WEST COAST EXPLORATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10619, 14 March 1896, Page 3

WEST COAST EXPLORATION.

'By Thos. Mackenzie,

THE START.

Once a year I am generally seized with an attack of exploration fever, not always due to the same cause. This year it was undoubtedly due to an overdoie of polities—a four mouths' tedious session, followed by two months of post-sessional speeches. Could mortal man stand that without craving for a ohaoge ? No ! a thousand times 110! Then, away with pen and ink, away with Hansard, away with iniquitous statutes, and let us take refuge in the wild west, where the postman Cometh not, and the face of the telegraph boy is no more seen. If camping out has ite thousand charms —it» shady gcaea swards, murmuring streams, and sparkling fouotaius, —exploration has its tea thousand. The former is an enjoyable divaivion, giving pleasant and healthful exercise ; the latter deman Is energy, endurance, and resource, and frequently ealis forth every latent power. But is not the reward commensurate with the toil ?

What can equal the delight of being the first to view the unknown—of finding and making known a hitherto untraversed country ? What can rival the pleasure of anticipation experience when, after days of heavy work, the party, with quickening step, hastily pace the last few hundred yards separating them from some long-sooght view which may reveal a new world of mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers, and cataracts. There is always something new— new beauties, now combinations, new difficulties ahead, and the successful combating of difficulties is by no means the smallest of our pleasures. And what would many not give for the appetite earned by a spin on oar breezy heights! Then the sleep won by a day's fighting with tha forest! Such sleep! No rock is hard enough, no stick crooked enough to drive it away. But thoroughly to enjoy exploration it is essential to have good health and strength, pleasant, plucky companions, and, last but not least, fine weather.

When once I have made up my mind to go, I reflect on the names of those who, over a friendly pipe, have become great enthusiasts and have expressed a louging desire to join-ine. "It must be splendid ! I say, old fellow, you must take me with you next time. I can do no end of roughing it, and carry my share." But when the time comes for actually facing the mnsie of swags and " hard graft," wild horses would not drag the majority of fireside enthusiasts to the starting point. The prolific crop of reasons for not coming are as numerous os those given by the invited to attend the Scriptural feast. If any do come they are usually uuflt. Once, at the argent request of a noble lord and his companion, 1 agreed to include them in the party, but not without drawing a harrowing picture of the hardships we should have to undergo. The country was wild, the work rough, the risk considerable, the Fare plain— not to say uninviting, I paid. But they were not to be daunted. Thay had ridden their bioyctes through Australia, they, wore in splendid form, they were iit for any amount of work, and, as for roughiDg it, there was nothing they liked better. Well, we started, the "old hands" having first initiated my lord and his companion in the noble art of making up and carrying a swag. Ona balf-clay was enough for them. The first quarter of a mile damped their ardour, and after one of them bad had a fall into a deep but uaseen hole, and the other a narrow escape

of being carried away while fording a river, both their faces being swollen and orimson from the attacks of sandflies, they decided to retarn. "Bat why?" said I; "did I not tall you it was rough work ?", " Quite true ! you aid," replied Lord , sadly and wearily, as he stood supping porridge out of a pannikin with an improvised wooden spoon; ' but bo words could describe the dresdfulness of this. So, soiled, limp, and tetteied, thay. retraced their steps . . In the course of timo the two armed, in a sorry plight, at the house of one of our companions, terrifying his wife, who immediately concluded some dreadful aeddoat had oocurred. "What has happened? What has happened ?" she oried. "H&3 anyone bfeen killed ?" " Ob, no ! bat we had to turn back, and you moy soon expect your husband tophe will never be able to stand it." Drawing herself to her full height, *nd' with a glance of withering scorn, sho said: "What! my Bill tnrn his back on hi» mates! No fear ! That's not the sort of stuff he's made of." Upon this occasion I could get no chnm to start. The inability of Mr Pillans, my companion^ many a hard-fought fight, to go with me .was a great loss.

