AN OUT WITH THE FIELD CLUB.

Otago Witness, Issue 1063, 13 April 1872, Page 8

AN OUT WITH THE FIELD CLUB.

Hearing that some of the members of this Club were going to make a ramble over the country at the back of Flagstaff on Friday last, I repaired to the rendezvous and introduced myself and my wish to accompany them at one and the same time. No objection was made, and after a short delay, waiting for one who promised to come but didn't, we started. Our way lay up the valley of the Leith to the sawmill, and then up the picturesque glen that leads to the Water Company's reservoir. The day was powerfully hot, but our leader would admit of no delay, as the distance to be got over was very considerable. After passing the Reservoir — the level of the water in which was very low — we entered a patch of bush, the shelter of which was very refreshing. We then emerged on the district road, and began to look about us ; a solitary beech tree, which stands a little way up from the road-side, affording a very convenient starting point for a most interesting discussion on trees generally, which lasted till we were a considerable distance up the road, near Mr A. H. Ross's property. Here we met that gentleman, who courteously invited us to rest a little. On making another start, and passing through the clearing, we entered the bush, taking what our guide called the right-hand track. There are many fine trees on the steep hillside, and the track is carried nearly straight up foragood distance, the variety of vegetation giving plenty of scope for the predilections of my botanical friends, who amused me very much with the glibness and celerity with which they gave expression to strings of long-nebbed words — the names of the plants picked up every now and then. Polypodiunis, lycopodiums, hymenophyllums, dacrydiums, epilobiums, and others, were bandied about with the utmost prof usion, till a difference of opinion arose about the name of a fern. One maintained it was one thing, while another said it was only a more advanced stage of another growing plentifully further up the hill. So a frond was plucked and put away for comparison. Meanwhile, both by precept and example, our "boss" was urging us to step out, or rather up, as he thought we were i wasting rather too much time. , On emerging from the bush among the flax on the hill-top, a rest was taken, a specimen of the other fern procured, anct a comparison made. The two were very much, alike, certainly ; but on

applying a magnifier, a considerable difference became apparent, and the two species determined to be Dichonia antarctica and Alsophila Colensoi. After this knotty point was settled, we started again, our way lying over a very rough tract, covered with heavy flax and other scrub, besides being very steep and stony, which made progress very toilsome. But we were kept at it, nor allowed to stop until we reached a spring which issues from a small hollow, and flows away down the hill until it reaches Nicol's creek. The water here is strongly impregnated with iron, a reddish deposit being laid down as the water runs away, but it is very cool and pleasant to the taste.

From this point the slope was much more gentle, and we got on a good deal easier, and after traversing a long stretch of ground covered thickly with snow grass (which I learned is not a grass but a sedge), the ridge was attained, and the country on the opposite side came into view. Indeed, the prospect from this point was magnificent, and I could not help stopping every now and then to look around, at the risk of being left behind, and having to walk hard to come up with my mates, who seemed quite accustomed to follow their leader over any sort of ground. However, after a little, walking got much easier, as we soon left the ridge behind, and began a down hill track, which was sometimes more steep than agreeable. But it was always down, and though a stop was made now and again to pick up some late flowering plant, it was not long until we were at the spot where our lunch and our longest rest were to be taken. This was at the side of the Whare Creek, a fine, clear, sparkling stream, running in a deep bed, covered with boulders of all sizes. Here we sat and enjoyed ourselves, the previous fatigue making the rest and refreshment all the more acceptable. I observed that my scientific friends were like the famous St. Mungo of old, who drank water when nothing else was to be had. First one and then another pocket flask was produced, from which were served round small modicums of something a little stronger than the burn which was running by, and which helped to make our al fresco feast go very well. After discussing the good tilings, my mates proceeded to botanise, and I learned that this locality is quite a famous one, two rare ferns being got here — one a little mite of a thing, the other like a miniature parasol. Indeed, the place seemed to me to abound in strange plants, other than ferns, for there were many odd things growing about. After exploring the place pretty fully, we proceeded on a little way, and turning a sharp corner j over a low ridge entered on a most singular bit of country, abounding in all sorts of irregularities. Away up on our right rose a perpendicular face of hard sand, worn by the wind and weather into all sorts of lines and grooves, while in front were mounds, and hollows, and ridges, and gullies, intermixed together in the most admired disorder — the whole forming, I should say, rather a hard nut for the geologist to crack. Our next object was to find out a seam of coal which had been discovered there lately, and proceeding over the rough ground above mentioned, during which progress we had two or three small swamps to get through, we attained a rough dray track leading towards the coal, the distance being, as we learned from some men who were fencing, a mile and a quarter. Like most country miles, this was rather a long one ; but we soon got over it, and attained the summit of a high ridge, down the opposite side of which, and down a spur leading into the valley below, we could see the track winding. Here our conductor declined proceeding any further, as there was not only the long walk back to town, but a long night's work before him when he got there, so he despatched the rest of us down the glen to the coal seam, while he remained on the ridge to get a rest. We were not long in discovering the coal, which crops out beneath a high bluff, quite close to the edge of a fine stretch of mixed bush, containing many fine trees. The coal, or lignite rather, seems of good quality, and can be obtained in any quantity, as the seam is about seven feet thick, and easily worked. After looking round, and a talk with the solitary man who mines the coal for the engine at the flax mill on the other side of the Flat, we retraced our steps up to where we had left our companion on the top. From this point, after a short stay, during which the contents of the flasks were slightly diminished,' we commenced our return journey to town. This we did by a different road to the hill tracks we adopted on our way out. Keeping down the dray road, past the fencers, we soon arrived at a fine bridge which has been constructed across the Creek by the local Road Board, and then up a cutting through another sandbank, we passed along the other part of the Flat, and then commenced a long and toilsome ascent over the western spur of Mount Flagstaff. Our gpide seemed

quite invigorated by the short rest he had had, and he pushed rapidly ahead, leaving the rest of us a good way in the rear. Close to the top of this spur we passed a small creek, when of course Aye had another drink, and after procuring some specimens of the spear grass, which grows plentifully here, started again along the hillside to the right. By this time the sun was nearly on the horizon, and we had a glorious view of the Taieri and the districts beyond— the lights and shades caused by the position of the sun being very remarkable. Just at sunset the rays of light came through a hole in a cloud, and the display of colour was lovely. We could not help stopping to admire the scene, although the glory and splendour nearly blinded us, and caused us, when we turned reluctantly away, to see suns glittering all round about. We were still a long way from town, and nearly 1800 feet above the sea, so our speed was increased slightly, until the fine district of Halfway Bush lay before us, the prospect getting grayer and more indistinct every minute. We at length reached the top of the long steep pinch leading down to the main road, along which we could

just see a coach rattling, and a smart half -walk half-trot soon placed us on level ground again. From Halfway Bush our walk into town was uninteresting, as the light had quite faded away into darkness, and none of us were sorry when the lights of Dunedin hove in sight from the top of the Kaikorai Hill, and the cab stand at Rattray street was reached at 20 minutes past 7. The distance we had traversed since starting from the north end of George street could not be estimated at less than 20 miles, over a rough hilly tract indeed, but rendered very pleasant and instructive by the lively chat of my mates, as well as anything but wearisome. I was sorry to learn that this was likely to be the last meeting of the Club for the season ; the advancing year and the shortening day rendering an afternoon's excursion to any place at a distance almost an impossibility. Pakeha. April 1, 1872.