THE TRIP OF THE LUNA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 3777, 16 March 1874, Page 2

THE TRIP OF THE LUNA.

[By Telegraph.]

(FROM OUR SPECIAL REPORTER.)

In the concluding paragraph, of the last instalment of my narrative, I left the Luna snugly ensconced in Cuttle Cove, Preserve, tion Inlet. The reader will perhaps remero. ber that we lay at anchor in the aforesaid Cove patiently awaiting a change of the boisterous westerly weather which prevented us from paying another visit to WINDSOR POINT AND GREEK" ISLETS.

On the evening of Friday, 27 th February, a change for the better was evidently talcing place, and all on board were in high glee, A stranger to the Sounds, anchored in one of the nnmerous Bays; might lay tbera for months in blissful ignorance of the state of the weather outside. Whenyou pass througbi the entrance to a Sound, and following up its labyrinthine channels^ lose siglltgof-the stormy ocean, a sudden and complete change comes o'er the scene. Perhaps a quartet of an hour ago your vessel was tossed about, and cruelly strained by fierce waves and howling winds; now you steam along a placid sheet of water studded with pretty islets, and offering quiet resting places on all sides. Scarcely a ripple disturbs the surface. A quarter o£ a mile away from, the open ocean, and to the uninitiated, not the least sign is visible to indicate that a fierce gale is raging outside. To the experienced mariner the case is very different, and Captain Fairchild seemed to know by instinct when the gale outside was abating, or when a " snorter" was coining on. On this particular Fridsy evening he assured us that matters weie improving outside, and his assurance fortunately proved to be well grounded. At; four o'clock next morning the anchor was weighed, and the steamer's head turned once more in the direction of the principal entrance, to the Sound. On reaching the month, we found the sea had subsided, although a heavy westerly swell was running, and white breakers were curling over the' dangerous Balleny reef. We coasted along in a southerly direction, passing close to the seaward side of Coal Island, which is,of considerable height at some points, and appears to be well timbered throughout. We soon reached Windsor Point, and the steamer was headed straight for the small inlet below the point, for the purpose of ascertaining whether it afforded safe anchorage for a vessel" of moderate size. The feat of entering the inlet was one of no small danger, as itia guarded by a narrow passage of hard, savage looking rocks, over which -on. this occasion, the sea broke heavily. Captain Fairchild, however, handled his vessel with such skill, that the danger was scarcely apparent, ani we got right to the head of the inlet We saw quite enough to convince us that there was no safe anchorage there,' in fact, scarcely "room to swing a cat," and besides being exposed to southerly winds, an uglyjreef of rocks was discovered right in. .the centre.of where the anchorage ought W.bWg.\Witli the aid of the jib and a boat, towing at the bows; the steamer was rounded, and fevr on board were sorry when she steamed clear of the inlet. We then steamed to Green Islets to see if a safe landing-piace could be found there. We went round the,,point to the southward, and the steamer was-steered right into the middle of a nest'of rocks, over which the sea was breaking in every direction. It was~ "wonderful to f see-'tne little vessel winding a devious course between, the dangers on. all sides. At last she was placed between two large rocks dose together, with. something like a sunken rock aheadj-'The captain thought it was about time to abandon, all hope of getting a safe anchorage at this delightful spot, so the steamer was backed out a bit, and then turned round," making her way out in the direction in which she earner If a lighthouse is erected on the-West Caidifi of Otago, " PUYSKGOTt POINT Will probably be fixed- upon as the rite, The want of a safe landing place at Green. Islets puts that site out of consideration, and* the same want almost places Windsor Point in a similar position. It would be necessary to construct a road from* Preservation Inlet to Windsor Point if a lighthouse were erected there, and the rough nature of thecoontry would render the construction of a roadlec--tremely expensive. Windsor Point is othejv wise very suitable as- a site, but I Bee no. reason why- a lighthouse on Puysegur Point would not prove equally well adapted to the wants of Melbourne steamers and other: vessels reaching the coast of New Zealand ia this neighbourhood. Puysegur Point is 140 feet high, and with a CO feet tower * lighfc; could be shown for the required radius of 2(> miles, while Puysegur possesses the great advantage of being easily accessible. ( .