THE WEST COAST.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 715, 2 April 1864, Page 5

THE WEST COAST.

No.. VI, By J. W. Sullivan, Esq., F.R.G.S. (Attached to the "Fawn" Expedition.) „ » • Anita Bay, a small indentation between Greenstone and Fox Points, and extending for about a half mile, possesses one of the securest anchorages in this part of the world from N.W. and S.W, gales. The spit is about a cable's length from a group of rocky islets, the largest of which is well known to the whalers as the Post-office, from the circumstance that letters are frequently left there in bottles to indicate the movements of the different craft that resort thither in search of whales. The great security of this anchorage ground consists of a hidden bank running nearly parallel to the shore at the distance of about a quarter of a mile, so that a vessel dropping anchor to seaward of this rocky ledge would have to drag it up the incline and over its top before she.could possibly get on shore. Her Majesty's ship Acheron, while employed on the Marine Survey, rode out a severe gale here, and the ill-fated " Pryde" was sheltered from the hurricane of Feb. Ist and 2nd last, with one bower anchor and a hawser run out to the " Post-office," at the same time experiencing no sea beyond a heavy swell setting around the rocky promontory. The holding ground is excellent, being at 12 or 13 fathoms, sandy mud; besides offering so valuable a refuge, it has the advantage of having Milford Sound immediately under the lee in the event of something extraordinary occuring to vessels seeking a retreat. The vegetation along this portion of the snore, especially at this season of the year, possesses considerable beauty. The Rata (iron wood) with their branches of .almost blood red flowers, the purple flowering of the kotutu (Fuschia) dotted by an occasional graceful korau, contrast pleasingly with the dense sombre green of the surrounding vegetation. _ Several ratas attain great size in this neighborhood, and one splendid veteran in particular, entwined by parasites, measuring 7 feet in diameter, seemed. striving to live among its youthful vigorous species— an aged giant in the folds of vegetable pythons. Among the foliage chatted the hoarse kakas ; amorous tuis darted about from branch to branch; solitary pigeons ' enjoying a siesta, sat moping by on the trees, while the familiar little robin and thrush were exercising their ordinary inquisitiveness on the visitors that had arrived amongst them. On the boulders also, might be seen antiquated penguins, with their ludicrous flappers and peaked tails, standing as though in dreamy cogitation of their amphibious life. In fact, the scene altogether presented by this portion of the coast is particularly romantic, and indeed, the luxuriance of the woods of New Zealand even in the depth of winter, owing to the predominance of evergreens, preserve a freshness and beauty which is in vain sought in latitudes where the leaves of the majority of the forest trees are deciduous. The greater part of the night of the 10th of December was overcast and very still, but at half-past six a.m., of the following morning the rain commenced, and was continued up to noon, when the wind freshened at N.W. and we weighed and made sail. We had scarcely proceeded half a mile before a perfect hurricane blew suddenly from the N.W., and the attendant rain of these N.W. squalls fell so furiously that all hands on deck were completely drenched in a few minutes. So greatly did the little craft labour that we could scarcely keep our feet, and had no alternative left us from our position but to run before the gale back again to Milford Sound, there being no chance to regain our anchorage ia Anita Bay. Under bare poles away we flew, and by the time we reached Freshwater Basin it was estimated by the captain that, with not a stitch of canvas set, we must have gone at the rate of eight knots an hour. In order to indicate the quantity of rain that fell in a short space of time, it is sufficient to add that for about two miles distance from the Heads we ;had exchanged the blue salt water for the discolored fresh, and vast quantities of drift wood and entire trees were floating on the surface of the Sound. The multitude of cascades which I have before alluded to were, as on a previous occasion, forming an imposing picture ; and provided it might be viewed under shelter of some hospitable roof, where the sense of comfort lent additional pleasure to enjoyment, I should have had no objection to this second edition of a nor-wester in these parts. But seeing that the reverse was the case, I then preferred to exchange any admiration of Boreas' stormy ire, for the infinitely more comfortable Zephyrus.

