COLONIAL MEMORIES: OLD NEW ZEALAND.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 11790, 13 January 1904, Page 4

COLONIAL MEMORIES: OLD NEW ZEALAND.

Br Last Brooke. It' has so chancod that nnite lately I have heard a good d-?al of this tiea'c::{'oi and flourishing portion of our "Britain-over-seV and these reports have stirraJ the o!d memories of daya gone by when it waa almost a £erra incognita—as indeed were most of our splendid colonial possessions—to the home-dweller. But the home-dweEer proper haijdly exists in. this twentieth century, and the globe-trotter hae taken his place. Even the latter sobriquet waa unknown in., my day, and I was regarded as quite going into exile when, some eight-and-thirty yeiirs ago, I sailed with my husband for liis sheep station on the Canterbury Plains. As fir as I was concerned, the life there afforded the sharpest of all sharp contrasts, but it was none the less luvppv and delightful for that. The direct lin« of piusenger ships only took us as far as Melbourne, 3nd then tame a disiual ten or twelve days in a wretched little steamer along a etormy coasc before the flourishing Port Lvttelton of the present day (a. shabby village in 18&5) was reached. Yet the great tunnel through the Port Hills was well on its way even then, and the railway to connect the port end the young town of Christchurch was confidently talked of. Even in thow early days, the n-ew-eoraer was struck by the familiar air of everything; and, as far as my own experience goes, New Zealand is certainly the unost English colony I have eeen. It nevtr seems to have attracted the heterogeneous races of which the population of other colonies is so largely compiled. For example, in Mauritius the Chinese and Arab element is as numerous almost us the French and English. In Trinidad there are large colonies of Spanish and German settlers, without counting in both these isla-nds the enormous Indian population which we have brought there to cultivate the sugar-cane ; and in all the principal towns of Australia the 'foreigner' thrives and flourishes. But New Zealand seems beautifully and distinctly English, and the grand Imperial idea has there fallen on congenial soil and taken deep root.

Even in the days I speak of, Christchurch, though an infant to\7n, looked pretty on account Uf its picturesque sitiation on the banks of the Avon. The surrounding country is a. sort of rolling prairie, ideally suitable for with the magnificent Southern Alps as a background. And what h climate, and what a eky, and what an. air? The only fault I hn'd to find with the atmospheric conditions was the hot wind. But hot winds were new to mo in those dnys, and I rebellod ngainst them accordingly. Now I begin to think hot winds blow everywhere out of England. In South Africa, in Mauritius, in all parts of Australia, one suffer* from them, to say nothing of India, where they are on the lu-rgest possible scale. The first sis months of my New Zealand life was spent in Christchurch waiting for the little wooden house to be cut out ami sent up country to our sheep station in the Melvem Hills. HOW ABSURDLY PRIMITIVE IT ALL WAS, and yet how one deliglit<id in it! I well remember the 'happy thought'—when the question arose of the size of drawing and dining roome—of spreading our carpets out on the grnes and planning the house round them. And the joy of Kittling in when the various portions of the little dwelling had been conveyed some seventyfive miles inland to our happy valley and fitted together. The doors end windowframee had all com* from. America readymade, but the rcet of the house was cut out of the kauri pine from the foreete in the STorth Island.

The first thing I had' to learn wae that New Zealand meant renlly three islands— two Mg ones and a little one. Everybody knows about the North aud the Middle Islands, which are the big ones, but tbe little Stewart leknd often confused mc by sometimes being called the South leland, which it really is. A number of groups of email islets hare been added to the colony Bince"*then, such as the Cook and Kermar dec Islands, 'but I do not fancy they are inhabited. The colony was really not a quarter of a oentury old when I knew it, as it had been a dependency of New South Wales up to 1842, and it owes its separation and rapid development to the New Zealand Company, -which started with a, Royal charter. The Canterbury Association sent out four ships which took four months to reach Port Cooper in the Middle Island (row a flourishing eeaport nf Lyttelton), only sixteen years before* I landed there.

The cathedral had not risen above its foundations in 1865, hut I was struck -with the well-paved streets, good 'aide-walke,' gas4r.,mps, drinking fountains and even red pillar-boxes exactly like the one round the corner to-day. And it seemed all tlio more marvellous to mc, who had just gone through the lengthy and costly experience of dragging my own little possessions aerobe those stormy eeas round the Cape of Good Hops, to think of all these 'aids to civilisation , having conw by the same route. Now lam assured You can get anything and everything you might possibly want, on the spot, but in those days one eagerly watched a demenagement as a good opportunity for furnishing.

