SURVEY LIFE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 151, 26 June 1912, Page 16

SURVEY LIFE.

ITS TROUBLES AND ITS JOYS. SOME INTEEESTING FACTS. (Specially Written for The Poet.) J ! - (By H. E. G.) Survey life in New Zealand is often .described as being one continual picnic. The subdivision of an open tract of country during the summer months, Bituated handy to civilisation, may be an enviable occupation, but the survey of the rough blocks of bush far back in the wilds of the King Country is a different matter altogether. Surveyors are the pioneers of civilisation, and the men who tackled the bush areas along the Main Trunk line must have had plenty of energy and resource and been possessed of good physique and a big heart. FORERUNNERS OF SETTLEMENT. The trigonometrical survey of the Waimarino Bush district was done over thirty years ago by Messrs. Thorpe and Wilson. Only those who know the in accessibility of this part, even at the present time, can realise what a rough undertaking these men and their parties must have had. Stores were either can-

JoedJ oed up the Wanganui River to the Ma-ngajrui-o-te-ao junction or packed across the . open Waimarino. plains .from Tokaanu to the edge of the bush near where the Waimarino railway station now stands. From these places everything had- to be e wagged for miles in very rough and broken bu»h country. The men camped under a fly, and relied on what they, could ihoot for meat. Little more than Hour, flugar, and tea was used for stores,", damper cooked in a fryingpan or on the embers taking the place of bread. The road and block surveyors, who followed shortly, after the trig ■urveyorfl, had a similar experience. Stores had to be canoed up the river from Wanganuij or packed from Moawhango to the edge of the bush near Karioi, and then swagged long distances, crossing rough ridges, and gorgy creelce. _ „ - ROUGH WORK AND RAINFALL. Now that the country is becoming fairly settled with townships at short intervals < and the main . roads; formed, the surveyors have a closer' base to work front. All the same, there is any amount of rough bush country left yet, •with long swagging trips and heavy line-cutting to' satisfy the most ardent picnicker. The worst feature of the King Country, especially in the Waimarino district, is the heavy rainfall. Camp life is all right in fine weather, when everybody 1b in good spirits and ready for anything that comes along, but the continual, wet has a very depressing effect in bush country. Whilst the Makatote viaduct was "being erected a record of the rainfall waß kept for two seasons, and it worked out at 99in of rain which fell on 231 days. Makatote is fairly close to the monntains, and would have a somewhat higher average than the district generally. A HARDY LOT. The men on a survey party are always a hardy lot. Sleeping in tents, keeping early hours, getting plenty of exercise in the fresh air, and living on good, plain tucker' makes them as fit as fiddles. The only drawback is the isolation, sometimes the party going for weeks at a stretch without seeing another soul. CUTTING-UP FOR SETTLEMENT. The life of a survey party cutting, up a bush block for settlement purposes does not vary much in general. Starting away from one of the country townships, the local packer will land stores and camp gear as far as it is possible for him to get with his horses — usually some; miles away from the block to be cut up. Here a temporary camp is pitched, while the country ahead is explored, and a site picked for the main camp in a good central position on the block. A small area of bush is then cut out to let the sun in and keep the tents safe from falling trees. If the country is not too rough, a pack track is cut into the main camp site from the temporary camp, and everything packed in. Where the country is rough and broken with gorgy creeks, then everything haß to be ftwagged into the scene pfjjperations. THE MAIN CAMP. I The main camp consists of a tent for the surveyor, two tents for the men, a galley for meals and cooking, and a pataka. The galley i« usually a 10ft by 12ft' tent with the end cut out, and a fly pitched in front. Both sides of the fly are slabbed in, and a rough chimney erected at the end. Tables and seats are built, and everything made as comfortable as poEeible. In the sleeping tents bunks, well off- the ground, are built of saplings, with fern or manuka for bedding, and a small slab table stuck up. The 1 surveyor usually carries a kauri table-top in two or three pieces, which, when eet up on bueh legs, enables him to have a good level surface for plan work. The pataka is built of slabs, Maori fashion, on four legs, well off theground, with a strip of tin round each leg for about a foot to keep the rats from getting up. The rats are present throughout the bush country in hundreds, and soon make a mess of anything they can get at, even tackling the carrote in the camp garden. THE SURVEY PARTY. The survey party consists of the surveyor, a chainma-n, two line-cutters, and the cook. The chainman is generally a man who has had several years' experience at survey work, and the linemen are young, strong chaps used to bush life and adepts with the axe and slasher. The cook is a handy all round man, baking bread in a camp oven, looking after the meat, keeping" an eye on the camp garden, going out for mail, chopping wood, ana doing lote of other small jobs besides the general cooking. Life would not be worth living without the cook, and when- the party arrives home at dark on a, winter's • evening, wet and j trred, things tak« on a new aspect with a cheerful fire in. sight and tea all ready. THE FOOD THEY EAT. When the block is a, large one a camp garden ie started at the first main camp, and the vegetables axe swagged out to the different camps as 'the work proceeds. The green iood is very much appreciated, and keeps away boils, which are a common complaint in bush camps, where meat is consumed in large quantities. Haricot beans are often used in lieu of potatoes, as the former go a. good deal further for the same weight, which is a big consideration when everything has to be awagged. The camp relies on pigs, cattle, and pigeons for the meat supply. Pigs are fairly plentiful right through the King'Counfcry, and wild cattle are found in many parta. HUNTING PIGS AND CATTLE. Each survey party possesses a couple of good hunting dogs, aud the chase after meat is always full of excitement. The swag home with the meat across country is a different tale, however, and takes ail the pleasure from the outing. When a pig is killed the men. often ! remove the hair by the old Maori method. A fire is lighted, and when burning well ia covered with green punga branches and the carcase laid on top until it is steamed underneath. Then this part is scraped, and the process continued until the animal looks as if he had just come out of a first-claee butcher's shop When cattle are met with. and a. beaet ehot, the meat is cut away from the bones, which are left behind owing to weight. The men put up big .loads and often land in camp with over 1001b of beef each after a long crosscountry ewag. As much freeh meat as will keep is hung to an adjoinipg tree, and the rest dry e&lted or piclded down in a, barrel. If the camp does not possess a barrel, then a trough h- made in one of the fallen tree* around the camp. The cook w>on becomes an expert butcnef, and often core* the hindquarters of a porker for ham. PUSS "POMPEY": THE NECESSARY CAT. Besides the dogs a survey camp also boasts of a cat. alwujs a fine wellbehaved specimen, who keeps the rats away from thfr galley at night. " Pompev." our own puss, behaves more like a dog than a cat. following the cook around tut he goes after wood and accompanying the party on their trips to fly ramp, He often tries to go out with the men when they are off on a huntiug expedition, but ib chased back by thrown rhipe. During the night if "Pompev" happens to catch a. l'kt he will alwa\a biiug it up to one of the tents, where h« will kick up . a ffreafc i'o«" until a Wfc& k fi&ick and fee ia complimented^