- y t „-. : *-~^ So far as Otago in concerned, the "busmessp of the lighthouse surveying expedition.(Wai now brought to a conclusion.: ■,•;■■' ;:. 'r The next part of the Luna's programme was to pay visits to some of the .Sounds on. the West Coast.of Otago: One objectjfi. these visits was to enable our special photographer, Mr Burton, to obtain some views-of those wonderful inlets-indenting the West coast of our Province which, although thej contain some of the most magnificent scenery in the world, are almost unknown even, to "New Zealand Colonists. The place which.. it was proposed to visit was DUSKY, SOUM», a few miles north of Preservation^. Inlefc. When we arrived opposite the latter the" wind was blowing very strong from the. north-west, and increasing in strength rapidly by, the time we had arrived opposite the entrance to Chalky or Dark Cloud Inlet*., which may be said to be next door to- Pre- - servation Inlet, there being only a narrow head between. As the steamer was making very little progress Captain Fairchild determined to take shelter in Chalky Inlet, and. turned the steamer's head into the northern, entrance, passing close to Cape Providence. Some years;ago' the steamer Star of'thej South came to grief near the Cape. While-' seeking an anchorage there she struck or -» rock, and it was with some difficulty that she was kept afloat and headed inside. In. the Inlet the Luna was -brought to an anchorage on a sand-bank in a pretty little nook called NORTH POBT. The scenery in this place was rather Sup-Jr dued, the only mountains visible being* bade ~ view of those already seen in Preservation Inlet. The steamer was shut in by diminutive hills covered with fine timber. "North. Port resembles a small river, which might easily be imagined to be hundreds of miles from the sea coast. The only observable signs of storm raging outside were the scud— ding fleecy clouds overhead, and an occasional, squall skimming along the surface of the water. During our stay in North Port; wc_ caught cray fieh in great quantities, as well as blue (or rock) cod and other common. . kinds of fish. We remained at North-jPbrft^; during Saturday night and the whole of 4 Sunday, March Ist. During Sunday night - the weather showed signs of changing to the south-west, and shortly after 4 o'clock' «i. I*'1 *'- Monday morning, steam was got up, and & start made to get to sea. On reaching the entrance to the Inlet, we found the wind was 9till blowing from the N.W., and the sea running very high. • The little steamer behaved spendidly, and made very good headway. The western-most point of the Middle Island, West Cape, lies between Chalky and Dusky Inlets, aud once past that, we were to a great extent independent of prevailing winds. We rounded the Cape, and. - soon approached the entrance to DUSKY INLET. As the entrance is approached from the southward, the coast line presents an aspect' rery different to that of the coast further south. Instead of high rocky bluffs backed;/,„ ip with mountains, the land on the coast ~* ;onsists of low round hills covered with. vegetation, and the mountains are a consilerable distance inland. Dusky Sound wast nsitedand explored exactly 101 years aga jy Captain Cook, and the observations then nade by the famous navigator have proved. >n the whole to be surprisingly accurate. Dusky and Breaksea Sounds were also surveyed by Captain J. L. Stokes, of H.M.SL Acheron, in 1851. On entering the Sound 3ne is perfectly bewildered by the multitude }f islands and islets (all covered with timber} J" which stud the entrance. A group of isletei -'■■ sailed Seal Islands, and an island of considerable dimensions—Acheron Island—form, the northern side of the entrance to Dusky"': Sound. In the centre of the Sound, ana l extending along its entire length, with ft narrow passage between them, are two large islands —Long and Cooper Islands. To the north of Acheron Island lies Resolution . [slam!, which is of considerable size, being ibout eight miles long and seven miles acroac \ remarkable peninsula runs out from. '" the island to seaward, almost north sod

