A SURVEYOR'S DIARY.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20612, 30 July 1932, Page 13

A SURVEYOR'S DIARY.

gpECIAL ARTICLE.

jjgST VISIT TO THE WEST COAST.' " * JjjXtLVeIVE TO Tilt lit h>>,J \f r John ihr writer 01 these note-, (".rue to New Zealand terimry Survev Oflice helped 111 the - .SJ&e , of the then n paiot ill.' Prorinc-P. 13G-- -Mr 13aker joined *■. f bo Southland Snrv.y staff, and after thirteen yea. -,' K-rv.ee there refainicd to Canti-i .mi \ .is Chief *■ Surveyor. g s jggg.— Early next year 1 made a trip to the West CoaM, going hv railway to "Springfield and tlion on by coach. The ,'dtole excursion was of enormous inIfkrest to me. as curiously enough 1 had |-«rer been there K-fur.-, though I was "jb'iUeovcrer of at least two of the IftfKa that lead over to tho Coast. By a coach rua-1 we ascended I -poriei's Tass, which T had crossed on I first exploring expedition in 1860. Vfe then passed Lake Lyndon and Castle Hill station, so long the iaawof Mr C. Enys; we continued along tie shore of Lake Pearson, a small and lovely sheet of water, and on past: Lake Pffpmora till wo arrived at tho Boa ley gjtJ where I stayed for the night, morning we crossed the VFaimakait rfri Tirer, proceeded up Hie Bealey xjrer, and soon reached tlio Devil's :* ponehßowl with its fine waterfall. Frni Vteß tl»« ascent begins of Arthur's EifcM e o named after the sou ot' Mr gaS""; ■who made the first explorai. fan across it. Br , The Otira Gorge. BUj. magnificent view of .Mi. liulUio n is obtained from the top ai tSe road then descends into the y-fiam Otira Gorge, the beauty of jftkh cannot be surpassed, especially if ■lllltoppens to see it when the rata is Ml bloom and its fiery crimson against the deep Idue of the ikadows in the gorge or the glistening •SiSute of the snow peaks. The lower J; frpu were clothed with pine trees and Inifato of all sorts, and alpine llowers * (bounded everywhere. The tops of the ■oatains were covered with snow, viiefc glittered in the morning sunlight 'M&made tho dazzling grandeur ot' the eeafr more wonderful still. AVe only tnreSed that day as far as Jackson's ueosunodation bouse on the Teremakau. Sfjt morning when we reached the