on his capture, and then he will sta-lk quietly off and finish his meal. PRELIMINARY EXPLORATION. The first work done on a bush block is a thorough exploration. Old boundary pegs are picked up and the lines cleai-ed out, walking tracks aro cut in all directions. The valleys are explored for possible roads, barometer heights being taken in the saddles on ridges and at bridge sites on the streams. Trig 6 are flagged and the country around sketched in, and soon the surveyor is able to make a good general sketch map of the whole area. All this is done before a single peg is put in. The next step is to grade the road routes decided upon, after which these are pegged and surveyed and plotted down on the working plan. Then a scheme oi' sections is drawn out bo as to give each one a good homestead site and water. The boundaries of these are then cut, pegged, and surveyed, the lines following the ridjjes and side spurs wherever possible, in order to give good fencing boundaries. At intervals reserves, are cut out for schools, travelling stock, and metal for roade. In many cases a subsidiary triangulation has to be carried' over the block to provide check points for governing the traverse work. WORKING FROM FLY CAMPS., All- the work cannot be done from, the main camp, co that as soon as there is more than an hour's walk then fly camps are used as bases. The fly camp usually comprises one small tent for the surveyor and two for the men. The latter are facing one another a

short time, so that after 6t-raining there is no danger. As a rule ono of the party goes out for the muil once a week, but when the work ie away back it is^ often two or throe week* before anything is heard about the outside world. The camp always gets a good supply of weekly papers and magazines, besides odd books. Everything is read from cover to cover and freely discussed. SIMPLE MEDICINES AND FIRST AID. Owing to the open air life the men enjoy perfect health, and the only medicine' stocked is a bottle of painkiller or a few packet© of salts. A few bandages and carbolic oil are kept in caee of cuts or sprains. A surveyor should really go through a. course in first aid before going away back, as. anyone hurt would be miles away from medical aid. Several nasty $uts have happened through men slipping when carrying a swag and jtheir axes and slashers. The load on the back prevents them from quick movement. Considering that the men are always felling treee, it is a -wonder that more accidents do not take place. A NARROW ESCAPE.. One of the parties in the South Waimarino had a narrow escape in one of the fly camps. They had shifted up on to a rfdge one Saturday and pitched camp in a, saddle. ' On the Sunday two of the men went along the ridge after cattle, as they had seen freeh tracks, and succeeded in shooting a beast about half a mile from the camp. After bleeding the beast they returned to bring the others out to assist in swagging

NEW ZEALAND SURVEYORS IN DEMAND. The surveyors in New Zealand bush country gain experience in their work which makes thorn in demand wherever there is fresh country to be opened up in alif paits of the world. At the present time there are young New Zealand surveyors holding their own in Australia, South Africa, Canada, Malay States, and China. There is a complaint throughout New Zealand that there is a shortage of surveyors for cutting up land for the market. Owing to the high Btatus of the survey examinations, few get through, and then the salary is so small in New Zealand compared with other countries that nearly all the young surveyors are now going outside tho Dominion.