+preserved, but I believe that every high wind injures it.
+
+Christchurch is very prettily situated; for although it stands on a
+perfectly flat plain, towards the sea there are the Port Hills, and the
+town itself is picturesque, owing to the quantities of trees and the
+irregular form of the wooden houses; and as a background we have
+the most magnificent chain of mountains--the back-bone of the
+island--running from north to south, the highest peaks nearly always
+covered with snow, even after such a hot summer as this has been. The
+climate is now delicious, answering in time of year to your September;
+but we have far more enjoyable weather than your autumns can boast of.
+If the atmosphere were no older than the date of the settlement of the
+colony, it could not feel more _youthful_, it is so light and bright,
+and exhilarating! The one drawback, and the only one, is the north-west
+wind; and the worst of it is, that it blows very often from this
+point. However, I am assured that I have not yet seen either a "howling
+nor'-wester," nor its exact antithesis, "a sutherly buster."
+
+We have lately been deprived of the amusement of going to see our house
+during the process of cutting it out, as it has passed that stage, and
+has been packed on drays and sent to the station, with two or three
+men to put it up. It was preceded by two dray-loads of small rough-hewn
+stone piles, which are first let into the ground six or eight feet
+apart: the foundation joists rest on these, so as just to keep the
+flooring from touching the earth. I did not like this plan (which is the
+usual one) at all, as it seemed to me so insecure for the house to
+rest only on these stones. I told the builder that I feared a strong
+"nor'-wester" (and I hear they are particularly strong in the Malvern
+Hills) would blow the whole affair away. He did not scout the idea as
+much as I could have wished, but held out hopes to me that the roof
+would "kep it down." I shall never dare to trust the baby out of my
+sight, lest he should be blown away; and I have a plan for securing his
+cradle, by putting large heavy stones in it, somewhere out of his way,
+so that he need not be hurt by them. Some of the houses are built of
+"cob," especially those erected in the very early days, when sawn timber
+was rare and valuable: this material is simply wet clay with chopped
+tussocks stamped in. It makes very thick walls, and they possess the
+great advantage of being cool in summer and warm in winter. Whilst the
+house is new nothing can be nicer; but, in a few years, the hot winds
+dry up the clay so much, that it becomes quite pulverized; and a lady
+who lives in one of these houses told me, that during a high wind she
+had often seen the dust from the walls blowing in clouds about the
+rooms, despite of the canvas and paper, and with all the windows
+carefully closed.
+
+Next week F---- is going up to the station, to unpack and arrange a
+little, and baby and I are going to be taken care of at Ilam, the most
+charming place I have yet seen. I am looking forward to my visit there
+with great pleasure.
+
+
+
+
+Letter VIII: Pleasant days at Ilam.
+
+
+Ilam, April 1866. We leave this to-morrow for the station in the most
+extraordinary conveyance you ever saw. Imagine a flat tray with two low
+seats in it, perched on four very high wheels, quite innocent of any
+step or means of clambering in and out, and drawn, tandem-fashion,
+by two stout mares; one of which has a little foal by her side. The
+advantage of this vehicle is that it is very light, and holds a good
+deal of luggage. We hope to accomplish the distance--fifty miles--in a
+day, easily.
+
+Although this is not my first visit to Ilam, I don't think I have ever
+described it to you. The house is of wood, two storeys high, and came
+out from England! It is built on a brick foundation, which is quite
+unusual here. Inside, it is exactly like a most charming English house,
+and when I first stood in the drawing-room it was difficult to believe:
+that I was at the other end of the world. All the newest books, papers,
+and periodicals covered the tables, the newest music lay on the piano,
+whilst a profusion of English greenhouse flowers in Minton's loveliest
+vases added to the illusion. The Avon winds through the grounds, which
+are very pretty, and are laid out in the English fashion; but in spite
+of the lawn with its croquet-hoops and sticks, and the beds of flowers
+in all their late summer beauty, there is a certain absence of the
+stiffness and trimness of English pleasure-grounds, which shows that
+you have escaped from the region of conventionalities. There are thick
+clumps of plantations, which have grown luxuriantly, and look as if they
+had always been there. A curve of the opposite bank is a dense mass of
+native flax bushes, with their tall spikes of red blossom filling
+the air with a scent of honey, and attracting all the bees in the
+neighbourhood. Ti-ti palms are dotted here and there, and give a foreign
+and tropical appearance to the whole. There is a large kitchen garden
+and orchard, with none of the restrictions of high walls and locked
+gates which fence your English peaches and apricots.
+
+The following is our receipt for killing time at Ilam:--After breakfast,
+take the last _Cornhill_ or _Macmillan_, put on a shady hat, and sit or
+saunter by the river-side under the trees, gathering any very tempting
+peach or apricot or plum or pear, until luncheon; same thing until five
+o'clock tea; then cross the river by a rustic bridge, ascend some turf
+steps to a large terrace-like meadow, sheltered from the north-west
+winds by a thick belt of firs, blue gums, and poplars, and play croquet
+on turf as level as a billiard-table until dinner. At these games the
+cockatoo always assists, making himself very busy, waddling after his
+mistress all over the field, and climbing up her mallet whenever he
+has an opportunity. "Dr. Lindley"--so called from his taste for pulling
+flowers to pieces--apparently for botanical purposes--is the tamest and
+most affectionate of birds, and I do not believe he ever bit any one in
+his life; he will allow himself to be pulled about, turned upside down,
+scratched under his wings, all with the greatest indifference, or rather
+with the most positive enjoyment. One evening I could not play croquet
+for laughing at his antics. He took a sudden dislike to a little rough
+terrier, and hunted him fairly off the ground at last, chasing him all
+about, barking at him, and digging his beak into the poor dog's paw. But
+the "Doctor's" best performance is when he imitates a hawk. He reserves
+this fine piece of acting until his mistress is feeding her poultry;
+then, when all the hens and chickens, turkeys, and pigeons are in the
+quiet enjoyment of their breakfast or supper, the peculiar shrill cry
+of a hawk is heard overhead, and the Doctor is seen circling in the air,
+uttering a scream occasionally. The fowls never find out that it is a
+hoax, but run to shelter, cackling in the greatest alarm--hens clucking
+loudly for their chicks, turkeys crouching under the bushes, the pigeons
+taking refuge in their house; as soon as the ground is quite clear,
+Cocky changes his wild note for peals of laughter from a high tree,
+and finally alighting on the top of a hen-coop filled with trembling
+chickens, remarks in a suffocated voice, "You'll be the death of me."
+
+I must reverse the proverb about the ridiculous and the sublime, and
+finish my letter by telling you of Ilam's chief outdoor charm: from
+all parts of the garden and grounds I can feast my eyes on the glorious
+chain of mountains which I have before told you of, and my bedroom
+window has a perfect panoramic view of them. I watch them under all
+their changes of tint, and find each new phase the most beautiful. In
+the very early morning I have often stood shivering at my window to see
+the noble outline gradually assuming shape, and finally standing out
+sharp and clear against a dazzling sky; then, as the sun rises, the
+softest rose-coloured and golden tints touch the highest peaks, the
+shadows deepening by the contrast. Before a "nor'-wester" the colours
+over these mountains and in the sky are quite indescribable; no one but
+Turner could venture upon such a mixture of pale sea-green with deep
+turquoise blue, purple with crimson and orange. One morning an arch-like
+appearance in the clouds over the furthest ranges was pointed out to me
+as the sure forerunner of a violent gale from the north-west, and the
+prognostic was fulfilled. It was formed of clouds of the deepest and
+richest colours; within its curve lay a bare expanse of a wonderful
+green tint, crossed by the snowy _silhouette_ of the Southern Alps.
+A few hours afterwards the mountains were quite hidden by mist, and a
+furious gale of hot wind was shaking the house as if it must carry it
+off into the sky; it blew so continuously that the trees and shrubs
+never seemed to rise for a moment against it.
+
+These hot winds affect infants and children a good deal, and my baby is
+not at all well. However, his doctor thinks the change to the station
+will set him all right again, so we are hurrying off much sooner than
+our kind friends here wish, and long before the little house in the
+hills can possibly be made comfortable, though F---- is working very
+hard to get things settled for us.
+
+
+
+
+Letter IX: Death in our new home--New Zealand children.
+
+
+Broomielaw, Malvern Hills, May 1866. I do not like to allow the first
+Panama steamer to go without a line from me: this is the only letter I
+shall attempt, and it will be but a short and sad one, for we are still
+in the first bitterness of grief for the loss of our dear little baby.
+After I last wrote to you he became very ill, but we hoped that his
+malady was only caused by the unhealthiness of Christchurch during the
+autumn, and that he would soon revive and get on well in this pure,
+beautiful mountain air. We consequently hurried here as soon as ever we
+could get into the house, and whilst the carpenters were still in it.
+Indeed, there was only one bedroom ready for us when I arrived. The
+poor little man rallied at first amazingly; the weather was exquisitely
+bright and sunny, and yet bracing. Baby was to be kept in the open air
+as much as possible, so F---- and I spent our days out on the downs near
+the house, carrying our little treasure by turns: but all our care was
+fruitless: he got another and more violent attack about a fortnight ago,
+and after a few hours of suffering he was taken to the land where pain
+is unknown. During the last twelve hours of his life, as I sat before
+the fire with him on my lap, poor F----kneeling in a perfect agony of
+grief by my side, my greatest comfort was in looking at that exquisite
+photograph from Kehren's picture of the "Good Shepherd," which hangs
+over my bedroom mantelpiece, and thinking that our sweet little lamb
+would soon be folded in those Divine, all-embracing Arms. It is not
+a common picture; and the expression of the Saviour's face is most
+beautiful, full of such immense feminine compassion and tenderness that
+it makes me feel more vividly, "In all our sorrows He is afflicted." In
+such a grief as this I find the conviction of the reality and depth of
+the Divine sympathy is my only true comfort; the tenderest human love
+falls short of the feeling that, without any words to express our
+sorrow, God knows all about it; that He would not willingly afflict or
+grieve us, and that therefore the anguish which wrings our hearts is
+absolutely necessary in some mysterious way for our highest good. I fear
+I have often thought lightly of others' trouble in the loss of so young
+a child; but now I know what it is. Does it not seem strange and sad,
+that this little house in a distant, lonely spot, no sooner becomes a
+home than it is baptized, as it were, with tears? No doubt there are
+bright and happy days in store for us yet, but these first ones here
+have been sadly darkened by this shadow of death. Inanimate things have
+such a terrible power to wound one: though everything which would remind
+me of Baby has been carefully removed and hidden away by F----'s orders,
+still now and then I come across some trifle belonging to him, and, as
+Miss Ingelow says--
+
+      "My old sorrow wakes and cries."
+
+Our loss is one too common out here, I am told: infants born in
+Christchurch during the autumn very often die. Owing to the flatness of
+the site of the town, it is almost impossible to get a proper system of
+drainage; and the arrangements seem very bad, if you are to judge from
+the evil smells which are abroad in the evening. Children who are born
+on a station, or taken there as soon as possible, almost invariably
+thrive, but babies are very difficult to rear in the towns. If they get
+over the first year, they do well; and I cannot really call to mind a
+single sickly, or even delicate-looking child among the swarms which one
+sees everywhere.
+
+I cannot say that I think colonial children prepossessing in either
+manners or appearance, in spite of their ruddy cheeks and sturdy limbs.
+Even quite little things are pert and independent, and give me the idea
+of being very much spoiled. When you reflect on the utter absence of any
+one who can really be called a nurse, this is not to be wondered at. The
+mothers are thoroughly domestic and devoted to their home duties, far
+more so than the generality of the same class at home. An English lady,
+with even an extremely moderate income, would look upon her colonial
+sister as very hard-worked indeed. The children cannot be entrusted
+entirely to the care of an ignorant girl, and the poor mother has
+them with her all day long; if she goes out to pay visits (the only
+recognized social duty here), she has to take the elder children with
+her, but this early introduction into society does not appear to polish
+the young visitors' manners in the least. There is not much rest at
+night for the mater-familias with the inevitable baby, and it is of
+course very difficult for her to be correcting small delinquents all day
+long; so they grow up with what manners nature gives them. There seems
+to me, however, to be a greater amount of real domestic happiness out
+here than at home: perhaps the want of places of public amusement may
+have something to do with this desirable state of affairs, but the homes
+seem to be thoroughly happy ones. A married man is an object of envy
+to his less fortunate brethren, and he appears anxious to show that
+he appreciates his good fortune. As for scandal, in the ordinary
+acceptation of the word, it is unknown; gossip there is in plenty, but
+it generally refers to each other's pecuniary arrangements or trifling
+peculiarities, and is all harmless enough. I really believe that the
+life most people lead here is as simple and innocent as can well be
+imagined. Each family is occupied in providing for its own little daily
+wants and cares, which supplies the mind and body with healthy and
+legitimate employment, and yet, as my experience tells me, they have
+plenty of leisure to do a kind turn for a neighbour. This is the bright
+side of colonial life, and there is more to be said in its praise; but
+the counterbalancing drawback is, that the people seem gradually to lose
+the sense of larger and wider interests; they have little time to keep
+pace with the general questions of the day, and anything like sympathy
+or intellectual appreciation is very rare. I meet accomplished people,
+but seldom well-read ones; there is also too much talk about money:
+"where the treasure is, there will the heart be also;" and the incessant
+financial discussions are wearisome, at least to me.
+
+
+
+
+Letter X: Our station home.
+
+
+Broomielaw, July 1866. We are now in mid-winter, and a more delicious
+season cannot well be imagined; the early mornings and evenings and
+the nights are very cold, but the hours from 10 A.M. till 5 P.M. are
+exquisitely bright, and quite warm. We are glad of a fire at breakfast,
+which is tolerably early, but we let it out and never think of
+relighting it until dark. Above all, it is calm: I congratulate myself
+daily on the stillness of the atmosphere, but F---- laughs and says,
+"Wait until the spring." I bask all day in the verandah, carrying my
+books and work there soon after breakfast; as soon as the sun goes down,
+however, it becomes very cold. In an English house you would hardly feel
+it, but with only one plank an inch thick, a lining-board and canvas and
+paper, between you and a hard frost, a good fire is wanted. We burn coal
+found twelve miles from this; it is not very good, being only what
+is called "lignite." I don't know if that conveys to you a distinct
+impression of what it really is. I should say it was a better sort
+of turf: it smoulders just in the same way, and if not disturbed will
+remain many hours alight; it requires a log of dry wood with it to
+make a really good blaze. Fuel is most difficult to get here, and very
+expensive, as we have no available "bush" on the Run; so we have first
+to take out a licence for cutting wood in the Government bush, then
+to employ men to cut it, and hire a drayman who possesses a team of
+bullocks and a dray of his own, to fetch it to us: he can only take two
+journeys a day, as he has four miles to travel each way, so that by the
+time the wood is stacked it costs us at least thirty shillings a cord,
+and then there is the labour of sawing and cutting it up. The coal costs
+us one pound a ton at the mouth of the pit, and the carriage exactly
+doubles its price; besides which it is impossible to get more, than a
+small quantity at a time, on account of the effect of the atmosphere on
+it. Exposure to the air causes it to crumble into dust, and although we
+keep our supply in a little shed for the purpose, it is wasted to the
+extent of at least a quarter of each load. We are unusually unfortunate
+in the matter of firing; most stations have a bush near to the
+homestead, or greater facilities for draying than we possess.
+
+You tell me to describe my little house to you, so I must try to make
+you see it, only prefacing my attempt by warning you not to be disgusted
+or disappointed at any shortcomings. The house has not been built in
+a pretty situation, as many other things had to be considered before
+a picturesque site: first it was necessary to build on a flat (as the
+valleys here are called), not too far off the main track, on account of
+having to make the road to it ourselves; the next thing to be thought
+of was shelter from the north-west wind; then the soil must be fit for
+a garden, and a good creek, or brook, which would not go dry in the
+summer, close at hand. At present, everything out of doors is so
+unfinished that the place looks rather desolate, and it will be some
+years before our plantations can attain a respectable size, even
+allowing for the rapid growth in this climate. The first step is to
+obtain shelter from our enemy the "nor'-wester," and for this purpose we
+have planted quantities of broom in all directions; even the large beds
+for vegetables in the garden have a hedge of Cape broom on the exposed
+side; fortunately, the broom grows very quickly in spite of the wind,
+and attains to a luxuriant beauty rarely seen in England. We have put in
+many other trees, such as oaks, maples, etc., but not one is higher than
+this table, except a few poplars; the ground immediately outside the
+house has been dug up, and is awaiting the spring to be sown with
+English grass; we have no attempt at a flower-garden yet, but have
+devoted our energies to the vegetable one,--putting in fruit trees,
+preparing strawberry and asparagus beds, and other useful things. Out
+of doors matters would not even be as far advanced towards a garden and
+plantation as they are if we had commenced operations ourselves, but
+the ground has been worked since last year. I am glad we have chosen to
+build our house here instead of at the homestead two miles off; for I
+like to be removed from the immediate neighbourhood of all the work of
+the station, especially from that of the "gallows,"--a high wooden frame
+from which the carcases of the butchered sheep dangle; under the present
+arrangement the shepherd brings us over our mutton as we want it.
+
+Inside the house everything is comfortable and pretty, and, above all
+things, looks thoroughly home-like. Out of the verandah you pass through
+a little hall hung with whips and sticks, spurs and hats, and with a
+bookcase full of novels at one end of it, into a dining-room, large
+enough for us, with more books in every available corner, the prints
+you know so well on the walls, and a trophy of Indian swords and
+hunting-spears over the fireplace: this leads into the drawing-room, a
+bright, cheery little room--more books and pictures, and a writing-table
+in the "_h_oriel." In that tall, white, classical-shaped vase of
+Minton's which you helped me to choose is the most beautiful bouquet,
+made entirely of ferns; it is a constant object for my walks up the
+gullies, exploring little patches of bush to search for the ferns, which
+grow abundantly under their shelter by the creek. I have a small but
+comfortable bedroom, and there is a little dressing-room for F---- and
+the tiniest spare room you ever saw; it really is not bigger than the
+cabin of a ship. I think the kitchen is the chief glory of the house,
+boasting a "Leamington range" a luxury quite unknown in these parts,
+where all the cooking is done on an American stove,--a very good thing
+in its way, but requiring to be constantly attended to. There is a
+good-sized storeroom, in which F---- has just finished putting me up
+some cupboards, and a servants' room. It is not a palace is it? But it
+is quite large enough to hold a great deal of happiness. Outside, the
+premises are still more diminutive; a little wash-house stands near the
+kitchen door, and further up the enclosure is a stable, and a small room
+next it for saddles, and a fowl-house and pig-stye, and a coal-shed. Now
+you know everything about my surroundings; but--there is always a
+_but_ in everything--I have one great grievance, and I hope you will
+appreciate its magnitude.
+
+It was impossible for F---- to come up here when the house was first
+commenced, and the wretch of a builder deliberately put the drawing-and
+dining-room fireplaces in the corner, right up against the partition
+wall, of course utterly destroying the comfort as well as the symmetry
+of the rooms. I am convinced some economy of bricks is at the bottom of
+this arrangement, especially as the house was built by contract; but the
+builder pretends to be surprised that I don't admire it, and says, "Why,
+it's so oncommon, mum!" I assure you, when I first saw the ridiculous
+appearance of the drawing-room pier-glass in the corner, I should
+liked to have screamed out at the builder (like the Queen in "Alice in
+Wonderland"), "Cut off his head!"
+
+When we were packing up the things to come here, our friends expressed
+their astonishment at our taking so many of the little elegancies of
+life, such as drawing-room ornaments, pictures, etc. Now it is a great
+mistake not to bring such things, at all events a few of them, for they
+are not to be bought here, and they give the new home a certain likeness
+to the old one which is always delightful. I do not advise people to
+make large purchases of elegancies for a colonial life, but a few pretty
+little trifles will greatly improve the look of even a New Zealand
+up-country drawing-room.
+
+You have asked me also about our wardrobes. Gentlemen wear just what
+they would on a Scotch or English farm; in summer they require perhaps
+a lighter hat, and long rides are always taken in boots and breeches.
+A lady wears exactly what would be suitable in the country in England,
+except that I should advise her to eschew muslin; the country outside
+the home paddock is too rough for thin material; she also wants thick
+boots if she is a good walker, and I find nails or little screws in the
+soles a great help for hill-walking. A hat is my only difficulty: you
+really want a shady hat for a protection against the sun, but there are
+very few days in the year on which you can ride in anything but a
+close, small hat, with hardly any brim at all, and even this must have
+capabilities of being firmly fastened on the head. My nice, wide-brimmed
+Leghorn hangs idly in the hall: there is hardly a morning still enough
+to induce me to put it on even to go and feed my chickens or potter
+about the garden. This being winter, I live in a short linsey dress,
+which is just right as to warmth, and not heavy. It is a mistake to
+bring too much: a year's supply will be quite enough; fresh material can
+easily be procured in Christchurch or any of the large towns, or sent
+out by friends. I find my sewing-machine the greatest possible comfort,
+and as time passes on and my clothes need remodelling it will be still
+more use ful. Hitherto I have used it chiefly for my friends' benefit;
+whilst I was in town I constantly had little frocks brought to me to
+tuck, and here I employ it in making quilted cloth hats for my gentlemen
+neighbours.
+
+
+
+
+Letter XI: Housekeeping, and other matters.
+
+
+Broomielaw, September 1866. I am writing to you at the end of a
+fortnight of very hard work, for I have just gone through my first
+experience in changing servants; those I brought up with me four
+months ago were nice, tidy girls and as a natural consequence of these
+attractive qualities they have both left me to be married. I sent them
+down to Christchurch in the dray, and made arrangements for two more
+servants to return in the same conveyance at the end of a week. In the
+meantime we had to do everything for ourselves, and on the whole we
+found this picnic life great fun. The household consists, besides F----
+and me, of a cadet, as they are called--he is a clergyman's son learning
+sheep-farming under our auspices--and a boy who milks the cows and
+does odd jobs out of doors. We were all equally ignorant of practical
+cookery, so the chief responsibility rested on my shoulders, and cost me
+some very anxious moments, I assure you, for a cookery-book is after all
+but a broken reed to lean on in a real emergency; it starts by assuming
+that its unhappy student possesses a knowledge of at least the rudiments
+of the art, whereas it ought not to disdain to tell you whether the
+water in which potatoes are to be boiled should be hot or cold. I must
+confess that some of my earliest efforts were both curious and nasty,
+but E ate my numerous failures with the greatest good-humour; the only
+thing at which he made a wry face was some soup into which a large lump
+of washing-soda had mysteriously conveyed itself; and I also had to
+undergo a good deal of "chaff" about my first omelette, which was of the
+size and consistency of a roly-poly pudding. Next to these failures
+I think the bread was my greatest misfortune; it went wrong from the
+first. One night I had prepared the tin dish full of flour, made a hole
+in the midst of the soft white heap, and was about to pour in a cupful
+of yeast to be mixed with warm water (you see I know all about it in
+theory), when a sudden panic seized me, and I was afraid to draw the
+cork of the large champagne bottle full of yeast, which appeared to be
+very much "up." In this dilemma I went for F----. You must know that he
+possesses such extraordinary and revolutionary theories on the subject
+of cooking, that I am obliged to banish him from the kitchen altogether,
+but on this occasion I thought I should be glad of his assistance. He
+came with the greatest alacrity; assured me he knew all about it, seized
+the big bottle, shook it violently, and twitched out the cork: there was
+a report like a pistol-shot, and all my beautiful yeast flew up to the
+ceiling of the kitchen, descending in a shower on my head; and F----
+turned the bottle upside down over the flour, emptying the dregs of the
+hops and potatoes into my unfortunate bread. However, I did not despair,
+but mixed it up according to the directions given, and placed it on the
+stove; but, as it turned out, in too warm a situation, for when I went
+early the next morning to look at it, I found a very dry and crusty
+mass. Still, nothing daunted, I persevered in the attempt, added more
+flour and water, and finally made it up into loaves, which I deposited
+in the oven. That bread _never_ baked! I tried it with a knife in
+the orthodox manner, always to find that it was raw inside. The crust
+gradually became several inches thick, but the inside remained damp, and
+turned quite black at last; I baked it until midnight, and then I gave
+it up and retired to bed in deep disgust. I had no more yeast and
+could not try again, so we lived on biscuits and potatoes till the dray
+returned at the end of the week, bringing, however, only one servant.
+Owing to some confusion in the drayman's arrangements, the cook had been
+left behind, and "Meary," the new arrival, professed her willingness to
+supply her place; but on trial being made of her abilities, she proved
+to be quite as inexperienced as I was; and to each dish I proposed she
+should attempt, the unvarying answer was, "The missis did all that where
+I come from." During the first few days after her arrival her
+chief employment was examining the various knick-knacks about the
+drawing-room; in her own department she was greatly taken with the
+little cottage mangle. She mangled her own apron about twenty times a
+day, and after each attempt I found her contemplating it with her head
+on one side, and saying to herself, "'Deed, thin, it's as smooth as
+smooth; how iver does it do it?" A few days later the cook arrived.
+She is not all I could wish, being also Irish, and having the most
+extraordinary notions of the use, or rather the abuse, of the various
+kitchen implements: for instance, she will poke the fire with the
+toasting fork, and disregards my gentle hints about the poker; but at
+all events she can both roast mutton and bake bread. "Meary" has been
+induced to wash her face and braid up her beautiful hair, and now shines
+forth as a very pretty good-humoured girl. She is as clever and quick as
+possible, and will in time be a capital housemaid. She has taken it into
+her head that she would like to be a "first-rater," as she calls it, and
+works desperately hard in the prosecution of her new fancy.
+
+I have never told you of the Sunday services we established here from
+the first week of our arrival. There is no church nearer than those
+in Christchurch, nor--I may mention parenthetically--is there a doctor
+within the same distance. As soon as our chairs and tables were in their
+proper places, we invited our shepherds and those neighbours immediately
+around us to attend service on Sunday afternoon at three o'clock. F----
+officiates as clergyman; _my_ duties resemble those of a beadle, as I
+have to arrange the congregation in their places, see that they have
+Prayer-books, etc. Whenever we go out for a ride, we turn our horses'
+heads up some beautiful valley, or deep gorge of a river, in search of
+the huts of our neighbours' shepherds, that we may tell the men of
+these services and invite them to attend. As yet, we have met with
+no refusals, but it will give you an idea of the scantiness of
+our population when I tell you that, after all our exertions, the
+"outsiders" only amount to fourteen, and of these at least half are
+gentlemen from neighbouring stations. With this number, in addition
+to our own small group, we consider that we form quite a respectable
+gathering. The congregation all arrive on horseback, each attended by at
+least two big colley dogs; the horses are turned into the paddock, the
+saddles deposited in the back verandah, and the dogs lie quietly down
+by their respective masters' equipments until they are ready to start
+homewards. There is something very wild and touching in these Sunday
+services. If the weather is quite clear and warm, they are held in the
+verandah; but unless it is a very sunny afternoon, it is too early in
+the year yet for this.
+
+The shepherds are a very fine class of men as a rule, and I find them
+most intelligent; they lead solitary lives, and are fond of reading; and
+as I am anxious to substitute a better sort of literature in their
+huts than the tattered yellow volumes which generally form their scanty
+library, I lend them books from my own small collection. But, as I
+foresee that this supply will soon be exhausted, we have started a Book
+Club, and sent to London for twenty pounds' worth of books as a first
+instalment. We shall get them second-hand from a large library, so I
+hope to receive a good boxful. The club consists of twenty-eight members
+now, and will probably amount to thirty-two, which is wonderful for
+this district. At the close of a year from the first distribution of the
+books they are to be divided into lots as near as possible in value to
+a pound each, the parcels to be numbered, and corresponding figures
+written on slips of paper, which are to be shaken up in a hat and drawn
+at random, each member claiming the parcel of which the number answers
+to that on his ticket. This is the fairest way I can think of for the
+distribution, and every one seems satisfied with the scheme. The most
+popular books are those of travel or adventure; unless a novel is really
+very good indeed, they do not care about it.
+
+The last little item of home news with which I must close this month's
+budget is, that F---- has been away for a few days on a skating
+excursion. A rather distant neighbour of ours called on his way up to
+the station far back among the hills, and gave such a glowing account of
+the condition of the ice in that part of the country, that F----, who is
+very fond of the amusement, was persuaded to accompany him. Our friend
+is the son of the Bishop, and owns a large station about twenty-six
+miles from this. At the back of his run the hills rise to a great
+height, and nestled among them lie a chain of lakes, after the largest
+of which (Lake Coleridge) Mr. H----'s station is named. On one of the
+smaller lakes, called by the classical name of "Ida," the ice attains to
+a great thickness; for it is surrounded by such lofty hills that during
+the winter months the sun hardly touches it, and it is commonly reported
+that a heavily-laden bullock-dray could cross it in perfect safety.