I write to others—they cannot come. Write to Lake Manapouri to see what can be done there about boats and assistance. No I answer. Write to the Union Company about the possibility of being dropped in Dusky Sound. No answer. Write to the Survey department to procure tente and send them, but no answer to this day. Men were to have joined me sent by Government, but they came not. Time was passing, and the last chance of getting- away w«a by the Tarawera, sailing from Dunedin. The train by whioh I cenld catch her at tha BluS leaves Balolutha at 11.5 a.m., >o on the morning o£ that day I sent an urgent telegram to the Union Cosnpnuy asking their ultimatum. At 10.40 the reply came —"Will supply you with boat, and captain will drop you in sound." Then I heir s.t the laet moment of Bishop and Ross. In hot ba»te I wire engaging Bishop (Wyudham) and Kenneth Rons (Kelao) to come on. On my w»y to the railway station I see M'Farlane working in a boat. " Will you come with mo to the West Ooa»t ? " I shout. " Yes," he replies. " Well, come on ; I want; to catch the 11 train." " I can't get my blankets by then." "Oh, yes, you can; I'll drive you 'for them." Me Day keeps a kindly eye on the train, .and by 11.5 we are all on board and »w<y we go. At Waipahi we pick up Rosi, and Bishop at Invercargill. Although we have our swags, we have yet our storsa to bny. By our time table we have two hour*' time in InvercargiU to do that be'ore the shops ciosa for the night. We csrefnlly prepire our lists—tsats, axes, billhooks, alpenstock*, rope?, tucker, phyoic, oilcloth, li'hhooka, &c, &c. Arriving at luvercargill, to our horror we find it ia half holiday, every place closed, and it is an offence to supply u<. We, after infinite trouble and four houri' time, by the aid of my old friend Mr D. 51. IVUt'neson, succeed wonderfully well, except in the matter of tents—no teutraaker can be found. Proceeding on to the Bluff, we are de'.ighted to find that tents have been sent on from Dunedin. The weather becomes dreadful, and the T^rawera cannot f*ca it, so we remain at Bluff for an extra day. We are consoled with the tnoughb that a bad beginning usually secures a good ending. Tha Tarawera is full of tourints milting for the Sound*; I meet many old friends on board. The appointments of the boat ars excellent; every want is anticipated aud comfort provided for. Still,, some of the English tourists think the fare hard. At our tabln a typical Rlobutrotter tries to impress us. " Dju't you koow, he thought of going to tea tha Sutherland Falls: could he get a horse to ride " We said no—the lake prevented that. "But surely they cmi carry one in a boat for me ?'' I t-xpiaiued that even if they could convey a hor;<e across Lako Ada the nwainps and creeks beyond would prevent ita going on. At this dreadful risk he became alarmed. I incidentally mentioned avalanche*. He fairly shndder«d, his eye gloss fell, and his hair rose. CollfCfciug himself for one more effort, he inquired: "I hear you must carry about seven pound weight of things to eat and sleep ia. Thit is dreadful. What do you fellahs carry ?" " About 701b eh, and a boat on top at times." "Really! Of course, living on these beastly boats and tbe fare one gnts quite hardens one up for roughing it." (The table is groaning with every delicacy) "Yef; that ia so," we remarked. " Our enmo fare is really not much inferior." " And than," he added, " I can nef er do without my bath, aud there is no bath there." " What sort do you use?" "A shower," he replied. "Well, then; nrs two excellent shower baths there. The one is 800 ft high and tha other 2000 ft." At this,moment the stesvard capsized a plate of soup over the unfortunate's head, and he addressed us no more. The next morning we are in Preservation lulet. We visit the promising mine, St. George. Several young fellows came off in the evening, one an old school-fellow of mine named Troseder, who has been mining for some years there; also a Mr Link, of the Geological department, who, with . his assistant, Mr Mackay, has been waiting at Cuttle Cove until a six weeks' shower ceases in order thnt they may continue their explorations inland. Preservation Inlet was during the old days a great whaling station. In the bush is still to be found great piles of old iron used for cask hoops Prohibition did not obtain their during those days. The owners, at pay time, used to send " chain lighting grog " down for tho crews. D.T.s setting m and the enrousers becoming troublesome the poor devils were placed on an island called Prison Island to drown or recover.

Preservation Inlet possesses a melancholy interest for me. It was in this ground that a young surveyor friend of mine, named Cmmron, while in We bush accidentally shot himself in the arm. His companions with great difficulty got him h >me to cinip, and there, although it was midwinter, with a small open boat decided to' attempt to take him round to Inveroargitl. The south-western portion of New Zealand is the wildest coast wa have—too wild, indeed, for oar cojutal steamers to go round that way often. Exch man nailed on the table of the camp a statement of what they had attempted and a not» disposing of bbeir small poisessions, an they hirdly expected to succeed in their effort. Nobly they did their duty. After three or four days' hard work they arrived at Kiverton ; bat too lafee—mortification set in, and dhortly after reaching Invercargill Hospital young Cameron died, sged 23. Hi* widowed mother, who resided in, Dunedin, had just time to reach his bedside bafora he expired. The names of his companions who rowed him to Invercargill were: —Andrew Hepburn, James Blackeuzie, Joseph S. Welsh, and Koberb Gjodwpod. We loiter two . days in Cuttie Cove. The programme of the Tarawera included a trip to the head of Dusky Sound, which was our landing place, aud wa wore in hopes that we might get the captain to call at Pigeoo. Island, and pick up Mr Honry. and afterwards steam on to the head of Dusky with us all, a distance of about 25 mile*. The calling at Piyoon Island the captain would not ri«k, and the head of Dusky he cut out of his programme The Tarawera left Preservation at 4 o'clock a.m., and reached Dunky at 7 a.m. There wa« a swtsll on, and the wives broke against the granite and basaltic cliff* of that lombre sound a* we entered. We hurriedly got all our baggige ready. The captsain sent for me to *es hitn on the bridge. Pointing away to the north, he said, "Do you see thess white cliffs against which the eea is washing?" "Yes." " The land opening out immediately beyond that is Pigeon Island. There are two passages to it." Handing me a chart of locality we parted. Our boat was lowered at the end of Anchor Island, and quickly everything (including our dog Darky) were placed in it. Once mote the screw of the Tarawera chums the water, and with a few friendly waves of handkorchiefs the big steamer goes on her way, and we are left to our own resources. We fix oor dunnage properly in the boat, then we partake of some bisouits as we had left the steamer before any breakfast was ready. After these preliminaries are over we head the boat for Pigeon Island, Ross taking the bow oar, M'F*rlano No. 2, Bishop stroke, aad the writer the steer oar, and »w*y we go.

(IV) be cmttnntd.)