An Out-Back” Station

Evening Star, Issue 19764, 14 January 1928, Page 14

An Out-Back” Station

Wo dispensed with a floor for several months to allow the boards to dry or get seasoned. We had now more room to move about than when living in the whare, and began to make ourselves comfortable; made a table, for instance, also cupboard for tea, sugar, and sundries, which conveniences we had to do without in the whare. Blocks cut off a tree sufficed for chairs. Wo fixed up a couple of bunks, one upon each side of the fireplace. There was generally a fair-sized lire burning when wo “ turned in,” but before going to sleep we amused ourselves very often by watching the mice and clouds of dust they would make upon tlie earthen floor scuttling about; any number from a dozen to twenty might be counted nearly every night. Wo got quite accustomed to them, and rather enjoyed their company while living in the whare. They ran over us in our bunks once while sleeping—presumably with my mouth open, 1 suddenly wakened and found one—rather felt one—actually in my mouth, or halfway in. 1 caught it by the tail and threw it across the whare with such force that it struck Henry, who, being suddenly roused, wanted to know what on earth 1 was doing. After explaining, he said in the driest manner: ” Why, it would have been easier to have swallowed it.” It was a small matter, and did not keep us awake very long. We were now able to keep a cow or two and had plenty of cream and butter, which we made in an old-fashioned churn; then we raised some fowls and had eggs. Altogether wo had not much to complain of. We always walked to Hawksbury on Saturday night, some seven or eight miles, returning to work

FORDING THE WAIKOUAITI

I should have mentioned that in going to and from Hawksbury we had to cross the Waikouaiti Kiver, sometimes up to our waists. Upon one occasion when in partial flood it was deeper, and we foolishly crossed it at considerable risk. We provided ourselves with long flax sticks; they steadied us when_ in the water by keeping them scraping the bottom and digging them into tho shingle. We had to adopt _ the sumo with our feet by never lifting them; we thus felt our way across. The current was so strong that we were conscious that if we lifted cur feet wo should have been washed down. We were well into the middle of the river before we ascertained tho danger we incurred. We both had swags on our backs, including a tortoiseshell cat. We were very glad when wo reached the opposite bank, and never trted it again when there was anything like a flood.

In wet weather we could not do much outside work. One day, having nothing to do, I picked up an old boot and pulled it to pieces to ice how it was made, it was sewn throughout, and the soles not pegged on as now. The next time I went to Dunedin, or had the opportunity, I got some leather, cobbler’s wax, awls, and last, and made a pair of lace-up boots during wet days. Those my brother Gvahame were for six months. After an interval of about twelve months, or when we had completed building, the man we brought out from England (his name was Daniel Cook) came to live on the station, that we now called tho Homestead, to help ns milk tho cows and look after the pigs. He was an excellent hand at making butter and bacon, also cook. Although the old whare was made of grass, He always smoked the bacon in it Sawdust was used for the purpose ; as it never flamed there was no danger of it catching fire. We did not milk many cows at first, only those that had been broken _to o*o into the bail, but the following season we broke in a number of young heifers as they calved. During the summer we ■ mimed forty-five head every morning—fifteen each. We rose at 4, had a cup of coffee, mustered, and had some of the cows in the yard by 5, and had them all milked hv 8, *vhen we had our breakfast; then went to work at any

AH EXPLB

RING TRIP

I now left the station and lived at Hawksbury until I found something to start mo in life. There was not much to do upon the station beyond looking after tho cattle; therefore Henry did not require my assistance any longer. That occurred at the beginning of 1809. Very soon after my old friend, Hunter Brown, unexpectedly paid us a visit, riding down from his run in North Canterbury. He was fond of exploring, and wished to find a pass over the Dunstan Range to Lake Wanaka, and asked me to accompany him. I had no suitable horse at the time, and purchased one from Peter Napier. We travelled via Shag Valley and Mnniototo. This was before the diggings were discovered. The first station we pased was about ten miles from Palmerston South, which country when first taken up by a man named Charles Hopkinson was considered a very plucky undertaking on account of its being thought so far inland. My friend and I did not stay there, hut went on to the next station. I call it a station, because the country was occupied, but no homestead had been formed. Messrs Gilbert Rees and W. A. Low were in possession. Mrs Rees and a lady friend were with them. We arrived on a Saturday night. I can scarcely describe the dwelling as a house. It was a large corrugated iron building with canvas roof, divided by canvas into apartments. At one side they were erecting at the time we arrived a lean-to, a place wherein to shear their sheep. There was no floor anywhere. A long, narrow piece of woodwork served for a table; all hands having their_ meals together. While we were having dinner one of tho men carried in a sheep on his shoulder that he had just killed and skinned, and

CIVILISATION MAKES PROGRESS

By this time civilisation had made some progress. I say some progress, because it is difficult to define where it begins or ends. At anyrate Dunedin was growing, and clearances made where before bush, scrub, and niggerheads existed. The northern route over Flagstaff Hill had been improved by the erection of stone sairns; also, over Swampy Hill, and a horse track, partially indicated by the traffic. People were no longer afraid to travel that country alone.