We had brought all our tilings out with us, and the wooden house was soon turned into a very pretty

COMFORTABLE LITTLE HOMESTEAD. The great trouble was getting the garden started. The soil was magnificent, and everything in the Malvern Valley grew splendidly if the north-west winds would only allow it. Hedgfe of cytisus were always planted a month or so before sowing the dwarf green peas, in order that •they might have some shelter, and thie answered very well. I could not, however, start a hedge of cytisus all round my little lawn, and the consequence was that I could easily count Jthe bladea of grass on that spot, and that I discovered a luxuriant patch of 'English grass' about a mile down the flat, where a little dip in the ground had made a shelter for the dying seed. And the melancholy part of the story was that English grass-seed cost a guinea a pound! I was quite able to appreciate, three years later, the ecstasy of delight of a little New Zealand girl, who, beholding the leie of Wight for the first time, exclaimed to mc: 'How rich they must be! Why, it's all laid down in English gnus!' Other flower seeds, of course, shared the same fate, uftd it was indeed gardening under difficulties. But in the vegetable garden consolation could be found in the potatoes, strawberrk's, and green peas, which were huge in size and abundant in quantity.

Indoors all looked bright and cheery; and beside* all the books we brought out, I started a magazine and booE dub in connection with a. London "library, which answered very well, and gave great delight to the neighbours, chiefly shepherds. Th«se men were often of Scotch or north of England .-birth, and of a very good type. Their lives, however, were necessarily monotonous and lonely, and they were very glad of books. We had a short Churcn service evety Sunday afternoon, to which they gladly came, and then they took new books back with them.

The only grudge 1 ever had against these men was that tbev all tried

TO PROVIDE THEMSELVES WITH

WIVES among my maids, and by so doing greatly added to my difficulties with these damsels. Far from accepting Strephon'e honourable proposals, Chloe would make thesa offers —which apparently bored her—an excuse for giving up her place and returning to the) gay metropolis. Not even the incident of one stalwart auitcr putting his rival in the water-butt could soften the fair one* heart.

I really think those maids (I only had two of them) were the chief, if not the only real worry of

MY HAPPY NEW ZEALAND LIFE. Nothing -would ever induce them to remain more than four, months at the station. In tnite of the «uitors, they found it 'lonely, .

