SKETCHES IN SOUTHLAND.

Bruce Herald, Volume VI, Issue 304, 23 February 1870, Page 3

SKETCHES IN SOUTHLAND.

At a time when the question of re-union 1 between Otago and Southland is before [ the public, and when the sympathy and co-operation of the Otago settlers is anxi- , ously looked for by the re-unionists in Southland, it has occurred to me that a brief sketch of some of the settled districts in that Province may not prove inaccept- ! able to the majority of the readers of the ; 'Bruce Herald,' and first a tew words » about the town of Inveercargill. I once 1 heard a Victorian squatter conversing with an acquaintance, after passing through the town for the first time, describe it as " the most God-forsaken looking place he ever 1 saw," and really the description answers ! well to this day. Grass growing in the streets ; deserted houses and shops on all '. sides; the main road only gravelled or : metalled; cows and goats browsing- un- ; disturbed on unoccupied quarter-acre sec- . tions ; open drains in all directions, which however, thanks to the thinness of the j population, the constant breezes from the sea, and the frequent scourings from the abundant rainfall, have not hitherto told ! injuriously on the health of the town. ? Invercargili is par excellence "a bush 1 town on the flat." Behind the main road and Esk street you find sections full of ! stagnant pools of water, huge stumps of trees, and rank grass and rushes. A stranger coming from the country perceives at once a peculiar smell of " tan " pervading 1 the town, caused, I suppose, by the decaying wood in the waterpools. But to leave these *» back slums " and return to the | main road, i.e., Dee street and Tay street —the former the North, the latter the South rodd, both 2 chains wide, and down the centre of which it is a eoiimon saying that fi a cannon ball might 1 c shot at any time of the day without doing any damage." For a list of the public buildings let me refer my reader to any of the almanacs published in the town. He will wonder how the citizens amuse themselves in their leisure hours, where the public library is, and how so many publicans manage to make a living in that small place in these dull times ; and, baking on a page further, he will be surprised at the number of Government officials, and at the very large percentage ol the provincial revenue which is absorbed by their " precious screws."' But here we are opposite the Provincial Government buildings— a range of low wooden erections, in a neatly gravelled enclosure, circled by a white paling fence. There is an air of peaceful rusticity about these buildings, eminently suggestive of the calm retired life enjoyed by their occupants. A friend of mine told me that having occasion to make some enquiries as to the reputed lease of a tract of land, he called at the Waste Lands Office. The clerk there did not know whether it was leased ; was not indicated on any maps in that office; at the Survey Department the same tale— referred to the Superintendent. On entering the Superintendent's office he found it unoccupied. He amused himself with reading Hansard and the Gazette for twenty minutes, occasionally rapping his knuckles on the office counter for variety-sake ; walked into the private office, found it deserted ; next into the treasury, deserted also— could not see tke treasury-chest, so supposed it was empty, and "ther-ifbre laid aside as unnecessary ; walked out, and after some trouble button-holed the clerk leisurely " doing a weed" in Dee street. The clerk said « Mr A had leased the land ; he would o)k up the note of the lease." After searching through files of papers, pigeonholes and drawers for a quarter of an hour the clerk " gave it up," and said " he knew Mr A had leased the land, and if my friend wanted any particulars he could have them if he would call again in a few days." My friend said he was told that this was a fair sample of the way they manage these matters here. Invercargili is essentially an nnpi.turosque town. True we catch distant clear days, of the golden (sic) ranges of Stewart's Island, the snowy Takatemos, and the sunny hills of the Mataura, but, with these exceptions, the scenery is very tame and monotonous, aa unvarying repetition of black bush, swamps and snowgrass. To do the town justicr, however, it is capable of being made as pleasant and cheery-loaking as one could desire. Drainage into the Puni Creek is easily accomplished, metal from the Bluff is abundant, and gravel at hand everywhere ; unfortunately the bush is on the wrong side of the town, and its streets he fully exposed to the blasts from the southwest, but this drawback may be overcome by judicious planting. Firewood is plent.ful, 16s to IPs per cord, delivered ; sawn timber, 7s to 9s per 100 feet; capital bricks at L 2 to L' 35s par 1000. A brewery turning out good beer, a flour mill, steam lathe works, extensive nursery gardens, acd a railway station, concerning which more hereafter. I don't think the almanacs notice any flax mills' so I may say '.hat we Lava three ut present at work— Mr Henderson's, an exemplification of a minimum outlay in capital and weekly expenditure ; Mr Lockhart's, 2 machines driven by gteam, washing in the Puni Creek ; and Mr Frazer's, at his saw mills acioss the estuary, all working with inadequate appliances, and producing inferior samples. Green flax is at present delivered in town at 15s to LI per ton. . Wei', let us wish Invercargili a prosperous future ; I think her gloomiest days are past. The town is well and centrally situated, and eventually all the country on the west side of the Popotunoa Water Shed must find an outlet for its productions in this directtont. With the export of flax from the Bluff we shall have direct importation from the home country, and the ; T is^^^^ ißet " ec * will then no longer find : i^fW|tt^ teWifc to bring their goods from We Holyneux and Dunedin.