The Sketcher.

Otago Witness, Issue 1461, 15 November 1879, Page 20

The Sketcher.

A BIDE THROUGH TAPANUI AND SURROUNDING DISTRICTS. (Written for the 1 Otaoo Witness.) (by our glenkenich: correspondent.) It was early on a Thureday morning when I started for Tapanui from Glenkenicb, and a olondless Bky gave promise of a fine day. An unusual number of larks were carroling in the 'blue' dome above, and their sweet notes gave a pleasing melody to the scene Travelling along the main road we pats between grassy meadows, on which a large number of sheep are feeding, with mostly two, and in some cases three, lambs by their sides. This land belongs to Mr Junes Logan, of Greenvale Station. ' All of a sudden we come upon the homestead, charmingly situated near the Pomahaka. There is a sp»cious wool-shed and a good few oihtr build--ings, the residence scarcely being noticeable amid a • luxuriance of trees, which have already assumed g<. odly proportions. Here we encounter the . t . . POMAHAKA EIVER, , ' which is essentially a snow-fedtriver, and at the time of my visit was rather high, but crosßable. There is a substantial bridge, bat through the influence ef a large landed pro- 1 prietor it was placed in an inconvenient situation, and is seldom uaed. The river is well btacked with trout, and it is no uncommon sight of an evening to see several of the disciples of Iziak Walton sallying forth, rod in hand, to try the pools and ripples of the stream. .Here, also, on both ! sides of the river, lies the kblso, ■ of railway notoriety, the only business places being a blacksmith's aad a butcher's shop ! Though the Tapanui railway pastes through the town, it will not, like some other small country townships that I .know of, be snuffed put, for the simple reason that it has never been "snuffed in." The 7 road then traverses a . low. 'chain 'of ' hills, ' known aßthe *' wooded hjlli," from the. farther end of which I had afine ; yiewof • „ „ .. j c {;TAPANUI.- - 1 „-i • .'; ;

yi wn*cu x Juki *;uup, yiew/UK ,■ „ ■ „ • .. j c {;TAPANUI.- - 1 „-i • .'; ; . In the background ! was the Blue 'Mountain, rearing itli massive form (3350 ft. above the sea-level) in : the »ir; -white almost directly at the foot of the mounttin lay the township, itself, encircled wiih^ the evergreen bush, 'from the outskirts of which ;!the s»w{ milli send up their^ columns, < of . smoke and steam into the air.; ' L will not . inflict on n>y readers a desoriptipn of the various, baildings of the town. Suffice it to say that there are several that do it credit, and that, the i^wn wiH compare fa vourabiy with 'most ef ' couatry' toivnehipt. After passing through'the township we come to the ."" ,

'„'], "TAJpiNUIFtAT, which igi occupied principally by .settlers who, to judge from their smiling homesteads; seem to have got on welL The upper portion of the flat yields good crops of both wheat and oats, though it is rtther > shingly on the whole. Grass also grows luxuriantly j and one farmer told me the artificial pasture would curry six sheep to the acre all the year round. The se.ttlers here go in for 4 •tyle of mixed farming, most of , them haying from two to three 4 hundred sheep, beVi'dea cattle and horses.'- As ' : we near the end of the flat the soil grows rioher, there beibg a good depth of fine alluvial soil. The finest crrp of oats I saw on my journey was at the lower end of the fiat. The railway runs all the way through the flat and would be a great boon to the settler if completed. - The next settlement we come to is

THE CONICAL HILLS, which lie to the right of the Flat as we go down. We first pass Captain M'Kenzie'ft station, which comprises some fine agricultural and pastoral land, a good portion of which is sown down in English grass. The land on the Conical Hills is not of the beat quality, and is rather rough for agricultural purposes ; still the settlers have always good yields of oats, though wheat does not do bo well. The crops here were not so far forward as on the Flat, and in soma esses the rabbits were partly to blame for this.

(To be continued.)