and away they went. Changing was such a troublesome* business, and always meant a. week without any servants at all, for the dray—their sole means cf conveyance —took Wo (fays on the road each way, and thwi thc-re were always stores to buy ;od bring back, and the driver declared hiji horses needed a couple cf days' rest in town. Some of the various reasons the maids gave for leaving were truly absurd. Once I came into the kitchen on a bright winter's morning to find them seated on a sort of sofa (made of chintz-covered boxes), clasped in each others arms and weeping bitterly. With difficulty J got out of them that their sole grievance was the sound of the bleating of the sheep, a 'mob' of which were feeding on tho nearest hillside. 1--was 'lonesome like.' and they must return to town imimdiately. THE SAME OLD TROUBLE. These girls, as well cs their predecessors and successors, were a continual mystery to mc, and I never could understand why they became servants at all. Not one of them ever had the faintest idea, of what duties she had to perform or how to perform them. A cook had never, apparently, lxen in a kitchen before, and she would ask—and get—£36 or even £40 a year for her ignorance. The housemaid had never s«n. or at least handled, a broom cr duster. I was very ignorant myself in those days, and yet" found myself obliged to teach the most elementary duties. They were nearly all factory girls; and when I asked 'Who did these things for you ; at home?' always answered 'Mother.' They j had never held a needle until I taught \ them how to do so; and as for mending or"' darning, that was regarded as sheer waste of time. The firs'-- thing they had to learn , was to bake bread, and as, unfortunately, the best teacher was our head, shepherd— a good-looking, well-to-do young man—the 'courting' began very soon, though it never wemed successful and poor Ridge's heart must have been torn to pieces during those three years of obdurate pupils. ' 1 must, however, say here that, ignorant to an incredible degree aa my various 'helps' were, I found them perfectly honest and perfectly respectable. I never had the dightc-st- fault to find on either of those counts. Sobriety went without saying, lor it was compulsory, as the nearest publichouve was a dozen miles away across trackless hills. THE AMATEURS WORSE. It was- a real tragic time, for mc at least, that constantly recurring week between tlie departure and arrival of my maids; but I "am inclined to think, on mature reflection, that my worst troubles arose from tlie volunteers who insisted on helping mc. These kindly A.D.C.'s, owners or pupils on lieighbouring stations, all professed to be quite familiar with domestic matters. But I found a sad falling-off wh«n it came to putting their theories into practice in my kitchen. It generally turned out that they had made a hasty study of various paragraphs in that useful work 'Enquire Within, etc., and then started forth to carry out the directions they, had mastered. For instance, one stalwart youth presented a smiling face at our hall-door one morning and said: "I've come to wash up." "That is very kind of you," I replied; "but aire you sure you know how?" "Oh try mc, and you'll see. Very hot water, you know: boiling, in fact.' Well, there was no difficulty about the hot water, which was poured into a tub in which a good many of my pretty china plates and dishes were standing. The next moment I heard a yell and a I am very much afraid "a big, big D"—and my "help" was jumping about the kitchen wringing his hands and shouting for cottonwool and salad-oil and what not. It seemed a mere detail after this calamity to discover that half a dozen plates xrexe broken and as many more cracked. "The beastly thing was so hot" being tlie excuse. The" first time the maids left I thought I would, so to speak, victual the garrison beforehand, and I had quantities of bread baked and butter churned and meat-pies made and joints roasted; but at the end of a couple of days the larder was nearly empty, partly on account of the gigantic appetites we all hand, and partly because of the addition to our home party of all these volunteers, who always seised the excuse of "helping." As a matter of fact, my "helps" generally betook themselves to a rifle-rahge F. had set -up down the valley, or else they all organised athletic sports. I should not have minded their doing so, if-it had not, apparently, increased their appetites. Never can I forget an awful experience I went through with one of MY EARLIEST ATTEMPTS AT BREAD-BAKING. I felt it serious matter, and not to be lightly taken in hand; so I turned my helps, one and all, out of the kitchen, and proceeded "to carry out th* directions as written down. First the dough was to be "set." That was an anxious business. The prescribed quantity of flour had to be gut in a milk-pan, the orthodox hole in tho centre of the white heap was duly made, and then came the critical moment of adding the yeast. There was only one bottle of this precious ingredient left, and it was evidently very much "up," as yeast ought to be. Under these circumstance*, to take out the cork of that bottle was exactly like firing a pistolX and I do not like firing pistols. So, I was obliged to call for an assistant. All rushed in, declaring that opening yeast-bottles was their show accomplishment, bat F. was the first to seize it. He gave it a great shake. Out flew tlie cork right up to the raftera, ana after it flew all my beautiful yeast, leaving only dregs of hops and potatoes, which F., turning the bottle upside down, emptied into.the flour. Of course it was spoiled, though I tried hard to produce something of the nature of bread out of it. But it was horribly heavy and damp.. One thing my New Zealand experiences taught mc, and that was the skill and patience and variety of knowledge required to, produce the simple things of our daily li£c things which we accept as much as a matter of .course as the air we breathe. But if you have to attempt them yourself, you end by having a great, respect for thoso who do them apparently without effort. • I have often been asked how we amused ourselves in that 'lamely valley. There was not very much time for amusement, for we were all very busy. There was mustering and drafting to be done, besides the annual business of shearing, which was a tremendous affair. It is true I developed quite a talent for j GRAFTING PLEASURE UPON BUSINESS; and when a long "boundary v ride had to be taken, or a new length of fencing inspected (in those days wire fences could not be put up' even at that compartively short distance from a town under i £100 a mile), I contrived to make it a sort of picnic, and enjoyed it thoroughly. The one drawback to my happiness was the dreadful track— it were gross flattery to call it a road— eAer. -which our way generally led us. No English horse would have attempted the break-neck places our nags took us safely over. Up and down slippery steep stairs, where oH four feet had to be collected carefully on each step, before an attempt to reach the next could be made; acres* swamps where there was no foothold except on an occasional tussock; over creeks with crumbling banks. At first I really could not believe that 1 was expected to fellow over such places, but I was only adjured to "sit tight and leave it all to my horse," and certainly I survived to t«H the tale! The only fall I had during all those three years of real -rough-riding was cantering over perfectly smooth plain, wbtn a little bag strapped to my saddle slipped down, and struck my very spirited ware beneath her body. She bucked frantically, i and I flew into space, alighting on toe I point of my shoulder, which I broke. On i that occasion I was the victim of a good ; deal of amateur surgery, but it all came right eventually, though I could not use mr arm for a long time. But to return to our amusements. BogiI hunting was, perhaps, the most exciting; though I -was not allowed to call that an amusement, for it was absolutely necessary

