THE SEA

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 79, 14 March 1936, Page 15

THE SEA

Green, restless sea! Tho’ man has conquered land, You were not made to lie at his command. Your dark passion forces him to heed A spirit that his strength will never lead; Your sullen calm teaches him to know That, like a maddened horse, you fain would go Moulding hollows in the grey cliff's base, Flinging your hoary waters in its face, While ever at tho tortured cavern’s feet . - Lies the heart, whose wild and restless beat Throbs with the cry from every crag and rock As sea-birds fly and circle in a flock. While with swirling tide, and hollow roar Your swollen billows leap to drown the shore.

Dear Kiwis, —Jn my last letter to you I promised that this week I would tell you of a launch trip which I took when visiting Russell, and I take much pleasure in the telling, for it was an exceedingly enjoyable day. It is no wonder that, when one arrives in Russell, people say to one, “Do not miss taking a trip in the cream launch.” At first I thought the cream launch was a special boat painted cream, so mv ignorance had to be enlightened, and I was told that thrice weekly this launch (painted green, not cream j calls at the various little bays which surround Russell, and collects the cream which the various settlers bring out in rowing boats. It is interesting to see them rowing out and steadying their boats against the launch, whilst the exchange of full and empty cans is in progress, and receiving, also, meat, bread, and other necessities, for the launcbman acts also an carrier between settlers and storekeepers. One can imagine what an event his arrival is for the people who dwell in these lonely places. . . At the entrance to the Kerikeri inlet we saw the oldest wooden house in New Zealand, where it still stands at the head of the inlet. Also, at this place is the Stone Redoubt, built in 1837. At Te Puna, a Norfolk pine marks the spot where the first white female child was bom in 1816. The launchman told with justifiable pride of how this child lived to be 91, and that when she died she still had her own perfect set of teeth, so that was rather wonderful. His wife was a niece of this old lady. Then, at Ohihi Bay, Samuel Marsden preached his first sermon to the natives in 1814. A etone cross is erected on the site, and one has a good view of it from the launch. We passed Robinson's Island, where a family of that name, except one boy, were murdered by a native. About this spot, as we chugged along, were numbers of gannets, out for their morning shopping, I think. Some of them rode the waves most gracefully, gossiping over what they had heard in tho ocean, others, their shopping not yet finished, hovered about until they sighted just the fish they had been searching for, when they dived like a dart to capture it. At mid-day we landed at Otehei Bay, Urupukapuka Island, the deep sea angling resort which is also Zane Grey’s fishing camp. Here we had lunch, and stayed for an hour, wishing that somebody would arrive with a sword fish or mako shark, but though we heard tales of huge ones which had been brought in, we were not fortunate enough to see one. After luncheon we went to collect more cream and to see new beauty spots, and at one of the bays a new school had been built, to attend which, most of the pupils went each morning in rowing boats. I wondered at the time how my Kiwis would like to row to school instead of walking, or riding a biycle or a pony. It sounds rather jolly doesn't it, dears, if one thinks about it on a warm summer’s day, but on a chill winter’s morning or a wet one, with a nasty little wind blowing up a choppy sea, I think you would find your present method of reaching school preferable. We arrived at Russell again at 4 p.m., onvinced that the trip had been very worth while, and that the Knoxie launch was a dependable steed. You were with me in thought. How wonderful it would have been had we been able to all chug together collecting cream and seeing the beauty and the historical spots which abound in the Bay of Islands.

And now, before closing. I want to say that Larry Boyle, of Nuhaka, has forgotten that the rules of the Kiwi page are strict. He had transgressed, l»y omitting to state his agemm;, firstly by writing in pencil and secondly by omitting to state his age. Trv again, Larry, and keep the rules well in mind. Will the busy and successful cook who told me of her cake and biscuitmaking, add further ingredients to her essay, the necessary (but missing) ingredients being signature and age. Bv the time this is in print. 1 shall be with you all again. With mv love. CHIEF KIWI.