On the 13th December, with a strong local breeze, we held out of the inlet, and during the whole of the night the prevalent land breeze favored us, so that by 4 a.m. of the following morning we were off the heads of George's Sound, having run by the entrance to Bligh's during the darkness. The boat was got off, and proceeded for a distance of 5 or 6 miles towards its extremity, and lanrled in Anchorage Cove. The only indication that this place had been visited was the large quantities of timber that had been felled and sawn, an old camp, and traces of footmarks on the sand. From its broad and easily recognised entrance it is in one respect superior to Milford Sound, while the mountains that rise on either hand are inferior in height. Unlike Milford Sound also, they present an undulating character with nicks and valleys, which latter relieve the eye from the monotony of being surrounded by sheer walls, and frowning battlements of naked rock. The woods grow down to the very edge of the water, and it is only in a few spots that gravelly beaches are to be seen.

From Milford Sound southward, the high snowy range recedes from the line of coast, and is replaced by a system of less elevation, clothed to their summits in vegetation. As a general rule, however, the bush ceases at from sixty to a hundred feet from the level of the sea, and these few feet present a rugged worn face to the ceaseless beat of the ocean waves. Numerous small islets, also like in character to those between George and Caswell Sounds, are scattered at a little distance from the mainland. Between the two latter inlets the only depressions from the general direction of the coast line (which is N.N.E.) are Looking Glas3 and Two Thumb Bays, the latter pervaded by rocks, which extend for upwards of two miles to the northward. We passed Caswell Sound, and owing to the narrowness of its entrance, did not attempt to run in. Besides, there is an inviting island, which in the course of time has been cut off from the tongue of land, which forms its southern head, and under any circumstance, where there are so many available