+F----was away nearly a week, and appears to have enjoyed himself
+thoroughly, though it will seem to you more of hard work than amusement;
+for he and Mr. H----, and some other gentlemen who were staying there,
+used to mount directly after breakfast, with their skates tied to their
+saddle-bow, and ride twelve miles to Lake Ida, skate all through the
+short winter's day, lunching at the solitary hut of a gentleman-farmer
+close by the lake, and when it grew dusk riding home again. The
+gentlemen in this country are in such good training through constant
+exercise, that they appear able to stand any amount of fatigue without
+minding it.
+
+
+
+
+Letter XII: My first expedition.
+
+
+Broomielaw, October 1866. This ought to be early spring, but the weather
+is really colder and more disagreeable than any which winter brought us;
+and, proverbially fickle as spring sunshine and showers are in England,
+ours is a far more capricious and trying season. Twice during this month
+have I been a victim to these sudden changes of climate; on the first
+occasion it was most fortunate that we had reached the shelter of a
+friendly and hospitable roof, for it was three days before we could
+re-cross the mountain-pass which lay between us and home. One beautiful
+spring morning F---- asked me if I would like to ride across the hills,
+and pay my first visit to some kind and old friends of his, who were
+among the earliest arrivals in the province, and who have made a lovely
+home for themselves at the foot of a great Bush on the other side of
+our range. I was delighted at the idea, for I have had very little
+opportunity of going about since we came here, owing to the short
+winter days and the amount of occupation at home consequent on a new
+establishment.
+
+Directly after breakfast, the horses were caught and saddled, and we
+started in high spirits. As we rode up the long, sunny valley stretching
+away for miles at the back of the house, F---- pointed out to me, with
+all a sheep-farmer's pride, the hundreds of pretty little curly-fleeced
+lambs skipping about the low hill-sides. After we passed our own
+boundary fence we came upon a very bad track,--this is the name by which
+all roads are called, and they do not deserve a better,--but it was the
+only path to our destination. The air was mild and balmy, and the sun
+shone brightly as we slowly picked our way across bogs and creeks,
+and up and down steep, slippery hill-sides; but just as we reached the
+lowest saddle of the range and prepared to descend, a cold wind met us.
+In an instant the sunshine was overclouded, and F----, pointing to
+a grey bank of cloud moving quickly towards us, said, "There is a
+tremendous sou'-wester coming up; we had better push on for shelter,
+or you'll be drowned:" but, alas! at each step the road grew worse and
+worse; where it was level the ground was literally honeycombed with deep
+holes half full of water, and at last we came to a place where the
+horse had to descend a flight of stone steps, each step being extremely
+slippery and some way below the other; and at the bottom of this
+horrible staircase there was a wide jump to be taken, the spring being
+off the lowest step, and the jump upwards alighting on a steep bank up
+which the horses scrambled like cats. Getting wet through appeared to
+me a very minor evil compared to the dangers of such a road, but F----
+urged me forward, with assurances that the horse knew the path perfectly
+well and could carry me at a gallop quite safely; but it was impossible
+to infuse sufficient courage into my drooping heart to induce me to go
+faster than a walk.
+
+All this time the storm drew rapidly nearer, the wind blew in icy cold
+gusts, the hail came down in large stones, pelting our faces till
+they tingled again; it was nearly an hour before we rode up to the
+hospitable, ever-open porch door of Rockwood. I was immediately lifted
+off my saddle by kind and strong arms, and carried with frozen limbs
+and streaming habit into the kitchen, for I was as unfit for the
+drawing-room as my own water-spaniel. A blazing wood fire was hastily
+lighted in one of the bed-rooms, and thither the good hostess conveyed
+me. I emerged from that apartment the most extraordinary figure you ever
+saw. Imagine me arrayed in a short and very wide crinoline, over which
+was a bright-coloured linsey petticoat; an old pilot-coat for a jacket,
+huge carpet slippers on my feet, and my dripping hair hanging loose
+over my shoulders! I assure you, I looked like the portraits in books of
+travel, of the Tahitian women when they first assumed clothes; and the
+worst of it was, that I had to remain in this costume for three whole
+days. To return was impossible, the storm from the S.W. raged all that
+evening. When we opened our eyes next morning, snow was lying some
+inches deep, and still falling fast; there was no cessation for
+forty-eight hours, and then we had to give it time to thaw a little, so
+that it was Sunday morning before we started on our homeward ride.
+In the meantime, nothing could afford a greater contrast to the wild
+weather out of doors than the snug brightness within. Blazing logs of
+pine and black birch made every room warm and cheery; all day we chatted
+and amused ourselves in different ways (I learned to make a capital
+pudding, and acquainted myself with the mysteries of "junket"); in the
+evenings we had whist for an hour, and then either round games or songs.
+The young men of the house have nice voices and a great feeling for
+music, and some of the trios and glees went very well indeed. The only
+thing which spoilt my enjoyment was the constantly recurring remembrance
+of that terrible road. F---- tried to comfort me by assurances that the
+snow would have filled up the worst places so much that I should not see
+them, but, strange to say, I failed to derive any consolation from that
+idea; however, we accomplished the journey back safely, but with many
+slips and slides. As soon as we came on our own run, F----began to look
+out for dead lambs, but fortunately there were not many for him to mourn
+over; they must have taken shelter under the low hills, to leeward of
+the storm.
+
+The second ride was much longer, and if possible a more disagreeable
+one. It began just in the same way; we were again decoyed out by
+sunshine and soft air for a ride round the run, starting about half-past
+ten. The scenery was beautiful, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.
+The track lay along our own boundary fence most of the way, and we had
+ridden about ten miles, when we stopped at one of our shepherds' huts,
+technically called an out station, and accepted his offer of luncheon.
+He gave us capital tea, with an egg beaten up in it as a substitute
+for milk, cold mutton, bread, and a cake; the reason of these unwonted
+luxuries was that he kept fowls, and I was very jealous at seeing two
+broods of chickens out, whilst mine are still in the shell. This man
+is quite an artist, and the walls of his but were covered with bold
+pen-and-ink sketches, chiefly reminiscences of the hunting-field in
+England, or his own adventures "getting out" wild cattle on the Black
+Hills in the north of the province: he leads an extremely-solitary
+existence, his dogs being his only companions; his duties consist in
+riding daily a boundary down the gorge of the river, which he has to
+cross and re-cross many times: and he has to supply the home station and
+our house with mutton, killing four or five sheep a week. He is employed
+out of doors all day, but has plenty of time in the evenings for reading
+I found him well-informed and intelligent, and he expresses himself
+exceedingly well. We rested here an hour, and as we went outside and
+prepared to mount, F---- said, "I really believe there is _another_
+sou'-wester coming up," and so there was: we could not go fast, for
+we were riding over a dry river-bed, composed entirely of loose large
+stones. Every few hundred yards we had to cross the river Selwyn, which
+was rising rapidly, as the storm had been raging in the mountains long
+before it reached us; on each side were high, steep hills, and in some
+places the river filled up the gorge entirely, and we had to ride in the
+water up to our saddle-girths. All this time the rain was coming down
+in sheets, but the wind grew colder and colder; at last the rain turned
+into snow, which speedily changed us and our horses into white moving
+figures. Eight long weary miles of this had we, only able to trot the
+last two, and those over very swampy ground. In your country a severe
+cold would probably have been the least evil of this escapade, but here
+no such consequence follow a good wetting; the houses are so little real
+protection from the weather, that you are forced to live as it were
+in the open air, whether you like it or not, and this hardens the
+constitution so much, that it is not easy to take cold from a little
+extra exposure. Men are apt to be careless and remain in their wet
+things, or stand before a fire till their clothes dry on them; and
+whenever I scold any one for being foolish, he always acknowledges that
+if he does but change when he comes into a house, he _never_ catches
+cold from any amount of exposure to the severest weather.
+
+
+
+
+Letter XIII: Bachelor hospitality.--a gale on shore.
+
+
+Broomielaw, November 1866. We have lately made a much longer excursion
+than those I told you of last, month, and this time have been fortunate
+in meeting with fine weather above all, our expedition has been over
+perfectly level ground, and on a good "track," which has greatly
+increased its charms in my eyes. A fortnight ago early summer set fairly
+in, and some bachelor neighbours took advantage of the change to ride
+over to see us, and arrange a plan for the following week. It all fitted
+in nicely, for F---- was obliged to go to Christchurch at that time, and
+the first idea of the expedition originated in my saying how dull I was
+at the station when he was away. I can get on very well all day; with my
+various employments--feeding the chickens, taking the big dogs out for a
+walk, and so on: but after the house is quiet and silent for the night,
+and the servants have gone to bed, a horrible lonely eerie feeling comes
+over me; the solitude is so dreary, and the silence so intense, only
+broken occasionally by the wild, melancholy cry of the weka. However, I
+am very rarely tried in this way, and when I am it can't be helped, if
+that is any consolation.
+
+I forget whether I told you that we left all "evening things," and other
+toilette necessaries which would not be wanted up country, behind us
+in Christchurch, so as to avoid the trouble of sending any luggage
+backwards or forwards. It is necessary to mention this, to account for
+the very light marching order in which we travelled. It was a lovely
+summer morning on which we left home, meaning to be away nearly a week,
+from Monday till Saturday. We were well mounted, and all our luggage
+consisted of my little travelling-bag fastened to the pommel of my
+saddle, containing our brushes and combs, and what is termed a "swag" in
+front of F----'s saddle; that is, a long narrow bundle, in this instance
+enclosed in a neat waterproof case, and fastened with two straps to
+the "D's," which are steel loops let in in four places to all colonial
+saddles, for the purpose of carrying blankets, etc.; they derive their
+name apparently from their resemblance to the letter. In this parcel our
+most indispensable garments were tightly packed. We cantered gaily along
+on the way to Christchurch, the horses appearing to enjoy the delicious
+air and soft springy turf as much as we did. There was a river and
+half-a-dozen creeks to be crossed; but they are all quite low at this
+time of year. As we stood in one of them to let the horses drink and
+cool their legs, I saw a huge eel hidden under the shadow of a high
+overhanging bank, waiting till the evening to come out and feed upon the
+myriads of flies and little white moths that skim over the surface of
+the water.
+
+It is considered a great advantage to our station that there is only the
+river Selwyn (of which the Maori name is the Wai-kiri-kiri) between us
+and town, not only for our own convenience, but because it is easy to
+take sheep across it, and it offers no difficulties to the wool drays.
+This river has a very good reputation, and is very rarely dangerous to
+cross; whereas the Rakaia and the Rangitata towards the south, and the
+Waimakiriri towards the north, of Christchurch, are most difficult, and
+always liable to sudden freshes. The general mode of crossing the larger
+rivers is by a boat, with the horse swimming behind; but accidents
+constantly occur from the foolhardiness of people attempting to ford
+them alone on horseback: they are lost in quicksands, or carried down by
+the current, before they can even realize that they are in danger. The
+common saying in New Zealand is, that people only die from drowning
+and drunkenness. I am afraid the former is generally the result of the
+latter.
+
+From the first our road lay with our backs to the hills; but as we
+cantered along the plains, I was often obliged to turn round and admire
+their grand outlines. The highest ranges were still snow-white, and made
+a magnificent background against the summer sky. An easy twelve miles'
+ride brought us to a charming little station, called by the pretty
+native name of Waireka; here lived our three bachelor hosts, and a nicer
+or more comfortable home in a distant land could not be desired. The
+house has been built for some years, consequently the plantations about
+it and the garden have grown up well, and the willows, gum-trees, and
+poplars shelter it perfectly, besides giving it such a snug home look.
+It stands on a vast plain, without even an undulation of the ground near
+it; but the mountains form a grand panoramic view. There is a large wide
+verandah round two sides of the house, with French windows opening into
+it; and I could not help feeling impatient to see my own creepers in
+such luxuriant, beauty as these roses and honeysuckles were. It was half
+amusing and half pathetic to notice the preparations which had been made
+to receive a lady guest, and the great anxiety of my hosts to ensure
+my being quite as comfortable as I am at home. Much had been said
+beforehand about the necessity of making up my mind to rough it in
+bachelor quarters, so I was surprised to find all sorts of luxuries in
+my room, especially a dainty little toilette-table, draped with white
+cloths (a big wooden packing-case was its foundation). Its ornaments
+were all sorts of nondescript treasures, placed in boxes at the last
+moment of leaving the English hall or rectory by careful loving hands of
+mothers and sisters, and lying unused for years until now. There was
+a little china tray, which had been slipped into some corner by a
+child-sister anxious to send some possession of her "very own" out
+to the other end of the world; there was a vase with flowers; a
+parti-coloured pin-cushion of very gay silks, probably the parting
+gift of an old nurse; and a curious old-fashioned essence bottle, with
+eau-de-cologne; the surrounding country had been ransacked to procure a
+piece of scented soap. The only thing to remind me that I was not in an
+English cottage was the opossum rug with which the neat little bed was
+covered. The sitting-room looked the picture of cosy comfort, with its
+well-filled book-shelves, arm-chairs, sofa with another opossum rug
+thrown over it, and the open fireplace filled with ferns and tufts
+of the white feathery Tohi grass in front of the green background. We
+enjoyed our luncheon, or rather early dinner, immensely after our ride;
+and in the afternoon went out to see the nice large garden (such a
+contrast to our wretched little beginnings), and finally strolled on
+to the inevitable wool-shed, where the gentlemen had an animated "sheep
+talk." I rather enjoy these discussions, though they are prefaced by
+an apology for "talking shop;" but it amuses me, and I like to see the
+samples of wool, which are generally handed about in the heat of a great
+argument, the long white locks are so glistening, and soft, and crinkly.
+
+My five-o'clock tea was duly remembered, and then, as there was nothing
+more to see out of doors within a short distance, I proposed that I
+should make a cake. The necessary ingredients were quickly collected.
+I had relays of volunteers to beat up the eggs, and though I suffered
+great anxiety until it was cut at supper, it turned out satisfactorily.
+The worst of my cookery is, that while I always follow the same
+directions most carefully, there is great uncertainty and variety about
+the result. In the evening we played round games. But we all went early
+to bed, as, we had to be up betimes, and in the saddle by seven o'clock,
+to catch the 9-30 train at Rolleston; twenty miles off. We had a
+beautiful, still morning for our ride, and reached the station--a shed
+standing out on the plain--in time to see our horses safely paddocked
+before the train started for Christchurch. The distance by rail was only
+fifteen miles, so we were not long about it; and we walked to the hotel
+from the railway-station in the town. A bath and breakfast were both
+very enjoyable, and then F---- went out to transact his business, and I
+employed myself in unpacking and _ironing_ a ball-dress for a party,
+to which we were engaged that evening. There was also another ball the
+following night. The second was a very late one, and we had scarcely an
+hour's sleep before we were obliged to get up and start by the 6 A.M.
+train back to Rolleston, where we remounted our horses and rode to dear
+little Waireka in time for breakfast. By the evening I was sufficiently
+rested to make another cake, which also, happily, turned out well.
+
+We intended to return home the next day (Friday), but a terrific
+"nor'-wester" came on in the night, and it was impossible to stir out of
+the house; it was the severest gale since our arrival, and it is hardly
+possible to give you a correct idea of the force and fury of the wind.
+Not a glimpse of the mountains was to be seen; a haze of dust, as thick
+as any fog, shut everything out. The sheep had all taken refuge under
+the high banks of the creeks. It is curious that sheep always feed head
+to wind in a nor'-west gale, whereas they will drift for miles before
+a sou'-wester. The trees bent almost flat before the hot breath of this
+hurricane, and although the house was built of cob, and its walls were
+very thick and solid, the creaking and swaying of the shingled roof kept
+me in perpetual alarm. The verandah was a great protection; and yet
+the small river-pebbles, of which the garden-walk was made, were dashed
+against the windows like hailstones by each gust. We amused ourselves
+indoors by the study and composition of acrostics, and so got through an
+imprisonment of two days, without a moment's cessation of the wind;
+but towards sunset on Saturday there were signs of a lull, and about
+midnight the gale dropped; and we heard the grateful, refreshing sound
+of soft and continuous rain, and when we came out to breakfast on
+Sunday morning everything looked revived again. It is a most fortunate
+meteorological fact that these very high winds are generally succeeded
+by heavy rain; everything is so parched and shrivelled up by them that
+I do not know what would become of the vegetation otherwise. We held a
+council, to determine what had better be done about returning home, and
+finally decided to risk a wet ride sooner than disappoint the little
+congregation; for should it prove a fine afternoon, those who lived near
+would certainly come; so we mounted after breakfast.
+
+I was wrapped in one of the gentlemen's macintoshes, and found the ride
+far from disagreeable. As we neared our own station we began to look out
+for signs of disaster; and about half a mile from the house saw some of
+the vanes from the chimneys on the track; a little nearer home, across
+the path lay a large zinc chimney-pot; then another; and when we came
+close enough to see the house distinctly, it looked very much dwarfed
+without its chimneys. There had been a large pile of empty boxes at
+the back of the stable; these were all blown away in the gale. One huge
+packing-case was sailing tranquilly about on the pond, and planks and
+fragments of zinc were strewn over the paddock. The moment we reached
+the house, Mr. U----, the gentleman-cadet of whom I have told you, came
+out, with a melancholy face, to tell me that a large wooden cage, full
+of the canaries which I had brought from England with me, had been blown
+out of the verandah, though it was on the most sheltered side of the
+house. It really seemed incredible at first, but the cage was lying
+in ruins in the middle of the paddock, and all my birds except one
+had disappeared. It happened in the middle of the night, and Mr.
+U----described, very amusingly, that when he was awakened by the noise
+which the cage made against a wire fence (which it just "topped" in
+passing), he sprang out of his bed in the attic, and clambered out of
+the window, expecting to find the very heavy sort of staircase-ladder in
+its place; but it was "over the hills and far away," so he had a drop of
+about twelve feet to the ground, which thoroughly aroused him. He went
+into the verandah to see if the cage was safe, and was nearly knocked
+down by a big tin bath, ordinarily kept there, which was just starting
+across country. As soon as he missed the cage he very pluckily went
+after it, being able to keep sight of it by the fitful gleams of
+moon-light, and he was just in time to rescue the poor little surviving
+canary. We could not help laughing at the recital of all the mischief
+which had been done, but still it is very tiresome, and the garden
+looks, if possible, more wretched than ever. There is no shelter for
+it yet, and my poor green-peas are blown nearly out of the ground. It
+rained hard all the evening, so our congregation was confined to the
+home party.
+
+
+
+
+Letter XIV: A Christmas picnic, and other doings.
+
+
+Broomielaw, December 1866. It is too late to wish you a merry Christmas
+and a happy New Year in this letter. In order to allow them to reach you
+in time I should have sent my good wishes in October's letter; I must
+remember to do so next year. I am writing on the last days of the month,
+so I shall be able to tell you of our own Christmas doings; though,
+first, I must describe the festivities attending a "coming of age in
+the Bush," to which we were invited about the middle of this month. How
+strange Christmas picnics and balls will appear in your eyes, before
+which still dangle probably the dear old traditional holly and ivy! I am
+obliged to preface all my descriptions with an account of a ride, if
+I am to begin, according to your repeated injunctions, at the very
+beginning; for a ride is quite certain to be both the beginning and end
+of each excursion, simply because we have no other means of going about,
+except on our feet. The ride upon this occasion was to Rockwood, where
+the birthday party was to assemble, but the road had not now so many
+terrors for me. In consequence of the fine dry weather, most of the bad
+places were safer and firmer, and the numerous creeks were only shallow
+sparkling streamlets over which a child could jump, instead of the muddy
+noisy wide brooks of three months ago. The day on which we started, this
+time, was a great contrast to the former one. When we reached the saddle
+I have before told you of, instead of being met and nearly driven back
+by a violent "sutherly buster," we stopped before beginning the steep
+descent to admire the exquisite view before us.
+
+Close on our right hand rose the Government bush out of which we get our
+firewood, standing grand and gloomy amid huge cliffs and crags; even
+the summer sunshine could not enliven it, nor the twitter and chirrup
+of countless birds. In front, the chain of hills we were crossing rolled
+down in gradually decreasing hillocks, till they merged in the vast
+plains before us, stretching away as far as the eye could reach towards
+the south, all quivering in the haze and glare of the bright sunlight.
+The background, extending along the horizon, was formed of lofty
+mountains still glistening white against the dazzling blue sky. Just at
+our feet the Rockwood paddocks looked like carpets of emerald velvet,
+spread out among the yellowish tussocks; the fences which enclose them
+were either golden with broom and gorse, or gay with wild roses and
+honeysuckle. Beyond these we saw the bright patches of flowers in the
+garden, and nothing could be more effective than the white gable of the
+house standing out against the vast black birch forest which clothed the
+steep hill-sides for miles--the contrast was so picturesque between the
+little bit of civilization and culture and the great extent of wild,
+savage scenery around it. After the utter treelessness of our own
+immediate neighbourhood, the sight of such a mass of foliage is a joy to
+my eyes.
+
+The day following our arrival was _the_ birthday, and we prepared
+to enjoy every hour of it. The party assembled was a very large one,
+consisting, however, chiefly of gentlemen, for the utmost exertions in
+the district could not produce more than five ladies altogether, and
+two of those had come an immense way. Directly after breakfast we all
+sallied forth, the ladies equipped in light cotton dresses (muslin is
+too thin for the bush) and little sailor hats,--we did not want shady
+ones, for never a gleam of sun can penetrate into a real New Zealand
+Bush, unless in a spot which has been very much cleared. Strong boots
+with nails in the soles, to help us to keep on our feet up the steep
+clay hill-sides, and a stout stick, completed our equipment; perhaps
+we were not very smart, but we looked like going at all events. I can
+answer for myself that I enjoyed every moment of that long Midsummer
+holiday most intensely, though I fear I must have wearied our dear,
+charming host, by my incessant questions about the names of the trees
+and shrubs, and of the habits and ways of the thousands of birds. It was
+all so new and so delightful to me,--the green gloom, the hoarse croak
+of the ka-ka, as it alighted almost at our feet and prepared, quite
+careless of our vicinity, to tear up the loose soil at the root of a
+tall tree, in search of grubs. It is a species of parrot, but with very
+dingy reddish-brown plumage, only slightly enlivened by a few, scarlet
+feathers in the wing. The air was gay with bright green parroquets
+flitting about, very mischievous they are, I am told, taking large tithe
+of the fruit, especially of the cherries. Every now and then we stood,
+by common consent, silent and almost breathless to listen to the
+Bell-bird, a dingy little fellow, nearly as large as a thrush with the
+plumage of a chaffinch, but with such a note!--how can I make you hear
+its wild, sweet, plaintive tone, as a little girl of the party said,
+"just as if it had a bell in its throat;" but indeed it would require
+a whole peal of silver bells to ring such an exquisite chime. Then we
+crept softly up to a low branch, to have a good look at the Tui, or
+Parson-bird, most respectable and clerical-looking in its glossy black
+suit, with a singularly trim and dapper air, and white wattles of very
+slender feathers--indeed they are as fine as hair-curled coquettishly
+at each side of his throat, exactly like bands. All the birds were
+quite tame, and, instead of avoiding us, seemed inclined to examine
+us minutely. Many of them have English names, which I found very
+tantalising, especially when, the New Zealand Robin was announced, and
+I could only see a fat little ball of a bird, with a yellowish-white
+breast. Animals there are none. No quadruped is indigenous to New
+Zealand, except a rat; but then, on the other hand, we are as free from
+snakes and all vermin as if St. Patrick himself had lived here. Our host
+has turned several pheasants into this forest, but they increase very
+slowly on account of the wekas. However, the happiness of this morning
+was made complete by our putting up two splendid rocketers.
+
+We could only make our way by the paths which have been cut through
+the Bush; a yard off the track it is impossible to stir for the dense
+undergrowth. In the ravines and steep gullies formed by the creeks
+grow masses of ferns of all sorts, spreading like large shrubs, and
+contrasting by their light bright green with the black stems of the
+birch-trees around them. There are a few pines in this bush, but not
+many. I can give you no idea of the variety among the shrubs:
+the koromika, like an Alpine rose, a compact ball of foliage; the
+lance-wood, a tall, slender stem, straight as a line, with a few long
+leaves at the top, turned downwards like the barb of a spear, and
+looking exactly like a lance stuck into the ground; the varieties of
+matapo, a beautiful shrub, each leaf a study, with its delicate tracery
+of black veins on a yellow-green ground; the mappo, the gohi, and many
+others, any of which would be the glory of an English shrubbery: but
+they seem to require the deep shelter of their native Bush, for they
+never flourish when transplanted. I noticed the slender the large trees
+have of the ground, and it is not at all surprising, after such a gale
+as we had three weeks ago, to see many of the finest blown down in the
+clearings where the wind could reach them. They do not seem to have any
+tap-root at all, merely a very insufficient network of fibres, seldom of
+any size, which spreads a short way along the surface of the ground
+As long as a Bush is undisturbed by civilization, it appears to be
+impervious to wind or weather; but as soon as it is opened and cleared
+a little, it begins to diminish rapidly. There are traces all over the
+hills of vast forests having once existed; chiefly of totara, a sort
+of red pine, and those about us are scattered with huge logs of this
+valuable wood, all bearing traces of the action of fire; but shepherds,
+and explorers on expeditions, looking for country, have gradually
+consumed them for fuel, till not many pieces remain except on the
+highest and most inaccessible ranges.
+
+It was a delightful, and by no means unacceptable surprise which awaited
+us on the other side, when, on emerging from a very thick part of the
+Bush, we came on a lovely spot, a true "meeting of the waters." Three
+broad, bright creeks came rushing and tumbling down from the densely
+wooded hills about to join and flow on in quite a good-sized river, amid
+boulders and a great deal of hurry and fuss,--a contrast to the profound
+quiet of our ramble hitherto, the silence of which was only broken by
+the twitter and whistle of the birds. Never a song can you hear, only a
+sweet chirrup, or two or three melodious notes. On the opposite bank of
+the river there was the welcome sight of several hampers more or less
+unpacked, and the gleam of a white tablecloth on the moss. Half-a-dozen
+gentlemen had formed themselves into a commissariat, and were arranging
+luncheon. We could see the champagne cooling in a sort of little bay,
+protected by a dam of big stones from being carried down the stream. It
+all looked very charming and inviting, but the next question was how
+to get across the river to these good things. Twelve or fourteen feet
+separated us, hungry and tired wanderers as we were, from food and rest;
+the only crossing-place was some miles lower down, near the house in
+fact; so even the most timid amongst us scouted the idea of retracing
+our steps. The only alternative was to make a bridge: one of the
+gentlemen who were with us carried an axe in case of emergency, and in a
+moment we heard the sharp ringing sounds foretelling the fall of a tree.
+In the mean-time, others of the party were dragging out fallen logs--of
+course small and manageable ones--and laying them from one huge boulder
+to another, working up to their knees in water. So many of these
+prostrate trunks were "convenient," that a cry soon arose to the
+woodman to "spare the trees," for there were quite enough on the ground.
+However, two substantial poles had been felled, and these were laid over
+the deepest and most dangerous part of the current. The bridge was soon
+declared passable, and loud shouts from the opposite side proclaimed
+that luncheon was quite ready. I was called, as having a most undeserved
+reputation for "pluck," to make trial of the aerial-looking fabric. I
+did not like it at all, and entreated some one else to lead the forlorn
+hope; so a very quiet young lady, who really possessed more courage in
+her little finger than I do in my whole body, volunteered to go first.
