TWO TEACHERS ON THE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9039, 14 February 1891, Page 5 (Supplement)

TWO TEACHERS ON THE

TRAMP.

[Br Onb or Tubm.] , Tho Sth of January, 1891. Nearly half of , my holidays gone. Tho vigour necossary for the proper " teaching of tho young idea" during the • present year of grace wasn't to bo got by loafing ] about town ; that was clear enough. What was to bo done ? I looked at my invitations. Three from friends in the country—rich agricultural districts—fishing—rabbifc-shooting—strawberries aod cream—home-baked bread—more cream. " None of theso will do. Too little exeroiso, and too much good feeding, my boy. The end thereof is a bilious attack." Then I thought of a vow I had mado two years ago on Lake To Anau—that soma time or other I nhould mako ono to roach the West Coast from tho north arm of that lake. Afc that time a party of threo from Invercargill had just tried the journey, and had not succeeded iv gotfciug over. Thoy had, however, aocording to tho report, which appeared in a Southland paper of January 1889, seen many wonderful things, including tho footprints of the takaho (notorais innntolli) Bin across,and " a pyrotechnio fulminating display of elementary combustion"—this last means a thunderstorm. Tho very thing for mo this year. My friend R would be up at Te Anau just as I would reach the lake, and he would bo the very man to, go with. As a camp mate all R 's attributes aro superlatives. His back is of tho broadest, his legs aro of tho thickost, his temper ia of the mildest, and you can depend upon him to carry the biggest swag without grumbling, /would divide our bolongings iuto two swags; R should carry the big ono. All would go well. Nexfcmorning I was off for Lnmsden by the morning train, and the day after had walked as far as Centro Hill, when I learned that R and h;a party had returned to Dunedin two or three days before. Back to Mosßburn, where I heard that V , another teacher on the tramp, was to bo heard of up afc Kingston, so I struck across country and caught him there. Here maps wero produced, and we made up our minda to walk from Lake Wakatipu to Martin's Bay, then southward along the coast to Milford Sound, get Sutherland to call for us and take us to tho head of the sound and up Lake Ada, when we would walk back to Te Anau by the Sutherland Fall and the Clinton valley. Once down the lake, we would walk to Lumsden and take the train home. We would leave the arrangement of matters, writing to Sutherland, &0., till we reached Queenstown, and meanwhile ifc would be 89 -well to walk from Kingston to Queenstown to get into form. We started off at 9 a.m. on the llth ovor the Devil's Staircase and round by Frankton ferry, and reached Queenstown about 8 o'clock the same evening. Next day we were fortunate enough to meet Struan R , a young fellow j who having spent tho greater part of his life afc ' Martin's bay, had leffc it for Cardrona, where Dame Rumour orcdited him and his brothers with having made a handsome fortune by a rich ! gold discovery. Struan was glad of our company back to see the old place, and we were ' quite as glad of his, especially as he offered to [ tako U3 over tho old mail track by the Lake Harris saddle. So on Tuesday, the 13fcb, we travelled by boat up to Kinloch and walked to the Routebnrn, where we pitched our first camp. ■ Next day (Wednesday) started wifch a drizzling rain, but we deoided to tramp, and we walked right into tha wet weather. , Up out of the bush country we went over the Lako Harris saddlo (6OOOf- high), sinking knee- j deep in water and soft rj? * soil, the first snow patch of our triplyingri cross the path just where it skirts a perpend ir cliff about 300 ft . high. We were not reassun.-d by our guide's story of the narrow escape of Mr Webb, a Martin's bay settler, while crossing this same snow patch in a heavy rain, when tho whole mass moved '. with him on its surface to tbe edge of tbe cliff, j You may depend wo walked en that patch as little as possible. Lake Harris wo did not Ree at its best. A terrific north-wester blew light in our faces, driving before it a regular West Coast rain and nearly blinding us. When wo did catch a ■ glimpse of the lake below us it looked black enough and uninviting enough to make us hug tho side of the bluffs farthest from the water and plant our feet firmly for fear of being surprised by the wind as we turned some corner j and blown into tho lake below. ' Ovor the saddle—more peat, more water, j with the rain still hard at it—till we reached fche level valley of tho Hollyford, 5000 ft below. ' Thafc night I verily believe we occupied the only ' dry patch within 20 miles. This was the inside ' of a " futtah," built about 15 years ago, on the east hank of the Hollyford. In this " futtah," j which was exactly 4ft 6in square and raised on piles about sft from the ground, we three slept that night soundly enough; bufc our position reminded me ot one of Tom Hood's pictures . representing, I think, " rural felicity." The picture showed a very long man in a very short ' bed, with, if my memory serves me rightly, his | host's poultry using bb unprotected shins as roostiog poles. I couldn't help thinking of thafc . picture when I woko next morning and saw tho . three pairs of feet filling up tho foreground and , the door of tbe " futtah " at the same timo.