harbors ia tho vicinity, Oaswell Sound will never be sought by the mariner. At 5.30 p.m. we had gained the Heads of Charles Sound. A little to the north occurs a small bay similar to Lookingglass Bay. It has no name on the charts, but owing to the peculiar shaped rocks in its vicinity, is remarkable. Of these there are two principally imposing, assuming the character of monumental piles or obelisks, while the cliff adjacent is equally curious. With only a little stretch of a poetical imagination, it might be translated into an ivy-clad mansion with two doors abutting on the foaming breakers. When the poetry, however, alights from its aerial flight, and the true character of the cliff is revealed, the iron-clad mansion becomes a roof-shaped rock, overgrown with scrub ; its two doors are caverns, used, probably, as retreats by the wily seals, and the enchanting portico is but an ocular deception, caused by the perspective. On ascendino- Charles Sound there appears among the vegetation long strips of bare rock on the mountain sides, to all appearance limestone : and in one part_ especially, about half way up the mountain, it appears on either hand as though the vein or mass of limestone extended from one side under the Sound and re-appeared on the other. A closer inspection shows these white patches to be portions of the mountain sides denuded of their vegetation by small streams issuing from their summits. These, when swollen, have swept every thing before them, and in the course of time the granite, which composes the mountains,has weathered and assumed the colour of limestone. In gaining the upper portion of the main arm, the mlet becomes bifurcated, its northern extremity be'ng known as the Emelius arm while the southern has received no name. At the mouth of the former of i these, Eleanor Island, a densely wooded J rock, bears every indication of haying been rent from the base of the conspicuous Victor Peak by some convulsion of nature. Victor Peak is a mountain rising at the entrance to the two arms, to the height of 4000 feet, and even when quite close its symmetry is as well marked as though by "the aid of some enormous geometrical machine, a perfect right cone had been generated. As viewed from the offing it is one of the most remarkable land marks on this part of the coast. The depth of water on either side of Eleanor Island is very great; so that we ran out hawsers to the trees and lay very snug. On the moraine of' the 15th we tried to run up to the head of Emilius Arm ; but failing in our attempt, put the boat ahead, andntowed up to the head of the southerly branch, where we came to an anchor on the mud bank in two fathoms. There are two cascades in this sound rolling from an altitude little inferior to that occurring in Freshwater Basin, but they possess nothing of remarkable grandeur. The scenery generally is tame in comparison to what we have seen, but the wide basin-like character of this part of Charles Sound, with its unruffled surface, broken only by two or three rounded islets of dense vegetation, and surrounded by irregular pyramids of primeval forest, still possesses a charm, if only to indicate that the hand of man has effected nothing yet to mar its pristine state of nature. From the 16th to the 18th of December rain and its attendant discomforts forbade any attempt at exploring, so we amused ourselves by shooting ducks and red bills, the former occurring in large numbers in those regions. The morning of the 18th, however, breaking very fine, the windlass was asain manned, and the wmgs of the little Fawn spread out " to catch Heaven's blessed breeze." However, she did not catch it abeam, so eight hours of beating was her share, until she was good enough to rid us of fair Eleanor Island and her consort Victor Peak. At 6.30 p.m. we were abreast of the heads of Nancy Sound, and the boat proceeded for about two miles up in that direction, but saw no traces of the Matilda Hayes. The entrance to Nancy Sound is well marked by a yellow bare island, seen a considerable distance from seaward in the centre of its mouth, as well as a conspicuous landslip of a reddish yellow color, to all appearance gravel. The base of the landslip or heap which the material carried down has formed, is sparsely clad in scrubby bush. The navigable channel is to the "south of the island alluded to, which receives the name of Entrance Island, and is only about 600 yards acros3. The other channel between it and the north shore of the mainland is not an advisable one, as it is considerably narrower and contains a sunken rock. The Sound resembles Milford Haven in almost every respect, bare steep mountains rise from the level of the sea and the deep soundings that have been obtained are little inferior to those in the latter place. There is, however, an addition to its botanical productions—Manuka and tea-tree appear here in large quantities. At 7.30 the boat returned, and in a couple of hours we were off Thompson's Sound, three miles to the south of Nancy Sound, and eleven from Charles Sound. At four a.m. of the 19th, a beautiful calm morning favoring us, Aye entered Thompson's Sound, probably the finest inlet of the whole, with the bold scarped cliff* of Secretary Island on the one hand, and grand groupings of the Southern Alps on the other clad in vegetation, where the graceful silver pine in drooping leaves looks like a verdant fountain rising out of a sombre forest, the traveller is welcomed. Really after having experienced the worst efvreather, one should be pardoned if he exclaimed—" Why seek the mild and sunny clime 3of olive clad Italy, the solemn sweet influences of the palmy East ?" There are scenes equally seducing in lands whose mountains have no renown in history, whose sterner trees were never themes for poets' lyre.' A very Egyptian Howadji could not fail to be enchanted(with this 19 th December, and magnificent scenery of Thompson's Sound.

A Pa.u4.dise of Blacks.—l soon discovered that Sierra Leone is a true paradise of the_ blacks. Here the negro is triumphant, and the whits mai holds him in awe. The veason being, that liberated Africans are admitted to all the privileges of English citizens, an i numbers have out-mastered intellect—a product, moreover, which is not copious in the Anglo-African formation. The "negro imitates thp white man as the ape imitates the negro. The result in both cases is a caricature. The rich negro of Sierra Leone is dressed as if he had taken a bath in a rainbow; and his manners are so strained and pompous that a close imitation of them, even in the broadest farce, would be looked upon as a rough over-acting of character. But, most comical of all, is the manner in which negroes identify themselves with the parent country. To hear them talk, you would think that, their ancestors hal come over with "William the Conqueror; and that they cv/ n 1 take to themselves all the glories of our history, 1 the following anecdote will prove. The French !• consular agent having some time ngo overstepped the limits of the land, a warrant was taken out against him. Holding the sable powers in great contempt, he armed him?eif-with, a pair of pistols, and defied them with the air of a brigand at the Victoria. ' Ah!" cried the two constables rapidly retreating, "we no care for you, one dam Frenchman. I link you forget we win Waterloo, eh'"—Savage Africa, By W. Winwood Reade.