I have omitted to relate that about the middle of the fifties, Mrs Jones had a Church of England clergyman as tutor to his family—then living at Matanaka—the Rev. Mr Johnston, who was tho first _ clergyman (except Mr Creed, the Native missionary, who bad succeeded Mr Watkins), to reside in the district; and who, in the absence of a suitable building to assemble in, visited Chewy Farm every Sunday afternoon, and held divine service in tho barn. At that period all the old whalers who previously lived at the Native pa had built cottages, at Hawksbury Bush, and their families,_ together with a few other settlers in the fteichborhood, mifdit be seen, wehding

Rigors of the Wilderness A Primitive Church Service Orbell Diary Continued No. VI.

early on Monday, carrying provisions, tea, sugar, and flour, etc., upon our backs. We caught wild pigs for meat. After completing the house we made a vegetable garden in the bush, then a cow shed 50ft long and stock yard. Broad slabs split out of large trees formed the sides of the shed, sawn timber for rafters, and thatched with grass. It took a lot of grass, which Henry cut and had to carry some distance, while 1 put it on the roof; this occupied us for a considerable time. Next we built a dairy and' stable. Besides being carpenter, I was appointed cook. Henry always found plenty to do looking after cattle upon the run and other necessary work. 1 remember he always made the coffee for breakfast. I never tasted anything to equal it, either before or since. He baked the coffee beans in a frying pan or camp oven, ground it while fresh, and added a little chicory; boiled it in a tin coffee pot for a minute or two; new milk was then boiled, with the result that no better recipe for good coffee was ever adopted. This was the only part of the cook’s duties he undertook. I made leavened bread that used sometimes to rise in such a way that in baking we had to lift the camp oven lid a few inches to give it space. When not over-busy I made cakes, and was quite proficient at making pancakes, and learned how to turn them in the frying pan. The custom was to cover the bottom of the pan, only making one at a time. I was such an adept that I could throw one up the chimney out of the pan, run outside, and catch it as it fell. It naturally turned a somersault in the operation and fell upon the proper side.

job we had in hand until evening. We had 100 or more* pigs; they fed on tho fern root in the gulies all day, and it was a sight to see them come strolling up tho ridges a t 5 or ,6 at night tor the skimmed milk. They were fed upon nothing else. Wo made tons of bacon, for which there was always a good demand; the quality of Dan’s curing was so well known that not onlv did Dunedin storekeepers order it before it was made, but private people as well. It paid us uncommonly well at Is lb, which was the price we invariably obtained for it. The country wc occupied was very rough, but not high. The growth was rank and thick, but the stock did remarkably well upon it, as the gullies always afforded excellent shelter in all weathers. The greater part of it could not have been burned, judging by the growth. For many years some of the gullies could scarcely be penetrated until we cleared them by firing, and some tremendous fires we had. A short time after a burn the gntss would spring up and the country assume a different aspect.

Having completed the necessary buildings and helping to fence in a paddock for the horses, I began_ to think of leaving the station, in which 1 had no personal or monetary interest, to endeavor to make a start in the world upon my own account. During the two years in which we were occupied in forming the homestead 1 enjoyed the work, and look back upon that period with pleasure, including living in the whare. 1 learned to do many things. We often had to resort to various devices to get out of difficulties that sometimes occurred. Once we had no tinder. Lucifer matches were seldom used in those early days. We wanted to light our morning fire in the bush, while living in the grass whare, to boil tbo billy, etc. It was a piece of carelessness letting our stock of tinder run out. We were puzzled for a bit. At last we thought of the gun, and, having some powder, we determined to make the experiment of putting into tho barrel half a charge of powder, then lightly running a piece of old rag down until it touched the powder, then fire it off. Wo had never tried it before, but it proved most successful. At any rate, it saved us a walk to Hawkshury and back.

hung it on a hook dose to the end of the table, by the side of the person who was carving. A few minutes later he brought in another, getting rid of it in the same manner. Then came the heads of the sheep with blood dripping. We started upon our jourucy next morning, and readied ■ Comber and Douglas’s station in the Aaniototo district, about thirty miles’ ride. Here we round there was no firewood, no bush within seventy or eighty miles, and the cost of getting it was prohibitive, except in cases of urgency, so they burned nothing but tomatigoro, of which there was almost any quantity, but it burned almost as fast as it was brought into the house. The following day we arrived at the foot of Mount Bathans, from which point we thought we saw a pass in the range that we thought we might get over to Wanaka.

It was a vc 17 fine night, blowing a light nor’-wester. We unsaddled our horses and tethered them, made some tea, and ate our meal, rolled ourselves in a blanket, and lay down in the tussocks, intending to get an early start next morning. In this wo were disappointed. During the night _ a heavy snowstorm came on, covering us with 4in or sin of snow. Strange to say, we did not feel cold. I remember I slept through it, not aware that tho snow was falling. The whole country was white, as far as we could see, so it was futile to think of proceeding. We therefore returned to the station we had left the day before, the snow in many places being from Ift to 2ft deep. We stayed a day or two there, then made our way back to Hawkshury.

their way to Chewy Farm to attend the service. Mr Jones provided a small boat in which we crossed the Waikouaiti River, the congregation numbering from twenty to thirty; and although the_ service was conducted in a most primitive manner, it was evidently appreciated, and improvised seats of all descriptions were requisitioned. The hymn books used were those our family had brought from England, one book accommodating two and sometimes three. There was no instrumental music, and only one or two present could lead off without it; everyone was too shy or nervous to make the attempt. However, the service was not complete without singing, and upon more than one occasion the writer,- although he had not the remotest idea of tune, would make an effort, whether in tune or out of time, it made little difference—the _ others would join. There was np criticism, and we were all satisfied at having done our best. There was. one hymn better known than the others, and after a while this hymn, the only one, was sung every Sunday. (To be continued.)