The West Coast deals out no half-measures in tbe matter of weather. Two days' tramp in delightful weather brought us to Martin's Bay. Tbe track, such as ifc is, lies for the greater part of tho way under tho shadow of tho Dirran Mountains, rising in Tutoko their highest peak, moro than 9000 ft above sea-level. I will not ir.suH Tutoko and his smaller brothers by trying to dosoribo them; but I should strongly adviseour Dunedin "shadow-catchers" who carry the camera as far as Lako Harris to try a few days in the Hollyford valley. Our party are much mistaken if they don't find their journey worth the trouble. Mt. Earnslaw has been photographed, painted, and pecked at with ice axes, yea, ond has even had poetry (?) written in his praise; bufc how many know even tho name of "Tutoko." Wo remember distinctly that the poet addressed Mt. Earnslaw as " King of Otago "; we may perhaps be allowed to borrow bis licenso for a moment and call Tutoko his much-neglected queen. Artists who wish to keop the'r reputation for gallantry will please takn the hint.

Afc ono point on the road, Pyke's river, the largest tributary of the Hollyford, is crossed by a wire rope and a chair, or rather tho rickety remains of what was once an iron chair. We bad hoard disquieting rumours aboufc tho Bafefcy of this wire rope in Queenstown. At one end the rope, be ifc known, is fixed through a tree by means of an iron bolt, and the genius who put it up leffc about Sft of thn bolt; sticking out of the tree horizontally. The wire rope, about 100 yds long, is fixed to the end of this bolt. Now let any mau hold hia arm straight out from tho shoulder, and let some obliging friend load (he ends of hi? fingers wilh 561b weights, and he will get some idea of the strain that bolt has had to put up with for years. Our informant, who had crossed on the chair only a few days before, told us that the bolt was broken half tbrounh at the point where ifc enters the tree. Wo didn't climb the tree that bolt was fixed in to see whether he spoke the truth or not. Yon see wn didn't want to gn back after coming so far, and so long as we hadn't actually seen fche crack there was no excuse for " funkiog." It carried us across safely enough, and we all hope it won't go down till the architect or engineer, or whoever was resnnnsiblfi for building ifc gets into the chair. tower down, at the foot of Lake M'Kerrow, we paes Jamestown. This place has a history. On the survey map the " town " occupies as nearly as possible one square milo of surface. In reality ifc consists of one "Government office,'' a beech hut with broken windows and roof of doubtful appearance. A special settlement promoted hy the lato James Macandrew, in whoso honour it was named, Jamestown with thn district round aboufc once contained aboufc 300 people. "Do you see thafc big tree yonder ?" said Mr Webb, as we rowed past tho ruin aforesaid, " I've seen 70 young people playing 'kiss-in-the-ring' under that tree, and a good third of them were girls." We felt that it wasn't safe to linger long there, because ruins and thafc kind of thing are apt to set the poet of our party to work, so we rowed past Jamestown pretty fast. Of aU theso settlers only threo are le.ft, and yon coti'd count the whole population of Martin's Bay on your fingers. Want of regular communication with the East Coa-.t did more to kill the settlement than anything els_p. We cannofc hrjp thinkinc* Murtiu's Bay will thrive yet. There is plenty of good level land in tho neighbourhood ; sheep do well when tho bush has been cleared, and cattle thrive well in