+The effect from the bank was something like tight-rope dancing, and it
+was very difficult to keep one's balance. Miss Kate, our pioneer, walked
+on very steadily, amid great applause, till she reached the middle of
+the stream, where fortunately the water was shallow, but strewed with
+masses of boulders. She paused an instant on the large rock on which the
+ends of the saplings rested, and then started afresh for the last half
+of her journey. The instant she put her foot on the second part of the
+bridge, it gave way with a loud crash; and the poor girl, with great
+presence of mind, caught at the tree she, had just crossed, and so saved
+herself from a ducking. Of course, she had plenty of help in an instant,
+but the difficulty was to regain any sort of footing. She could not drop
+into the water, and there was apparently no way of dragging herself
+up again; but one of the gentlemen crept on hands and knees along the
+unbroken part of the bridge, and eventually helped her up the sides
+of the large boulder which acted as a pier, and from which the log had
+slipped. From the other side they now pushed across tall, slim trees,
+freshly cut, and the rest of the passage was safe enough. I did not like
+the mode of transit at all, though I got over without a slip, but it
+requires a steady head to cross a noisy stream on two slippery round
+poles--for really the trees were little thicker--laid side by side,
+bending with every step. It was a great comfort to me all luncheon-time
+to know that we were not to return by the same path through the Bush. We
+had a good rest after lunch: I lay back on a bed of fern, watching the
+numbers of little birds around us; they boldly picked up our crumbs,
+without a thought of possible danger. Presently I felt a tug at the
+shawl on which I was lying: I was too lazy and dreamy to turn my head,
+so the next thing was a sharp dig on my arm, which hurt me dreadfully. I
+looked round, and there was a weka bent on thoroughly investigating the
+intruder into its domain. The bird looked so cool and unconcerned, that
+I had not the heart to follow my first impulse and throw my stick at it;
+but my forbearance was presently rewarded by a stab on the ankle,
+which fairly made me jump up with a scream, when my persecutor
+glided gracefully away among the bushes, leaving me, like Lord Ullin,
+"lamenting."
+
+We sauntered home slowly, gathering armfuls of, fern and a large variety
+of a stag's-head moss so common on the west coast of Scotland; and as
+soon as we had had some tea, the gentlemen went off with their towels to
+bathe in the creek, and the five ladies set to work at the decorations
+for the ball-room, weaving wreaths and arranging enormous bouquets very
+rapidly: we had such a wealth of flowers to work with that our task was
+not difficult. The most amusing part of the story is, however, that the
+ball took place in my bed-room! A very pompous lady of my acquaintance
+always prefaces the slenderest anecdote with these words, "And it
+happened in this wise," so I think I shall avail myself of the _tour de
+phrase_.
+
+It happened in this wise, then:-a large well-proportioned room had been
+added to the house lately; it was intended for a drawing-room, but
+for some reason has only been used as a spare bed-room, but as it
+may possibly return to its original destination, very little bed-room
+furniture has been put in it, and many of its belongings are appropriate
+to a sitting-room. We called in the servants, the light cane bedstead
+was soon deposited under the shade of a tree in the garden, the
+washing-stand was similarly disposed of, and an hour's work with hammer
+and nails and a ball of string turned the room into a perfect bower of
+ferns and flowers: great ingenuity was displayed in the arrangement of
+lights, and the result was a very pretty ball-room.
+
+We are always eating in this country, so you will not be surprised
+to hear that there was yet another meal to be disposed of before we
+separated to dress in all sorts of nooks and corners. White muslin was
+the universal costume, as it can be packed flat and smooth. My gown
+had been carried over by F---- in front of his saddle in a very small
+parcel: I covered it almost entirely with sprays of the light-green
+stag's-head, moss, and made a wreath of it also for my hair. I think
+that with the other ladies roses were the most popular decoration, and
+they looked very fresh and nice. I was the universal _coiffeuse_, and I
+dressed all the girls' heads with flowers, as I was supposed to be best
+up in the latest fashions. In the meantime, the piano had been moved to
+the bay-window of the ball-room, and at ten o'clock dancing commenced,
+and may be truly said to have been kept up with great spirit until four
+o'clock: it only ceased then on account of the state of exhaustion of
+the unfortunate five ladies, who had been nearly killed with incessant
+dancing. I threw a shawl over my head, and sauntered alone up one of the
+many paths close to the house which led into the Bush. Tired as I was,
+I shall never forget the beauty and romance of that hour,--the delicious
+crisp _new_ feeling of the morning air; the very roses, growing like a
+red fringe on the skirts of the great Bush, seemed awaking to fresh life
+and perfume; the numbers of gay lizards and flies coming out for their
+morning meal, and, above all, the first awakening of the myriads of
+Bush-birds; every conceivable twitter and chatter and chirrup; the last
+cry of a very pretty little owl, called, from its distinctly uttered
+words, the "More-pork," as it flitted away before the dawn to the
+highest trees: all made up a jubilant uproar compared to which one of
+the Crystal Palace choruses is silence. I sat down on a fallen tree, and
+listened and waited: every moment added to the lovely dawn around me,
+and I enjoyed to the full the fragrant smells and joyous sounds of
+another day in this fresh young land.
+
+All too soon came a loud "coo-ee" from the house, which I allowed them
+to repeat before I answered; this was to tell me that the ball-room was
+deserted, and had been again turned into a bed-room. When I opened my
+eyes later, after a six hours' nap, the room looked like a fairy bower,
+the flowers still unfaded. We had another picnic the next day up the
+gorge of a river, amid very wild and beautiful scenery; but everything
+had been arranged so as to make the expedition an easy one, out of
+consideration to the weary five. The day after this we rode home again,
+and I had to set to work directly to prepare for my own Christmas party
+to the shepherds and shearers,--for we have just commenced to muster
+the sheep, and the shearing will be in full force by Christmas Day.
+One great object I have in view in giving this party is to prevent the
+shearers from going over to the nearest accommodation-house and getting
+tipsy, as they otherwise would; so I have taken care to issue my
+invitations early. I found great difficulty in persuading some of the
+men to accept, as they had not brought any tidy clothes with them; and
+as the others would be decently, indeed well dressed, they did not like
+putting in a shabby appearance. This difficulty was obviated by F----
+hunting up some of the things he had worn on the voyage, and rigging-out
+the invited guests. For two days before the great day I had been working
+hard, studying recipes for pies and puddings, and scouring the country
+in search of delicacies. Every lady was most kind, knowing that our
+poor, exposed garden was backward; I had sacks of green peas, bushels of
+young potatoes, and baskets of strawberries and cherries sent to me from
+all round the country; I made poor F---- ride twenty miles to get me a
+sirloin of beef, and, to my great joy, two beautiful young geese arrived
+as a present only the day before. It is a point of honour to have as
+little mutton as possible on these occasions, as the great treat is
+the complete change of fare. I only ventured to introduce it very much
+disguised as curry, or in pies. We were all up at daylight on Christmas
+morning, and off to the nearest little copse in one of the gullies,
+where a few shrubs and small trees and ferns grow, to gather boughs for
+the decoration of the washhouse. Marvels were done in the carpentering
+line to arrange tables around its walls. The copper, which at first
+presented such an obstacle to the symmetry of the adornments, became
+their chief glory; it was boarded over, its sides completely hidden by
+flags and ferns, and the dessert placed on it peeped out from a bower of
+greenery. I don't know how we got our own breakfast; from eleven o'clock
+there was the constant announcement "A horseman coming up the flat;"
+and by twelve, when I as beadle announced that all was ready, a large
+congregation of thirty-six came trooping into my little drawing-room. As
+soon as it was filled the others clustered round the door; but all
+could hear, I think. F---- began the service; and as the notes of the
+Christmas Anthem swelled up, I found the tears trembling in my eyes. My
+overwhelming thought was that it actually was the very first time those
+words had ever been sung or said in that valley--you in England can
+hardly realize the immensity of such a thought--"the first time since
+the world was made." I think the next sensation was one of extreme
+happiness; it seemed such a privilege to be allowed to hold the initial
+Christmas service. I had to grasp this idea very tight to keep down the
+terrible home-sickness which I felt all day for almost the first time.
+There are moments when no advantages or privileges can repress what
+Aytoun calls "the deep, unutterable woe which none save exiles feel."
+
+The service only lasted half an hour, beginning and ending with a hymn;
+there were three women present besides me--my two servants, and the nice
+young wife of a neighbouring shepherd. It was a sultry day, not a breath
+of air; but still it is never oppressive at this elevation. We wound up
+a big musical-box, set it going in the banqueting-hall (late washhouse),
+and marshalled the guests in they were extremely shy as a rule, and so
+we soon went away and left them to themselves. They ate incessantly
+for two hours--and I hope they enjoyed themselves; then the men lounged
+about the stables and smoked, and the three women cleared away a little.
+F---- and our gentlemen guests got up athletic sports in the shade which
+seemed very popular, though it appeared a great deal of trouble to take
+on such a hot day. As the sun sank below the hills it grew much cooler,
+and my two maids came with a shamefaced request to be allowed to dance
+in the kitchen. I inquired about the music?--that was provided for by
+a fiddle and some pipes; so I consented, but I found they wanted me
+to start them. I selected as my partner a very decent young farmer who
+lives near, but has left his farm and is at work branding our sheep all
+shearing-time. The pride and delight of his mate was much greater than
+my partner's; he stood near his friend, prompting him through the
+mazes of the most extraordinary quadrille you ever saw, with two extra
+figures. Then there was an endless polka, in which everybody danced,
+like Queen Elizabeth, "high and disposedly;" but the ball ended at nine
+o'clock, and we were given some cold dinner, for which we were all very
+ready. The next morning saw the remains of the festivity cleared away,
+and every one hard at work again; for this is our very busiest season.
+The work of the station, however, is carried on at the homestead two
+miles off. F---- is there all day long, but I see nothing of it. While
+the shearers' hearts were tender, I asked them to come over to church on
+Sunday, and they have promised to do so: I lend them quantities of
+books and papers also, so as to keep them amused and away from the
+accommodation-house.
+
+
+
+
+Letter XV: Everyday station life.
+
+
+Broomielaw, January 1867. You tell me to describe our daily home-life
+and domestic surroundings. I dare say it: will appear to be a monotonous
+and insignificant existence enough when put on paper, but it suits me
+exactly; and, for the first time in my life, I have enough to do, and
+also the satisfaction of feeling that I am of some little use to my
+fellow-creatures. A lady's influence out here appears to be very great,
+and capable of indefinite expansion. She represents refinement and
+culture (in Mr. Arnold's sense of the words), and her footsteps on a new
+soil such as this should be marked by a trail of light. Of course every
+improvement must be the work of time, but I find my neighbours very
+willing to help me in my attempts.
+
+A few lines will be sufficient to sketch a day's routine. The first of
+my duties is one I especially delight in. I am out very early with a
+large tin dish of scraps mixed with a few handfuls of wheat, and my
+appearance is the signal for a great commotion among all my fowls
+and ducks and pigeons. Such waddling and flying and running with
+outstretched wings to me: in fact, I receive a morning greeting from
+all the live-stock about the place. I am nearly knocked down by the big
+sheep-dogs; the calves come rushing with awkward gambols towards me for
+a bit of the fowls' bread, whilst the dogs look out for a bone; but,
+in the midst of the confusion, the poultry hold their own; indeed, an
+anxious hen eager to secure a breakfast for her chicks will fly at a
+big dog, and beat him away from a savoury morsel. I think I ought not to
+omit mentioning the devotion of a small pig; it is an exact illustration
+of the French proverb which speaks of the inequality of love, for I am
+quite passive and do not respond in the least to the little beastie's
+affection, which is the most absurd thing you ever saw, especially as
+it proceeds from so unromantic an animal. Late in the spring (that is to
+say, about November last) we were all returning from a great pig-hunting
+expedition, when I saw one of the party coming down a steep hill near
+the house with a small and glossy-black wild pig under each arm; he was
+very proud of his captives, placed them in a box with some straw, and
+fed them like babies out of a bottle. We laughed at him very much; but
+when he went away he begged so earnestly that the pigs should be reared
+that we promised to keep them. In a few days they became perfectly tame,
+and were very handsome little creatures; and one of them attached itself
+to me, following me all about, even into the house (but _that_ I really
+could not stand), accompanying me in all my walks, and, as far as it
+could, in my rides. Many a time have I seen poor little piggy carried
+down a creek by the current, squealing piteously, but it was evidently a
+case of "many waters cannot quench love," for a little further on piggy
+would appear, very much baked, but holding out gallantly, till sheer
+exhaustion compelled him to give in, when he would lie down under a
+tussock, apparently dying; but, as we were coming home in the dusk,
+Helen, my pretty bay mare, has given many a shy at piggy starting up
+from his shelter with gambols and squeals of joy.
+
+It is always a great temptation to loiter about in the lovely fresh
+morning air, but I have to be dressed in time for prayers and breakfast
+at nine; directly after breakfast I go into the kitchen; sometimes, it
+is only necessary to give orders or instructions, but generally I find
+that practice is much better than precept, and I see to the soup myself,
+and make the pudding--the joint can take care of itself.
+
+You have often asked me what we have to eat, so this will be a good
+opportunity of introducing our daily bill of fare, prefacing it with my
+recorded opinion that here is no place in the world where you can live
+so cheaply and so well as on a New Zealand sheep station, when once you
+get a start. Of course, it is expensive at first, setting everything
+going, but that would be the case in any country. I will begin at the
+very beginning:--Porridge for breakfast, with new milk and cream _a
+discretion_; to follow--mutton chops, mutton ham, or mutton curry,
+or broiled mutton and mushrooms, not shabby little fragments of meat
+broiled, but beautiful tender steaks off a leg; tea or coffee, and bread
+and butter, with as many new-laid eggs as we choose to consume. Then,
+for dinner, at half-past one, we have soup, a joint, vegetables, and a
+pudding; in summer, we have fresh fruit stewed, instead of a pudding,
+with whipped cream. I was a proud and happy woman the first day my cream
+remained cream, and did not turn into butter; for generally my zeal
+outran my discretion, and I did not know when to leave off whipping. We
+have supper about seven; but this is a moveable feast, consisting of tea
+again, mutton cooked in some form of entree, eggs, bread and butter, and
+a cake of my manufacture. I must, however, acknowledge, that at almost
+every other station you would get more dainties, such as jam and
+preserves of all sorts, than we can boast of yet; for, as Littimer says
+to David Copperfield, "We are very young, exceedingly young, sir," our
+fruit-trees, have not come into full bearing, and our other resources
+are still quite undeveloped.
+
+However, I have wandered away terribly from my first intention of
+telling you of the daily occupations to a description of our daily food.
+After I have finished all my little fussings about the house, I join
+F---- who has probably been for some time quietly settled down at his
+writing-table, and we work together at books and writing till dinner;
+after that meal, F---- like Mr. Tootes, "resumes his studies," but I
+go and feed my fowls again, and if I am very idly disposed I sit on a
+hencoop in the shade and watch the various tempers of my chickens and
+ducklings. A little later F---- and I go out for some hours: if it is
+not too hot, he takes his rifle and we go over the hills pig-stalking,
+but this is really only suitable exercise for a fine winter's day;
+at this time of year we either go for a walk or a ride, generally the
+latter--not a little shabby canter, but a long stretching gallop for
+miles and miles; perhaps stopping to have a cup of tea with a neighbour
+twelve or fifteen miles off, and then coming slowly home in the
+delicious gloaming, with the peculiar fresh crisp feeling which the
+atmosphere always has here the moment the sun sets, no matter how hot
+the day has been. I can hardly hope to make you understand how enjoyable
+our twilight hours are, with no fear of damp or malaria to spoil them;
+every turn of the track as we slowly wind up the valley showing us some
+beautiful glimpse of distant mountain peaks, and, above all, such sunset
+splendours, gradually fading away into the deep, pure beauty of a summer
+night.
+
+In one of our rides the other day, after crossing a low range of hills,
+we suddenly dropped down on what would be called in England a hamlet,
+but here it is designated by the extraordinary name of a "nest of
+cockatoos." This expression puzzled me so much when I first heard
+it, that I must give you as minute an explanation as I myself found
+necessary to the comprehension of the subject.
+
+When a shepherd has saved a hundred pounds, or the better class of
+immigrant arrives with a little capital, the favourite investment is in
+freehold land, which they can purchase, in sections of twenty acres and
+upwards, at 2 pounds the acre. The next step is to build a sod but with
+two rooms on their property, thatching it with Tohi, or swamp grass;
+a door and a couple of window-frames all ready glazed are brought from
+Christchurch in the dray with the family and the household goods. After
+this rough and ready shelter is provided, the father and sons begin
+fencing their land and gradually it all assumes a cultivated appearance.
+Pig-sties and fowl-houses are added; a little garden, gay with common
+English flowers, is made in front of the house, whose ugly walls are
+gradually hidden by creepers, and the homestead looks both picturesque
+and prosperous. These small farmers are called Cockatoos in Australia by
+the squatters or sheep-farmers, who dislike them for buying up the best
+bits of land on their runs; and say that, like a cockatoo, the small
+freeholder alights on good ground, extracts all he can from it, and then
+flies away to "fresh fields and pastures new." But the real fact is,
+that the poor farmer perhaps finds his section is too far from a market,
+so he is forced to abandon it and move nearer a town, where the best
+and most productive land has been bought up already; and he has to begin
+again at a disadvantage. However, whether the name is just or not, it
+is a recognized one here; and I have heard a man say in answer to a
+question about his usual occupation, "I'm a Cockatoo."
+
+This particular "nest" appeared to me very well off, comparatively
+speaking; for though the men complained sadly of the low price of their
+wheat and oats, still there was nothing like poverty to be seen. Ready
+money was doubtless scarce, and an extensive system of barter appeared
+to prevail; but still they all looked well fed and well clothed;
+sickness was unknown among them, and it did one's heart good to see the
+children--such sturdy limbs, bright fearless eyes, and glowing faces.
+They have abundance of excellent food. Each cottager has one or two
+cows, and the little ones take these out to pasture on the hills,
+so they are in the open air nearly all day: but their ignorance is
+appalling! Many of them had never even been christened; there was no
+school or church within thirty miles or more, and although the parents
+seemed all tidy, decent people, and deplored the state of things, they
+were powerless to help it. The father and elder sons work hard all day;
+the mother has to do everything, even to making the candles, for the
+family; there is no time or possibility of teaching the children. The
+neighbouring squatters do not like to encourage settlers to buy up their
+land, therefore they carefully avoid making things pleasant for a
+new "nest," and the Cockatoos are "nobody's business;" so, as far as
+educational advantages go, they are perfectly destitute.
+
+When I mentioned my discovery of this hamlet, and my dismay at the
+state of neglect in which so many fine intelligent-looking children
+were growing up, every one warned me not to interfere, assuring me the
+Cockatoo was a very independent bird, that he considered he had left all
+the Ladies Bountiful and blanket and coal charities behind him in the
+old country; that, in short, as it is generally put, "Jack is as good
+as his master" out here, and any attempt at patronage would be deeply
+resented. But I determined to try the effect of a little visiting among
+the cottages, and was most agreeably surprised at the kind and cordial
+welcome I received. The women liked to have some one to chat to about
+their domestic affairs, and were most hospitable in offers of tea, etc.,
+and everywhere invitations to "come again" were given; so the next week
+I ventured to invite the men over to our Sunday services. Those who were
+fond of reading eagerly accepted the offer to join the book-club, and at
+last we started the educational subject. Many plans were discussed,
+and finally we arranged for one woman, who had received an excellent
+education and was quite fitted for the post, to commence a day-school;
+but this entailed so much loss of her valuable time that the terms she
+is obliged to ask seem disproportionately high to the people's means.
+She wants 2 shillings and 6 pence a week with each child, and this is
+terrible heavy on the head of a family who is anxious and willing to
+give them some "schooling." However, the plan is to be tried, and I have
+promised to start them with books, slates, copybooks, etc. It was quite
+touching to hear their earnest entreaties that F---- would come over on
+Sunday sometimes and hold a service there, but I tried to show them this
+could not be managed. The tears actually came into their eyes when I
+talked of the happiness it would be to see a little church and school in
+their midst; and the almost invariable remark was, "Ah, but it'll be a
+far day first." And so I fear it will--a very far day; but I have often
+heard it said, that if you propose one definite object to yourself as
+the serious purpose of your life, you will accomplish it some day.
+Well, the purpose of my life henceforward is to raise money somehow or
+somewhere to build a little wooden school-room (licensed for service, to
+be held whenever a missionary clergyman comes by), and to pay the salary
+of a schoolmaster and mistress, so that the poor Cockatoo need not
+be charged more than threepence a week for each child. The Board of
+Education will give a third of the sum required, when two-thirds have
+been already raised; but it is difficult to collect subscriptions, or
+indeed to induce the squatters to listen to any plan for improving the
+condition of the small farmers, and every year which slips away and
+leaves these swarms of children in ignorance adds to the difficulty of
+training them. [Note: Since this was written, a school-house, also used
+as a church, has been built in this district by private subscription
+and Government aid. A clergyman, who lives some twenty-five miles away,
+rides over and holds service once a month.]
+
+
+
+
+Letter XVI: A sailing excursion on Lake Coleridge.
+
+
+Lake Coleridge, February 1867. A violent storm of wind and rain from the
+south-west keeps us all indoors to-day, and gives me time to write
+my letter for the Panama mail, which will be made up to-morrow. The
+post-office is ten miles off, and rejoices in the appropriate name of
+"Wind-whistle;" it stands at the mouth of a deep mountain gorge, and
+there never was such a temple of the winds.
+
+This bad weather comes after a long spell of lovely bright summer days,
+and is very welcome to fill up the failing creeks in the lower ranges
+of hills. I must tell you how much we have been enjoying our visit here.
+F---- knows this part of the country well, but it is quite new to me,
+and a great contrast to the other scenery I have described to you We had
+long talked of paying Mr. C. H---- a visit at his bachelor cottage on
+his station far back among the high ranges of hills, but no time was
+fixed, so I was rather taken by surprise when last week he drove up to
+Broomielaw in a light American waggon with a pair of stout horses, and
+announced that he had come to take us to his place next day. There was
+no reason against this plan, and we agreed at once; the next morning
+saw us on the road, after an early breakfast. We had to drive about
+thirty-five miles round, whereas it would have been only twenty miles
+riding across the hills; but our kind host thought that it would be much
+more comfortable for me to be able to take a carpet-bag in the carriage
+instead of the usual system of saddle-bags one is obliged to adopt
+travelling on horseback. We made our first stage at the ever-hospitable
+station of the C----'s, on the Horarata, but we could not remain to
+luncheon, as they wished, having to push on further; and, as it turned
+out, it was most fortunate we took advantage of the first part of the
+day to get over the ground between us and our destination, for the
+gentle breeze which had been blowing since we started gradually
+freshened into a tremendous "nor'-wester," right in our teeth all the
+rest of our way. The poor horses bent their heads as low as possible
+and pulled bravely at their collars, up hill the whole time. Among the
+mountains the wind rushed with redoubled fury down the narrow gorges,
+and became icily cold as we neared the snowy ranges. It was impossible
+to see the hills for the thick mist, though I knew we must have a
+magnificent view before us. We took refuge for an hour just to rest the
+horses, at Windwhistle, and I certainly expected the house to come down
+whilst we were there. I can hardly tell you anything of the rest of the
+drive, for I was really frightened at my first experience of a "howling
+nor'-wester" out of doors, and Mr. H---- made me sit down at the bottom
+of the carriage and heaped over me all the cloaks and shawls we had
+brought. It was delightful to find ourselves under shelter at last in
+a pretty bright snug room, with lots of books and arm-chairs, and a
+blazing fire; _this_, you must remember, in midsummer.
+
+The next morning was perfectly calm, and the lake as serene as if no
+storm had been dashing its water in huge breakers against the beach
+only a few hours before. The view from the sitting-room was lovely: just
+beneath the window there was a little lawn, as green as possible from
+the spray with which the lake had washed it yesterday; beyond this a low
+hedge, an open meadow, a fringe of white pebbly beach, and then a wide
+expanse of water within one little wooded island, and shut in gradually
+from our view by spurs of hills running down to the shore, sometimes in
+bold steep cliffs, and again in gentle declivities, with little strips
+of bush or scrub growing in the steep gullies between them. The lake
+extends some way beyond where we lose sight of it, being twelve miles
+long and four miles broad. A few yards from the beach it is over six
+hundred feet deep. Nothing but a painting could give you any idea of the
+blue of sky and water that morning; the violent wind of yesterday seemed
+to have blown every cloud below the horizon, for I could not see the
+least white film anywhere. Behind the lower hills which surround the
+lake rises a splendid snowy range; altogether, you cannot imagine a more
+enchanting prospect than the one I stood and looked at; it made me think
+of Miss Procter's lines--
+
+               "My eyes grow dim,
+          As still I gaze and gaze
+     Upon that mountain pass,
+          That leads--or so it seems--     To some far happy land
+          Known in a world of dreams."
+
+All this time, whilst I was looking out of the window in most unusual
+idleness, Mr. H---- and F---- were making constant journeys between the
+boat-house and the store-room, and at last I was entreated to go and put
+on my hat. While doing this I heard cupboards being opened, and a great
+bustle; so when I reached the shore I was not so much surprised as they
+expected, to see in the pretty little sailing-boat (which was moored to
+a primitive sort of jetty made out of a broken old punt) the materials
+for at least two substantial meals, in case of being kept out by a
+sudden head-wind. I was especially glad to notice a little kettle among
+the _impedimenta_, and there were cloaks and wraps of all kinds to
+provide against the worst. Four gentlemen and I made up the crew and
+passengers, and a very merry set we were, behaving extremely like
+children out for a holiday. The wind was a trifle light for sailing, so
+the gentlemen pulled, but very lazily and not at all in good "form,"
+as the object of each oarsman seemed to be to do as little work as
+possible. However, we got on somehow, a light puff helping us now and
+then, but our progress was hardly perceptible. I had been for a long
+time gazing down into the clear blue depth of water, every now and then
+seeing a flash of the white sand shining at the bottom, when I was half
+startled by our host standing suddenly up in the bow of the boat;
+and then I found that we were a couple of miles away from our
+starting-point, and that we had turned a corner formed by a steep spur,
+and were running right into what appeared a grove of rata-trees growing
+at the water's edge. The rata only grows in the hills and near water; it
+is a species of broad-leaf myrtle, with a flower exactly like a myrtle
+in character, but of a brilliant deep scarlet colour, and twice as
+large.
+
+When the bowsprit touched the rata-branches, which drooped like a
+curtain into the water, Mr. H---- made a signal to lower the mast, and
+parting the thick, blossom-covered foliage before us, with both hands,
+the way the boat had on her sent us gently through the screen of scarlet
+flowers and glossy green leaves into such a lovely fairy cove! Before us
+was a little white beach of fine sparkling sand, against which the water
+broke in tiny wavelets, and all around a perfect bower of every variety
+of fern and moss, kept green by streams no thicker than a silver thread
+trickling down here and there with a subdued tinkling sound. We all
+sat quite silent, the boat kept back just inside the entrance by the
+steersman holding on to a branch. It was a sudden contrast from the
+sparkling sunshine and brightness outside, all life and colour and
+warmth, to the tender, green, profound shade and quiet in this "Mossy
+Hum," as the people about here call it. Do not fancy anything damp or
+chilly. No; it was like a natural temple--perfect repose and refreshment
+to the eyes dazzled with the brilliant outside colouring. Centuries ago
+there must have been a great landslip here, for the side of the mountain
+is quite hollowed out, and Nature has gradually covered the ugly brown
+rent with the thickest tapestry of her most delicate handiwork. I
+noticed two varieties of the maiden-hair, its slender black stem making
+the most exquisite tracery among the vivid greens. There was no tint
+of colour except green when once we passed the red-fringed curtain of
+rata-branches, only the white and shining fairy beach and the gleaming
+threads of water. As we sat there, perfectly still, and entranced,
+a sort of delicious mesmeric feeling stole over me; I thought of the
+lotus-eater's chant, "There is no joy but calm," with, for, the first
+time in my life, a dim perception of what they meant, perhaps; but
+it was over all too quickly: prosaic words of direction to back water
+called us from shade to light, and in a moment more we were in front of
+the rata-trees, admiring their splendid colouring, and our little boat
+was dancing away over the bright waves, with her white wings set and her
+bows pointed towards the little toy island in the middle of the lake; it
+was no question now of rowing, a nice fresh breeze from the south (the
+_cold_ point here) sent us swiftly and steadily through the water. What
+a morning it was! The air was positively intoxicating, making you feel
+that the mere fact of being a living creature with lungs to inhale such
+an atmosphere was a great boon. We have a good deal of disagreeable
+weather, and a small proportion of bad weather, but in no other part of
+the world, I believe, does Nature so thoroughly understand how to make a
+fine day as in New Zealand.
