TOUR THROUGH THE PROVINCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 878, 26 September 1868, Page 8

TOUR THROUGH THE PROVINCE.

m, PALMERSTON.

(by our travelling reporter.)

The rising township of Palmerston occupies a central position on the plain, opening up from Pleasant Valley on the one side, and extending as far as the Horse Range and the entrance to Shag Valley on the other. Like similar place 3, It is scattered and irregular ; indeed to such an extent is this the case with Palmerston, that the town may fairly be divided into three sections, viz. : the upper township, the middle, anl the lower. In approaching it from the Dunedin side, the first evidence of settlement ■which catches the eye, is the spire of a church, suddenly bulging up from behind a piece of terrace land. The body of the edifice is soon revealed, and presents a structure, every line of which has been cast upon the most approved plan of Presbyterian architecture. A few paces further on, another building crops out from behind an # adjoining terrace, and in less than no time thereafter the lower township of Palmerston strikes full upon the sight. At this point the roads branch off in different directions ; the one following a straight line down through the flat, the other taking a more westerly direction, and passing up through the succession of knolls upon which the township is situated. By following the latter course the eye of the traveller alights upon a building which, in a less secluded locality, would pass muster for a retail drapery establishment, the plate glass windows of which had been blanched, pending arrangements for the display of a " fresh consignment of the new season's goods." The building, however, is devoted to a very different purpose. It is the seat of justice, where equity and the common law are administered on^e every week^by James Murdoch, Esquire, Resident Magistrate for the district. Farther along, is the site occupied by the Palmerston Hotel, a tenement supported on the right by a blacksmith's shop — the two making up what, for convenience sake, we have designated the middle township. Still farther along, the traveller stumbles upon a cluster of houses, the occupants of which represent the various industrial pursuits upon which the trade and commerce of the district are based. This forms the upper, or what is known by common acceptation as Palmerston proper. The situation of the town is upon the whole good, perhaps amongst the best in the Province. It commands two of the more important highways — the road leading to Oamaru, Canterbury, &c, and that opening up the interior of the Province wo, the Dunstan and Lake Wakatipu. With these advantages upon its side the day cannot be very far distant when Palmerston will take an important place amongst the towns of the northern part of_ the Province. Even now, it is beginning to assert its position. Periodical auction sales of live stock are held in it, and as one of these events took place during the short period of your reporter's sojourn ia Palmerston, he had an opportunity _of observing its- peculiarities as practised in Palmerston. During the earlier part of the morning, a grand muster of the animals to be submitted for competition took place. Mobs of refractory bullocks, heifers, and three-year-old steers were to be seen, goaded along by excited horsemen, while the sharp crack of the stockwhip, and the shouting and brawling of the stockmen were heard ringing through the air with the reverberations of a dozen echoes. Af ter.theusual amount of exertion, the animals were safely caged inside the various pens provided for their reception. Meantime, the company assembled outside the barricade, and after sufficient time had been allowed for a hasty inspection through the wooden bars of the stock-yard, the Auctioneer— the representative of a well-known Dunedin firm— mounted the top of one of the posts, read the conditions of sale, and concluded by assuring all present that he was about to do a stroke of business that would leave all the advantage on their side. The merits of the first lot were dilated upon eloquently, and a bid solicited. Finding no response to the very natural request, the splendid condition of the stock, together with the excellency of their moral character, was again referred to in feeling terms ; even the cattle themselves seemed movfld by the pathetic appeal, and more than one sturdy bullock hung down his head with becoming modesty. Still the loquacious cattle-vendor was without a bid. In vain he assured his audience, upon his honor as an auctioneer, that they were throwing away a golden opportunity, such as would never again return. The cattle, he assured them, were theirs at their own price ; or if they would not give even that he implored them to take them away as a present. All was "no go." The lot did not change hands, despite the disinter-

ested efforts of the auctioneer. Before proceeding to the second act of the drama, ! a new actor appeared on the boards, in the form of a man bearing along with him an American bucketful of beer, which lie distributed gratuitously amongst the company. The contents of the first bucket quickly disappeared, and it was replaced by a second. In this way two or three gallons of beer must have been consumed, after •which the auctioneer — whose spirits appeared to have slightly revived in the interval — graciously invited the attention of the audience to the remaining lots. Still no bids came. He grew eloquent and waxed wroth by turns, launched out good natured jokes and bitter sarcasm in succession, thumped the posts and rails with his heavy hammerheaded whip : in fact, he did everything that an auctioneer is in the habit of .doing except finding a purchaser. No purchaser for the bullocks having presented himself, a horse was put up for sale — " a good useful animal, free from vice, and warranted staunch." Anyone could have had him for the price of an old song, and — I am quoting my authority, the auctioneer — when I add, that had he been purchased and put into a plough the following day, in "less than a week he would have ploughed out creation." The horse, however, met with no purchaser, and without further ceremony the auctioneer bowed a resigned farewell, and retired from the contest. It is but right to add that during the evening satisfactory sales of the cattle were concluded by private contract.

As a class, the inhabitants of Palmerston are about the most contented I have yet come into contact with in my rambles. They are jolly amongst themselves, and hospitable to strangers. They had not one single complaint of neglect on the part of the Government, and that is saying of Palmerston what I cannot say of any other place I have yet seen. Their contentment is pleasant to contemplate. With the present they are perfectly satisfied, and to the future they look forward hopefully. Comparatively speaking, Palmerston is a young community, which accounts for the fact that they have few or none of those local institutions which exist in other townships. Their organisation, however, is in contemplation. The proprietor of the Star Hotel is at present erecting a much needed addition to his premises in the shape of a public hall, and it is understood that in its construction the requirements of a Masonic Lodge and Oddfellows' Hall will be kepb in view. 1 speak from limited experience when I say that Palmerston contains food material for forming a branch of both institutions. The interior of the Palmerston Court-house is a curiosity, and as for the resident conservator of the public peace, he is a natural philosopher. On behalf of this really useful member of the force, let me say a word. On proceeding up the Shag river in pelting rain, I met the poor fellow trudging along on foot, with a creek knee deep before him. "This is pay-day," he told me, '' with the boys working on the road," and he thought he would just have a run up to see that they behaved themselves. He has no horse, but I think his duties require one. There are_ other noteworthy features connected with Palmerston, to which I may allude on a future occasion ; meantime, if wanted, your reporter may be found prowling about some of the outlandish diggings in the vicinity of the Dunstan.