HANMER HOT SPRINGS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11047, 26 February 1898, Page 2

HANMER HOT SPRINGS.

THE SOUTHERN ISLAND SANATORIUM AND PREMIER LOAFING GROUND OF NEW ZEALAND.

Br Walter H. Pear?os.

CHAPTER IV. Shortly after leaving Holmes'* Hotel, at 4.15 p.m., you cross the hand.3oma viaduct over the gorge of the Waiau. As you look over tho side you see thVriver churning many a foot below you; foaming in wrath .at its coi.fiaemeut between two perpaadicukr walls of roclr, clean out, sheer from top to botbom,.,and you realise the effort Nature has made in some time long past to release the imprisoned water* of the oup?e inland lake iv tho pr.-seiit csllad ttaumer Plain—tho southern edge of which you roach after au hoot's drive from the viaduct through a considerable rockCufcting. Sketching some 20 miles from about N.B to W. and two to three miles broad from north to south is a grand plateau. * perfect amphitheatre of mounrain rangt-s with only one breik, the gorge over which you have just passed. The first gli'mp-e. puts you in possession of its story.. Tha plain of to-day is the bottom oE a huge basin that yesterday" was . , . . THE iAKE. Imagination sees wibn ...retrospective-eya a sheet of water m\ny hnudreds of feet deep exeeadmg far in surface the area of the present plaia. The fiords or arms of this hu«e laka compass Jolly's aud Jack* Pauses and° mauy another indentation, extending up the gorge ia the far-away western di^tunce^ whare the Waiau eaters as if» feeder.'. The present mountMiis—some of tho lofty peaks "of which cut with serrated edge the distant horizon at an altitude of from 2000/b to 3000ft—are small hills, the summits of tho walls ofthe v.nt d'uu- . «eon in 'which this liquid giant iv confi ied lho atmosphere is dense.. heavy with cloud* c&arged with moisture, that h»ng low aud loworiog ovar the s-.agnaiit surface, aud the rum it raiueth »Iw*js, the drops falling with dull . heavy, monotonous (.plash on this ttuid sheet, lying on / the calm bo«om ot Nature, that h*V looked up for countless' ages In Jbopeless despair, wearied wi-h the everlasting sameness, till each drop iotm-ng its constituent part wailed forth the eternal prayer of the captive,' •'• Let me ouh ! O, let me out!" The great mother, with inhmte cocopissioo, lends a willing ear Th« earth heaves and the mountains dance with the torture, while the uullea.moau.tails of preternatural lab ,uc. , Suddenly, with trem-mHous o a^h, tae primeval ro'eka are torn :uund»r and through those iron lips the mighty lake.'iv ooe hup piwi«e, pours forth, with shout and paj m ot triumph, as its water., m*n-like, rev.ice at attaining some nev fiVld, .swd thunder down-fae vaUey,. erstwhile-.the otitl«fc to its overflow to the astonishment and desolation of untold reptile_s o> weird, uogainlv form that lisred and had jbf-ir h«iug u^numliered centuries before A 'am W v a,l.?; li!;tie, bo- ir- a' l)0 SMOoWatid.siteu, wheel oil E.m« roll* on ; s'pyly th\ ,y>6srs ebb away j living as puny r«pce«<!»t*tiv,s of k 'departed'.; gory, tbe VV-n.au River with its iffl-.wafcs—th* '■ iUnmeraud Cuutson—to wind thsir devious oourse along the gravelly' bad of thi* hugo Win, s »d relic of a byjrone j-»y. ahe it.ndly mother, however, hv! nut d;-sar.red.tißr child. Unlike man. she uever destroys bus what she rebuilds. Gradually the dead; bodies of. sn-Auge raonsterd, the ol,i-tima '■■ mhabusuts of deep water*, lying heaped up on ; gravelly beds, benome d«compb^ed ; an occasional skeleton or footprint bw, X left embalmed i in clays and rocks of a «uc;eeding f,.>rma-jom to whioper tue strangostory of that-primeval birth which teaches man—vaid ni*u— what au in- i sisjjnfica.it spec h« is in this cosmos of th- I tr.-eat Artificer The soil is gradually waihed : down oy iierenuiiil rdins from the sarconadiai? \ hi!!s. l!:e htitle hcheus crawl along the ground ! as in excuse for their .presamuiion in puttine in ' an apoeararica ; the raodosb'family of moss like I a poor relation, quietly elbows iis way into this I new hab*i a fc,on; aud the tiny blsdes of tha natural gr. M «eg that-spring up Hpoht*nsonsly, a^ if m kindly charity to Cover, the nakedness of I .-undeserved misfortune, spread tbeir mantle of I trreea velvet over the wide expanf c. The birds ' discovering this field for iho exercise of thmr'l .philanthrcpy, unlike prim human bsaevoleucs carelesi to a^cectain the thorough Mnpectl ability pf its recipient., hasten to carry in their bibs offerings (if succour in the guisa of seeds of tree aud plant. Ths suisnna as they roll behold a yearly change. Grasses in variatr assume thfir pUce; rbushes have fouud local habitation; while trees, like afcuoa nobility, rear their till forms and proudly survey their plebsiaa .urroandings. Slowly wi-,h tender csre. Nature .builds up a new delight for man; and with all its peculiar, uncultivated laxuriance of wild beauSy that chirms the eye and satires -the mind to-d»r ) presents to him • . . . . . . • 1 ■■■-;. v,, .