+
+A little after mid-day we ran our boat to the lee of the island, and:
+whilst she was steadied by the same primitive method of holding on to
+branches of manuka and other scrub, I scrambled out and up a little
+cliff, where a goat could hardly have found footing, till I reached
+a spot big enough to stand on, from whence I anxiously watched the
+disembarkation of some of the provisions, and of the gridiron and
+kettle. In a few moments we were all safely ashore, and busy collecting
+dry fern and brushwood for a fire; it was rather a trial of patience to
+wait till the great blaze had subsided before we attempted to cook our
+chops, which were all neatly prepared ready for us. Some large potatoes
+were put to bake in the ashes; the tin plates were warmed (it is a great
+art not to overheat them when you have to keep them on your lap whilst
+you eat your chop). We were all so terribly hungry that we were obliged
+to have a course of bread and cheese and sardines _first_; it was really
+quite impossible to wait patiently for the chops. The officiating cook
+scolded us well for our Vandalism, and the next moment we detected him
+in the act of devouring a half-raw potato. The fragments of our meal
+must have been a great boon to the colony of wekas who inhabit the
+island, for as they increase and multiply prodigiously their provisions
+must often fall short in so small a space. No one can imagine how these
+birds originally came here, for the island is at least two miles from
+the nearest point of land; they can neither swim nor fly; and as every
+man's hand is against them, no one would have thought it worth while
+to bring them over: but here they are, in spite of all the apparent
+impossibilities attending their arrival, more tame and impudent than
+ever. It was dangerous to leave your bread unwatched for an instant, and
+indeed I saw one gliding off with an empty sardine tin in its beak;
+I wonder how it liked oil and little scales. They considered a cork a
+great prize, and carried several off triumphantly.
+
+After luncheon there was the usual interval of rest, and pipes on the
+part of the gentlemen. I explored a little, but there is nothing very
+pretty or abundant in the way of wild flowers in the parts of New
+Zealand which I have seen. White violets and a ground clematis are the
+only ones I have come across in any quantity. The manuka, a sort of
+scrub, has a pretty blossom like a diminutive Michaelmas daisy, white
+petals and a brown centre, with a very aromatic odour; and this little
+flower is succeeded by a berry with the same strong smell and taste of
+spice. The shepherds sometimes make an infusion of these when they
+are very hard-up for tea; but it must be like drinking a decoction of
+cloves.
+
+About three o'clock we re-embarked, and sailed a little higher up the
+lake beyond the point where we lose sight of it from Mr. H----'s house,
+every moment opening out fresh and more beautiful glimpses. Quite the
+opposite end of the shore is fringed with a thick deep forest, and
+another station has been built there, at which, I am told, the scenery
+is still more magnificent. At first I was inclined to wonder where the
+sheep live amid all this picturesque but mountainous country: however,
+I find that between and among these hills stretch immense valleys (or
+"flats," as they are called here), which are warm and sheltered in
+winter, and afford plenty of food for them; then, in summer, they go up
+to the mountains: but it is very difficult to "muster" these ranges. I
+am almost ashamed to confess to another meal before we returned home,
+but there was a lovely tempting spot in a little harbour, and so we
+landed and boiled some water and had a capital cup of tea. You require
+to be out as we were from morning till night in such an air as this to
+know what it is to feel either hungry or sleepy in perfection! The next
+day we made a similar excursion, exploring the opposite shore of the
+lake; but, before we started, our host distrusted the appearance of
+certain clouds, and sent round horses to meet us at the point where
+we were going to lunch; and it was just as well he did so, for a stiff
+breeze sprang up from the south-west, which would have kept us out all
+night. So we mounted the horses instead of re-embarking, having first
+secured the boat, and cantered home. We passed several smaller lakes;
+there is a perfect chain of them among these hills, and I was much
+amused at the names bestowed on them, according to the tastes or caprice
+of the station-owners whose runs happen to include them: for instance,
+two are called respectively "Geraldine" and "Ida," whilst three, which
+lie close together, rejoice in the somewhat extraordinary names of "the
+World," "the Flesh," and "the Devil."
+
+
+
+
+Letter XVII: My first and last experience of "camping out."
+
+
+Broomielaw, April 1867. I have nothing to tell you this mail, except
+of a rather ridiculous expedition which we made last week, and which
+involved our spending the whole night on the top of the highest hill on
+our run. You will probably wonder what put such an idea into our heads,
+so I must preface my account by a little explanation. Whenever I meet
+any people who came here in the very early days of the colony--only
+sixteen years ago, after all!--I delight in persuading them to tell me
+about their adventures and hardships during those primitive times, and
+these narratives have the greatest fascination for me, as they always
+end happily. No one ever seems to have died of his miseries, or even
+to have suffered seriously in any way from them, so I find the greatest
+delight in listening to the stories of the Pilgrims. I envy them
+dreadfully for having gone through so much with such spirit and
+cheerfulness, and ever since I came here I have regretted that the rapid
+advance of civilization in New Zealand precludes the possibility of
+being really uncomfortable; this makes me feel like an impostor, for I
+am convinced that my English friends think of me with the deepest pity,
+as of one cut off from the refinements and comforts of life, whereas I
+really am surrounded by every necessary, and many of its luxuries, and
+there is no reason but that of expense why one should not have all of
+these.
+
+One class of narratives is peculiarly attractive to me. I like to hear
+of benighted or belated travellers when they have had to "camp out,"
+as it is technically called; and have lived in constant hope of meeting
+with an adventure which would give me a similar experience. But I am
+gradually becoming convinced that this is almost impossible by fair
+means, so I have been trying for some time past to excite in the breasts
+of our home party and of our nearest neighbours an ardent desire to see
+the sun rise from the top of "Flagpole," a hill 3,000 feet above the
+level of the sea, and only a: couple of miles from the house. As soon
+as they were sufficiently enthusiastic on the subject, I broached my
+favourite project of our all going up there over-night, and camping
+out on the highest peak. Strange to say, the plan did not meet with any
+opposition, even from F----, who has had to camp out many a winter's
+night, and with whom, therefore, the novelty may be said to have worn
+off. Two gentlemen of the proposed party were "new chums" like myself,
+and were strongly in favour of a little roughing; new-chums always are,
+I observe. F---- hesitated a little about giving a final consent on
+the score of its being rather too late in the year, and talked of a
+postponement till next summer, but we would not listen to such an idea;
+so he ended by entering so heartily into it, that when at last the
+happy day and hour came, an untoward shower had not the least effect in
+discouraging him.
+
+There was a great bustle about the little homestead on that eventful
+Tuesday afternoon. Two very steady old horses were saddled, one for me
+and the other for one of the "new chums," who was not supposed to be
+in good form for a long walk, owing to a weak knee. Everything which we
+thought we could possibly want was heaped on and around us after we
+had mounted; the rest of the gentlemen, four in number, walked, and
+we reached the first stage of our expedition in about an hour. Here we
+dismounted, as the horses could go no further in safety. The first
+thing done was to see to their comfort and security; the saddles were
+carefully deposited under a large flax-bush in case of rain, and the
+long tether ropes were arranged so as to ensure plenty of good feed and
+water for both horses, without the possibility of the ropes becoming
+entangled in each other or in anything else. Then came a time of great
+excitement and laughing and talking, for all the "swags" had to be
+packed and apportioned for the very long and steep ascent before us.
+
+And now I must tell you exactly what we took up. A pair of large double
+blankets to make the tent of,--that was one swag, and a very unwieldy
+one it was, strapped knapsack fashion, with straps of flax-leaves, on
+the back, and the bearer's coat and waistcoat fastened on the top of the
+whole. The next load consisted of one small single blanket for my
+sole use, inside of which was packed a cold leg of lamb. I carried the
+luncheon basket, also strapped on my shoulders, filled with two large
+bottles of cream, some tea and sugar, and, I think, teaspoons. It looked
+a very insignificant load by the side of the others, but I assure you I
+found it frightfully heavy long before I had gone half-way up the hill.
+The rest distributed among them a couple of large heavy axes, a small
+coil of rope, some bread, a cake, tin plates and pannikins, knives
+and forks, and a fine pigeon-pie. Concerning this pie there were two
+abominable propositions; one was to leave it behind, and the other
+was to eat it then and there: both of these suggestions were, however,
+indignantly rejected. I must not forget to say we included in the
+commissariat department two bottles of whisky, and a tiny bottle of
+essence of lemon, for the manufacture of toddy. We never see a real
+lemon, except two or three times a year when a ship arrives from the
+Fiji islands, and then they are sixpence or a shilling apiece. All these
+things were divided into two large heavy "swags," and to poor F---- was
+assigned the heaviest and most difficult load of all--the water. He
+must have suffered great anxiety all the way, for if any accident had
+happened to his load, he would have had to go back again to refill his
+big kettle; this he carried in his hand, whilst a large tin vessel with
+a screw lid over its mouth was strapped on his back also full of water,
+but he was particularly charged not to let a drop escape from the spout
+of the kettle; and I may mention here, that though he took a long time
+about it, for he could not go as straight up the hill as we did, he
+reached the top with the kettle full to the brim--the other vessel
+was of course quite safe. All these packings and repackings, and the
+comfortable adjustment of the "swags," occupied a long time, so it was
+past five when we began our climb, and half-past six when we reached the
+top of the hill, and getting so rapidly dark that we had to hurry our
+preparations for the night, though we were all so breathless that
+a "spell" (do you know that means _rest_?) would have been most
+acceptable. The ascent was very steep, and there were no sheep-tracks to
+guide us; our way lay through thick high flax-bushes, and we never could
+have got on without their help. I started with a stick, but soon threw
+it aside and pulled myself up by the flax, hand over hand. Of course
+I had to stop every now and then to rest, and once I chose the same
+flax-bush where three young wild pigs had retired for the night, having
+first made themselves the most beautiful bed of tussock grass bitten
+into short lengths; the tussocks are very much scattered here, so it
+must have been an afternoon's work for them; but the shepherds say these
+wild pigs make themselves a fresh bed every night.
+
+The first thing to be done was to pitch the tent on the little flat at
+the very top of the hill: it was a very primitive affair; two of the
+thinnest and longest pieces of totara, with which Flagpole is strewed,
+we used for poles, fastening another piece lengthwise to these upright
+sticks as a roof-tree: this frame was then covered with the large
+double blanket, whose ends were kept down on the ground by a row of the
+heaviest stones to be found. The rope we had brought up served to tie
+the poles together at the top, and to fasten the blanket on them; but as
+soon as the tent had reached this stage, it was discovered that the
+wind blew through it from end to end, and that it afforded very little
+protection. We also found it much colder at the top of this hill than
+in our valley; so under these circumstances it became necessary to
+appropriate my solitary blanket to block up one end of the tent and
+make it more comfortable for the whole party. It was very little shelter
+before this was done. The next step was to collect wood for a fire,
+which was not difficult, for at some distant time the whole of the hill
+must have been covered by a forest of totara trees; it has apparently
+been destroyed by fire, for the huge trunks and branches which still
+strew the steep sides are charred and half burnt. It is a beautiful
+wood, with a strong aromatic odour, and blazed and crackled splendidly
+in the clear, cool evening air, as we piled up a huge bonfire, and put
+the kettle on to boil. It was quite dusk by this time, so the gentlemen
+worked hard at collecting a great supply of wood, as the night promised
+to be a very cold one, whilst I remained to watch the kettle, full of
+that precious liquid poor F---- had carried up with such care, and to
+prevent the wekas from carrying off our supper, which I had arranged
+just inside the tent. In this latter task I was nobly assisted by my
+little black terrier Dick, of whose sad fate I must tell you later.
+
+By eight o'clock a noble pile of firewood had been collected, and we
+were very tired and hungry; so we all crept inside the tent, which did
+not afford very spacious accommodation, and began our supper. At this
+point of the entertainment everybody voted it a great success; although
+the wind was slowly rising and blowing from a cold point, and our
+blanket-tent did not afford the perfect warmth and shelter we had fondly
+credited it with. The gentlemen began to button up their coats. I had
+only a light serge jacket on, so I coaxed Dick to sit at my back
+and keep it warm; for, whilst our faces were roasted by the huge
+beacon-fire, there was a keen and icy draught behind us. The hot tea was
+a great comfort, and we enjoyed it thoroughly, and after it was over
+the gentlemen lit their pipes, and I told them a story: presently we had
+glees, but by ten o'clock there was no concealing the fact that we were
+all very sleepy indeed; however, we still loudly declared that camping
+out was the most delightful experiment. F---- and another gentleman
+(that kind and most good-natured Mr. U----, who lives with us) went
+outside the tent, armed with knives, and cut all the tussocks they could
+feel in the darkness, to make me a bed after the fashion of the pigs;
+they brought in several armfuls, and the warmest corner in the tent was
+heaped with them; I had my luncheon-basket for a pillow, and announced
+that I had turned in and was very comfortable, and that camping out was
+charming; the gentlemen were still cheery, though sleepy; and the last
+thing I remember was seeing preparations being made for what a Frenchman
+of my acquaintance always will call a "grogs." When I awoke, I thought I
+must have slept several hours. Though the fire was blazing grandly, the
+cold was intense: I was so stiff I could hardly move; all my limbs ached
+dreadfully, and my sensations altogether were new and very disagreeable.
+I sat up with great difficulty and many groans, and looked round: two
+figures were coiled up, like huge dogs, near me; two more, moody and
+sulky, were smoking by the fire; with their knees drawn up to their
+noses and their hands in their pockets, collars well up round their
+throats--statues of cold and disgust. To my inquiries about the hour,
+the answer, given in tones of the deepest despondency, was "Only eleven
+o'clock, and the sun doesn't rise till six, and its going to be the
+coldest night we've had this year." The speaker added, "If it wasn't so
+dark that we'd break our necks on the way, we might go home."
+
+Here was a pretty end to our amusement. I slowly let myself down again,
+and tried to go to sleep, but that relief was at an end for the night;
+the ground seemed to grow harder every moment, or, at all events, I
+ached more, and the wind certainly blew higher and keener. Dick proved
+himself a most selfish doggie; he would creep round to leeward of _me_,
+whilst I wanted him to let me get leeward of him, but he would not
+consent to this arrangement. Whenever I heard a deeper moan or sigh than
+usual, I whispered an inquiry as to the hour, but the usual reply,
+in the most cynical voice, was, "Oh, you need not whisper, nobody is
+asleep." I heard one plaintive murmur "Think of all our warm beds, and
+of our coming up here from choice." I must say I felt dreadfully ashamed
+of myself for my plan; it was impossible to express my contrition and
+remorse, for, always excepting Mr. U----, they were all too cross to
+be spoken to. It certainly was a weary, long night. About one o'clock I
+pretended to want some hot tea, and the preparation for that got through
+half an hour, and it warmed us a little; but everybody still was deeply
+dejected, not to say morose. After an interval of only two hours more
+of thorough and intense wretchedness we had a "grogs," but there was no
+attempt at conviviality--subdued savageness was the prevailing state of
+mind. I tried to infuse a little hope into the party, by suggestions of
+a speedy termination to our misery, but my own private opinion was that
+we should all be laid up for weeks to come with illness. I allotted to
+myself in this imaginary distribution of ills a severe rheumatic fever;
+oh! how I ached, and I felt as if I never could be warm again. The fire
+was no use; except to afford occupation in putting on wood; it roasted a
+little bit of you at a time, and that bit suffered doubly from the cold
+when it was obliged to take its share of exposure to the wind. I cannot
+say whether the proverb is true of other nights, but this particular
+night, certainly, was both darkest and coldest just before dawn.
+
+At last, to our deep joy, and after many false alarms, we really all
+agreed that there was a faint streak of grey in the east. My first
+impulse was to set off home, and I believe I tried to get up expressing
+some such intention, but F---- recalled me to myself by saying, in great
+surprise, "Are you not going to stop and see the sun rise?" I had quite
+forgotten that this was the avowed object of the expedition, but I
+was far too stiff to walk a yard, so I was obliged to wait to see what
+effect the sunrise would have on my frozen limbs, for I could not think
+of any higher motive. Presently some one called out "There's the sea,"
+and so it was, as distinct as though it were not fifty miles off; none
+of us had seen it since we landed; to all of us it is associated with
+the idea of going home some day: whilst we were feasting our eyes on it
+a golden line seemed drawn on its horizon; it spread and spread, and as
+all the water became flooded with a light and glory which hardly seemed
+to belong to this world, the blessed sun came up to restore us all
+to life and warmth again. In a moment, in less than a moment, all our
+little privations and sufferings vanished as if they had never existed,
+or existed only to be laughed at. Who could think of their "Ego" in such
+a glorious presence, and with such a panorama before them? I did not
+know which side to turn to first. Behind me rose a giant forest in the
+far hills to the west--a deep shadow for miles, till the dark outline
+of the pines stood out against the dazzling snow of the mountains behind
+it; here the sky was still sheltering the flying night, and the white
+outlines looked ghostly against the dull neutral tints, though every
+peak was sharply and clearly defined; then I turned round to see before
+me such a glow of light and beauty! For an immense distance I could see
+the vast Canterbury plains; to the left the Waimakiriri river, flowing
+in many streams, "like a tangled bunch of silver ribbons" (as Mr. Butler
+calls it in his charming book on New Zealand), down to the sea; beyond
+its banks the sun shone on the windows of the houses at Oxford, thirty
+miles off as the crow would fly, and threw its dense bush into strong
+relief against the yellow plains. The Port Hills took the most lovely
+lights and shadows as we gazed on them; beyond them lay the hills of
+Akaroa, beautiful beyond the power of words to describe. Christchurch
+looked quite a large place from the great extent of ground it appeared
+to cover. We looked onto the south: there was a slight haze over the
+great Ellesmere Lake, the water of which is quite fresh, though only
+separated from the sea by a slight bar of sand; the high banks of the
+Rakaia made a deep dark line extending right back into the mountains,
+and beyond it we could see the Rangitata faintly gleaming in the
+distance; between us and the coast were green patches and tiny
+homesteads, but still few and far between; close under our feet, and
+looking like a thread beneath the shadow of the mountain, ran the Selwyn
+in a narrow gorge, and on its bank stood the shepherd's hut that I have
+told you once afforded us such a good luncheon; it looked a mere toy, as
+if it came out of a child's box of playthings, and yet so snug for all
+its lonely position. On the other hand lay our own little home, with the
+faint wreath of smoke stealing up through the calm air (for the wind had
+dropped at sunrise). Here and there we saw strings of sheep going down
+from their high camping-grounds to feed on the sunny slopes and in
+the warm valleys. Every moment added to our delight and enjoyment; but
+unfortunately it was a sort of happiness which one can neither speak of
+at the time, nor write about afterwards: silence is its most expressive
+language. Whilst I was drinking in all the glory and beauty before me,
+some of the others had been busy striking the tent, repacking the loads,
+very much lighter without the provisions; and we had one more excellent
+cup of tea before abandoning the encampment to the wekas, who must have
+breakfasted splendidly that morning. Our last act was to collect all
+the stones we could move into a huge cairn, which was built round a tall
+pole of totara; on the summit of this we tied securely, with flax, the
+largest and strongest pocket-handkerchief, and then, after one look
+round to the west--now as glowing and bright as the radiant east--we set
+off homewards about seven o'clock; but it was long before we reached
+the place where we left the horses, for the gentlemen began rolling
+huge rocks down the sides of the hills and watching them crashing and
+thundering into the valleys, sometimes striking another rock and then
+bounding high into the air. They were all as eager and excited as
+schoolboys, and I could not go on and leave them, lest I should get
+below them and be crushed under a small stone of twenty tons or so. I
+was therefore forced to keep well _above_ them all the time. At last we
+reached the spur where the horses were tethered, re-saddled and loaded
+them, and arrived quite safely at home, just in time for baths and
+breakfast. I was amused to see that no one seemed to remember or allude
+to the miseries and aches of that long cold night; all were full of
+professions of enjoyment. But I noticed that the day was unusually
+quiet; the gentlemen preferred a bask in the verandah to any other
+amusement, and I have reason to believe they indulged in a good many
+naps.
+
+
+
+
+Letter XVIII: A journey "down south."
+
+
+Waimate, May 1867. In one of my early letters from Heathstock I told you
+that the Hurunui, which is the boundary of that run, marks the extreme
+north of the Province of Canterbury; and now I am writing to you from
+the extreme south. I hope you do not forget to reverse in your own mind
+the ordinary ideas of heat and cold, as connected with those points of
+the compass. The distance from our house to this is about 160 miles, and
+we actually took two days and a half to get here!--besides, into these
+miles was compressed the fatigue of a dozen English railway journeys
+of the same length. But, I suppose, as usual, you will not be satisfied
+unless I begin at the very beginning. The first difficulty was to reach
+the point where we were to join the coach on the Great South Road. It
+was less than thirty miles, so we could easily have ridden the distance;
+but the difficulty was to get our clothes all that way. They could not
+be carried on horseback, and just then the station-dray was particularly
+employed; besides which it would have taken three days to come and
+go,--rather a useless expenditure of the man's time, as well as of
+the horses' legs, where only two little portmanteaus were concerned.
+Fortunately for us, however, this is a country where each man is ready
+and willing to help his neighbour, without any inquiry as to who he is;
+so the moment our dilemma was known various plans were suggested for our
+assistance, of which this was the one selected:--
+
+On a certain bright but cold Wednesday afternoon, F---- and I and our
+modest luggage started in a neighbour's "trap" for the station I have
+already mentioned on the Horarata, where Mr. C. H---- and I stopped
+on our way to Lake Coleridge. It is on the plains at the foot of a low
+range of downs, and about twelve miles from us. You cannot imagine
+a more charming little cottage _ornee_ than the house is, capable of
+holding, apparently, an indefinite number of people, and with owners
+whose hospitality always prompts them to try its capabilities to the
+utmost. A creek runs near the house, and on its banks, sloping to the
+sun, lies a lovely garden, as trim as any English parterre, and a mass
+of fruit and flowers. Nothing can be more picturesque than the mixture
+of both. For instance, on the wall of the house is a peach-tree
+laden every autumn with rosy, velvet-cheeked fruit; and jasmine and
+passion-flowers growing luxuriantly near it. Inside all is bright
+neatness and such a welcome! As for our supper, on this particular
+day it comprised every dainty you can imagine, and made me think of
+my housekeeping with shame and confusion of face. We had a very merry
+evening, with round games; but there was a strong prejudice in favour of
+going to bed early, as we all had to be up by three o'clock: and so
+we were, to find a delicious breakfast prepared for us, which our kind
+hostess was quite disappointed to see we could not eat much of. Coffee
+and toast was all I could manage at that hour. We started in the dark,
+and the first thing we had to cross was a dry river-bed, in which one of
+the horses lay deliberately down, and refused to move. This eccentricity
+delayed us very much; but we got him into a better frame of mind, and
+accomplished our early drive of sixteen miles in safety, reaching the
+accommodation-house, or inn, where the coach from Christchurch to Timaru
+changes horses for its first stage, by six o'clock. There we had a good
+breakfast, and were in great "form" by the time the coach was ready
+to start. These conveyances have a world-wide celebrity as "Cobb's
+coaches," both in America and Australia, where they are invariably the
+pioneers of all wheeled vehicles, being better adapted to travel on a
+bad road, or no road at all, than any other four-wheeled "trap." They
+are both strong and light, with leathern springs and a powerful break;
+but I cannot conscientiously say they are at all handsome carriages;
+indeed I think them extremely ugly and not very comfortable except on
+the box-seat next the driver. Fortunately, this is made to hold three,
+so F---- and I scrambled up, and off we started with four good strong
+horses, bearing less harness about them than any quadrupeds I ever saw;
+a small collar, slender traces, and very thin reins comprised all their
+accoutrements. The first half of the journey was slow, but there was no
+jolting. The road was level, though it had not been made at all,
+only the tussocks removed from it; but it was naturally good--a great
+exception to New Zealand roads. The driver was a steady, respectable
+man, very intelligent; and when F----could make him talk of his
+experiences in Australia in the early coaching days, I was much
+interested.
+
+We crossed the Rakaia and the Rangitata in ferry-boats, and stopped on
+the banks of the Ashburton, to dine about one o'clock, having changed
+horses twice since we started from "Gigg's," as our place of junction
+was elegantly called. Here all my troubles began. When we came out of
+the little inn, much comforted and refreshed by a good dinner, I found
+to my regret that we were to change drivers as well as horses, and that
+a very popular and well known individual was to be the new coachman.
+As our former driver very politely assisted me to clamber up on the
+box-seat, he recommended F---- to sit on the outside part of the seat,
+and to put me next the driver, "where," he added, "the lady won't be
+so likely to tumble out." As I had shown no disposition to fall off
+the coach hitherto, I was much astonished by this precaution, but said
+nothing. So he was emboldened to whisper, after looking round furtively,
+"And you jest take and don't be afraid, marm; _he_ handles the ribbings
+jest as well when he's had a drop too much as when he's sober, which
+ain't often, however." This last caution alarmed me extremely. The
+horses were not yet put in, nor the driver put _up_, so I begged F----
+to get down and see if I could not go inside. But, after a hasty survey,
+he, said it was quite impossible: men smoking, children crying, and,
+in addition, a policeman with a lunatic in his charge, made the inside
+worse than the outside, especially in point of atmosphere; so he
+repeated the substance of our ex-driver's farewell speech; and when I
+saw our new charioteer emerge at last from the bar, looking only very
+jovial and tolerably steady as to gait, I thought perhaps my panic was
+premature. But, oh, what a time I had of it for nine hours afterwards!
+The moment the grooms let go the horses' heads he stood up on his seat,
+shook the reins, flourished his long whip, and with one wild yell from
+him we dashed down a steep cutting into the Ashburton. The water flew in
+spray far over our heads, and the plunge wetted me as effectually as if
+I had fallen into the river. I expected the front part of the coach to
+part from the back, on account of the enormous strain caused by dragging
+it over the boulders. We lurched like a boat in a heavy sea; the
+"insides" screamed; "Jim" (that was the driver's name) swore and yelled;
+the horses reared and plunged. All this time I was holding on like grim
+death to a light iron railing above my head, and one glance to my left
+showed me F---- thrown off the very small portion of cushion which fell
+to his share, and clinging desperately to a rude sort of lamp-frame.
+I speculated for an instant whether this would break; and, if so, what
+would become of him. But it took all my ideas to keep myself from being
+jerked off among the horses' heels. We dashed through the river; Jim
+gathered up the reins, and with a different set of oaths swore he would
+punish the horses for jibbing in the water. And he did punish them;
+he put the break hard down for some way, flogged them with all his
+strength, dancing about the coach-box and yelling like a madman. Every
+now and then, in the course of his bounds from place to place, he would
+come plump down on my lap; but I was too much frightened to remonstrate;
+indeed, we were going at such a pace against the wind, I had very little
+breath to spare.
+
+We got over the first stage of twenty miles at this rate very quickly,
+as you may imagine; but, unfortunately, there was an accommodation-house
+close to the stables, and Jim had a good deal more refreshment. Strange
+to say, this did not make him any wilder in manner--that he could not
+be; but after we started again he became extremely friendly with me,
+addressing me invariably as "my dear," and offering to "treat me"
+at every inn from that to Timaru. I declined, as briefly as I could,
+whereupon he became extremely angry, at my doubting his pecuniary
+resources apparently, for, holding the reins carelessly with one hand,
+though we were still tearing recklessly along, he searched his pockets
+with the other hand, and produced from them a quantity of greasy, dirty
+one-pound notes, all of which he laid on my lap, saying, "There, and
+there, and there, if you think I'm a beggar!" I fully expected them to
+blow away, for I could not spare a hand to hold them; but I watched
+my opportunity when he was punishing the unfortunate fresh team, and
+pounced on them, thrusting the dirty heap back into his great-coat
+pocket. At the next stage a very tidy woman came out, with a rather
+large bundle, containing fresh linen, she said, for her son, who was ill
+in the hospital at Timaru. She booked this, and paid her half-crown for
+its carriage, entreating the drunken wretch to see that it reached her
+son that night. He wildly promised he should have it in half-an-hour,
+and we set off as if he meant to keep his word, though we were some
+forty miles off yet; but he soon changed his mind, and took a hatred to
+the parcel, saying it would "sink the ship," and finally tried to kick
+it over the splash-board. I seized it at the risk of losing my balance,
+and hugged it tight all the way to Timaru, carrying it off to the hotel,
+where I induced a waiter to take it up to the hospital.
+
+After we had changed horses for the last time, and I was comforting
+myself by the reflection that the journey was nearly over, we heard
+shouts and screams from the inside passengers. F---- persuaded Jim with
+much trouble to pull up, and jumped down to see what was the matter. A
+strong smell of burning and a good deal of smoke arose from inside the
+coach, caused by the lunatic having taken off both his boots and lighted
+a fire in them. It was getting dark and chilly; the other passengers,
+including the policeman, had dozed off and the madman thought that
+as his feet were very cold, he would "try and warm them a bit;" so he
+collected all the newspapers with which his fellow-travellers had been
+solacing the tedium of their journey, tore, them up into shreds, with
+the addition of the contents of a poor woman's bundle, and made quite
+a cheerful blaze out of these materials. It was some time before the
+terrified women could be induced to get into the coach again; and it was
+only by Jims asseverations, couched in the strongest language, that if
+they were not "all aboard" in half a minute, he would drive on and leave
+them in the middle of the plains, that they were persuaded to clamber in
+to their places once more.