to keep down the wfld pigs, which we owe to Captain Cook. A sow will follow very young lambs until they drop, separating them from their mothers, and gi<im: them no rest. When the poor little things foil exhausted the sow then devours them, but it v> almost impossible to track and shoot these same cows, for they hide tlic-msefcrs end their litters in the most marvellous way. Tito shepherds occa- ! siciudly come across them, and then have a great orgie of "sucking-pig." But the big boor whose shonlderec&lee are like pktted armour, and quite bullet-proof, and whom tu?k» are as sharp as nun, gives welly very good eport, and has to be wsrily stalked. These expeditions had always to bo undertaken on foot, and I insisted on going, because I had heard gruesome stories of Accidents to sportsjx&en, who had perished of cold and hunger oa desolate hillsides when out after boars. Bo I always begged to be token out stalking, and as 1 carried & basket with sandwichee and cake and a bottle of cold tea, my company wae graciously accepted. PIG HUNTING. Theee were always in the winter, for the affairs of the sheep seemed to occupy most of the summer, and besides it would Lave been too hot for climbing steep hillsides and exploring long winding gullies in anything but cold May and June weather. The boars gave excellent sport, and I well remember, after a long day* fctalk up the gorge of the Selwyn River, our pride and triumph when F., who had taken a careful aim at what looked exactly like one of the grey boulders strewn about on the opposite hillside, fired his rifle, an , ! a huge boar leapt into the air, only to fail deed and come crashing down the steep slepe. Then there were some GLORIOUS DAYS AFTER WILD CATTLE, but that was a long way ofi in the gnat Kowai Busk, and we had to camp out for nearly a week. It was difficult work getting through the forest, as, although there was a. sort of track, it was often impassable by reason of fallen trees. Of course we were on foot; but it greatly adds to one's work to have constantly to climb or scramble over a barrier of branches. All the gentlemen carried compasses as the only means of getting through the curious green gloom. Though it wae the height of summer, we never saw a ray of sunshine, end it was always delightfully cool. Every now and then we came to a clearing, and so could see where we were. One of these openings showed us the great Waimakariri River swirling beneath its high wooded banks, and it was, just there, literally covered with wild duck—grey, blue. and. "Paradise"—all excellent eating, but I am thankful to cay that the sportsmen forbore to shoot, as it would have been impossible to retrieve them. Some fine young bullocks fell every day to their rifles; but although I heard the shots and the ensuing shouts of joy, the thickness of the "bush" always prevented (happily!) my seeing the victims.

The undergrowth of that "bueh"—Anglice, forest—was the most beautiful thing imaginable, and the familiar etag's-head and harts-tongue grew side by tide with exquite forms quite unknown to mc. Besides the profusion of ferns, there was & wealth of delicate fairy-like foliage, bnt never a flower to be seen on account of the want of sun. In summer we sometime* went down to tbe nearest creek, about a mile away, for EEL-FISHING, but I did not care much for that form of sport. It meant sitting in star-light and solitude for many hours, and one got drenched with dew into the bargain. The preparations were the meet amusing part, especially the making of balls of worstedends with lumJps of mutton tied craftily in the middle; the idea being that when the eel snapped at the meat hie teeth ought to etick in the worsted, and so he would become an easy prey to the angler. This came off according to the programme, and even i caught some! but they were far too heavyto fift out of the water, as there was no 'playing' an eel, and the dead weight had to be the flax-stick which was my only fishing-rod. However, quite enough of the horrid slimy things were secured to make a succulent pie for those who liked it. N A CLIMB FOR A SUNRISE. | We invented an amusement for ourselves j once by going up a mountain on our station three thousand feet high, and j sleeping there in order to see the sunrise next morning. I ought, perhaps, to explain thatt these Matvern . Hills among ■which our sheep station lay, were really 1 the lowest, spurs of tbe Great Southern Alps, so that even on our run the hills attained quite, a. respectable height. I had heard from ihose who had gone up this hill—quite near our little house—how wide and beautiful was the outlook from its summit, so I never rested until the expedition was arranged. Of course it was only possible in the height of Rummer, and we had an ideally beautiful afternoon for our start directly after an early dinner. It was (possible to ride a good way up the, hill, and then we dismounted (there were five of us), and took the saddles and bridles off the horses, tied them to flax-bushes within easy reach of good feed, and commenced the climb of tbe last and steepest bit of the ascent.