Taipo rirer, wo found tll.lt it was fltoaed and that the eo::ch could not ..-/OOBaiul w hail to walk six miles to tie sorest bridge, only to discover s£vitst' ibis bad been carried away. We i' fhtn managed to ford one stream and Meond by a log bridge. On the jo'ftHthw Bide another coach was waiting ler si, and we were able to. proceed to Hokitika. i , She Sluicing Claims. ** * Next day. after visiting the Somj, o®ce. I drove over to * lifltt, Situ} Mr Mueller, the Chief Surmp there and took me to the gnqi gdNbilciiig claims, where practiside of a hill was being ? *' ie en 9 r m° us force of io play 011 it through trcBoulders, gravel, VMHjjlii aflVwept down by the water through the sluice boxes nWoOflit the gold, and this went and night, the work at night fcjfjjElßade po.ssible by the use of elec■MßhL In the afternoon we returned BKjßitika. and the following day Mr Hmp and I rode to Lake Kanieri Hafrtite reservoir and the aqueduct Hjnx the water to the Humphries HHfcclaim. We followed it to the point Hp it enters .1 tunnel under the hill, IHHre then had a rough walk across Bill, where we met Mr Jack, the Hppal director of the claim, who took m* ovcr i f - I found it most inHjiptiiig watching the various operagoing on in such a huge mining as this. Next morning I went bffeyniouth by steamer and iay walking about, and 011 Monday jjiig I took the train to the Brunner mines, and visited the Heath Com- ' + I I La. Meeting with Mr Seddon. <tlirmng to Greymoutli I went tramway to Tvmnarn, crossing Tercoiakan river in a face mi a TOpe. There I met Mr Seddon, jjer for this district ("afterwards the Known Prime Minister of New Zea- ), and he took me over some gold It being worked there and showed jta big Government Sludge Channel, iwd the coach at Dilhnanstown and rem over Arthur's Pass to the SJE. Mr Noel Brodrick, my friend <X-«adet, was now the' surveyor in |Prt of the district, and he met me appointment, and the following went together to the head of river to visit the that feed it. The y are not very roses, but are the most accessible £?. cast side of the Southern Alps. think it must have been of jMrip that Mr Brodrick related the story. When they reached pWaimakariri it was in flood and Stressing seemed'too dangerous to •JJjipt- Mr Baker was very disjointed and sat on his horse looking for some time, and at 1, "Let's go in together ." Mr Brodrick pointed is was not the orthodox ssing a river, and as he ace better than Mr Baker go first. "No," said "if we go at all we will 1 neck." u o they forded ogether and came safely r side, "and." added Mr 'the whole incident was 'f the man.'' rs of the Waimakariri. oing- up the river are vcrv t the lead the character ry becomes grander and We returned to the modation house after a Je and walk. Xext day ie Waimakariri hv the own it for some distance In- I'oulter river. l?etin-;i----<3 for the night at Mill, and on the following t Lake L< tia into the JHtry, which I had not ilowing i-; taken from Hterliury iiun.-'' : The >k this n;n in IS.'". They ila.jnr Thomas Woolaston farlv Commander of the n Canterbury. He lived "■tation neir Oxford, and vhidi is named after him, by his brother.-, whom 'to partnership. White r homestead on its preseut ■c Letitia, a beautiful kc with bush to the which White named after »e lake is a sanctuary for There are black teal grebes, and Jit. White 13 nly place in Canterbury, I parts of Banks Penin-1

snla, where woodhens are plentiful. They are always about the buildings and yards, and come regularly to the cook-house door for scraps. About 1869 White sold Mt. White with 38,000 sheep to John Moore Cochran. He died at the station, and in 1885 the Loan and Mercantile took over Mt. White from his executors. Castle Hill. We found a deserted hut, where we lit a fire and had our lunch, going back to Mr White's station in the afternoon. In the morning, making an early start, we forded the Waimakariri and rode to Forester's old station where Mr Brodrick had his camp, and afterwards I rode via the Craigieburn river to Mi* Enys's station, Castle Hill, where I put up for the night, and then rode over Porter's Pass to Sheffield and on by railway to Christchurch. Note.—Castle Hill was bought by the brothers, John and Charles Enys, in 1864. They were known as tho "buckets in the well," because they took it in turn- to go backwards and forwards every year, each staying six months in New Zealand and 'then six months in England, and so arranging it that they spent six weeks together at either end. They were interesting, charming, and somewhat eccentric old bachelors, who had travelled much and were very well read. John was a naturalist and an authority on New Zealand moths and butterflies, and Charles was one of the finest shots in the country. The establishment at Castle Eock consisted of several detached houses. One big and well-furnished and full of treasures that had been collected all over the world was the sittingroom; another was the kitchen, where Mr Enys and his guests had their meals served by the cook in white apron and high white cap; and others were bedrooms. Arrangements were sometimes surprising, as when Lady von Haast found that her bed had been made up with two tablecloths. Charles Enys died in 1890, and about the,same time John inherited the family property in Cornwall and, selling Castle Hill, went to live permanently in.England. On June 10th, this year (18S6), the eruptions in the North Island took place and the Botomahana Lake and the beautiful pink and white terraces were totally destroyed. This was most ably described by Mr Percy Smith, then the Assistant Surveyor-General, in his reports on the eruption of Tarawera. (To be Continued.) j