+
+How thankful I was when we saw the lights of Timaru! I was stunned and
+bewildered, tired beyond the power of words to describe, and black and
+blue all over from being jolted about. The road had been an excellent
+one, all the way level and wide, with telegraph-poles by its side. We
+shaved these very closely often enough, but certainly, amid all his
+tipsiness, Jim bore out his predecessors remark. Whenever we came to a
+little dip in the road, or a sharp turn, as we were nearing Timaru, he
+would get the horses under control as if by magic, and take us over as
+safely as the soberest driver could have done; the moment the obstacle
+was passed, off we were again like a whirlwind!
+
+I was not at all surprised to hear that upsets and accidents were common
+on the road, and that the horses lasted but a very short time.
+
+We found our host had driven in from his station forty-five miles
+distant from Timaru, to meet us, and had ordered nice rooms and a good
+dinner; so the next morning I was quite rested, and ready to laugh over
+my miseries of the day before. Nothing could be a greater contrast than
+this day's journeying to yesterday's. A low, comfortable phaeton, and
+one of the most agreeable companions in the world to drive us, beautiful
+scenery and a nice luncheon half-way, at which meal F---- ate something
+like half a hundred cheese-cakes! The last part of the road for a dozen
+miles or so was rather rough; we had to cross a little river, the Waio,
+every few hundred yards; and a New Zealand river has so much shingle
+about it! The water can never quite make up its mind where it would like
+to go, and has half-a-dozen channels ready to choose from, and then in
+a heavy fresh the chances are it will select and make quite a different
+course after all.
+
+This is late autumn with us, remember, so the evenings close in early
+and, are very cold indeed. It was quite dark when we reached the house,
+and the blazing fires in every room were most welcome. The house is very
+unlike the conventional station pattern, being built of stone, large,
+very well arranged, and the perfection of comfort inside. There is no
+hostess at present; three bachelor brothers do the honours, and, as far
+as my experience goes, do them most efficiently. Our visit has lasted
+three weeks already, and we really must bring it to a termination
+soon. The weather has been beautiful, and we have made many delightful
+excursions, all on horseback, to neighbouring stations, to a fine bush
+where we had a picnic, or to some point of view. I can truly say I have
+enjoyed every moment of the time, indoors as well as out; I was the only
+lady, and was petted and made much of to my heart's content. There were
+several other guests, and they were all nice and amusing. One wet day we
+had, and only one. I must tell you an incident of it, to show you what
+babies grown-up men can be at the Antipodes. We worked hard all the
+morning at acrostics, and after my five o'clock tea I went upstairs to
+a charming little boudoir prepared for me, to rest and read; in a short
+time I heard something like music and stamping, and, though I was _en
+peignoir_, I stole softly down to see what was going on; when I opened
+the door of the general sitting-room a most unusual sight presented
+itself,--eight bearded men, none of them very young, were dancing a set
+of quadrilles with the utmost gravity and decorum to the tunes played
+by a large musical-box, which was going at the most prodigious pace,
+consequently the dancers were flying through the figures in silence
+and breathless haste. They could not stop or speak when I came in, and
+seemed quite surprised at my laughing at them; but you have no idea how
+ridiculous they looked, especially as their gravity and earnestness were
+profound.
+
+This is one of the very few stations where pheasants have been
+introduced, but then, every arrangement has been made for their comfort,
+and a beautiful house and yard built for their reception on a flat, just
+beneath the high terrace on which the house stands. More than a hundred
+young birds were turned out last spring, and there will probably
+be three times that number at the end of this year. We actually had
+pheasant twice at dinner; the first, and probably the last time we shall
+taste game in New Zealand. There is a good deal of thick scrub in the
+clefts of the home-terrace, and this affords excellent shelter for the
+young. Their greatest enemies are the hawks, and every variety of trap
+and cunning device for the destruction of these latter are in use, but
+as yet without doing much execution among them, they are so wonderfully
+clever and discerning.
+
+
+
+
+Letter XIX: A Christening gathering.--the fate of Dick.
+
+
+Broomielaw, June 1867. We reached home quite safely the first week of
+this month, and I immediately set to work to prepare for the Bishop's
+visit. We met him at a friend's house one day, just as we were starting
+homewards, and something led to my telling him about the destitute
+spiritual condition of my favourite "nest of Cockatoos." With his usual
+energy, as well as goodness, he immediately volunteered to come up to
+our little place, hold a service, and christen all the children. We
+were only too thankful to accept such an offer, as we well knew what
+an inducement it would be to the people, who would take a great deal
+of trouble and come from far and near to hear our dear Bishop, who is
+universally beloved and respected.
+
+For a week beforehand the house smelt all day long like a baker's shop
+about noon on Sunday, for pies, tarts, cakes, etc., were perpetually
+being "drawn" from the oven. I borrowed every pie-dish for miles round,
+and, as on another occasion I have mentioned, plenty of good things
+which our own resources could not furnish forth came pouring in on all
+sides with offers to help. F---- and I scoured the country for thirty
+miles round to invite everybody to come over to us that Sunday; and I
+think I may truly say everybody came. When I rode over to my "nest" and
+made the announcement of the Bishop's visit, the people were very much
+delighted; but a great difficulty arose from the sudden demand for white
+frocks for all the babies and older children. I rashly promised each
+child should find a clean white garment awaiting it on its arrival at my
+house, and took away a memorandum of all the different ages and sizes;
+the "order" never could have been accomplished without the aid of my
+sewing-machine. I had a few little frocks by me as patterns, and cut up
+some very smart white embroidered petticoats which were quite useless to
+me, to make into little skirts. In spite of all that was going on in the
+kitchen my maids found time to get these up most beautifully, and by
+the Saturday night the little bed in the spare room was a heap of snowy
+small garments, with a name written on paper and pinned to each. The
+Bishop also arrived quite safely, late that evening, having driven
+himself up from Christchurch in a little gig.
+
+It is impossible for you to imagine a more beautiful winter's morning
+than dawned on us that Sunday. A sharp frost over-night only made the
+air deliciously crisp, for the sun shone so brightly, that by nine
+o'clock the light film of ice over the ponds had disappeared, and I
+found the Bishop basking in the verandah when I came out to breakfast,
+instead of sitting over the blazing wood-fire in the dining-room. We got
+our meal finished as quickly as possible, and then F---- and Mr. U----
+set to work to fill the verandah with forms extemporised out of empty
+boxes placed at each end, and planks laid across them; every red blanket
+in the house was pressed into service to cover these rough devices, and
+the effect at last was quite tidy. By eleven o'clock the drays began to
+arrive in almost a continual stream; as each came up, its occupants were
+taken into the kitchen, and given as much as they could eat of cold pies
+made of either pork or mutton, bread and hot potatoes, and tea. As for
+teapots, they were discarded, and the tea was made in huge kettles,
+whilst the milk stood in buckets, into which quart jugs were dipped
+every five minutes. I took care of all the women and children whilst
+F---- and Mr. U---- looked after the men, showed them where to put the
+horses, etc. All this time several gentlemen and two or three ladies had
+arrived, but there was no one to attend to them, so they all very kindly
+came out and helped. We insisted on the Bishop keeping quiet in the
+drawing-room, or he would have worked as hard as any one. I never could
+have got the children into their white frocks by two o'clock if it had
+not been for the help of the other ladies; but at last they were all
+dressed, and the congregation--not much under a hundred people--fed,
+and arranged in their places. There had been a difficulty about finding
+sufficient godmothers and godfathers, so F---- and I were sponsors for
+every child, and each parent wished me to hand the child to the Bishop;
+but I could not lift up many of the bigger ones, and they roared
+piteously when I touched their hands. I felt it quite a beautiful and
+thrilling scene; the sunburnt faces all around, the chubby, pretty
+little group of white-clad children, every one well fed and comfortably
+clothed, the dogs lying at their masters feet, the bright winter
+sunshine and dazzling sky, and our dear Bishops commanding figure and
+clear, penetrating voice! He gave us a most excellent sermon, short and
+simple, but so perfectly appropriate; and after the service was over he
+went about, talking to all the various groups such nice, helpful words.
+
+The truest kindness was now to "speed the parting guest," so each
+dray load, beginning with those whose homes were the most distant, was
+collected. They were first taken into the kitchen and given a good meal
+of hot tea, cake, and bread and butter, for many had four hours' jolting
+before them; the red blankets were again called into requisition to act
+as wraps, besides every cloak and shawl I possessed, for the moment the
+sun sunk, which would be about four o'clock, the cold was sure to become
+intense. We lived that day in the most scrambling fashion ourselves;
+there was plenty of cold meat, etc., on the dining-room table, and
+piles of plates, and whenever any of the party were hungry they went
+and helped themselves, as my two servants were entirely occupied with
+looking after the comfort of the congregation; it was such a treat to
+them to have, even for a few hours, the society of other women. They
+have only one female neighbour, and she is generally too busy to see
+much of them; besides which, I think the real reason of the want of
+intimacy is that Mrs. M---- is a very superior person, and when she
+comes up I generally like to have a chat with her myself. It does me
+good to see her bonny Scotch face, and hear the sweet kindly "Scot's
+tongue;" besides which she is my great instructress in the mysteries of
+knitting socks and stockings, spinning, making really good butter (not
+an easy thing, madam), and in all sorts of useful accomplishments; her
+husband is the head shepherd on the next station. They are both very
+fond of reading, and it was quite pretty to see the delight they took in
+the Queen's book about the Highlands.
+
+To return, however, to that Sunday. We were all dreadfully tired by
+the time the last guest had departed, but we had a delightfully quiet
+evening, and a long talk with the Bishop about our favourite scheme of
+the church and school among the Cockatoos, and we may feel certain of
+his hearty cooperation in any feasible plan for carrying it out. The
+next morning, much to our regret, the Bishop left us for Christchurch,
+but he had to hold a Confirmation service there, and could not give us
+even a few more hours. We were so very fortunate in our weather. The
+following Sunday was a pouring wet day, and we have had wind and rain
+almost ever since; it is unusually wet, so I have nothing more to tell
+you of our doings, which must seem very eccentric to you, by the way,
+but I assure you I enjoy the gipsy unconventional life immensely.
+
+You must not be critical about a jumble of subjects if I record poor
+Dick's tragical fate here; it will serve to fill up my letter, and if
+ever you have mourned for a pet dog you will sympathise with me. I must
+first explain to you that on a sheep station strange dogs are regarded
+with a most unfriendly eye by both master and shepherds. There are the
+proper colleys,--generally each shepherd has two,--but no other dogs
+are allowed, and I had great trouble to coax F---- to allow me to accept
+two. One is a beautiful water-spaniel, jet black, Brisk by name, but his
+character is stainless in the matter of sheep, and though very handsome
+he is only an amiable idiot, his one amusement being to chase a
+weka, which he never catches. The other dog was, alas! Dick, a small
+black-and-tan terrier, very well bred, and full of tricks and play. We
+never even suspected him of any wickedness, but as it turned out he must
+have been a hardened offender. A few weeks after he came to us, when the
+lambing season was at its height, and the low sunny hills near the
+house were covered with hundreds of the pretty little white creatures,
+F----used sometimes to come and ask me where Dick was, and, strange to
+say, Dick constantly did not answer to my call. An evening or two later,
+just as we were starting for our walk, Dick appeared in a great hurry
+from the back of the stable. F---- went up immediately to him, and
+stooped down to examine his mouth, calling me to see. Oh, horror! it
+was all covered with blood and wool. I pleaded all sorts of extenuating
+circumstances, but F---- said, with: judicial sternness, "This cannot be
+allowed." Dick was more fascinating than usual, never looking at a sheep
+whilst we were out walking with him, and behaving in the most exemplary
+manner. F---- watched him all the next day, and at last caught him in
+the act of killing a new-born lamb a little way from the house; the
+culprit was brought to me hanging his tail with the most guilty air,
+and F---- said, "I ought to shoot him, but if you like I will try if a
+beating can cure him, but it must be a tremendous one." I was obliged
+to accept this alternative, and retreated where I could not hear Dick's
+howls under the lash, over the body of his victim. A few hours after I
+went to the spot, lifted Dick up, and carried him into my room to nurse
+him; for he could not move, he had been beaten so severely. For two
+whole days he lay on the soft mat I gave him, only able to lap a little
+warm milk; on the third morning he tried to get up, and crawled into the
+verandah; I followed to watch him. Imagine my dismay at seeing him limp
+to the place where the body of his last victim lay, and deliberately
+begin tearing it to pieces. I followed him with my little horsewhip and
+gave him a slight beating. I could not find it in my heart to hit him
+very hard. I carefully concealed this incident from F----, and for some
+days I never let Dick out of my sight for a moment; but early one fine
+morning a knock came to our bed-room door, and a voice said, "Please,
+sir, come and see what's the matter with the sheep? there's a large mob
+of them at the back of the house being driven, like." Oh, my prophetic
+soul! I felt it was Dick. Whilst F---- was huddling on some clothes I
+implored him to temper justice with mercy, but never a word did he say,
+and sternly took his gun in his hand and went out. I buried my head in
+the pillows, but for all my precautions I heard the report of a shot
+in the clear morning air, and the echo ringing back from all the hills;
+five minutes afterwards F---- came in with a little blue collar in his
+hand, and said briefly, "He has worried more than a dozen lambs this
+morning alone." What could I say? F----'s only attempt at consolation
+was, "he died instantly; I shot him through the head." But for many days
+afterwards I felt quite lonely and sad without my poor little pet--yet
+what could have been done? No one would have accepted him as a present,
+and it flashed on me afterwards that perhaps this vice of his was the
+reason of Dick's former owner being so anxious to give him to me. I
+have had two offers of successors to Dick since, but I shall never have
+another dog on a sheep station, unless I know what Mr. Dickens' little
+dressmaker calls "its tricks and its manners."
+
+
+
+
+Letter XX: the New Zealand snowstorm of 1867.
+
+
+Broomielaw, August 1867. I have had my first experience of real
+hardships since I last wrote to you. Yes, we have all had to endure
+positive hunger and cold, and, what I found much harder to bear, great
+anxiety of mind. I think I mentioned that the weather towards the end
+of July had been unusually disagreeable, but not very cold This wet
+fortnight had a great deal to do with our sufferings afterwards, for
+it came exactly at the time we were accustomed to send our dray down to
+Christchurch for supplies of flour and groceries, and to lay in a good
+stock of coals for the winter; these latter had been ordered, and were
+expected every day. Just the last few days of July the weather cleared
+up, and became like our usual most beautiful winter climate; so, after
+waiting a day or two, to allow the roads to dry a little, the dray
+was despatched to town, bearing a long list of orders, and with many
+injunctions to the driver to return as quickly as possible, for all the
+stores were at the lowest ebb. I am obliged to tell you these domestic
+details, in order that you may understand the reason of our privations.
+I acknowledge, humbly, that it was not good management, but sometimes
+accidents _will_ occur. It was also necessary for F---- to make a
+journey to Christchurch on business, and as he probably would be
+detained there for nearly a week, it was arranged that one of the young
+gentlemen from Rockwood should ride over and escort me back there, to
+remain during F----'s absence. I am going to give you all the exact
+dates, for this snow-storm will be a matter of history, during the
+present generation at all events: there is no tradition among the Maoris
+of such a severe one ever having occurred; and what made it more fatal
+in its financial consequences to every one was, that the lambing season
+had only just commenced or terminated on most of the runs. Only a few
+days before he left, F---- had taken me for a ride in the sheltered
+valleys, that he might see the state of the lambs, and pronounced
+it most satisfactory; thousands of the pretty little creatures were
+skipping about by their mothers' side.
+
+I find, by my Diary, July 29th marked, as the beginning of a
+"sou'-wester." F---- had arranged to start that morning, and as his
+business was urgent, he did not like to delay his departure, though the
+day was most unpromising, a steady, fine drizzle, and raw atmosphere;
+however, we hurried breakfast, and he set off, determining to push on to
+town as quickly as possible. I never spent such a dismal day in my life:
+my mind was disturbed by secret anxieties about the possibility of the
+dray being detained by wet weather, and there was such an extraordinary
+weight in the air, the dense mist seemed pressing everything down to the
+ground; however, I drew the sofa to the fire, made up a good blaze (the
+last I saw for some time), and prepared to pass a lazy day with a book;
+but I felt so restless and miserable I did not know what was the matter
+with me. I wandered from window to window, and still the same unusual
+sight met my eyes; a long procession of ewes and lambs, all travelling
+steadily down from the hills towards the large flat in front of the
+house; the bleating was incessant, and added to the intense melancholy
+of the whole affair. When Mr. U---- came in to dinner; at one o'clock,
+he agreed with me that it was most unusual weather, and said, that on
+the other ranges the sheep were drifting before the cold mist and rain
+just in the same way. Our only anxiety arose from the certainty that
+the dray would be delayed at least a day, and perhaps two; this was a
+dreadful idea: for some time past we had been economising our resources
+to make them last, and we knew that there was absolutely nothing at
+the home-station, nor at our nearest neighbour's, for they had sent to
+borrow tea and sugar from us. Just at dusk that evening, two gentlemen
+rode up, not knowing F---- was from home, and asked if they might remain
+for the night. I knew them both very well; in fact, one was our cousin
+T----, and the other an old friend; so they put up their horses, and
+housed their dogs (for each had a valuable sheep-dog with him) in
+a barrel full of clean straw, and we all tried to spend a cheerful
+evening, but everybody confessed to the same extraordinary depression of
+spirits that I felt.
+
+When I awoke the next morning, I was not much surprised to see the snow
+falling thick and fast: no sheep were now visible, there was a great
+silence, and the oppression in the atmosphere had if possible increased.
+We had a very poor breakfast,--no porridge, very little mutton (for
+in expectation of the house being nearly empty, the shepherd had not
+brought any over the preceding day), and _very_ weak tea; coffee and
+cocoa all finished, and about an ounce of tea in the chest. I don't know
+how the gentlemen amused themselves that day; I believe they smoked a
+good deal; I could only afford a small fire in the drawing-room, over
+which I shivered. The snow continued to fall in dense fine clouds,
+quite unlike any snow I ever saw before, and towards night I fancied the
+garden fence was becoming very much dwarfed. Still the consolation was,
+"Oh, it won't last; New Zealand snow never: does." However, on Wednesday
+morning things began to look very serious indeed: the snow covered
+the ground to a depth of four feet in the shallowest places, and still
+continued to fall steadily; the cows we knew _must_ be in the paddock
+were not to be seen anywhere; the fowl-house and pig-styes which stood
+towards the weather quarter had entirely disappeared; every scrap of
+wood (and several logs were lying about at the back) was quite covered
+up; both the verandahs were impassable; in one the snow was six feet
+deep, and the only door which could be opened was the back-kitchen door,
+as that opened inwards; but here the snow was half-way over the roof, so
+it took a good deal of work with the kitchen-shovel, for no spades could
+be found, to dig out a passage. Indoors, we were approaching our last
+mouthful very rapidly, the tea at breakfast was merely coloured hot
+water, and we had some picnic biscuits with it. For dinner we had the
+last tin of sardines, the last pot of apricot jam, and a tin of ratifia
+biscuits a most extraordinary mixture, I admit, but there was nothing
+else. There were six people to be fed every day, and nothing to feed
+them with. Thursday's breakfast was a discovered crust of dry bread,
+very stale, and our dinner that day was rice and salt--the last rice in
+the store-room. The snow still never ceased falling, and only one window
+in the house afforded us any light; every box was broken up and used for
+fuel. The gentlemen used to go all together and cut, or rather dig, a
+passage through the huge drift in front of the stable, and with much
+difficulty get some food for the seven starving horses outside, who were
+keeping a few yards clear by incessantly moving about, the snow making
+high walls all around them.
+
+It was wonderful to see how completely the whole aspect of the
+surrounding scenery was changed; the gullies were all filled up, and
+nearly level with the downs; sharp-pointed cliffs were now round bluffs;
+there was no vestige of a fence or gate or shrub to be seen, and still
+the snow came down as if it had only just begun to fall; out of doors
+the silence was like death, I was told, for I could only peep down the
+tunnel dug every few hours at the back-kitchen door. My two maids
+now gave way, and sat clasped in each other's arms all day, crying
+piteously, and bewailing their fate, asking me whenever I came into
+the kitchen, which was about every half-hour, for there was no fire
+elsewhere, "And oh, when do you think we'll be found, mum?" Of course
+this only referred to the ultimate discovery of our bodies. There was a
+great search to-day for the cows, but it was useless, the gentlemen
+sank up to their shoulders in snow. Friday, the same state of things: a
+little flour had been discovered in a discarded flour-bag, and we had
+a sort of girdle-cake and water. The only thing remaining in the
+store-room was some blacklead, and I was considering seriously how that
+could be cooked, or whether it would be better raw: we were all more
+than half starved, and quite frozen: very little fire in the kitchen,
+and none in any other room. Of course, the constant thought was, "Where
+are the sheep?" Not a sign or sound could be heard. The dogs' kennels
+were covered several feet deep; so we could not get at them at all.
+Saturday morning: the first good news I heard was that the cows had been
+found, and dragged by ropes down to the enclosure the horses had made
+for them-selves: they were half dead, poor beasts; but after struggling
+for four hours to and from a haystack two hundred yards off, one end of
+which was unburied, some oaten hay was procured for them. There was
+now not a particle of food in the house. The servants remained in their
+beds, declining to get up, and alleging that they might as well "die
+warm." In the middle of the day a sort of forlorn-hope was organized
+by the gentlemen to try to find the fowl-house, but they could not get
+through the drift: however, they dug a passage to the wash-house, and
+returned in triumph with about a pound of very rusty bacon they had
+found hanging up there; this was useless without fuel, so they dug for a
+little gate leading to the garden, fortunately hit its whereabouts, and
+soon had it broken up and in the kitchen grate. By dint of taking all
+the lead out of the tea-chests, shaking it, and collecting every pinch
+of tea-dust, we got enough to make a teapot of the weakest tea, a cup of
+which I took to my poor crying maids in their beds, having first put a
+spoonful of the last bottle of whisky which the house possessed into it,
+for there was neither, sugar nor milk to be had. At midnight the snow
+ceased for a few hours, and a hard sharp frost set in; this made our
+position worse, for they could now make no impression on the snow,
+and only broke the shovels in trying. I began to think seriously of
+following the maids example, in order to "die warm." We could do nothing
+but wait patiently. I went up to a sort of attic where odds and ends
+were stowed away, in search of something to eat, but could find nothing
+more tempting than a supply of wax matches. We knew there was a cat
+under the house, for we heard her mewing; and it was suggested to take
+up the carpets first, then the boards, and have a hunt for the poor old
+pussy but we agreed to bear our hunger a little longer, chiefly, I am
+afraid, because she was known to be both thin and aged.
+
+Towards noon on Sunday the weather suddenly changed, and rain began to
+come down heavily and steadily; this cheered us all immensely, as it
+would wash the snow away probably, and so it did to some degree; the
+highest drifts near the house lessened considerably in a few hours, and
+the gentlemen, who by this time were desperately hungry, made a final
+attempt in the direction of the fowl-house, found the roof, tore off
+some shingles, and returned with a few aged hens, which were mere
+bundles of feathers after their week's starvation. The servants
+consented to rise and pluck them, whilst the gentlemen sallied forth
+once more to the stock-yard, and with great difficulty got off two of
+the cap or top rails, so we had a splendid though transitory blaze,
+and some hot stewed fowl; it was more of a soup than anything else, but
+still we thought it delicious: and then everybody went to bed again,
+for the house was quite dark still, and the oil and candles were running
+very low. On Monday morning the snow was washed off the roof a good deal
+by the deluge of rain which had never ceased to come steadily down,
+and the windows were cleared a little, just at the top; but we were
+delighted with the improvement, and some cold weak fowl-soup for
+breakfast, which we thought excellent. On getting out of doors, the
+gentlemen reported the creeks to be much swollen and rushing in yellow
+streams down the sides of the hills over the snow, which was apparently
+as thick as ever; but it was now easier to get through at the surface,
+though quite solid for many feet from the ground. A window was scraped
+clear, through which I could see the desolate landscape out of doors,
+and some hay was carried with much trouble to the starving cows and
+horses, but this was a work of almost incredible difficulty. Some more
+fowls were procured to-day, nearly the last, for a large hole in the
+roof showed most of them dead of cold and hunger.
+
+We were all in much better spirits on this night, for there were signs
+of the wind shifting from south to north-west; and, for the first time
+in our lives I suppose, we were anxiously watching and desiring this
+change, as it was the only chance of saving the thousands of sheep and
+lambs we now knew lay buried under the smooth white winding-sheet of
+snow. Before bedtime we heard the fitful gusts we knew so well, and had
+never before hailed with such deep joy and thankfulness. Every time I
+woke the same welcome sound of the roaring warm gale met my ears; and we
+were prepared for the pleasant sight, on Tuesday morning, of the highest
+rocks on the hill-tops standing out gaunt and bare once more. The wind
+was blowing the snow off the hills in clouds like spray, and melting
+it everywhere so rapidly that we began to have a new anxiety, for the
+creeks were rising fast, and running in wide, angry-looking rivers over
+the frozen snow on the banks. All immediate apprehension of starvation,
+however, was removed, for the gentlemen dug a pig out of his stye, where
+he had been warm and comfortable with plenty of straw, and slaughtered
+him; and in the loft of the stable was found a bag of Indian meal for
+fattening poultry, which made excellent cakes of bread. It was very
+nasty having only ice-cold water to drink at every meal. I especially
+missed my tea for breakfast; but felt ashamed to grumble, for my
+disagreeables were very light compared to those of the three gentlemen.
+From morning to night they were wet through, as the snow of course
+melted the moment they came indoors. All the first part of the last week
+they used to work out of doors, trying to get food and fuel, or feeding
+the horses, in the teeth of a bitter wind, with the snow driving like
+powdered glass against their smarting hands and faces; and they were as
+cheery and merry as possible through it all, trying hard to pretend they
+were neither hungry nor cold, when they must have been both. Going out
+of doors at this stage of affairs simply meant plunging up to their
+middle in a slush of half-melted snow which wet them thoroughly in a
+moment; and they never had dry clothes on again till they changed after
+dark, when there was no more possibility of outdoor work.
+
+Wednesday morning broke bright and clear for the first time since Sunday
+week; we actually saw the sun. Although the "nor-wester" had done so
+much good for us, and a light wind still blew softly from that quarter,
+the snow was yet very deep; but I felt in such high spirits that I
+determined to venture out, and equipped myself in a huge pair of F----'s
+riding-boots made of kangaroo-skin, well greased with weka-oil to keep
+the wet out, These I put on over my own thick boots, but my precautions
+"did nought avail," for the first step I took sank me deep in the snow
+over the tops of my enormous boots. They filled immediately, and then
+merely served to keep the snow securely packed round my ankles; however,
+I struggled bravely on, every now and then sinking up to my shoulders,
+and having to be hauled out by main force. The first thing done was to
+dig out the dogs, who assisted the process by vigorously scratching away
+inside and tunnelling towards us. Poor things! how thin they looked, but
+they were quite warm; and after indulging in a long drink at the nearest
+creek, they bounded about, like mad creatures. The only casualties in
+the kennels were two little puppies, who were lying cuddled up as if
+they were asleep, but proved to be stiff and cold; and a very old but
+still valuable collie called "Gipsy." She was enduring such agonies from
+rheumatism that it was terrible to hear her howls; and after trying to
+relieve her by rubbing, taking her into the stable-and in fact doing
+all we could for her--it seemed better and kinder to shoot her two days
+afterwards.
+
+We now agreed to venture into the paddock and see what had happened
+to the bathing-place about three hundred yards from the house. I don't
+think I have told you that the creek had been here dammed up with a sod
+wall twelve feet high, and a fine deep and broad pond made, which was
+cleared of weeds and grass, and kept entirely for the gentlemen to have
+a plunge and swim at daylight of a summer's morning; there had been
+a wide trench cut about two feet from the top, so as to carry off the
+water, and hitherto this had answered perfectly. The first thing we
+had to do was to walk over the high five-barred gate leading into the
+paddock just the topmost bar was sticking up, but there was not a trace
+of the little garden-gate or of the fence, which was quite a low one.
