OLD PIONEER'S BOOK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20622, 22 July 1930, Page 10

OLD PIONEER'S BOOK.

MR. ARTHUR DUDLEY DOBSON

DISCOVERER OF NOTED PASS.

To mark the publication of his boojc of reminiscences, on which he has been at work for many years, Mr. Arthur Dudley Dobson, of Ghristchurcfc, the discoverer of Arthur's Pass, was entertained at luncheon last week by a committee of tho citizens who subscribed toward the cost of publication. By Mr. George Harper he was presented, on behalf of the subscribers, with the first copy of the book, bound in tooled red Morocco leather, and with a cheque for £75. The gifts were in honour of Mr. Dobson's 89th birthday.

Sir. Harper said that in tha early days ho had lived in tho neighbourhood of Arthur's Pass, at Avoca, arid frequently, before there was any thought of tho discovery of a passage to the West Coast, he had explored some of the country about the Poulter River. In 1863, because of the great excitement following the discovery of gold on the West Coast, traffic so rapidly that it was necessary to find an available passage for vehicles. Mr. Dobscn's father was accordingly deputed by the Provincial Council to explore all the passes, known or unknown, which might be available for wheeled traffic. His reports, beginning in March, 1865, gave a detailed account of his exploits. He himself went over the pass long before there was a suggestion of making a. road; on the first trip he had to crawl over boulders at the top. Before his father was sent there Arthur Dobson was already the pioneer in finding the pass. He was definitely the first white man to make the crossing from this side.

"We all know by the lapse of time what a splendid achievement tho finding of the pass was," said Mr. Harper. "All the expert men at that time came to the conclusion that the Otira Gorge Pass was the only one suitable, 1 ' and in not much more tlinn three months a good traffic road was-made over to the coast. Sir. Browning and Sir. Ned Griffiths both found other passes, but these were available only for sheep." _ Explaining t hat ho had been in many tight places, but never in a tighter one than this, Sir. Dobson told of (lie beginnings of his book of reminiscences. Ho had always kept a diary, written partly in English and partly in bad Slaori, and his daughter had often urged him to elaborate his notes and write his recollections. She ibought a typewrite? and typed out what he wrote/ About two years ago he began to take his writing seriouslv and first showed it to « publisher, ife could not, however, atfoN! to have it published.. Dr. Lester sr*(f him at work and asked to read tK* reminiscences, with which ho was so int« pressed that lie arranged for their publi< cation. His father, said Sir. Dobson, haA once written a novel, "Slary and the Slaori," which he recalled from publication "becauso it wan undignified for an engineer to write a novel." " I never hoped that in my old age I should arise as a literary man," said Sir. Dobson, returning hi:s warmest thanks to tho committee.