.south. It is called Five Fingers Peninsula, on account of a peculiar group of rocks at its extreme point, which bear exact resemblan cc, when viewed from certain positions, to the five fingers of a man's hand. Resolution Island is separated from, the mainland by a narrow channel called Acheron Passage, which connects Dusky Sound with the entrance to Breaksea Sound. We entered the Sound close to the South Head, which is covered with brushwood, with good timber growing here and there. As we steamed along the shore a fine aparrow-hawk flew off to the vessel, and .alighted on the rigging, and after carefully inspecting us he flew oil", just in time to save his life, as one of the passengers, of sporting propensities, had rushed below for his gun. A short distance from the entrance, on the south side, there is a pretty little retreat, called Pickersgill, which affords convenient anchorage for large vessels. Captain Cook visited this harbour with his vessel when he explored the Sound, so it was resolved that we should do likewise. We steamed round a small island at the entrance, and remained in the harbour for a short time. Captain Cook, during his visit, cut down several trees near the water's edge, but new timber and brushwood have of course completely overgrown any clearing he might have made. We fancied, however, that we could see a difference in the size of the timber where his trees had probably been felled. We then proceeded in the direction of Cascade Cove, a few miles further on the same side of the Sound. One particular object of our visit to the cove was ■to ascertain the position of Heron Island, and a rock situated a few hundred yards inside of it. During the Governor's recent visit to Dusky Inlet, he was convinced that "the position* of the island and the rock were wrongly marked on the Admiralty chart, and Capt. Fairchild was requested to examine the island and the /ock. His Excellency proved to be right, as the island was found to be about a quarter of a mile closer in to the entrance of the cove, the rock being a few hundred yards inside the island, and close to the eastern side of the cove. The latter runs inland for a distance of two or three miles, and to the eastward and southward is overlooked by high mountains, some of the peaks being from 3500 to 4000 feet high. The summits of the mountains were wrapped up in mist, the sides, so far as we could see them, being finely timbered down to the water's edge. We steamed right to the head of the cove, and obtained views of three or four waterfalls tumbling down the sides of the mountains. One of the falls presented a splendid sight, rushing out of a cave high up the mountain side, the large body of foaming water making two or three leaps as it were before it tumbled into the watsr of the cove. Captain Hutton went ashore for a few minutes, for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the rocks, visible here and there along the water's edge, and found them to consist chiefly of sandStone grit. Close in shore a great number of fish were seen swimming, no le3S than five or six different kinds being distinguished. After leaving Cascade Cove our course lay in the direction of the head of the Sound, between the south shore and Long Island. We now began to enter upon the grandest scenery of the Sound, and got a foretaste of that which we might expect to see for the next three or four days. The passage along which we were steaming is about a quarter of a mile broad in some places ; but, owing to the immense perpendicular height of the mountains on each side of it, scarcely appeared to be more than 100 yards across. The mountains on the mainland were very steep, and covered with dense timber ; the highest peaks were topped with mist, and waterfalls innumerable came tumbling down the hill-sides in every direction. The water in the channel was intensely blue—its great depth, sometimesmarkedon the eh art two hundred fathoms and no bottom, and the shadow thrown by the surrounding hills, producing a rich dark blue colour,- sometimes deepening into a coal black. Here and there sombre tints are relieved with a patch of light green, where the water shallows over a sandy beach or a sunken rock. For about two hours we steamed along the channels, sometimes ahead hemmed in by the mountains, with apparently no outlet; sometimes with a clear view for two or three miles ahead, with fantastic peaks assuming every conceivable, or rather inconceivable, shape, ranged on both sides. On reaching the end of Kong Island the steamer's head was •turned to the north-west, in the direction of Acheron Passage, a course being steered between Long and Cooper Islands. Captain Cook reported having seen some Jamilie3 of Wild Maoris at the upper end of the latter island, near the heads of the Sound. The scenery in Acheron Passage was much the same as that we had seen in the neighbourhood of Long Island, but as the fog had lifted we had a better view occa•sionally. The finest view was obtained at the mouth of Wet Jacket Arm, which runs in a north-easterly direction from Acheron Passage for a distance of about eight miles. "We had three different passages stretching before us for miles each way underneath the beetlingprecipices. Onevery side our steamer looked like a tiny speck on the Eurface of the water. On the right hand towered a mountain over 3000 feet high; a few hundred yards to the left, on the opposite side of the Arm, a misty peak, 4000 feet high, lifted its head just a little above other mountains, which frowned down upon our little vessel. At one corner of Wet Jacket Arm, we found a tiny island, forming a snug anchorage between itself and the main land. Captain Fairchild resolved to make a short stay at this point to enable our photographer to carry away a memento of our visit. Before the steamer was anchored she steamed right around the island, the breadth of the passage at some points being scarcely more than her own width. While the photographic work was going on, Captain Fairchild and a passenger climbed np one of the mountains to a height of 150' or 200 feet to cut a few trees. A couple of Jail pines were soon cut through, and some "wild ecnos resounded through the pass as the heavy trees crushed down the mountain side and tumbled into the water. Some •good fishing was obtained off the rocks in the neighbourhood of the islands. The 'handsome soldier fish was very abundant, .and when three or four were found swimming rabout, their bright crimson colour might momentarily deceive one into the belief that he had dropped upon a gold-fish pond. It may be of interest to those who wrongly .think that no trumpeter are to be found iv -the West Coast Sounds to know that we saw ;a shoal of these splendid fish in a rocky basin inside the island, and succeeded in hooking two or three fine specimens of tr.e genuine "trumpeter. Mr Burton having obtained some good views of the scenery in the neighbourTiood, we resumed our voyage along Acheron "Passage, and arrived at the entrance to JBreaksea Sound about six o'clock in the •evening. We proceeded in the direction of Breaksea, and Gilbert Islands in search of an anchorage, but the water was everywhere too deep, and we had to go up Breaksea Sound a short distance to get round Entry Island into a small cove at the back of the north-east corner of Acheron Passage. We found excellent shelter here, and anchored securely for the night. As we steamed into the cove we saw seals for the first time during our cruise. Two little fellows, alarmed by the noise made by the steamer, slipped off a rock at the entrance and swam and dived about, apparently quite puzzled by the sudden invasion. After the steamer was anchored about an hour, a couple of crack shots on board put off in search of the seals, but the wary customers had disappeared. About 4 o'clock next morning (Tuesday, 3rd March) the steamer left Breaksea bound for Doubtful Sound.

1st prize !ml prize !rd prize Ith prize ith prize .. £20 .. 10 .. 14 ." 19 Cth prize 7th prize 8th prize 0th prize 10th prize .. £7 .. 6 .. 5 .. 5 ,. 5