+We were, however, rejoiced to see that on the ridges of the sunny downs
+there were patches, or rather streaks, of tussocks visible, and they
+spread in size every moment, for the sun was quite warm, and the
+"nor'-wester," had done much towards softening the snow. It took us a
+long time to get down to where the bathing-place _had been_, for the sod
+wall was quite carried away, and there was now only a heap of ruin, with
+a muddy torrent pouring through the large gap and washing it still more
+away. Close to this was a very sunny sheltered down, or rather hill; and
+as the snow was rapidly melting off its warm sloping sides we agreed to
+climb it and see if any sheep could be discovered, for up to this time
+there had been none seen or heard, though we knew several thousands must
+be on this flat and the adjoining ones.
+
+As soon as we got to the top the first glance showed us a small dusky
+patch close to the edge of one of the deepest and widest creeks at the
+bottom of the pad-dock; experienced eyes saw they were sheep, but to me
+they had not the shape of animals at all, though they were quite near
+enough to be seen distinctly. I observed the gentlemen exchange looks of
+alarm, and they said to each other some low words, from which I gathered
+that they feared the worst. Before we went down to the flat we took a
+long, careful look round, and made out another patch, dark by comparison
+with the snow, some two hundred yards lower down the creek, but
+apparently in the water. On the other side of the little hill the snow
+seemed to have drifted even more deeply, for the long narrow valley
+which lay there presented, as far as we could see, one smooth, level
+snow-field. On the dazzling white surface the least fleck shows, and
+I can never forget how beautiful some swamp-hens, with their dark blue
+plumage, short, pert, white tails, and long bright legs, looked, as they
+searched slowly along the banks of the swollen creek for some traces of
+their former haunts; but every tuft of tohi-grass lay bent and buried
+deep beneath its heavy covering. The gentlemen wanted me to go home
+before they attempted to see the extent of the disaster, which we all
+felt must be very great; but I found it impossible to do anything but
+accompany them. I am half glad and half sorry now that I was obstinate;
+glad because I helped a little at a time when the least help was
+precious, and sorry because it was really such a horrible sight. Even
+the first glance showed us that, as soon as we got near the spot we had
+observed, we were walking on frozen sheep embedded in the snow one over
+the other; but at all events their misery had been over some time. It
+was more horrible to see the drowning, or just drowned, huddled-up "mob"
+(as sheep _en masse_ are technically called) which had made the dusky
+patch we had noticed from the hill.
+
+No one can ever tell how many hundred ewes and lambs had taken refuge
+under the high terrace which forms the bank of the creek. The snow
+had soon covered them up, but they probably were quite warm and dry at
+first. The terrible mischief was caused by the creek rising so rapidly,
+and, filtering through the snow which it gradually dissolved, drowned
+them as they stood huddled together. Those nearest the edge of the water
+of course went first, but we were fortunately in time to save a good
+many, though the living seemed as nothing compared to the heaps of dead.
+We did not waste a moment in regrets or idleness; the most experienced
+of the gentlemen said briefly what was to be done, and took his coat
+off; the other coats and my little Astrachan jacket were lying by its
+side in an instant, and we all set to work, sometimes up to our knees
+in icy water, digging at the bank of snow above us--if you can call it
+digging when we had nothing but our hands to dig, or rather scratch,
+with. Oh, how hot we were in five minutes! the sun beating on us, and
+the reflection from the snow making its rays almost blinding. It was
+of no use my attempting to rescue the sheep, for I could not move them,
+even when I had _scrattled_ the snow away from one. A sheep, especially
+with its fleece full of snow, is beyond my small powers: even the lambs
+I found a tremendous weight, and it must have been very absurd, if an
+idler had been by, to see me, with a little lamb in my arms, tumbling
+down at every second step, but still struggling manfully towards the
+dry oasis where we put each animal as it was dug out. The dear doggies
+helped us beautifully, working so eagerly and yet so wisely under their
+master's eye, as patient and gentle with the poor stiffened creatures as
+if they could feel for them. I was astonished at the vitality of some
+of the survivors; if they had been very far back and not chilled by the
+water, they were quite lively. The strongest sheep were put across the
+stream by the dogs, who were obedient to their master's finger, and not
+to be induced on any terms to allow the sheep to land a yard to one side
+of the place on the opposite bank, but just where they were to go. A
+good many were swept away, but after six hours' work we counted 1,400
+rescued ones slowly "trailing" up the low sunny hill I have mentioned,
+and nibbling at the tussocks as they went. The proportion of lambs was,
+of course, very small, but the only wonder to me is that there were any
+alive at all. If I had been able to stop my scratching but for a moment,
+I would have had what the servants call a "good cry" over one little
+group I laid bare. Two fine young ewes were standing leaning against
+each other in a sloping position, like a tent, frozen and immoveable:
+between them, quite dry, and as lively as a kitten, was a dear little
+lamb of about a month old belonging to one; the lamb of the other lay
+curled up at her feet, dead and cold; I really believe they had hit
+upon this way of keeping the other alive. A more pathetic sight I never
+beheld.
+
+It is needless to say that we were all most dreadfully exhausted by the
+time the sun went down, and it began to freeze; nothing but the
+sheer impossibility of doing anything more in the hardening snow and
+approaching darkness made us leave off even then, though we had not
+tasted food all day. The gentlemen took an old ewe, who could not stand,
+though it was not actually dead, up to the stable and killed it, to give
+the poor dogs a good meal, and then they had to get some more rails off
+the stock-yard to cook our own supper of pork and maize.
+
+The next morning was again bright with a warm wind; so the effect of the
+night's frost soon disappeared, and we were hard at work directly after
+breakfast. Nothing would induce me to stay at home, but I armed myself
+with a coal-scoop to dig, and we made our way to the other "mob;" but,
+alas! there was nothing to do in the way of saving life, for all the
+sheep were dead. There was a large island formed at a bend in the creek,
+where the water had swept with such fury round a point as to wash the
+snow and sheep all away together, till at some little obstacle they
+began to accumulate in a heap. I counted ninety-two dead ewes in one
+spot, but I did not stay to count the lambs. We returned to the place
+where we had been digging the day before, and set the dogs to hunt in
+the drifts; wherever they began to scratch we shovelled the snow away,
+and were sure to find sheep either dead or nearly so: however, we
+liberated a good many more. This sort of work continued till the
+following Saturday, when F---- returned, having had a most dangerous
+journey, as the roads are still blocked up in places with snow-drifts;
+but he was anxious to get back, knowing I must have been going through
+"hard times." He was terribly shocked at the state of things among
+the sheep; in Christchurch no definite news had reached them from any
+quarter: all the coaches were stopped and the telegraph wires broken
+down by the snow. He arrived about mid-day, and, directly after the
+meal we still called dinner, started off over the hills to my "nest of
+Cockatoos," and brought back some of the men with him to help to search
+for the sheep, and to skin those that were dead as fast as possible. He
+worked himself all day at the skinning,--a horrible job; but the fleeces
+were worth something, and soon all the fences, as they began to emerge
+from the snow, were tapestried with these ghastly skins, and walking
+became most disagreeable, on account of the evil odours arising every
+few yards.
+
+We forgot all our personal sufferings in anxiety about the surviving
+sheep, and when the long-expected dray arrived it seemed a small boon
+compared to the discovery of a nice little "mob" feeding tranquilly on a
+sunny spur. It is impossible to estimate our loss until the grand muster
+at shearing, but we may set it down at half our flock, and _all_ our
+lambs, or at least 90 per cent. of them. Our neighbours are all as busy
+as we are, so no accurate accounts of their sufferings or losses have
+reached us; but, to judge by appearances, the distant "back-country"
+ranges must have felt the storm more severely even than we have; and
+although the snow did not drift to such a depth on the plains as with
+us, or lie so long on the ground, they suffered just as much,--for the
+sheep took shelter under the high river-banks, and the tragedy of the
+creeks was enacted on a still larger scale; or they drifted along before
+the first day's gale till they came to a wire fence, and there they were
+soon covered up, and trampled each other to death. Not only were sheep,
+but cattle, found dead in hundreds along the fences on the plains. The
+newspapers give half a million as a rough estimate of the loss among the
+flocks in this province alone. We have no reliable news from other parts
+of the island, only vague rumours of the storm having been still more
+severe in the Province of Otago, which lies to the south, and would be
+right in its track; the only thing which all are agreed in saying is,
+that there never has been such a storm before, for the Maories are
+strong in weather traditions, and though they prophesied this one, it is
+said they have no legend of anything like it ever having happened.
+
+
+
+
+Letter XXI: Wild cattle hunting in the Kowai Bush.
+
+
+Mount Torlesse, October 1867. We are staying for a week at a charming
+little white cottage covered with roses and honeysuckles, nestled under
+the shadow of this grand mountain, to make some expeditions after wild
+cattle in the great Kowai Bush. I am afraid that it does not sound a
+very orderly and feminine occupation, but I enjoy it thoroughly, and
+have covered myself with glory and honour by my powers of walking all
+day.
+
+We have already spent three long happy days in the Bush, and although
+they have not resulted in much slaughter of our big game, still I for
+one am quite as well pleased as if we had returned laden with as many
+beeves as used to come in from a border foray. I am not going to inflict
+an account of each expedition on you; one will serve to give an idea
+of all, for though there is no monotony in Nature, it may chance that
+frequent descriptions of her become so, and this I will not risk.
+
+Our ride over here was a sufficiently ridiculous affair, owing to the
+misbehaviour of the pack-horse, for it was impossible upon this occasion
+to manage with as little luggage as usual, so we arranged to take a
+good-sized carpet-bag (a most unheard-of luxury), and on each side of
+it was to be slung a rifle and a gun, and smaller bags of bullets, shot,
+and powder-flasks, disposed to the best advantage on the pack-saddle.
+This was all very well in theory, but when it came to the point, the
+proper steady old horse who was to bear the pack was not forthcoming!
+He had taken it into his head to go on a visit to a neighbouring run, so
+the only available beast was a young chestnut of most uncertain temper.
+The process of saddling him was a long one, as he objected to each item
+of his load as soon as it was put on, especially to the guns; but
+F---- was very patient, and took good care to tie and otherwise fasten
+everything so that it was impossible for "Master Tucker" (called, I
+suppose, after the immortal Tommy) to get rid of his load by either
+kicking or plunging. At last we mounted and rode by a bridle-path among
+the hills for some twelve miles or so, then across half-a-dozen miles of
+plain, and finally we forded a river. The hill-track was about as bad as
+a path could be, with several wide jumps across creeks at the bottom
+of the numerous deep ravines, or gullies as we call them. F---- rode
+first--for we could only go in single file--with the detestable Tucker's
+bridle over his arm; then came the chestnut, with his ears well
+back, and his eyes all whites, in his efforts to look at his especial
+aversion, the guns; he kicked all the way down the many hills, and
+pulled back in the most aggravating manner at each ascent, and when we
+came to a creek sat down on his tail, refusing to stir. My position was
+a most trying one; the track was so bad that I would fain have given my
+mind entirely to my own safety, but instead of this all my attention was
+centred on Tucker the odious. When we first started I expressed to F----
+my fear that Tucker would fairly drag him off his own saddle, and he
+admitted that it was very likely, adding, "You must flog him." This made
+me feel that it entirely depended on my efforts whether F---- was to be
+killed or not, so I provided myself with a small stock-whip in addition
+to my own little riding-whip, and we set off. From the first yard Tucker
+objected to go, but there were friendly sticks to urge him on;
+however, we soon got beyond the reasonable limits of help, and I tried
+desperately to impress upon Tucker that I was going to be very severe:
+for this purpose I flourished my stock-whip in a way that drove my own
+skittish mare nearly frantic, and never touched Tucker, whom F---- was
+dragging along by main force. At last I gave up the stock-whip, with
+its unmanageable three yards of lash, and dropped it on the track, to be
+picked up as we came home. I now tried to hit Tucker with my horse-whip,
+but he flung his heels up in Helen's face the moment I touched him. I
+was in perfect despair, very much afraid of a sudden swerve on my mare's
+part sending us both down the precipice, and in equal dread of seeing
+F---- pulled off his saddle by Tucker's suddenly planting his fore-feet
+firmly together: F---- himself, with the expression of a martyr, looking
+round every now and then to say, "Can't you make him come on?" and I
+hitting wildly and vainly, feeling all the time that I was worse than
+useless. At last the bright idea occurred to me to ride nearly alongside
+of the fiendish Tucker, but a little above him on the hill, so as to be
+able to strike him fairly without fear of his heels. As far as Tucker
+was concerned this plan answered perfectly, for he soon found out he
+had to go; but Helen objected most decidedly to being taken off the
+comparative safety of the track and made to walk on a slippery, sloping
+hill, where she could hardly keep her feet; however, we got on much
+faster this way. Oh, how tired I was of striking Tucker! I don't believe
+I hurt him much, but I felt quite cruel. When we came to the plain, I
+begged F---- to let me lead him; so we changed, and there was no holding
+back on the chestnut's part then; it must have been like the grass and
+the stones in the fable. I never was more thankful than when that ride
+was over, though its disagreeables were soon forgotten in the warm
+welcome we received from our bachelor hosts, and the incessant
+discussions about the next day's excursion.
+
+We had finished breakfast by seven o'clock the following morning, and
+were ready to start. Of course the gentlemen were very fussy about their
+equipments, and hung themselves all over with cartridges and bags
+of bullets and powder-flasks; then they had to take care that their
+tobacco-pouches and match-boxes were filled; and lastly, each carried
+a little flask of brandy or sherry, in case of being lost and having to
+camp out. I felt quite unconcerned, having only my flask with cold
+tea in it to see about, and a good walking-stick was easily chosen. My
+costume may be described as uncompromising, for it had been explained to
+me that there were no paths but real rough bush walking; so I dispensed
+with all little feminine adornments even to the dearly-loved chignon,
+tucked my hair away as if I was going to put on a bathing-cap, and
+covered it with a Scotch bonnet. The rest of my toilette must have been
+equally shocking to the eyes of taste, and I have reason to believe the
+general effect most hideous; but one great comfort was, no one looked
+at me, they were all too much absorbed in preparations for a great
+slaughter, and I only came at all upon sufferance; the unexpressed but
+prevailing dread, I could plainly see, was that I should knock up and
+become a bore, necessitating an early return home; but I knew better!
+
+An American waggon and some ponies were waiting to take the whole party
+to the entrance of the bush, about four miles off, and, in spite of
+having to cross a rough river-bed, which is always a slow process, it
+did not take us very long to reach our first point. Here we dismounted,
+just at the edge of the great dense forest, and, with as little delay as
+possible in fine arrangements, struck into a path or bullock-track, made
+for about three miles into the bush for the convenience of dragging out
+the felled trees by ropes or chains attached to bullocks; they are not
+placed upon a waggon, so you may easily imagine the state the track was
+in, ploughed up by huge logs of timber dragged on the ground, and by the
+bullocks' hoofs besides. It was a mere slough with deep holes of mud
+in it, and we scrambled along its extreme edge, chiefly trusting to the
+trees on each side, which still lay as they had been felled, the men not
+considering them good enough to remove. At last we came to a clearing,
+and I quite despair of making you understand how romantic and lovely
+this open space in the midst of the tall trees looked that beautiful
+spring morning. I involuntarily thought of the descriptions in "Paul
+and Virginia," for the luxuriance of the growth was quite tropical. For
+about two acres the trees had been nearly all felled, only one or two
+giants remaining; their stumps were already hidden by clematis and
+wild creepers of other kinds, or by a sort of fern very like the
+hart's-tongue, which will only grow on the bark of trees, and its
+glossy leaves made an exquisite contrast to the rough old root. The
+"bushmen"--as the men who have bought twenty-acre sections and settled
+in the bush are called--had scattered English grass-seed all over the
+rich leafy mould, and the ground was covered with bright green grass,
+kept short and thick by a few tame goats browsing about. Before us was
+the steep bank of the river Waimakiriri, and a few yards from its edge
+stood a picturesque gable-ended little cottage surrounded by a rustic
+fence, which enclosed a strip of garden gay with common English spring
+flowers, besides more useful things, potatoes, etc. The river was about
+two hundred yards broad just here, and though it foamed below us, we
+could also see it stretching away in the distance almost like a lake,
+till a great bluff hid it from our eyes. Overhead the trees were alive
+with flocks of wild pigeons, ka-kas, parroquets, and other birds,
+chattering and twittering incessantly and as we stood on the steep bank
+and looked down, I don't think a minute passed without a brace of wild
+ducks flying past, grey, blue, and Paradise. These latter are the most
+beautiful plumaged birds I ever saw belonging to the duck tribe, and,
+when young, are very good eating, quite as delicate as the famous
+canvas-back. This sight so excited our younger sportsmen that they
+scrambled down the high precipice, followed by a water-spaniel, and in
+five minutes had bagged as many brace. We could not give them any more
+time, for it was past nine o'clock, and we were all eager to start on
+the serious business of the day; but before we left, the mistress of
+this charming "bush-hut" insisted on our having some hot coffee and
+scones and wild honey, a most delicious second breakfast. There was a
+pretty little girl growing up, and a younger child, both the picture of
+health; the only drawback seemed to be the mosquitoes; it was not very
+lonely, for one or two other huts stood in clearings adjoining, and
+furnished us with three bushmen as guides and assistants. I must say,
+they were the most picturesque of the party, being all handsome men,
+dressed in red flannel shirts and leathern knickerbockers and gaiters;
+they had fine beards, and wore "diggers' hats," a head-dress of American
+origin--a sort of wide-awake made of plush, capable of being crushed
+into any shape, and very becoming. All were armed with either rifle or
+gun, and one carried an axe and a coil of rope; another had a gun such
+as is seldom seen out of an arsenal; it was an old flint lock, but had
+been altered to a percussion; its owner was very proud of it, not so
+much for its intrinsic beauty, though it once had been a costly and
+splendid weapon and was elaborately inlaid with mother-of-pearl, but
+because it had belonged to a former Duke of Devonshire. In spite of its
+claims to consideration on this head as well as its own beauty, we all
+eyed it with extreme disfavour on account of a peculiarity it possessed
+of not going off when it was intended to do so, but about five minutes
+afterwards.
+
+It was suggested to me very politely that I might possibly prefer to
+remain behind and spend the day in this picturesque spot, but this offer
+I declined steadily; I think the bushmen objected to my presence more
+than any one else, as they really meant work, and dreaded having to turn
+back for a tired "female" (they never spoke of me by any other term). At
+last all the information was collected about the probable whereabouts
+of the wild cattle--it was so contradictory, that it must have been
+difficult to arrange any plan by it,--and we started. A few hundred
+yards took us past the clearings and into the very heart of the forest.
+We had left the sun shining brightly overhead; here it was all a "great
+green gloom." I must describe to you the order in which we marched.
+First came two of the most experienced "bush-hands," who carried a
+tomahawk or light axe with which to clear the most cruel of the brambles
+away, and to notch the trees as a guide to us on our return; and also a
+compass, for we had to steer for a certain point, the bearings of which
+we knew--of course the procession was in Indian file: next to these
+pioneers walked, very cautiously, almost on tiptoe, four of our
+sportsmen; then I came; and four or five others, less keen or less well
+armed, brought up the rear. I may here confess that I endured in silence
+agonies of apprehension for my personal safety all day. It was so
+dreadful to see a bramble or wild creeper catch in the lock of the rifle
+before me, and to reflect that, unless its owner was very careful, it
+might "go off of its own accord," and to know that I was exposed to a
+similar danger from those behind.
+
+We soon got on the fresh tracks of some cows, and proceeded most
+cautiously and silently; but it could hardly be called walking, it was
+alternately pushing through dense undergrowth, crawling beneath, or
+climbing over, high barricades made by fallen trees. These latter
+obstacles I found the most difficult, for the bark was so slippery; and
+once, when with much difficulty I had scrambled up a pile of _debris_ at
+least ten feet high, I incautiously stepped on some rotten wood at the
+top, and went through it into a sort of deep pit, out of which it
+was very hard to climb. On comparing notes afterwards, we found, that
+although we had walked without a moment's cessation for eleven hours
+during the day, a pedometer only gave twenty-two miles as the distance
+accomplished. Before we had been in the bush half an hour our faces were
+terribly scratched and bleeding, and so were the gentlemen's hands; my
+wrists also suffered, as my gauntlets would not do their duty and lie
+flat. There were myriads of birds around us, all perfectly tame; many
+flew from twig to twig, accompanying us with their little pert heads on
+one side full of curiosity; the only animals we saw were some wild
+sheep looking very disreputable with their long tails and torn, trailing
+fleeces of six or seven years' growth. There are supposed to be some
+hundreds of these in the bush who have strayed into it years ago, when
+they were lambs, from neighbouring runs. The last man in the silent
+procession put a match into a dead tree every here and there, to
+serve as a torch to guide us back in the dark; but this required great
+judgment for fear of setting the whole forest on fire: the tree required
+to be full of damp decay, which would only smoulder and not blaze. We
+intended to steer for a station on the other side of a narrow neck of
+the Great Bush, ten miles off, as nearly as we could guess, but we made
+many detours after fresh tracks. Once these hoof-marks led us to the
+brink of such a pretty creek, exactly like a Scotch burn, wide and
+noisy, tumbling down from rock to rock, but not very deep. After a
+whispered consultation, it was determined to follow up this creek to
+a well-known favourite drinking-place of the cattle, but it was easier
+walking in the water than on the densely-grown banks, so all the
+gentlemen stepped in one after another. I hesitated a moment with
+one's usual cat-like antipathy to wet feet, when a stalwart bushman
+approached, with rather a victimised air and the remark: "Ye're heavy,
+nae doot, to carry." I was partly affronted at this prejudgment of the
+case, and partly determined to show that I was equal to the emergency,
+for I immediately jumped into the water, frightening myself a good deal
+by the tremendous splash I made, and meeting reproving glances; and nine
+heads were shaken violently at me.
+
+Nothing could be more beautiful than the winding banks of this creek,
+fringed with large ferns in endless variety; it was delightful to see
+the sun and sky once more overhead, but I cannot say that it was the
+easiest possible walking, and I soon found out that the cleverest thing
+to do was to wade a little way behind the shortest gentleman of the
+party, for when he disappeared in a hole I knew it in time to avoid a
+similar fate; whereas, as long as I persisted in stalking solemnly after
+my own tall natural protector, I found that I was always getting into
+difficulties in unexpectedly deep places. I saw the bushmen whispering
+together, and examining the rocks in some places, but I found on inquiry
+that their thoughts were occupied at the moment by other ideas than
+sport; one of them had been a digger, and was pronouncing an opinion
+that this creek was very likely to prove a "home of the gold" some day.
+There is a strong feeling prevalent that gold will be found in great
+quantities all over the island. At this time of the year the water is
+very shallow, but the stream evidently comes down with tremendous force
+in the winter; and they talk of having "found the colour" (of gold) in
+some places. We proceeded in this way for about three miles, till we
+reached a beautiful, clear, deep pool, into which the water fell from
+a height in a little cascade; the banks here were well trodden, and
+the hoof-prints quite recent; great excitement was caused by hearing a
+distant lowing, but after much listening, in true Indian fashion, with
+the ear to the ground, everybody was of a different opinion as to the
+side from whence the sound proceeded, so we determined to keep on our
+original course; the compass was once more produced, and we struck into
+a dense wood of black birch.
+
+Ever since we left the clearing from which the start was made, we had
+turned our backs on the river, but about three o'clock in the afternoon
+we came suddenly on it again, and stood on the most beautiful spot I
+ever saw in my life. We were on the top of a high precipice, densely
+wooded to the water's edge. Some explorers in bygone days must
+have camped here, for half-a-dozen trees were felled, and the thick
+brush-wood had been burnt for a few yards, just enough to let us take
+in the magnificent view before and around us. Below roared and foamed,
+among great boulders washed down from the cliff, the Waimakiriri; in
+the middle of it lay a long narrow strip of white shingle, covered with
+water in the winter floods, but now shining like snow in the bright
+sunlight. Beyond this the river flowed as placidly as a lake, in cool
+green depths, reflecting every leaf of the forest on the high bank or
+cliff opposite. To our right it stretched away, with round headlands
+covered with timber running down in soft curves to the water. But on our
+left was the most perfect composition for a picture in the foreground
+a great reach of smooth water, except just under the bank we stood on,
+where the current was strong and rapid; a little sparkling beach, and a
+vast forest rising up from its narrow border, extending over chain
+after chain of hills, till they rose to the glacial region, and then
+the splendid peaks of the snowy range broke the deep blue sky line with
+their grand outlines.
+
+All this beauty would have been almost too oppressive, it was on such a
+large scale and the solitude was so intense, if it had not been for the
+pretty little touch of life and movement afforded by the hut belonging
+to the station we were bound for. It was only a rough building, made
+of slabs of wood with cob between; but there was a bit of fence and the
+corner of a garden and an English grass paddock, which looked about as
+big as a pocket-handkerchief from where we stood. A horse or two and a
+couple of cows were tethered near, and we could hear the bark of a
+dog. A more complete hermitage could not have been desired by Diogenes
+himself, and for the first time we felt ashamed of invading the recluse
+in such a formidable body, but ungrudging, open-handed hospitality is so
+universal in New Zealand that we took courage and began our descent. It
+really was like walking down the side of a house, and no one could stir
+a step without at least one arm round a tree. I had no gun to carry,
+so I clung frantically with both arms to each stem in succession. The
+steepness of the cliff was the reason we could take in all the beauty of
+the scene before us, for the forest was as thick as ever; but we could
+see over the tops of the trees, as the ground dropped sheer down, almost
+in a straight line from the plateau we had been travelling on all day.
+As soon as we reached the shingle, on which we had to walk for a few
+hundred yards, we bethought ourselves of our toilettes; the needle and
+thread I had brought did good service in making us more presentable.
+We discovered, however, that our faces were a perfect network of fine
+scratches, some of which _would_ go on bleeding, in spite of cold-water
+applications. Our boots were nearly dry; and my petticoat, short as it
+was, proved to be the only damp garment: this was the fault of my
+first jump into the water. We put the least scratched and most
+respectable-looking member of the party in the van, and followed him,
+amid much barking of dogs, to the low porch; and after hearing a cheery
+"Come in," answering our modest tap at the door, we trooped in one
+after the other till the little room was quite full. I never saw such
+astonishment on any human face as on that of the poor master of the
+house, who could not stir from his chair by the fire, on account of a
+bad wound in his leg from an axe. There he sat quite helpless, a
+moment ago so solitary, arid now finding himself the centre of a large,
+odd-looking crowd of strangers. He was a middle-aged Scotchman, probably
+of not a very elevated position in life, and had passed many years in
+this lonely spot, and yet he showed himself quite equal to the occasion.
+
+After that first uncontrollable look of amazement he did the honours of
+his poor hut with the utmost courtesy and true good-breeding. His only
+apology was for being unable to rise from his arm-chair (made out of
+half a barrel and an old flour-sack by the way); he made us perfectly
+welcome, took it for granted we were hungry--hunger is a very mild word
+to express my appetite, for one--called by a loud coo-ee to his man
+Sandy, to whom he gave orders that the best in the house should be put
+before us, and then began to inquire by what road we had come, what
+sport we had, etc., all in the nicest way possible. I never felt more
+awkward in my life than when I stooped to enter that low doorway, and
+yet in a minute I was quite at my ease again; but of the whole party I
+was naturally the one who puzzled him the most. In the first place, I
+strongly suspect that he had doubts as to my being anything but a boy
+in a rather long kilt; and when this point was explained, he could not
+understand what a "female," as he also called me, was doing on a rough
+hunting expedition. He particularly inquired more than once if I had
+come of my own free will, and could not understand what pleasure I found
+in walking so far. Indeed he took it so completely for granted that I
+must be exhausted, that he immediately began to make plans for F---- and
+me to stop there all night, offering to give up his "bunk" (some slabs
+of wood made into a shelf, with a tussock mattress and a blanket), and
+to sleep himself in his arm-chair.
+
+In the meantime, Sandy was preparing our meal. There was an open hearth
+with a fine fire, and a big black kettle hanging over it by a hook
+fastened somewhere up the chimney. As soon as this boiled he went to a
+chest, or rather locker, and brought a double-handful of tea, which he
+threw into the kettle; then he took from a cupboard the biggest loaf, of
+bread I ever saw--a huge thing, which had been baked in a camp-oven--and
+flapped it down on the table with a bang; next he produced a tin
+milk-pan, and returned to the cupboard to fetch out by the shank-bone a
+mutton-ham, which he placed in the milk-dish: a bottle of capital whisky
+was forthcoming from the same place; a little salt on one newspaper, and
+brown, or rather _black_, sugar on another, completed the arrangements,
+and we were politely told by Sandy to "wire in,"--digger's phraseology
+for an invitation to commence, which we did immediately, as soon as we
+could make an arrangement about the four tin plates and three pannikins.