the bush withnifc any clearing at all. Struan stayed at Martin's Bay. We were sorry to lenve him, and the hospitality of Mr and Mrs Webb; bnt wn had promised to meet Sutherland on tbe 18th, and the really hard work of our trip had not commenced yet. I refer to the journey along the coast between Martin's Bay and Milford Round. Before starting wo 'measured tho distance on tho map. "About IS miles! It must be pretty: rough travelling if we nan't do ifc in .*>. day— cay a day and a-half. We'll just natch Sutherland nicely" Ah*! "The bi-st laid sch'inpg," &c. Four days after wo made (hat remark two ragamuffins emerged from the bush sfc Dalo point, the place where we had promised to mnefc Sutherland. Wo had Inst a day and n-hnlf throngh bad weather. Wo hsd also lost fiinflry other things, including our billy, the greater part of our nether garments (wbich we left in the embrace of the briars on those awful bluffs), and a very fair proportion of the cuticle from onr hands and faces and other unprotected parts. When in the oldpn time the Ice King and his giants piled clone* tho sea coast a select assortment of all the kinds of rock in tho_ western mountains, he had no idea thot. an iotrueiv-) biped wonld arise- who would dub this collection

of geolo-rical "samples" a beach, and try to walk ihorf on. Beach travelling on th:s part of the West Coast means, for the most; part, picking one's way ovor, under, or round tbe sides of boulders of every shape, siz», and variety, Scattered aboufc in the wildest confusion are blooks of granite, limestone, micaschist, quartz, greenstone, red and black ironstone, green malachite and tinstone in s'tu, ka, ko. If the old fellow wbo freighted hia loe ships with these blonks durinir kb dismal roign so long ago would only lend us the key of his afcnrebousea away up yonder on tho j slopes of Pembroke snd the Darren Mountains ■ m might biogsr-ra out fla gokt is'mgs, es copps?

kings, or tin kings, or marble kings, with heaps of promoters' shares (all fully paid up), aud a gentle publio "to carry tho baby." But oonfusion tako it! Tho beach wo have boen barking our shins over has given out, aud a high bluff of granito wifch, iv our opinion, a perfeotly absurd and unnecessary ofliciousueas, puts his foot down in front of ua and says, " No thoroughfare." Wo oreep cautiously round as far as we can, and sco, just about a chain off, another beach, perhaps a niila long. And wo can't get there. Later research has completely oxploded tho respectable old myth nfcoufc Tantalus, and about the wator that receded from his lips, kc, &c. Tautalus was really a West Coast traveller who saw a beach just a chain off and oouldn'fc reach ifc. No use hanging around tbis bluff. There's nothing for ifc but to hark back till wo find a place where tho cliffy aro uot aotually overhanging, and mako for the top of tho spur. The bush on these bluffs is a caution. Tho miko-miko climbs every where. Ifc is often tho only hand-hold, and its leaves cut like a razor; tho black supplejack fills up the spaces left by tho miko-miko, lawyers climb over both, and just where the ground is loose and crumbling, and none of theso threo will grow, tho finest specimens of the stinging nettle I ever came across grow in the most delightful profusion, .and obligingly offer to lend the climber a hand when his foot clips. Well, the top is reached afc last, bufc " worse remains in front." I shall not state, for fear I shouldn't be believed, the average number of times tho traveller tries down, and has to climb back again before ho finds a place where he can drop down on the beach without breaking some part of himself, nor will I weary the reader by describing each day's journoy. Multiply this beach and bluff by eight or nine, and you will havo a fair idea of tho trip. P and I had considerable satisfaction in outwitting one! ruffianly bluff, however; and it was done in this wise; Wo had crawled some little distance round the bluff, keeping close to the sea shore, when we came to n halt bofore a perpendicular faco about 20ffc deep. If wo could manage to get down this, we saw our way clear to avoid tho bush. How was ifc to ba done ? Wo had no rope with us. We fancy we hear Tom Sawyer say," Tear up your sheets and make one, you donkeys; it's beeu done many a time. Why, mo and Huck Finn ." " Yes, my dear Tom," wo interrupt, " bufc we haven't got any sheets, and we want our blankets. Ah! we have ifc. Tho guy ropes of our tent." Half a dozon of these knotted together mako a good line. We pass this round a crag at the top, lower ourselves down, and indulge in uncomplimentary remarks about our enemy the bluff. But onr rope cau'fc be got down. " And there it (or rather tho upper part of it) hangs unto this day to witeess if we lie."

