Through Canterbury and Otago with Bishop Harper in 1859-60.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2650, 19 April 1905, Page 2

Through Canterbury and Otago with Bishop Harper m 1859-60.

(Continued.)

Speaking df the difficulties which ladies had to encounter m getting about Christchurch, he instanced the case of one larty who to get to a ball was obliged to be carried there on her husband's back, through water and mud tor a quarter of a mile. Two other ladies came from the country h? a large packing case half filled with straw, and carried on a bullock dray, from which they had to descend by a ladder. Another lady, when making a call on a neighbour m the Papanui R'.ad, sank up to her knee, and not being able to extricate herself was obliged to remain m tuat ridiculous position till a passer-by helped her out. After our wanderings on the Plains we reached one evening the bank of the Rangitata River, opposite Mt Peel, and saw the station for which we were making about a mile away. The Bishop undertook, to poim out the ford where he crossed before, but he found much difficulty m doing so, owing to the thickets of -tall* prickly shrubs and grasses that lined the river bank:, and through which we had to force our way. Ultimately, we discovered it by following the footmarks of a shod horse. The ford looked like a na'ural dam formed by rocks and boulders, through .which the roaring water poured with tremendous velocity I had never encountered anything like it before, and shrank from the risk of crossing such a place, for it was clear that anyone falling into the river there would certainly be drowned, as no human being could get, foothold on the slippery boulders, and swimming was out of the question, owing to the intense coldness of the water and-the rapidity of the current. The Bishop did not allow of much time for deliberation. Satisfied after consulting his notes that he was at the right spot, he plunged into the river, but it was not at all re assuring to a nervous mm. to watch his progress as he sur-* mounted boulder after boulder , and floundered about between them, reminding one of the motion of a small yacht m a choppy sea, "now bow m the air, now, stern. Had I watched much longer all my courage would have oozed away, so 1 plunged m after him, and followed, m his wake. The g r unt of relief given by my horse on reaching the opposite bank shewed that he was as glad to get out of the river as his ri !er. The Bishop put spurs to his horse, and m a few minutes we were being welcomed by his daughter and her husband, and other members of the family who were staying with them. The varied beauty of the scenery m the neighbourhood of Mt. Peel form ed a striking contrast to the featureless country we had lately passed through, and it was an agreeable change to find oneself wandering about the woods which clothed the mountain sides, or viewing from its slopes the snow-capped peaks of the surrounding ranges, and I w,as glad to h^ar that we were to stay a fortnight m such a charming place, made all the more attractive by the kindness of everyone around us. As I expressed an interest m his pur suits, my host undertook to initiate me into the working of a 'sheep run' and took me to see the mustering of the flock, and the various opera-ions carried on m the shearing sheds where a la<-ge number of men i vere employed under the direction of hi*' factotum, " Abner," a tall, powerful half-caste, who seemed to be a greai favourite with everybody. Aar>n ; ;», the men working^in the shed wn^ an Australian black, whose nick name. " Handy Andy, indicated .hi.* good naturedcliaracter. My host sii I •he-found'him-invaluable,'as he kne v everything about sta'ion' .work..- and had taught many of the iC.-.^!i-h hands all they knew about -spiiitms posts and rails, and the erection o fences, the yoking and driving of bullock 1 , and breaking mof horse? but it was as a tracker of strayed cattle that his peculiar skill was most noticeable. His keenness of sight was so great that he couli do what to. Europeans seemed impossible, m proof of which my host told the following story :— " A visitor arrived one day at the station bemoaning the loss of a pocket book containing a large sum of money. He had not the slightest idea where he had dropt it. All he knew was that it was m the breast pocket of his coat when he started to cross the grassy plain ' Handy Andy ' was called m, and toldjwhat had happened. 4 All right,' he said ' I find it Let the gentleman show me where he crossed the river.' This was done, and ' Haudy Andy ' picked up his track tin the other side, and was watchred follow-i-ns following it till he disappeared m the distance. Hours passed, and darkness set m. No one ever dreamed that the pocket-book would- ever be found, for horses left no footmarks on the stony plain, and the violent north-west wind, which had blown all day, must ha \e obliterated every trace of the rid<r's passage through the tussock gras-s. Just be fore going to bed a knock was heard at the door, wh< n * Handy Andy ' appeared with the "ost pocket box, which he had found many miles away."

(To bs continued,) |