+I had one all to myself, but the others managed by twos and threes to
+each plate. I never had a better luncheon in my life; everything was
+excellent in its way, and we all possessed what we are told is the best
+sauce. Large as the supplies were, we left hardly anything, and the more
+we devoured the more pleased our host seemed. There were no chairs; we
+sat on logs of trees rudely chopped into something like horse-blocks,
+but to tired limbs which had known no rest from six hours' walking they
+seemed delightful. After we had finished our meal, the gentlemen went
+outside to have half a pipe before setting off again; they dared not
+smoke whilst we were after the cattle, for fear of their perceiving some
+unusual smell; and I remained for ten minutes with Mr----. I found that
+he was very fond of reading; his few books were all of a good stamp,
+but he was terribly hard-up for anything which he had not read a hundred
+times over. I hastily ran over the names of some books of my own,
+which I offered to lend him for as long a time as he liked: and we
+made elaborate plans for sending them, of my share in which I took a
+memorandum. He seemed very grateful at the prospect of having anything
+new, especially now that he was likely to be laid up for some weeks, and
+I intend to make every effort to give him this great pleasure as soon as
+possible.
+
+We exchanged the most hearty farewells when the time of parting came,
+and our host was most earnest in his entreaties to us to remain; but it
+was a question of getting out of the bush before dusk, so we could not
+delay. He sent Sandy to guide us by a rather longer but easier way than
+climbing up the steep cliff to the place where the little clearing at
+its edge which I have mentioned had been made; and we dismissed our
+guide quite happy with contributions from all the tobacco-pouches,
+for no one had any money with him. We found our way back again by the
+notches on the trees as long as the light lasted, and when it got
+too dark to see them easily, the smouldering trunks guided us, and we
+reached the clearing from which we started in perfect safety. Good Mrs.
+D---- had a bountiful tea ready; she was much concerned at our having
+yet some three miles of bad walking before we could reach the hut on the
+outskirts of the bush, where we had left the trap and the ponies. When
+we got to this point there was actually another and still more sumptuous
+meal set out for us, to which, alas! we were unable to do any justice;
+and then we found our way to the station across the flat, down a steep
+cutting, and through the river-bed, all in the dark and cold. We had
+supper as soon as we reached home, tumbling into bed as early as might
+be afterwards for such a sleep as you Londoners don't know anything
+about.
+
+I have only described one expedition to you, and that the most
+unsuccessful, as far as killing anything goes; but my hunting instincts
+only lead me to the point of reaching the game; when it comes to that,
+I always try to save its life, and if this can't be done, I retire to
+a distance and stop my ears; indeed, if very much over-excited, I can't
+help crying. Consequently, I enjoy myself much more when we don't kill
+anything; and, on the other occasions, I never could stop and see even
+the shot fired which was to bring a fine cow or a dear little calf down,
+but crept away as far as ever I could, and muffled my head in my jacket.
+The bushmen liked this part of the performance the best, I believe, and
+acted as butchers very readily, taking home a large joint each to their
+huts, a welcome change after the eternal pigeons, ka-kas, and wild ducks
+on which they live.
+
+
+
+
+Letter XXII: The exceeding joy of "burning."
+
+
+Broomielaw, December 1867. I am quite sorry that the season for setting
+fire to the long grass, or, as it is technically called, "burning the
+run," is fairly over at last. It has been later than usual this year, on
+account of the snow having lain such an unusual time on the ground and
+kept the grass damp. Generally September is the earliest month in which
+it begins, and November the latest for it to end; but this year the
+shady side of "Flagpole" was too moist to take fire until December.
+
+It is useless to think of setting out on a burning expedition unless
+there is a pretty strong nor'-wester blowing; but it must not be _too_
+violent, or the flames will fly over the grass, just scorching it
+instead of making "a clean burn." But when F---- pronounces the wind to
+be just right, and proposes that we should go to some place where the
+grass is of two, or, still better, three years' growth, then I am
+indeed happy. I am obliged to be careful not to have on any inflammable
+petticoats, even if it is quite a warm day, as they are very dangerous;
+the wind will shift suddenly perhaps as, I am in the very act of setting
+a tussock a-blaze, and for half a second I find myself in the middle
+of the flames. F---- generally gets his beard well singed, and I have
+nearly lost my eyelashes more than once. We each provide ourselves with
+a good supply of matches, and on the way we look out for the last year's
+tall blossom of those horrid prickly bushes called "Spaniards," or a
+bundle of flax-sticks, or, better than all, the top of a dead and
+dry Ti-ti palm. As soon as we come to the proper spot, and F---- has
+ascertained that no sheep are in danger of being made into roast mutton
+before their time, we begin to light our line of fire, setting one large
+tussock blazing, lighting our impromptu torches at it, and then starting
+from this "head-centre," one to the right and the other to the left,
+dragging the blazing sticks along the grass. It is a very exciting
+amusement, I assure you, and the effect is beautiful, especially as it
+grows dusk and the fires are racing up the hills all around us. Every
+now and then they meet with a puff of wind, which will perhaps strike a
+great wall of fire rushing up-hill as straight as a line, and divide it
+into two fiery horns like a crescent; then as the breeze changes again,
+the tips of flame will gradually approach each other till they meet, and
+go on again in a solid mass of fire.
+
+If the weather has been very dry for some time and the wind is high, we
+attempt to burn a great flax swamp, perhaps, in some of the flats. This
+makes a magnificent bonfire when once it is fairly started, but it is
+more difficult to light in the first instance, as you have to collect
+the dead flax-leaves and make a little fire of them under the big green
+bush in order to coax it to blaze up: but it crackles splendidly; indeed
+it sounds as if small explosions were going on sometimes. But another
+disadvantage of burning a swamp is, that there are deep holes every yard
+or two, into which I always tumble in my excitement, or in getting out
+of the way of a flax-bush which has flared up just at the wrong moment,
+and is threatening to set me on fire also. These holes are quite full of
+water in the winter, but now they contain just enough thin mud to come
+in over the tops of my boots; so I do not like stepping into one every
+moment. We start numerous wild ducks and swamp-hens, and perhaps a
+bittern or two, by these conflagrations. On the whole, I like burning
+the hill-sides better than the swamp--you get a more satisfactory blaze
+with less trouble; but I sigh over these degenerate days when the grass
+is kept short and a third part of a run is burned regularly ever spring,
+and long for the good old times of a dozen years ago, when the tussocks
+were six feet high. What a blaze they must have made! The immediate
+results of our expeditions are vast tracts of perfectly black and barren
+country, looking desolate and hideous to a degree hardly to be imagined;
+but after the first spring showers a beautiful tender green tint steals
+over the bare hill-sides, and by and by they are a mass of delicious
+young grass, and the especial favourite feeding-place of the ewes and
+lambs. The day after a good burn thousands of sea-gulls flock to the
+black ground. Where they spring from I cannot tell, as I never see one
+at any other time, and their hoarse, incessant cry is the first sign you
+have of their arrival. They hover over the ground, every moment darting
+down, for some insect. They cannot find much else but roasted lizards
+and, grasshoppers, for I have never seen a caterpillar in New Zealand.
+
+In the height of the burning season last month I had Alice S---- to
+stay with me for two or three weeks, and to my great delight I found
+our tastes about fires agreed exactly, and we both had the same
+grievance--that we never were allowed to have half enough of it; so we
+organized the most delightful expeditions together. We used to have
+a quiet old station-horse saddled, fasten the luncheon-basket to the
+pommel with materials for a five o'clock tea, and start off miles away
+to the back of the run, about three o'clock in the afternoon, having
+previously bribed the shepherd to tell us where the longest grass was
+to be found--and this he did very readily, as our going saved him the
+trouble of a journey thither, and he was not at all anxious for more
+work than he could help. We used to ride alternately, till we got to a
+deserted shepherd's hut in such a lovely gully, quite at the far end
+of the run! Here we tied up dear quiet old Jack to the remnants of the
+fence, leaving him at liberty to nibble a little grass. We never took
+off the saddle after the first time, for upon that occasion we found
+that our united strength was insufficient to girth it on again
+properly, and we made our appearance at home in the most ignominious
+fashion--Alice leading Jack, and I walking by his side holding the
+saddle _on_. Whenever we attempted to buckle the girths, this artful old
+screw swelled himself out with such a long breath that it was impossible
+to pull the strap to the proper hole; we could not even get it tight
+enough to stay steady, without slipping under him at every step.
+However, this is a digression, and I must take you back to the scene of
+the fire, and try to make you understand how delightful it was. Alice
+said that what made it so fascinating to her was a certain sense of its
+being mischief, and a dim feeling that we might get into a scrape. I
+don't think I ever stopped to analyse my sensations; fright was the
+only one I was conscious of, and yet I liked it so much. When after much
+consultation--in which I always deferred to Alice's superior wisdom
+and experience--we determined on our line of fire, we set to work
+vigorously, and the great thing was to see who could make the finest
+blaze. I used to feel very envious if my fire got into a bare patch,
+where there were more rocks than tussocks, and languished, whilst
+Alice's was roaring and rushing up a hill. We always avoided burning
+where a grove of the pretty Ti-ti palms grew; but sometimes there would
+be one or two on a hill-side growing by themselves, and then it was most
+beautiful to see them burn. Even before the flames reached them their
+long delicate leaves felt the wind of the fire and shivered piteously;
+then the dry old ones at the base of the stem caught the first spark
+like tinder, and in a second the whole palm was in a blaze, making a
+sort of heart to the furnace, as it had so much more substance than the
+grass. For a moment or two the poor palm would bend and sway, tossing
+its leaves like fiery plumes in the air, and then it was reduced to a
+black stump, and the fire swept on up the hill.
+
+The worst of it all was that we never knew when to leave off and come
+home. We would pause for half an hour and boil our little kettle, and
+have some tea and cake, and then go on again till quite late, getting
+well scolded when we reached home at last dead-tired and as black as
+little chimney-sweeps. One evening F---- was away on a visit of two
+nights to a distant friend, and Alice and I determined on having
+splendid burns in his absence; so we made our plans, and everything was
+favourable, wind and all. We enjoyed ourselves very much, but if Mr.
+U---- had not come out to look for us at ten o'clock at night, and
+traced us by our blazing track, we should have had to camp out, for we
+had no idea where we were, or that we had wandered so many miles from
+home; nor had we any intention of returning just yet. We were very much
+ashamed of ourselves upon that occasion, and took care to soften the
+story considerably before it reached F----'s ears the next day.
+
+However much I may rejoice at nor'-westers in the early spring as aids
+to burning the run, I find them a great hindrance to my attempts at a
+lawn. Twice have we had the ground carefully dug up and prepared; twice
+has it been sown with the best English seed for the purpose, at some
+considerable expense; then has come much toil on the part of F---- and
+Mr. U---- with a heavy garden-roller; and the end of all the trouble
+has been that a strong nor'-wester has blown both seed and soil away,
+leaving only the hard un-dug (I wonder whether there is such a word)
+ground. I could scarcely believe that it really was all "clean gone," as
+children say, until a month or two after the first venture, when I had
+been straining my eyes and exercising my imagination all in vain to
+discover a blade where it ought to have been, but had remarked in one of
+my walks an irregular patch of nice English grass about half a mile from
+the house down the flat. I speculated for some time as to how it got
+there, and at last F---- was roused from his reverie, and said coolly,
+"Oh, that's your lawn!" When this happens twice, it really becomes very
+aggravating: there are the croquet things lying idle in the verandah
+year after year, and, as far as I can see, they are likely to remain
+unused for ever.
+
+Before I close my letter I must tell you of an adventure I have had with
+a wild boar, which was really dangerous. F---- and another gentleman
+were riding with me one afternoon in a very lonely gully at the back of
+the run, when the dogs (who always accompany us) put up a large,
+fierce, black, boar out of some thick flax-bushes. Of course the
+hunting instinct, which all young Englishmen possess, was in full force
+instantly; and in default of any weapon these two jumped off their
+horses and picked up, out of the creek close by, the largest and
+heaviest stones they could lift. I disapproved of the chase under the
+circumstances, but my timid remonstrances were not even heard. The light
+riding-whips which each gentleman carried were hastily given to me to
+hold, and in addition F---- thrust an enormous boulder into my lap,
+saying, "Now, this is to be my second gun; so keep close to me." Imagine
+poor me, therefore, with all three whips tucked under my left arm,
+whilst with my right I tried to keep the big stone on my knee, Miss
+Helen all the time capering about, as she always does when there is any
+excitement; and I feeling very unequal to holding her back from joining
+in the chase too ardently, for she always likes to be first everywhere,
+which is not at all my "sentiments." The ground was as rough as
+possible; the creek winding about necessitated a good jump every few
+yards; and the grass was so long and thick that it was difficult to get
+through it, or to see any blind creeks or other pitfalls. _Mem_. to burn
+this next spring.
+
+The pig first turned to bay against a palm-tree, and soon disabled
+the dogs. You cannot think what a formidable weapon a wild boar's tusk
+is--the least touch of it cuts like a razor; and they are so swift in
+their jerks of the head when at bay that in a second they will rip up
+both dogs and horses: nor are they the least afraid of attacking a man
+on foot in self-defence; but they seldom or ever strike the first blow.
+As soon as he had disposed of both the dogs, who lay howling piteously
+and bleeding on the ground, the boar made at full speed for the spur of
+a hill close by. The pace was too good to last, especially up-hill; so
+the gentlemen soon caught him up, and flung their stones at him, but
+they dared not bring their valuable horses too near for fear of a wound
+which probably would have lamed them for life; and a heavy, rock
+or stone is a very unmanageable weapon. I was not therefore at all
+surprised to see that both shots missed, or only very slightly grazed
+the pig; but what I confess to being perfectly unprepared for was the
+boar charging violently down-hill on poor unoffending me, with his head
+on one side ready for the fatal backward jerk, champing and foaming as
+he came, with what Mr. Weller would call his "vicked old eye" twinkling
+with rage. Helen could not realize the situation at all. I tried to turn
+her, and so get out of the infuriated brute's way; but no, she would
+press on to meet him and join the other horses at the top of the hill.
+I had very little control over her, for I was so laden with whips and
+stones that my hands were useless for the reins. I knew I was in great
+danger, but at the moment I could only think of my poor pretty mare
+lamed for life, or even perhaps killed on the spot. I heard one wild
+shout of warning from above, and I knew the others were galloping to my
+rescue; but in certainly less than half a minute from the time the boar
+turned, he had reached me. I slipped the reins over my left elbow, so
+as to leave my hands free, took my whip in my teeth (I had to drop the
+others), and lifting the heavy stone with both my hands waited a second
+till the boar was near enough, leaning well over on the right-hand side
+of the saddle so as to see what he did. He made for poor Helen's near
+fore-leg with his head well down, and I could hear his teeth gnashing.
+Just as he touched her with a prick from his tusk like a stiletto and
+before he could jerk his head back so as to rip the leg up, I flung my
+small rock with all the strength I possessed crash on his head: but
+I could not take a good aim; for the moment Helen felt the stab, she
+reared straight up on her hind-legs, and as we were going up-hill, I had
+some trouble to keep myself from slipping off over her tail. However, my
+rock took some effect, for the pig was so stunned that he dropped on his
+knees, and before he could recover himself Helen had turned round, still
+on her hind-legs, as on a pivot, and was plunging and jumping madly
+down the hill. I could not get back properly into my saddle, nor could
+I arrange the reins; so I had to stick on anyhow. It was not a case of
+fine riding at all; I merely clung like a monkey, and F----, who was
+coming as fast as he could to me, said he expected to see me on
+the ground every moment; but, however, I did not come off upon that
+occasion. Helen was nearly beside herself with terror. I tried to pat
+her neck and soothe her, but the moment she felt my hand she bounded
+as if I had struck her, and shivered so much that I thought she must be
+injured; so the moment F---- could get near her I begged him to look
+at her fetlock. He led her down to the creek, and washed the place, and
+examined it carefully, pronouncing, to my great joy, that the tusk had
+hardly gone in at all--in fact had merely pricked her--and that she was
+not in the least hurt. I could hardly get the gentlemen to go to the
+assistance of the poor dogs, one of which was very much hurt. Both F----
+and Mr. B---- evidently thought I must have been "kilt intirely," for my
+situation looked so critical at one moment that they could scarcely
+be persuaded that neither Helen nor I were in the least hurt. I coaxed
+F---- that evening to write me a doggerel version of the story for the
+little boys, which I send you to show them:--
+
+          St. Anne and the pig.
+     You've heard of St. George and the dragon,
+          Or seen them; and what can be finer,
+     In silver or gold on a flagon,
+     With Garrard or Hancock designer?
+
+     Though we know very little about him
+          (Saints mostly are shrouded in mystery),
+     Britannia can't well do without him,
+          He sets off her shillings and history.
+
+     And from truth let such tales be defended,
+          Bards at least should bestow them their blessing,
+     As a rich sort of jewel suspended
+          On History when she's done dressing.
+
+     Some would have her downstairs to the present,
+          In plain facts fresh from critical mangle;
+     But let the nymph make herself pleasant,
+          Here a bracelet, and there with a bangle
+
+     Such as Bold Robin Hood or Red Riding,
+          Who peasant and prince have delighted,
+     Despite of all social dividing,
+          And the times of their childhood united.
+
+     Shall New Zealand have never a fable,
+          A rhyme to be sung by the nurses,
+     A romance of a famous Round Table,
+          A "Death of Cock Robin" in verses?
+
+     Or shall not a scribe be found gracious
+          With pen and with parchment, inditing
+     And setting a-sail down the spacious
+          Deep day stream some suitable writing;
+
+     Some action, some name so heroic
+          That its sound shall be death to her foemen,
+     And make her militia as stoic
+          As St. George made the Cressy crossbowmen;
+
+     A royal device for her banners,
+          A reverse for her coinage as splendid,
+     An example of primitive manners
+          When all their simplicity's ended?
+
+     Here it is, ye isles Antipodean!
+          Leave Britain her great Cappadocian;
+     I'll chant you a latter-day paean,
+          And sing you a saint for devotion,
+
+     Who on horseback slew also a monster,
+          Though armed with no sharp lance to stab it,
+     Though no helmet or hauberk ensconced her,
+          But only a hat and a habit.
+
+     This dame, for her bravery sainted,
+          Set up for all times' adoration,
+     With her picture in poetry painted,
+          Was a lady who lived on a station.
+
+     Her days--to proceed with the story
+          In duties domestic dividing,
+     But, or else she had never won glory,
+          She now and then went out a-riding.
+     It chanced, with two knights at her stirrup,
+          She swept o'er the grass of the valleys,
+     Heard the brooks run; and heard the birds chirrup,
+          When a boar from the flax-bushes sallies.
+
+     The cavaliers leaped from their horses;
+          As for weapons, that day neither bore them;
+     So they chose from the swift watercourses
+          Heavy boulders, and held them before them.
+
+     They gave one as well to the lady:
+          She took it, and placed it undaunted
+     On the pommel, and balanced it steady,
+          While they searched where the animal haunted.
+
+     A bowshot beyond her were riding
+          The knights, each alert with his missile,
+     But in doubt where the pig went a-hiding,
+          For they had not kept sight of his bristle.
+
+     When--the tale needs but little enlarging
+          One turned round by chance on his courser;
+     To his horror, the monster was charging
+          At the lady, as if to unhorse her.
+
+     But his fears for her safety were idle,
+          No heart of a hero beat stouter:
+     She poised the stone, gathered her bridle--
+          A halo, 'tis said, shone about her.
+
+     With his jaws all extended and horrid,
+          Fierce and foaming, the brute leapt to gore her,
+     When she dropped the rock full on his forehead,
+          And lo! he fell dying before her.
+
+     There he lay, bristling, tusky, and savage;
+          Such a mouth, as was long ago written;
+     Made Calydon lonely with ravage,
+          By such teeth young Adonis was bitten.
+
+     Then praise to our new Atalanta,
+          Of the chase and of song spoils be brought her,
+     Whose skill and whose strength did not want a
+          Meleager to finish the slaughter.
+
+     She is sung, and New Zealand shall take her,
+          Thrice blest to possess such a matron,
+     And give thanks to its first ballad-maker,
+          Who found it a saint for a patron.
+
+
+
+
+Letter XXIII: Concerning a great flood.
+
+
+Broomielaw, February 1868. Since I last wrote to you we have been nearly
+washed away, by all the creeks and rivers in the country overflowing
+their banks! Christchurch particularly was in great danger from the
+chance of the Waimakiriri returning to its old channel, in which case it
+would sweep away the town. For several hours half the streets were under
+water, the people going about in boats, and the Avon was spread out like
+a lake over its banks for miles. The weather had been unusually sultry
+for some weeks, and during the last five days the heat had been far
+greater, even in the hills, than anyone could remember. It is often very
+hot indeed during the mid-day hours in summer, but a hot night is almost
+unknown; and, at the elevation we live, there are few evenings in the
+year when a wood-fire is not acceptable after sunset; as for a blanket
+at night, that is seldom left off even in the plains, and is certainly
+necessary in the hills. Every one was anxiously looking for rain, as the
+grass was getting very dry and the creeks low, and people were beginning
+to talk of an Australian summer and to prophesy dismal things of a
+drought. On a Sunday night about eleven o'clock we were all sauntering
+about out of doors, finding it too hot to remain in the verandah; it was
+useless to think of going to bed; and F---- and Mr. U---- agreed that
+some great change in the weather was near. There was a strange stillness
+and oppression in the air; the very animals had not gone to sleep, but
+all seemed as restless and wakeful as we were. I remember we discussed
+the probability of a severe earthquake, for the recent wave at St.
+Thomas's was in everybody's mind. F---- and I had spent a few days in
+Christchurch the week before. There was a regular low-fever epidemic
+there, and, he had returned to the station feeling very unwell; but
+in this country illness is so rare that one almost forgets that such a
+thing exists, and we both attributed his seediness to the extraordinary
+heat.
+
+When we were out of doors that Sunday evening, we noticed immense banks
+and masses of clouds, but they were not in the quarter from whence our
+usual heavy rain comes; and besides, in New Zealand clouds are more
+frequently a sign of high wind than of rain. However, about midnight
+F---- felt so ill that he went in to bed, and we had scarcely got under
+shelter when, after a very few premonitory drops, the rain came down
+literally in sheets. Almost from the first F---- spoke of the peculiar
+and different sound on the roof, but as he had a great deal of fever
+that night, I was too anxious to notice anything but the welcome fact
+that the rain had come at last, and too glad to hear it to be critical
+about the sound it made in falling. I came out to breakfast alone,
+leaving F---- still ill, but the fever going off. The atmosphere was
+much lightened, but the rain seemed like a solid wall of water falling
+fast and furiously; the noise on the wooden roof was so great that we
+had to shout to each other to make ourselves heard; and when I looked
+out I was astonished to see the dimensions to which the ponds had.
+swollen. Down all the hill-sides new creeks and waterfalls had sprung
+into existence during the night. As soon as I had taken F---- his tea
+and settled down comfortably to breakfast, I noticed that instead of Mr.
+U---- looking the picture of bright good-humour, he wore a troubled and
+anxious countenance. I immediately inquired if he had been out of doors
+that morning? Yes, he had been to look at the horses in the stable.
+Well, I did not feel much interest in them, for they were big enough to
+take care of themselves: so I proceeded to ask if he had chanced to see
+anything of my fifty young ducks or my numerous broods of chickens. Upon
+this question Mr. U---- looked still more unhappy and tried to turn the
+conversation, but my suspicions were aroused and I persisted; so at last
+he broke to me, with much precaution, that I was absolutely without a
+duckling or a chicken in the world! They had been drowned in the night,
+and nothing was to be seen but countless draggled little corpses, what
+Mr. Mantilini called "moist unpleasant bodies," floating on the pond or
+whirling in the eddies of the creek. That was not even the worst. Every
+one of my sitting hens was drowned also, their nests washed away; so
+were the half-dozen beautiful ducks, with some twelve or fourteen eggs
+under each. I felt angry with the ducks, and thought they might have at
+any rate saved their own lives; but nothing could alter the melancholy
+returns of the missing and dead. My poultry-yard was, for all practical
+purposes, annihilated, just as it was at its greatest perfection and the
+pride and joy of my heart. All that day the rain descended steadily
+in torrents; there was not the slightest break or variation in the
+downpour: it was as heavy as that of the Jamaica _seasons_ of May and
+October. F----'s fever left him at the end of twelve hours, and he got
+up and came into the drawing-room; his first glance out of the window,
+which commanded a view of the flat for two or three miles, showed him
+how much the waters had risen since midnight; and he said that in all
+the years he had known those particular creeks he had never seen them so
+high: still I thought nothing of it. There was no cessation in the rain
+for exactly twenty-four hours; but at midnight on Monday, just as poor
+F---- was getting another attack of fever, it changed into heavy, broken
+showers, with little pauses of fine drizzle between, and by morning it
+showed signs of clearing, but continued at intervals till midday. The
+effect was extraordinary, considering the comparatively short time the
+real downpour had lasted. The whole flat was under water, the creeks
+were flooded beyond their banks for half a mile or so on each side, and
+the river Selwyn, which ran under some hills, bounding our view, was
+spread out, forming an enormous lake. A very conspicuous object on these
+opposite hills, which are between three and four miles distant, was
+a bold cliff known by the name of the "White Rocks," and serving as a
+landmark to all the countryside: we could hardly believe our eyes when
+we missed the most prominent of these and could see only a great bare
+rent in the mountain. The house was quite surrounded by water and stood
+on a small island; it was impossible even to wade for more than a few
+yards beyond the dry ground, for the water became quite deep and the
+current was running fast. F----'s fever lasted its twelve hours; but I
+began to be fidgety at the state of prostration it left him in, and when
+Tuesday night brought a third and sharper attack, I determined to make
+him go to town and see a doctor during his next interval of freedom from
+it.
+
+Wednesday morning was bright and sunny, but the waters had not much
+diminished: however, we knew every hour must lessen them, and I only
+waited for F----'s paroxysm of fever to subside about mid-day to send
+him off to Christchurch. I had exhausted my simple remedies, consisting
+of a spoonful of sweet spirits of nitre and a little weak brandy and
+water and did not think it right to let things go on in this way without
+advice: he was so weak he could hardly mount his horse; indeed he had to
+be fairly lifted on the old quiet station hack I have before mentioned
+with such deep affection, dear old Jack. It was impossible for him to go
+alone; so the ever-kind and considerate Mr. U---- offered to accompany
+him. This was the greatest comfort to me, though I and my two maids
+would be left all alone during their absence: however, that was much
+better than poor F---- going by himself in his weak state. Six hours of
+sunshine had greatly abated the floods, and as far as we could see the
+water was quite shallow now where it had overflowed. I saw them set off
+therefore with a good hope of their accomplishing the journey safely.
+Judge of my astonishment and horror when, on going to see what the dogs
+were barking at, about two hours later, I beheld F---- and Mr. U---- at
+the garden gate, dripping wet up to their shoulders, but laughing very
+much. Of course I immediately thought of F----'s fever, and made him
+come in and change; and have some hot tea directly; but he would not go
+to bed as I suggested, declaring that the shock of his unexpected cold
+bath, and the excitement of a swim for his life, had done him all the
+good in the world; and I may tell you at once; that it had completely
+cured him: he ate well that evening, slept well, and had no return of
+his fever, regaining his strength completely in a few days. So much for
+kill-or-cure remedies!
+
+It seems that as soon as they neared the first creek, with very high
+banks, about a mile from the house, the water came up to the horses'
+fetlocks, then to their knees, but still it was impossible to tell
+exactly where the creek began, or rather, where its bank ended; they
+went very cautiously, steering as well as they could for where they
+imagined the cutting in the steep bank to be; but I suppose they did
+not hit it off exactly, for suddenly they went plump into deep water and
+found themselves whirling along like straws down a tremendous current.
