FROM REEFTON TO THE LAKE COUNTRY— A 12 DAYS RIDE THROUGH THE INTERIOR.

(OoNtfjlUKD). On Wednesday, s isib February, the anuual school, pie-nic. at Murchisou whs he.lH in Mi- ftawnjeV paddock, at which all thi youth'aiid beauty of the country side, assembled. There was tv afltonishngly largA muster of children,, all well dresser, rosy-cheeked, wholesome looking youngntfirs, who were made hfcppy. -as, , sand-pipers by a 1 liberal . distribution ';'oft prizes Mr Lyndi, M.CUX, wlt^-Blessrs Dowuie, Bell r Patton, McNee, Spencer and • f her gentlHiueti superintended the' s; lorta, and carried out the. programme very successfully. ,B» .the afternoon the whole of those present were prettily grouped, and the services of a travelling photographer ■ being opportunely at hand an .^excellent picture was taken, as a pleasing Kmmento of the occasion. The party returned to the township at the close of the day, and tables having «een laid at the rear of the Athenamm, an at fresco tea was in readiness), and everybody sat down to a spread that might almost have bee.irciilled a banquet, such being the variety and profusion of the good things provide I. It 'iud been arranged to close the day's festivities with a ball, but by some m^ans or other the musician was delayed -and there was a likelihood of this part of the pro«r»ramH falling through,: 'a circumstance the more to be regretted because it was purt of rl^e arrangements Lhftt the cliiidieo should lihvh. a couple of hours' dancing in tlje. enriy part of blie evening. The diffi-nlty .was, bowever, eventually got ov«-r by one of Diu* party volunteering to ottimte on he viqlju if Kin-liarii instrument .could 3h procured. Muichisoil tli»-reupnn im uediately '•' dnsf <ipwn '^aud. .prod need i fiddle, and Our Puganiui, B<:a^ed 0U C

a chair placed on the top of a table "wired in~" The youngbters were then directed to select their partners, and this they did with a courtesy and politeness which was. quite nice to see. All being ready, the music was ••tamed on" and the way in which the little ones went through the quadrilles and •* round dance*" rather astonished tho visitors, the tiny couples manoeuvring through th« figures perfectly. AH the children' danced proficiently and gracefully, and tbo spectacle in this out-or-the-way place was altogether novel and interesting. For this accomplishment the children are indebted to Mr Delano, a popular resident, who takes pleasure iv devoting one evening a week instructing them in the divine art. At 10 p.m., the children, or as Charles Lamb styles them " The light infantry who go to bed at half-past liims" retired from the ball-room, and the adult portion of the community took their places. Dancing is evidently not a lost art amongst the »* Lost Tribe," and the Murchisonites generally, and the spirit with which the festivities w«re kept up attested to the pleasure, derived from this form of amusement. Out* party, who had b«en kindly invited to the gathering, yielded to the fascinations of the occasion, and despite the four day's hard ride, danced till the small hours of the morning, and bo ended our short, but pleasant Rtay in Murchison. At daylight ou the following morning w* were oncemor«inthr>Bnddle en route for Lake. Rotoiti. Not knowing the state of the Buller river, we did not care about tackling the crossing at Longford, preferring a detour of seven or eight miles to reach the punt. There is a substantial horse-bridge over the Matakitaki river, and crossing it we soon after reached the punt, and got on to the main Nelson*Reefton road, and after a ride of some forty miles reached Mr Bihet's excellent accommodation house, near the junction of the Owen road. Mr Ribet, like, the late Mr Q. Mooulight, is one of the fathers of settlement in the Upper Bnller district, and the many properties and works with which his name is identified along the roads attests to his remarkable enterprise and industry during more than twenty years residence. Like many other of the earlier pioneers, Mr Ribet ha>t had his share, and more than his share of "moving incidents by flood and fi«id," and has more, than once experienced the misfortune of seeing ' the labor of years washed away in a single night. His last aud greatest misfortune was occasioned by the terrible flood of 187.2. „ B« then held one- of the finest farms -on the river— perhaps one of the. best in all the Nelson Province. It was the result of t«n years' labor of an active and industrious