It was rather amusing to find, as soon as it came to carrying them up ourselves, how many, things were suddenly pronounced to be quite unnecessary. Fdbd and drink had to be carried (the drink consisting of water for tea) and a pair of red blankets for shelter, and just one odd blanket for mc. My share of the porterage was only a bottle of milk strapped to my back —for it took both hands to scramble up holding on to the long tussocks of grate —but I felt that I was laden to the full extent of my carrying capacity! The four gentlemen had really heavy 'loads ('swags,' as they called all parcel?-, or bundles), under which, however, they gallantly struggled up. There was

no time to admire oriy view when at laet we stood breathless and panting on the little plateau at the very top, for the twilight was fast fading, and there watt the teat to be put up and wood to collect for the fire.

, Frtunately, oil those hillsides were more or lew strewn with charred Togs of a eplepdid hard red wood, called totaxs> the la*t traces of the foieet or 'bush , "with which they were once covered. The shepherds always pick up and bring down any of tnese logs which they .some across when mustering or boundary-keeping, for they find them & great price for their fires, burning slowly, and giving out a fine heat.

When we cam© to pitfh the tent, there seemed suph a draught through it u,a,t I gave up my own particular blanket to block up one end, and contented myself with a little jacket. Bat oh, how cold v was I We did not find it oat Just at first, for we were all too busy settling ourselves, lighting the fire, unpacking and so forth. But after we bad eaten the pieeand provisions, and drunk a quantity of tea, there did not seem much to do except to turn in w> as to be ready for the sunrise. Some tussocks of coarse grass had been cut to make a sort of bed for mc, after the fashion of the wild pigs, who, the shepherds declare, 'have clean sheet* every night'—for they never use their lair more than once, and always sleep oa this brfcten-off grass. In spite of this luxury, however, I must say I found the ground very hard, and the wind, against which the blankets seemed absolutely no protection, very cold. , Also the length of that night was something marvellous; and when we looked down into the valley and saw the lights twinkling in our little homestead, and reflected that it could- not yet be ten o'clock, a sense of foolishness took possession of us. Everyone looked, as seen' by the firelight cold and miserable, but happily- no one was cross or reproachful. Three of the gentlemen sat round the fire smoking all night, with occasional very weak 'grogs' to cheer them. 7. chared the tent with mc and Nettle, my Httle fexterrier; but Nettle showed himself a selfish doggie that night. I wanted him to' sleep curled up at my back for warmth, but he would insist on so arranging himself that I was at his back, which was not the same thing for mc at all.

We certainly verified the proverb of its

—: '-I bung dark***' before dawn, for tbe ttacf % seemed to "fade quite out, .eadim inky ..* blackness etole over the earth and, sfcj* ">. an hour or so before the pale streak grew \ luminous in tbe east. I fear I mutt confess to having by that time quite forgotten' , : my ardent desire to tee the sunrise. Alt J\ I thought of to the joy of "getting home, „> and being warm once more; and, as as it wae light enough to see anything,' 3 we began to strike the little test, and puck , i up tbe empty dishee and- pannikins. Bat .]: long before we cosdd have thought H v sibfe, and long before it could be seen tbe deep valley below as, the sun uprose,'-j and one felt ac if one was looking at tbe■ >;» majestic eight for the firet time since the '♦* creation. Nothing coufct have been mow -\J magnificent than the sudden flood of light, bursting over the.wide expanse. Fifty V: miles away the glistening waves of tb*;!> Pacific showed quite dearly t~ b*W»ir -J»:,xl spread the vast Canterbury. Plain*, the great Waimakariri'j; flof iUg through them like a-tangleof To the west rose steep, forest-corered hillsi still dark and gloomy, .withqthe eene«|J looking outline of the enow-Tanges nmnga behind. A light- mieb marked whertf *» J JJ great Ellesm*re La-ke lay, "tbe> thing about which is that, although a slight bar of eaad sepai&tes sea, ite waters ore quite fresh.'. All *»ja| could see-of the Biv«r Eakaia stwp ban£c£ but beyond them again •ben»>p ttie gleam of the Bangitata's waters, whlh* close under our feet the Selwyn. ran darkh&|g through its narrow gorge. The little patches of cultivatioo—«» few>-«nd tween in those days—each with' i&'-tinf t M cottage, gave a. little homelike touch which was delightful, as did also the-, string*-of,|| sheep going noisily down from camping-grounds to, feed valleys or on,the sunny slopes. ? certainly a most beautiful panorama, w« *U agreed that, it wae,wdl>orth;simf:f§ long, cold night of waiting.. Still, we, gfl» home as quickly ( 'ae we couldf and member the day proved a very! quiet;one- \; I suspect there were many sarreptitiota n naps indulged in by as, poor Watcten cl jt theKight. , ■ , -M