+Jack was, however, quite equal to the occasion; he never allows himself
+to be flurried or put out by anything, and has, I imagine, been in
+nearly every difficulty incident to New Zealand travelling. Instead,
+therefore, of losing his head as Helen did (Mr. U---- was riding her),
+and striking out wildly with her forelegs to the great danger of the
+other horse, Jack took it all as a matter of course, and set himself to
+swim steadily down the stream, avoiding the eddies as much as possible:
+he knew every yard of the bank, and did not therefore waste his strength
+by trying to land in impossible places, but kept a watchful eye for the
+easiest spot. F---- knew the old horse so well that he let him have his
+head and guide himself, only trying to avoid Helen's forelegs, which
+were often unpleasantly near; his only fear was lest they should have
+to go so far before a landing was possible that poor old Jack's strength
+might not hold out, for there is nothing so fatiguing to a horse as
+swimming in a strong current with a rider on his back, especially a
+heavy man. They were swept down for a long distance, though it was
+impossible to guess exactly how far they had gone, and F---- was getting
+very uneasy about a certain wire fence which had been carried across
+the creek; they were rapidly approaching it, and the danger was that the
+horses might suddenly find themselves entangled in it, in which case the
+riders would very likely have been drowned. F---- called to Mr. U----to
+get his feet free from the stirrups and loosened his own; but he told
+me he was afraid lest Mr. U---- should not hear him above the roaring
+of the water, and so perhaps be dragged under water when the fence
+was reached. However, Jack, knew all about it, and was not going to be
+drowned ignominiously in a creek which would not have wet his hoofs to
+cross three days before. A few yards from the fence he made one rush and
+a bound towards what seemed only a clump of Tohi bushes, but they broke
+the force of the current and gave him the chance he wanted, and he
+struggled up the high crumbling bank more like a cat than a steady old
+screw. Helen would not be left behind, and, with a good spur from
+Mr. U----, she followed Jack's example, and they stood dripping and
+shivering in shallow water. Both the horses were so _done_ that F----
+and Mr. U---- had to jump off instantly and loose the girths, turning
+them with their nostrils to the wind. It was a very narrow escape, and
+the disagreeable part of it was that they had scrambled out on the wrong
+side of the creek and had to recross it to get home: however, they rode
+on to the next stream, which looked so much more swollen and angry, that
+they gave up the idea of going on to Christchurch that night, especially
+as they were wet through to their chins, for both horses swam very low
+in the water, with only their heads to be seen above it.
+
+The next thing to be considered was how to get back to the house. It
+never would do to risk taking the horses into danger again when they
+were so exhausted; so they rode round by the homestead, crossed the
+creek higher up, where it was much wider but comparatively shallow
+(if anything could be called shallow just now), and came home over the
+hills. Good old Jack had an extra feed of oats that evening, a reward to
+which he is by no means insensible; and indeed it probably is the only
+one he cares for.
+
+The Fates had determined, apparently, that I also should come in for
+my share of watery adventures, for we had an engagement of rather long
+standing to ride across the hills, and visit a friend's station about
+twelve miles distant, and the day we had promised to go was rather more
+than a week after F----'s attempted journey. In the meantime, the waters
+had of course gone down considerably, and there was quite an excitement
+in riding and walking about our own run, and seeing the changes the
+flood had made, and the mischief it had done to the fencing;--this was
+in process of being repaired. We lost very few sheep; they were all up
+at the tops of the high hills, their favourite summer pasture.
+
+I think I have told you that between us and Christchurch there is but
+one river, a most peaceable and orderly stream, a perfect pattern to the
+eccentric New Zealand rivers, which are so changeable and restless. Upon
+this occasion, however, the Selwyn behaved quite as badly as any of its
+fellows; it was not only flooded for miles, carrying away quantities of
+fencing near its banks, and drowning confiding sheep suddenly, but at
+one spot about four miles from us, just under the White Rocks, it
+came down suddenly, like what Miss Ingelow calls "a mighty eygre," and
+deserted its old timeworn bed for two new ones: and the worst of the
+story is that it has taken a fancy to our road, swept away a good deal
+of it, breaking a course for itself in quite a different place; so now,
+instead of one nice, wide, generally shallow river to cross, about
+which there never has been an evil report, we have two horrid mountain
+torrents of which we know nothing: no one has been in yet to try their
+depth, or to find out the best place at which to ford them, and it
+unfortunately happened that F---- and I were the pioneers. When we came
+to the first new channel, F----with much care picked out what seemed
+the best place, and though it was a most disagreeable bit of water to
+go through, still we managed it all right; but when we came to the next
+curve, it was far worse. Here the river took a sharp turn, and came
+tearing round a corner, the colour and consistency of pea-soup, and
+making such a noise we could hardly hear ourselves speak standing close
+together on the bank; once in the stream, of course it would be hopeless
+to try to catch a word. I am ashamed to say that my fixed idea was to
+turn back, and this I proposed without hesitation; but F---- has the
+greatest dislike to retracing his steps, and is disagreeably like
+Excelsior in this respect; so he merely looked astonished at my want of
+spirit, and proceeded very calmly to give me my directions, and the more
+he impressed the necessity of coolness and caution upon me, the more I
+quaked. He was to go over first, alone; I was to follow, having first
+tucked my habit well up under my arm, and taken care that I was quite
+free so as not to be entangled in any way _if_ Helen should be swept
+away, or if a boulder should come down with the stream, and knock her
+feet from under her: I was not to be at all frightened (!), and I was to
+keep my eyes fixed on him, and guide Helen's head exactly by the motion
+of his hand. He plunged into the water as soon as he had issued these
+encouraging directions; I saw him floundering in and out of several
+deep holes, and presently he got safe to land, dripping wet; then he
+dismounted, tied Leo to a flax bush, and took off his coat and big
+riding-boots,--I thought, very naturally to dry them, but I should
+have been still more alarmed, if possible, had I known that this was to
+prepare to be ready to swim to my help in case of danger. As it was, my
+only hope was that Helen might not like the look of the angry flood,
+and would refuse to go in;--how I should have blessed her for such
+obstinacy!--but no, she was eager to rejoin her stable companion,
+and plunged in without hesitation. I found it much worse even than I
+dreaded; the water felt so resistless, as if it _must_ sweep me right
+out of the saddle; I should like to have clutched Helen's mane or
+anything to have kept me on, but both hands were wanted to hold the
+reins quite low down, one on each side of her withers, so as to guide
+her exactly according to F----'s pilot-hand on the opposite bank:
+steering implicitly by this I escaped the holes and rocks which he had
+come against, and got over safely, but trembling, and with chattering
+teeth. F----said, quite disdainfully, "You don't mean to say you're
+really frightened?" So then I scolded him, rather incoherently, and
+demanded to be praised for coming at all! I wrung my habit out as well
+as I could, F---- poured the water out of his boots, and we proceeded,
+first over a plain, and then to climb a high steep hill. I wonder if you
+have any idea how disagreeable and dangerous it is to go zigzag up the
+side of a mountain after such rain as we have had. The soil was just
+like soap, nothing for the horses' hoofs to take hold of, not a pebble
+or a tuft of grass; all had been washed away, and only the slippery clay
+remained. As usual, F---- went first and I followed, taking care not to
+keep below him, lest he and Leo should come "slithering" (that is
+the only word for it) down upon me; but, alas, it was Helen and I who
+slithered! Poor dear, all her legs seemed to fly from under her at once,
+and she came down on her side and on my legs. I felt the leaping-crutch
+snap, and found my left shoulder against the ground; I let go the reins,
+and thought we had better part company, but found I could not move
+for her weight; _she_ struggled to get up, and we both slipped down,
+down--down: there was no reason why we should not have gone on to the
+bottom of the hill, when a friendly tussock afforded her an instant's
+resting-place for her hind hoofs, and she scrambled to her feet like a
+cat. I found myself still on her back; so I picked up my reins and tried
+to pretend that I had never thought of getting off. F---- dared not stir
+from his "bad eminence;" so Helen and I wended our slippery way up to
+him, and in answer to his horrified "Where is your habit?" I found I was
+torn to ribbons; in fact, my skirt was little more than a kilt, and
+a very short one too! What was to be done? We were only three or four
+miles from our destination, so we pushed on, and at the last I lingered
+behind, and made F---- go first and borrow a cloak or shawl. You would
+have laughed if you had heard my pathetic adjurations to him to be
+sure to bring it by himself. I was so afraid that some one else would
+politely insist on accompanying him. But it was all right, though even
+with this assistance it was very difficult to arrange matters so as to
+be tolerably respectable. My hostess was shocked at my tattered, wet
+plight, and dried me, and dressed me up till I was quite smart, and then
+we had a very pleasant day, and, best of all, came home by a different
+road, so as to avoid the slippery descent and the rivers in the dark;
+but I still mourn for my habit!-it was my last. Three have disappeared,
+owing to unfortunate accidents, this year, and now I am reduced to what
+can be contrived out of a linsey dress.
+
+
+
+
+Letter XXIV: My only fall from horseback.
+
+
+Broomielaw, June 1868. The autumn has passed away so quickly that I can
+hardly believe the winter has reached us so soon--the last winter we
+shall spend in New Zealand. I should like to have been able to boast, on
+my return to England, that in three years' constant riding, on all sorts
+of horses, good, bad, and indifferent, and over abominable roads, I had
+escaped a fall; but not only have I had a very severe one, but it was
+from my own favourite Helen, which is very trying to reflect upon.
+However, it was not in the least her fault, or mine either; so she and I
+are still perfectly good friends.
+
+We had been spending two days up at Lake Coleridge, as a sort of
+farewell visit, and on our way down again to Rockwood, a distance of
+about twenty miles, we stopped to lunch, by invitation, at a station
+midway. There was so much to be seen at this place that we loitered
+much longer than was prudent in the short days, and by the time we
+had thoroughly inspected a beautiful new wool-shed with all the latest
+improvements (from which F---- could hardly tear himself away), the
+fish-ponds elaborately arranged for the reception of the young trout
+expected from Tasmania and the charming garden well sheltered by a grove
+of large wattle-trees, it was growing dusk, and we prepared to push on
+as fast as possible; for nothing is more disagreeable than being caught
+in the dark on a New Zealand track, with its creeks and swamps and wire
+fences: the last are the most dangerous obstacles, if you get off the
+track, or if the gate through the fence has been placed for convenience
+a few yards on one side of it; the horses cannot see the slender wires
+in the dark, and so fall over them, injuring themselves and their riders
+most seriously sometimes. Having still about eight miles to go, we were
+galloping gaily over a wide open plain, our only anxiety arising from
+the fast failing daylight; but the horses were still quite fresh, and,
+as the French idiom would have it, devoured the ground at a fine pace;
+when, in an instant, the ground appeared to rise up to meet me, and I
+found myself dragged along on the extreme point of my right shoulder,
+still grasping both reins and whip. I was almost under the feet of the
+other horse, and I saw Helen's heels describing frantic circles in the
+air. F---- shouted to me to let go, which it had never occurred to me to
+do previously. I did so, and jumped up instantly, feeling quite unhurt,
+and rather relieved to find that a fall was not so dreadful after all.
+I then saw the cause of the accident: the handle of a little
+travelling-bag which had been hung over the pommel of my saddle had
+slipped over the slight projection, and as it was still further secured
+by a strap through the girth, it was dangling under poor Helen, whose
+frantic bounds and leaps only increased the liveliness of her tormentor.
+I never saw such bucks and jumps high into the air as she performed
+receiving a severe blow from the bag at each; it was impossible to help
+laughing, though I did not see how it was all to end. She would not
+allow F---- to approach her, and was perfectly mad with terror. At
+last the girths gave way, and the saddle came off, with the bag still
+fastened to it; the moment she found herself free, she trotted up to me
+in the most engaging manner, and stood rubbing her nose against my arm,
+though she was still trembling all over, and covered with foam.
+
+By this time I had made the discovery that I could not raise my right
+arm; but still a careful investigation did not tell me it was broken,
+for it gave me no pain to touch anywhere, except a very little just on
+the point of the shoulder. F---- now went to pick up the saddle and
+the reins; it was difficult to find these latter in the fast gathering
+darkness and I held his horse for him. To my horror I found after
+standing for a moment or two, that I was going to faint; I could not
+utter a word; I knew that if my fast-relaxing fingers let go their hold
+of the bridle the horse would set off towards home at a gallop, Helen
+would assuredly follow him, and we should be left eight miles from the
+nearest shelter to find our way to it, with a deep creek to cross.
+F---- was fifty yards off, with his back to me, searching for some
+indispensable buckle; so there was no help to be got from him at the
+moment. I exerted every atom of my remaining strength to slip the bridle
+over my left arm, which I pressed against my waist; then I sat down as
+quietly as I could, not to alarm the horse, bent forward so as to keep
+my left arm under me lest the bridle should slip off, and fainted away
+in great peace and comfort. The cold was becoming so intense that it
+soon revived me, and F----, suspecting something was wrong, came to
+relieve me of the care of the horse, and contrived to get the girths
+repaired with the ever-ready flax, and the bag secured in a very short
+time. But when it came to mounting again, that was not so easy: every
+time I tried to spring, something jarred horribly in the socket where
+the arm fits into the shoulder, and the pain was so great that I had to
+lie down on the ground. It was now nearly seven o'clock, quite dark, and
+freezing hard; we were most anxious to get on, and yet what was to be
+done? I could not mount, apparently, and there was no stone or bank to
+stand on and get up by for an immense way. At last F---- put me up
+by sheer strength. I found myself so deadly sick and faint when I was
+fairly in the saddle that it was some time before I could allow Helen
+to move; and never shall I forget the torture of her first step, for
+my shoulder was now stiffening in a most unpleasant way. F---- said it
+would be easier to canter; so we set off at full speed, and the cold air
+against my face kept me from fainting as we went along, though I fully
+expected to fall off every moment; if Helen had shied, or stumbled, or
+even capered a little, I should have been on the ground again. In my
+torture and despair, I proposed to be left behind, and for F---- to ride
+on and get help; but he would not hear of this, declaring that I should
+die of cold before he could get back with a cart, and that it was very
+doubtful if he should find me again on the vast plain, with nothing to
+guide him, and in the midnight darkness. Whenever we came to a little
+creek which we were obliged to jump, Helen's safe arrival on the
+opposite bank was announced by a loud yell from me, caused by agony
+hardly to be described. The cold appeared to get _into_ the broken
+joint, and make it so much worse.
+
+At last we reached Rockwood, and never was its friendly shelter more
+welcome. Everything that could be thought of was done to alleviate my
+sufferings; but I resembled Punch with his head on one side, for I had
+a well-defined and gigantic hump on my back, and my shoulder was swollen
+up to my ear. The habit-body was unpicked, as it was impossible to get
+it off any other way. Of course, the night was one of great agony; but
+I thought often, as I paced the room, how much better it was to have a
+blazing fire to cheer me up, and some delicious tea to put my lips to
+"when so dispoged" (like the immortal Mrs. Gamp), than to be lying on
+the open plain in a hard frost, wondering when F---- and his cart would
+arrive.
+
+The next day we returned home, much against our host's wish; and I
+walked all the way, some six miles of mountain road, for I could not
+bear the idea of riding. F---- led the horses, and we arrived quite
+safely. His first idea was to take me down to a doctor, but the motion
+of driving was greater agony than riding, as the road was rough; so
+after the first mile, I entreated to be taken back, and we turned the
+horses' heads towards home again; and when we reached it, I got out all
+my little books on surgery, medicine, etc., and from them made out how
+to set my shoulder in some sort of fashion, with F----'s help. Of course
+it is still useless to me, but I think it is mending itself; and after
+a week I could do everything with my left hand, even to writing, after a
+fashion. The only thing I could _not_ do was to arrange my hair, or
+even to brush it; and though F---- was "willing," he was so exceedingly
+awkward, that at last, after going through great anguish and having it
+pulled out by handfuls, I got him to cut it off, and it is now cropped
+like a small boy's. He cuts up my dinner, etc. for me; but it is a very
+trying process, and I don't wonder at children often leaving the nasty
+cold mess half eaten. I shall be very glad to be able to use my own
+knife again.
+
+
+
+
+Letter XXV: How We lost our horses and had to walk home.
+
+
+Broomielaw, November 1868. This will actually be my last letter from the
+Malvern Hills; and, in spite of the joy I feel at the hope of seeing
+all my beloved ones in England, I am _so_ sorry to leave my dear little
+happy valley. We have done nothing but pay farewell visits lately; and I
+turn for a final look at each station or cottage as we ride away with a
+great tightness at my heart, and moisture in my eyes, to think I shall
+never see them again. You must not be jealous at the lingering regrets I
+feel, for unless you had been with me here you can never understand how
+kind and friendly all our neighbours, high and low, have been to us from
+the very first, or how dearly I have grown to love them. I don't at all
+know how I am to say good-bye to my dear Mrs. M----, the shepherd's
+wife I told you of. I believe she will miss me more than any one; and
+I cannot bear to think of her left to pass her days without the help of
+books and papers, which I was always so glad to lend her. I often
+walk down the valley to take tea with her of an afternoon and to say
+good-bye, but I have not said it yet. I wish you could see her parlour
+as I saw it yesterday afternoon--her books in a bookcase of her
+husband's manufacture, very nice and pretty; her spinning-wheel in the
+comer; the large "beau-pot" of flowers in the window; and such a tea on
+the table!--cream like clots of gold, scones, oat-cakes, all sorts of
+delicacies! She herself is quite charming--one of Nature's ladies. I
+have given her, as a parting gift, a couple of Scotch views framed; and
+they hang on the wall as a memento of places equally dear to both of us.
+
+It is a sorrow to me to leave the horses and dogs and my pet calves and
+poultry; even the trees and creepers I go round to look at, with the
+melancholy feeling of other owners not loving them so much as I have
+done. However, I must not make my last letter too dismal, or you will
+feel that I am not glad enough to return to you all. My only apology is,
+I have been so _very_ happy here.
+
+Now for our latest adventure, as absurd as any, in its way. Have I ever
+told you that our post-office is ten miles off, with an atrocious road
+between us and it? I know you will throw down this letter and feel
+rather disgusted with me for being sorry to leave such a place, but we
+don't mind trifles here. Lately, since our own establishment has been
+broken up, we have been living in great discomfort; and among other
+things we generally, if not always, have to go for our own letters twice
+a week. Upon this occasion F---- and I had ridden together up the gorge
+of the Selwyn rather late in the afternoon, to avoid the extreme heat of
+the day. When we reached the shepherd's hut I have before mentioned, and
+which is now deserted, I proposed to F---- to go on over the hills alone
+and leave me there, as I was very hot and tired, and he could travel
+much quicker without me--for I am ashamed to say that I still object
+to riding fast up and down slippery hills. I cannot get rid of the idea
+that I shall break my neck if I attempt it, whereas F---- goes on
+over the worst road just as if it was perfectly level. Excuse this
+digression, for it is a relief to me to be a little spiteful about his
+pace whenever I have an opportunity, and it will probably be my last
+chance of expressing my entire disapproval of it.
+
+Helen was tied up to a post, and F----, after helping me to dismount,
+set off at a canter over the adjoining swamp on his way to cross the
+chain of hills between the river and the flat where the great coach-road
+to the West Coast runs. I had brought the ingredients for my five
+o'clock tea (without which I am always a lost and miserable creature),
+and I amused myself, during my solitude, by picking up dry bits of scrub
+for my fire; but I had to go down the river-bank for some driftwood
+to make the old kettle, belonging to the hut, boil. I could not help
+wondering how any human being could endure such solitude for years, as
+the occupant of a hut like this is necessarily condemned to. In itself
+it was as snug and comfortable as possible, with a little paddock
+for the shepherd's horse, an acre or so of garden, now overgrown with
+self-sown potatoes, peas, strawberry, raspberry, and gooseberry plants,
+the little thatched fowl-house near, and the dog-kennels; all giving it
+a thoroughly home-like look. The hoarse roar of the river over its rocky
+bed was the only sound; now and then a flock of wild ducks would come
+flying down to their roosting-place or nests among the Tohi grass;
+and as the evening closed in the melancholy cry of the bittern and the
+weka's loud call broke the stillness, but only to make it appear more
+profound. On each side of the ravine in which the hut stands rise lofty
+hills so steeply from the water's edge that in places we can find no
+footing for our horses, and have to ride in the river. At this time of
+the year the sheep are all upon the hills; so you do not hear even a
+bleat: but in winter, they come down to the sunny, sheltered flats.
+
+It appeared to me as if I was alone there for hours, though it really
+was less than one hour, when F---- returned with a large bundle of
+letters and papers tied to his saddle-bow. Tea was quite ready now;
+so he tied up his horse next Helen, and we had tea and looked at our
+letters. One of the first I opened told me that some friends from
+Christchurch, whom I expected to pay us a visit soon, were on their way
+up that very day, and in fact might be expected to arrive just about
+that hour. I was filled with blank dismay, for not only did the party
+consist of three grown-up people--nay, four--but three little children.
+I had made elaborate plans in my head as to how and where they should
+all be stowed away for a fortnight, but had naturally deferred till the
+last moment to carry out my arrangements, for they entailed giving up
+our own bedroom, and "camping" in the dining-room, besides wonderful
+substitutes of big packing-cases for cribs, etc. etc. But, alas! here
+we were eight miles from home and nothing done, not even any extra
+food ordered or prepared. The obvious thing was to mount our horses and
+return as fast as ever we could, and we hastened out of the hut to the
+spot where we had left them both securely tied to the only available
+post, through which unfortunately five wires ran, as it was one of the
+"standards" of a fence which extended for miles. Just as we came out of
+the hut in a great bustle, our evil destiny induced F----'s horse to
+rub its nose against the top wire of the fence; and in this process it
+caught the bar of its snaffle-bit, and immediately pulled back: this
+made all the wires jingle. Helen instantly took alarm, and pulled back
+too: fresh and increased vibration, extending up the hill-side and
+echoing back an appalling sound, was the result of this movement. In an
+instant there were both the horses pulling with all their force against
+the fence, terrified to death; and no wonder, for the more they pulled
+the more the wires jingled. F---- did all he could to soothe them with
+blandishments. I tried to coax Helen, but the nearer we drew the
+more frantically they backed and plunged, and the more the noise
+increased--till it was a case of "one struggle more and I am free;" and
+leaving their bridles still fastened to the fatal fence by the reins,
+we had the satisfaction of seeing both our horses careering wildly
+about--first celebrating their escape from danger by joyous and frantic
+bounds and kicks, and then setting off down the gorge of the river as
+hard as they could go. I fairly sat down and whimpered a little, not
+only at the thought of our eight miles' walk over shingle with a deep
+river to be crossed nine times, but at the idea of my poor little guests
+arriving to find no supper, no beds, "no nothing."
+
+F---- tried to cheer me up, and said the only thing was to get home as
+quick as possible; but he did not expect to find that our friends had
+arrived, for it had been very hazy over the plains all day, and probably
+had rained hard in Christchurch; so he thought they would not have
+started on their journey at all. But I refused to accept any comfort
+from this idea, and bemoaned myself, entirely on their account,
+incessantly. When we came to the first crossing, F---- picked me up and
+carried me over dry-shod, and this he did at all the fords; but in one
+we very nearly came to grief, for I was tilted like a sack over his
+shoulder, and when we were quite in the middle, and the water was very
+deep, up to his waist, he kept hoisting my feet higher and higher, quite
+forgetting that there was plenty more of me on the other side of his
+shoulder; so it ended in my arms getting very wet, which he did not seem
+to think mattered at all so long as my feet were dry; whereas I rather
+preferred having my feet than my head plunged into a surging, deafening
+yellow current. At the entrance of the gorge is a large stockyard,
+and near to it, at least a mile or two off, a large mob of horses is
+generally to be found feeding. We heard great neighing and galloping
+about amongst them as we came out of the gorge; it was much too dark to
+distinguish anything, but we guessed that our horses had joined these,
+and the sounds we heard were probably those of welcome. But the whole
+mob set off the moment we came near, and crossed the river again,
+entailing a tenth wetting upon poor F----. I was posted at the entrance
+of the gorge, with instructions to shout and otherwise keep them from
+going up by the route we had just come; but it was more than an hour
+before F----could get round the wary brutes, so as to turn them with
+their heads towards the stockyard. Of course, he had to bring up the
+whole mob. My talents in the shouting line were not called out upon this
+occasion, for they all trotted into the stockyard of their own accord,
+and I had nothing to do but put up the slip-rail as fast as I could with
+only one available arm, for though it is better, I cannot use the other
+yet. When F---- came up we both went into the yard, and could soon make
+out the two horses which had their saddles on--that was the only way we
+could distinguish them in the dark. It was now nearly eleven o'clock,
+and though warm enough it was very cloudy, not a star to be seen. We
+fastened on the patched up bridles as well as we could by feeling, and
+mounted, and rode home, about three miles more, as fast as we could.
+When we entered the flat near our own house, we heard loud and prolonged
+"coo-ees" from all sides. The servants had made up their minds that some
+terrible misfortune had happened to us, and were setting out to look for
+us, "coo-eeing" as they came along. F---- pointed out to me, with a sort
+of "I-told-you-so" air, that there was no light in the drawing-room--so
+it was evident our friends had not arrived; and when we dismounted I
+found, to my great joy, that the house was empty. All our fatigue was
+forgotten in thankfulness that the poor travellers had not been exposed
+to such a cold, comfortless reception as would have awaited them if they
+had made their journey that day. I must tell you, they arrived quite
+safely the next evening, but very tired, especially the poor children;
+however, everything was ready, and the little boys were particularly
+pleased with their box beds, greatly preferring the difficulties of
+getting in and out of them to their own pretty little cribs at home.
+Such are boys all over the world!
+
+Next month we leave this for ever, and go down to Christchurch to make
+our final arrangements for the long voyage of a hundred days before us.
+As the time draws near I realize how strong is the tie which has grown,
+even in these few short years, around my heart, connecting it with this
+lovely land, and the kind friends I have found in it. F---- feels
+the parting more deeply than I do, if possible, though for different
+reasons; he has lived so long among these beautiful hills, and is so
+accustomed to have before his eyes their grand outlines. He was telling
+me this the other day, and has put the same feelings into the following
+verses, which I now send you.
+
+          A farewell.
+     The seamen shout once and together,
+          The anchor breaks up from the ground,
+     And the ship's head swings to the weather,
+          To the wind and the sea swings round;
+     With a clamour the great sail steadies,
+          In extreme of a storm scarce furled;
+     Already a short wake eddies,
+          And a furrow is cleft and curled
+                To the right and left.
+
+     Float out from the harbour and highland
+          That hides all the region I know,
+     Let me look a last time on the island
+          Well seen from the sea to the snow.
+     The lines of the ranges I follow,
+          I travel the hills with my eyes,
+     For I know where they make a deep hollow,
+          A valley of grass and the rise
+               Of streams clearer than glass.
+
+     That haunt is too far for me wingless,
+          And the hills of it sink out of sight,
+     Yet my thought were but broken and stringless,
+          And the daylight of song were but night.
+     If I could not at will a winged dream let
+          Lift me and take me and set
+     Me again by the trees and the streamlet;
+          These leagues make a wide water, yet
+               The whole world shall not hide.
+
+     Now my days leave the soft silent byway,
+          And clothed in a various sort,
+     In iron or gold, on life's highway
+          New feet shall succeed, or stop short
+     Shod hard these maybe, or made splendid,
+          Fair and many, or evil and few,
+     But the going of bare feet has ended,
+          Of naked feet set in the new
+               Meadow grass sweet and wet.
+
+     I will long for the ways of soft walking,
+          Grown tired of the dust and the glare,
+     And mute in the midst of much talking
+          Will pine for the silences rare;
+     Streets of peril and speech full of malice
+          Will recall me the pastures and peace
+     Which gardened and guarded those valleys
+          With grasses as high as the knees,
+               Calm as high as the sky:
+
+     While the island secure in my spirit
+          At ease on its own ocean rides,
+     And Memory, a ship sailing near it,
+          Shall float in with favouring tides,
+     Shall enter the harbours and land me
+          To visit the gorges and heights
+     Whose aspects seemed once to command me,
+          As queens by their charms command knights
+               To achievements of arms.
+
+     And as knights have caught sight of queens' faces
+          Through the dust of the lists and the din,
+     So, remembering these holiest places
+          In the days when I lose or I win,
+     I will yearn to them, all being over,
+          Triumphant or trampled beneath,
+     To this beautiful isle like a lover,
+          To her evergreen brakes for a wreath,
+               For a tear to her lakes.
+
+     The last of her now is a brightening
+          Far fire in the forested hills,
+     The breeze as the night nears is heightening,
+          The cordage draws tighter and thrills,
+     Like a horse that is spurred by the rider
+          The great vessel quivers and quails,
+     And passes the billows beside her,
+          The fair wind is strong in her sails,
+               She is lifted along.
+
+          THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Station Life in New Zealand, by Lady Barker
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