man. Early in that year Dr Giles, R.M., with the late Mr\W Pitt and other gentlemen from Westport, arrivrd for the purpose, of holding an inqnest upon some human remains which had been found in the Mat*ki taki river. It had been raining heavily for many hours' previously, and the Buller river wits high and fast rising. Mr Ribet, who bag th« reputation of being one of the most skilful boatmen on the river, was earnestly pressed to cross tlie party to Ha'mpdnn. He explained that them was every prospect of an uuusually high flood. His sheep, horses, and cattle, were on a portion of the farm which might quickly be converted into ' an island by the rising water. Dr Giles, however, urged the importance of his presence at Hampden, and in the end Mr Ribet, with his proverbial good nature, gave way. The party was crossed safely, and in recognition of the important service rendered insisted upon Mr Rib»t join - ing them in a glass of wine at Rowe's Hotel before returning. It waspointe-d out by Mr Ribi^t thnt thn delay would be dangerous owing to the rising of the water,, but no excuse would he taken. The result was that upon Mr Ri bet's return to the crossing from the hotel 'twenty minutes later lie found tiie river had risen three feet in the inter* val, and it was now quite impossible to face it. Darkiiess eiosed in directly after, aud the river continued to rise until it had reached a height of 15ft above, the hitherto highest flood mark. It was three., days before the flood subsided sufficiently to enable him to cross to bis home, and when he did he found his property in; ruins. The river bad swept away about 40 acres of his best land, the whole of the crop, together with miles of fencing, outhouses and implements; All his horses and cattle had been swept away and drowned. His sheep, amongst which were a nutnber of high priced stud animals, shared the same unfortunate fote, and as' showing the height to which the water rose, clusters of dead sheep were afterwards found eutftuglud in the tops of the lofty pine trees, whore they were, were left by the subsiding flood. ThVriver having broken in between the main land awn the farm house, Mr R^bet's family were cutoff from all assistance, and for many hours the flood was within a coupe of feet of the evits of the build ing, and the occupant3 in momentary fear of the. building floating* off its foundation. Fortunately, however, it withstood the danger, and the family was saved The property was, how ever, a hopeless wreck, and Mr Ribet hud to bes^in the world anew. Through sad and thrilling experiences such as tln-se the earlier settlers along i the Buller have graduated to their ' present condition: of comparative, eas» ' md oonifort, but the buttle ha§beru a loug and aidous onu Enjoying a good ] lights rest, and bei >g much enter* i-iined durinu the evening l>y Mr Eli bet's recital of the chief incidents of j ;he early life along the river, we. set out j igain at an early hour in the morn in tj ( m oar second stage of the jaurney to

Lake Rotoiti. We have our choice of tiithertakingMrßibetasguideaudcroasing the Bailer opposite his house and { proceeding up the Rotoroa river, (the * Cowan of the maps) to Lake Rotoroa, ; or leaving Rotoroa until oui return | from the smaller Like. Rotoroa Lake is only some eight miles from Ribet's. The way, however, is through a bush track, and the light rain which had fallen during the night v ould t we thought, , render travelling uncomfortable, owing to the wetness of th« vegetation, so we decided upon taking the latt«r course. We therefore follow the main Nelson road for ten or twelve miles, when another well made road is reached branching with the Buller river to the ri-jht, the. Nelson- road diverging to the left. This spot was termed -by Dr H&uhatetter the •• Devil's Grip,'* by reason of the. givat difficulty which bis party had experienced; in cutting tleir way through. It i* a narrow gorge, through which th* Buller riv«r runs, and is really the mouth of the Rotoiti Plain, which is se«u a iniln or two further on. The road we are now ou leads to Mi J. Kerr's station, or, a* it is termed on the mups, the Lake Station, the distance npfrotu the Nelson road being about 12 miles. The road is w«ll formed round the.si<l«lings above the river, aud vehicles can be. ' driven rt^ht up to the Lnke. Ai we advance the valley gradually widens out, and the heavy bitch timber which clothes the mountain system lower down, now begins to