About halfway between Martin's Bay and Dale point there is, however, one beaoh which I muat oxcepfc from the above description of West Coast beaches. Madagascar i 3 a good level beach, about four miles long. For somo months past, three parties from Invercargill have been prospecting hers for gold. A largo quantity of plant—including tont, Btores, two boats, and several hundred feet of iron piping—are lyiog unused on tho beach. Only two men, Messrs Thornhill and East, are now on tho beach, and they intend to remain, I believe, till they thoroughly prospect their claim. But here we are, half way back to Martin's Bay, and we left tho two ragamuffins—if you havn'fc forgotten them by this time—at Dale Point. Since we wero nearly three days late afc Dale Point, of course Sutherland must have been down looking for ns, and not finding us, must havo gone back agaiu. But straight across tho sound, standing out white againsfc the bush of Anita Bay, we saw what seemed to be a tent. Wo had determined not to go back over theso bluffs if we could help ifc, so we lit three fires and kept them going all night to draw tho attention of those in the tent. At 5 o'clock next morning, 22nd January, P , whose watch ifc was, woko me with the news that a boat with one man in ifc was coming across from Anits Bay. In five minutes all our goods and chattels were packed (there weren't many of them), and we waited for the boat to come in. The reader who csres to hear of a plucky and generous action will perhaps not grudge mo a few seconds while I explain how she came to be there.

Tho owner of tho boat, Mr M'lvor, of tnvercargillj had been left by tho mail steamer at Anita Bay aboufc a fortnight before, and had been waiting all thafc time for a fine day so that ho might tftke hia boat round with stores to Messrs Thornhill and East, whom we met nt Madagascar beach. Anita bny, where Mr M'lvor had camped, is well sheltered in almost any wind. But on the tho north side of the sound, where we had camped, the surf breaks heavily on a boulder beach, even in the finest weather. Now, about a week before our arrival, Mr M'lvor had tried to land on the north eide, intending to walk round to his mates and let them know that he hud stores for them. In trying to land Mr M'lvor got his boat stove in, lost most of his clothes and all the Btores ho had wifch him, and barely managed to save himself and his boat. And yet, a week later, when ho saw our fire, though his boat was in a leaky state and the sea no smoother thau when he came to grief before, he came over as soon as day broke to take us off. Wo got on board safely enough, but some of tho boulders must bava found their way nearly through our boat's ribs. We were kept baling pretty constantly all the way across. Wo were now on the sheltered side of the sound, and quite safe to be taken up to Sutherland's by any vesfel thafc passed. In fact we had not been many hours ab Anita Bay when the Janet Kamsay rounded fche poiut and made fast close to our camp. Sho had on board a Dunediu party, including some familar faces, and wo were soon on board their whaleboat and "giving way" against a strong tido for Milford city. We were sorry to leave Mr M'lvor with his broken boat, but he was well known on board the Janet Ramsay aud would get help there to repair her. There are two men at lea-fc who hope he got; round to Madagascar Beach safely, and who wish good luck to aa " white " a man as ever they met. Milford Sound, the Arthur valley track, and the Sutherland Fall need no description from

us. We parted from the passengers of the Janet Ramaay (we were quito old friends already, and I can feel yet the grip of the burly Canterbury medico's hand afc parting) at the Beech Hut, near tho fall, where we waited for a day aud a half for the fog to clear off the saddle, and let us get over to the Te Anau side. We had promised to be at tho lako by tho night of the 25th at tbe latest. At noon on the 25th the fog lifted, and starting afc I p.m. we reached the hut at the landing, near the head of Lake Te Anau, shortly after 9 o'clock. We had stayed one hour on tbe road to boil the billy and take in provender, so that we made the distanco in a little over seven hours. Every party makes at least oue " quickest on record," you know, and that is ours. At all events, if thafc isn't the quickest on record, we are satisfied that we made a " slowest on record" round thoso Martin's Bay bluffs. **• At the lake we found Capfcain Brcdrick waiting for us. We got aboard the much-abused steamer Te Uira next afternoon aboufc 3 o'clock, »Dd though we had a stiffish head wind most of thn way, we reached the foot of the lake in eight hours. Next day wo travelled to Mossburn, a 41 miles' walk, but we did tho last four or five miles on fche top of a waggon laden with wool, and very glad we were of the lift, you may be sure. Twelve milea after breakfast next morning brought us to Lumsden, where we caught tho Dunedin train and reached town the 6ame night. My vow, as you will have seen, is yet unfulfilled, but our three weeks' tramp was a very enjoyable substitute. We have none bufc kindly recollections of the people we met on our trip, even thoso bluffs, our bete noir, 'are trifles light as air afc this distance, and we havo actually forgiven those insatiable little imps of darkness tho sandflies. You see, the marks of their bites are all healed, and, besides, wo cooked and ate so many of them that we oan easily afford to be generous to the survivors. J- & D.