A Pioneer of Fiordland

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21467, 15 April 1933, Page 4 (Supplement)

A Pioneer of Fiordland

H ADVENTURES OF ANDREAS REISCHEK jf LAST DAYS ON THE WEST COAST No. VI. After their interesting stay at Chalky Sound Reischek and Rimmcr left in the Government steamer Stella, and when journeying up the West Coast of the South Island the former asked the captain to land him at Paringa Bay. Me and Caesar spent tho night in a deserted gold-digger n hut. As it was raining heavily, the explorer left most of his boxes and barrels of specimens on the beach. " Caesar and I supped on potatoes and water, he writes, and then 1 lay down to sleep, feeling forsaken and tired." In the night the storm increased in force, the Paringa Creek overflowed its banks at high tide, and fteischek woke in the middle of the night with a stream of water pouring down on him! " 1 sprang up from my primitive couch into another pool, he writes, "and found the floor of the hut six inches under water! My boat on the beach was full of water, and when I went to empty her a sudden wave knocked me backwards and filled her up again. I pulled her up higher and then carried my things up to higher ground, being knocked down several times by the waves. The storm continued for four days, three of which I spent in getting my things out of danger. A station holder, Mr. Stephenson, and his son, having heard of the arrival of Reischek, rode down to the beach as soon as they could cross the swollen river, and advised him to make his headquarters at their station, seven miles upstream. This the explorer did, and spent a very happy time with these hospitable settlers. During the six months he was with them he made several excursions into the wild bush and mountain country, and on one occasion crossed the Great Divide of the Southern Alps, no mean feat in' that trecherous and trackless region. One night he almost froze to death with the cold. There being no vegetation, he could light no fire, and had to walk about all night to keep warm. " Dawn at last appeared," he writes, " and no Laplander ever welcomed the glorious sun more joyfully than I did in this region. Still ascending, I crossed deep snowfields where the snow had been blown together, and was frozen so hard that I had to take my tomahawk to chop it down so as to get softer snow to refresh myself with a wash. My breakfast was snow dissolved in the mouth, with a little oatmeal and a few biscuits." After hard going,' the explorer came to within view of the Hooker Glacier, in the Mount Cook region. " The grandeur of the scene caused me to stop," runs his diary, " and, although I have travelled through many of the mountains of Europe and ascended somo of the glaciers, I never beheld anything more beautiful than the scene before me. The sky was clear and cloudless . . . lake, river and dense forest, dark cliffs and rugged snow-clad peaks were seen, then Mount Cook, giant of the south, came in full view, towering triumphantly above me with his companion snow-capped mountains and their network of glaciers stretching out for miles. Then the sun rose higher, throwing his rays on the masses of ice and snow and making them scintillate like mountains of diamonds." Returning to where he had left Caesar with his gun, Reischek then descended, part of his track passing through one of those lovely alpine gardens that are the glory of the heights. When he got back to the station, he found that the Stella was expected on her return visit, so he packed everything ready for departure. And now follows the most pathetic and moving portion of the whole story: "Alas! at long last I was going to leave Caesar behind me. He was now twelve years old, and had become enfeebled with age and hard work On the 21st I said good-bye to him for ever. How sad he was, as though he, too, felt the tragedy of parting! He looked at me in such an entreating way that I could not contain myself any longer, and the tears coursed down my checks. . . . Poor old chappie! You had been more than a friend to me. Never, never could I repay you for what you had given me in love and trust and faithful service!" . But it was impossible for Reischek to take Caesar with him on the long journey that lay ahead, so he left his faithful comrade with the Stephenson family, who had become devoted to him. But no devotion on the part of new friends could make up for the loss of that dear master whom he had served so long, and with whom he had faced death so many times. Caesar could not get over the loss, and soon after the parting he pined away and died. Next week I shall tell you briefly of the concluding days of Reischek* s stay in New Zealand and his return to. Europe. E.K.M.