give place to stunted manuka, arid after awhile, the round, grassy hills, which everywhere fringe the plain land, heave in sight, and directly after the wide expanse of the plain opens to view. The plaiu is some ten to fourteen mites long, by from two to three wide, and presents th« samn escarped form as the other plains spoknn oft The view is vtry beautiful in the early morning sunshine. To the eastward the lofty mountain system skirting the Wairau valley stretches across the horizon to the. noutli-weat and joins the central chain near Mount Franklin. On all sides the mountains rise from tb« plain in sharp, clearly defiued lines, in the vivid tints of an oleosraph.r Flocks of sheep aie scattered over the plain, aud scamper off at the first sound of our approach. The Buller river, now a compiratively insignificant stream, flows down the western edge of the plain, cro3sin<{ it about a mile from the homestead. There is a good, fording place here, bat th« road carries us round to a substantial dray bridge; Here we. again strike the old NelsonWest Coast road. On the way up the plain we passed large numbers of Paradise clucks, and as tor wekas (Maori hens), the .whole country seemed to be aliv* with them. Reaching the Lake Station, the home of Mr J. Xti 1 , M.H.R., in the afternoon (the regular time, by : the way, for " sundowners" to .show up), we found the genial and hospitible member for Motueka at home. It was our intention at the outset to have reached Mr Fenzala's. at the head of die Lake, that evening, but accepting Mr Kerr's. invitation we deferred our visit to Rotoiii until the following day. Tii« remainder of the afternoon we accordingly spent in being shown over the homestead, and grounds. The appointments of the station are very perfect, aud include, a steam saw-mill, large accommodation for sheep shearing, dipping, and preparing and compressing. wool. Extensive paddock accomnodatton, stabling, c*niry, grauery, and in «hort every requisite of a well appointed homestead. In the paddocks were running a number of the progeny of the o rack American trotters, imported by Mr Khit on his visit to Yankee Land. Splendidly formed, brbad chested, deep girthed, bright-eyed animals, as docile as a cat ; never kick or bite, bnta* fond of play and mischief as a kitten. Full of genuine Yankee energy they will go till they. drop, and the guest river horses in the world. The property which now comprises Mr Kerr's run has been in continuous occupation for nearly 30 years- past. It was originally h»ld by an assoeia tiou of Nelson people, wh oh was mainly remarkable for the possession 1 of a large tmmber of tihareho'd >rs and a small number of sheep. Theassocii-j tiou did little to improve tlie property, and when it f«li into its present owners hands much remained to be done. In the early days of the gold rliggi'u;g down/ tire Buller and on the West Coast thousands- of men passed the. station weekly, and it required a mmi of no ordinary physical courage and tact to deal wi; b them. At times, led on by one or two law|»as and reckless scomdruls,. they would plunder th« station, and n«t only intisfj their present tirtedft, but carry off every ounce «»f tea, nujfar and ff >ut on the station^ ufteu tak ing more than they could carry and scattering the surplus over the plain aq they went along. The men helped tb»mselves ti> sheep as a matter of right, aud with their dogs worried and destroyed as many more. The perpetrators of these disgracefui acts were cliwffy runaway sailors ami the nondescript class of tramps who always follower iv the wake of a great rush. 11l Mr Kurr. however, they had a man <.f no ordinary metal t<» deal with -one who had wrested with life under its roughest and sternest aspects in the early daysof colonial settlement, and wlit* cituld an the parlitice goes, take his own part with the best. It may be concluded then that the owner of the Lake Station in those stirring times did not allow himself to be plundered with im punity, and, as far as one man couM against a mob of lawless raiders, hell his own fairly well. Heavy as the tax was upon the station iv tixme days it was tttet liberally, and no application made in th« proper wav was ever left unsatisfied. Of the real diggers, as distinguished from Ihe rabble, Mr Kerr entertains many pleaiant recollections, a< with th«m be n»ver ?xpfrieuced the slightest trouble, and 'ivquently had their prompt assistan c in iealiiig with bad cases. {To h» Continued).