-.■.-. THE HANICBR Ptiisi- ..... . . ..'' .^,As yon enter the,plaia^-aod, indeed, some dietance down the road before you reach it— you notice a difference in the feeling of the air. tor you aw.now. nearly 1300 ft above the level of that grand old^aiother of the rain cloud, the sea Unlike, that, on the pUins lower down, heavy and somnolent with the tears of ocean, it.in br.sk and clurpy with a joyous gladness, wais. paring of sunny slopes and snow-capped hills in tbe far-away home of the- mountain wiuds and siogs to you of health and beauty. As the invalid, in search,of the one blessing outvieinjr »U the wealth that ayaricjr can dream of.— health.—opens his mouth and fills his lungs with great draughts of it he realises that; "heaven's btandy is bettar and more invigoratwg than mans "three-star" or Bron's "hock and sodawafcer." ....-.-. , j i**«E;fewdMaJ.ga(a into the middle of the plain you begin to appreciate its I baanty. Looking a'ong it westward it seemed I to. me to excel .ir, iuteresc and charm any plain I ! bad seen iv NeW Z ? a!aud, and- I.:hf.v e saen a I J ew: Whether it is that the rarefied atmosphere lends brilliance and height to the! ampdicbe^we ot. mount Kins. bringing' into promineoM some RentmeL in. the" background throwing aloft its jagged peak into the realms of other, fib horn* tor the "Jehovah of the Thunders," while it oolourg the valleys, the hill*, and distant g-wges with those lovely shades of blue ye iu6o purple that " one. sars nowhere excanT, amongst the high-lying lauds of New Zealand, and which look unnatural when limned by man • or that the narrowness of the p'aio. sa compaTil son to its length does not-dw«f its giant sur- I roundings, as iv the Taieri and.other table lands, ! 1 oannos say. I only kuow,tne result is to pre- 1 sent » ,pi C b ure the qaiet beauty of which if | would b» difficult to Burp»sir.- •"Standibpatnotm ' near the ceutc« of Ch« plain, at.ths b; IC k of the i sanatorium, on a bcighh, suuny day in January ! looking- westAv.rd right into the far-away^or'sTe/'.! the cradle ~f the b a by Wai* a , whic.h has nowits 1 curtain of filmy mint on a background of lovely i cobalt o!ue, faiotly dashed with purple, drawn • thesott westerly breeze,, as. it fans your cheek- ' caries to your ear the B dng given to earth by that , • . J ' -D-'jii' • ' Withe; spirit I -..-• iM tllou never wert 1 h^t from heaven or near it '•: Pourest thy fullheart ■ • , ■ . In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. Like a poet hidden In the light of thought, ■■ oinging hymns unbidden. • • . , rr i, . "i tne world is wrought ' Io sympathise with hopes and fears.it heeded not The tussock waves its yellow hair, the cabbage tree bends its graceful head, and the-leaven of. Me flax bushes whisper and shake as iv pre^ meynmenb to the touch of the gentle wind ; while the gossamer clouds that > 5 Bear light shade for the leaves when laid In their noonday dreams ! dance over hill and dale, changing thaic oo«- ! tour and lending grace- and lightness to fcherr i torm, aud it is boma in upon you that God is j good and life worth living !' It has bean pWI i on record that Drake^the gr-at B.izibeth'i j little pirate "-on first seeing the Pacific from the dividing range of the Isthmus of P 4r<aiEa ri/l Onf ri? kßee" a"d Maimed. "Almighty God, of Thy goodness give m» life and learn once to sail an English ship ou yonder «ea " and in your enthusiasm, following his example you are about to prostrate yuur.elf in thanksgiving for the benevolenca that has vouchsafed to you so much pleasure and. raised a spirit of gratitude in your callous hearc, when you .nunembsr that this is the .nd of the nineteenth century, and that Drake's God is out of datehao been superseded by the Golden Calf The pcene you are lookiog upou carries a sense of I majesty, purity, an d rest-fib emblem of its Ufcator,_and has nothing of the mean, sordid I de.ty that presently commands an uuivers*! '■ reverencft. To prostrate yoursalf before thi-s | now unknown, or, properly speaking, nn- i fashionable, God would be ridiculous You • look sheepishly round in fear lent any fellow ! tfm>ti*n should have divined ybu capable of I such unpardonable weakness, and content yourself by repeating in humble imitation the i morning oriEon of Milton's Adam and Hve : j These are Thy glorious work?. Parent of good, | Almighty Thine this universal frame, I TW. W? UuJ°V sft ir- Thyfelf '«' wondrous then, i Tamw?«ftl who,? it, t>at above these heaveas ' Jo us mviaible, or dimly seen i Thy a 7 hy 1, OWMt J works ; yet tllese deo!are i Ihy goodness beyond thought, .andpower divine. (