DESCRIPTIVE LETTERS. (Continued.)

Otago Witness, Issue 1834, 14 January 1887, Page 32

DESCRIPTIVE LETTERS. (Continued.)

.Dear Dot, —l live 14 miles out of town, on the rivfcr b&qk. t , .There is do road for a carriage, and it' we want to go out we have to ride or else /go. ,iv a -boat, or a ,steamer called i the Tuhua. The i scenery up the. river is very pretty.' There are- large^Pjiinga!, trees. * Perhaps some of the little fortes" have', neyer cee^n one, of these, bo I ' will'describe it: It has a long brown trunk, and has beautiful large ferns on the top, and in the centre of^th'.e fern grows a thing like a monkey's : tail- when it k curled up. Kata trees are also pretty J with scarlet blossoms and dark-green leaver, and toey reeds with long, golden brash. There is a Maori training, his horse for the races on New YearVDay. They are to be held at a place called Muriumtu. He gallops it; up and dowu the. paddock twice ai day. Mamma has a wild pigeon ,iv a cage. She has had iiayear, and, feeds, it; ou potatoes aud water. He' is all the colours of the rainbow, and whichever way you look at him iii the sun' he, seems to' change colour. '■ She ha? also a tui. It is a black bird with, white feathers under its throat, like a lace collar.' We had an entertainment "lost! Christmas, and acted a piece called the "Ocean Queen." There were 15 of us acting, both girls and boys. I was. " Old. Mother Hubbard," dressed iv a black print with red -roses, and a white mob cap with blue, ribbons, .a large. white muslin apron, gold spectacles, and black mittens, and 'a walk-ing-stick which I leant upon. I »aug a song, called ",O^d Mother Gtu.ua," and recited, a piece of poetry palled'" The Wreck of the Hesperus." My sisters/and I can swim across the Wanganui river. It ,ia. 100 yards there and back.— Yours truly,

. Jane Barnktt Lockett (aged 12h). Mara Mpra, Totara, Wauganui, " ' '. ' December 7.'

. Dear DoTf—Aboutj two miles from Berwick" is a pretty bush, which looks beautiful when the trees are in bloom. Dotted abiut are houses, with, 'iheir flower and fruit gar lens. When" the, trees put forth their' blossom the' place .has a most picturesque appearance. On the hills '.hundreds of sheep and cuttle are to be seen.grazing. Then the gentle rumble of btreams is^earcl, while along their bauks grow a great many varieties of wild flowers. There is also a fine lake, from which the place takes its name. Many different khida of fish' are to be found in it, among which may be namsd trout and mullet. I have often speared flounders there, On its surfaco may ba seen .numbers of swans aud ,wikl ducks. A dairy factory, has been started about three miles from herq. It is a very large building, and I was through it todity aud saw all the appliances for making butter aud ch'ceso. It was quite a novelty to mtt, as I had never seen anything like it before.— Yours truly, -

f »', ' John Mitchell (aged 13). Berwick, Lake Waipori, December 2b. .

Dbah Dot,- 1 - As you wished us to write descriptive letters; I will try to describe the country up here.' ' The, ClMtha 'river is not half a mile from us. I used to Dross it on the punt every day going to school, but I do not do so now, an the new school is ouly> about a quarter of a mile from us. Theryyare several dredges on the river 'taking ,tho gold out of it. Havo you ever seen a golddredge working ? There are also some creeks flowing into it. One named the Timo is quite near to us; and there, are some nice trout m it. It is a very pretty creek, with lots of ferns growing on the banks. About two mile* up it' we have found a' small cave. The paddocks are full' of shfep ju«t now, which have been brought down to be shorn,' Have you ever seen them. being shocn ? * We hay« -12 shearers, and when they are shearing 4 they stand ou a long floor called the shearer's bourd. Some boys pick up the fleeces as soon as they fall on the floor, and spread them ou a, table where the olasser 'sorts them. ■ The wool is then pressed, put into bales, and sent away to. London.

We ,are surrounded by mountains — on the north,' Mount Benger and the Old Man Range ; on the east, the Lammerlaws ; and on the west some hills of which I do not know the name, The Old Man Range is nearly always covered with snow,' and on Mount Benger it, lies for home time. Yon san get a nice view from our house as nearly all of Miller's Flat cau be seen. We have a small plantation of firs. They are covered with conea, and there are some goldfinches' nests iu them. There is such.alarge fir tree by our gate; it is higher than the house. We have,ap elderberry and also a hawthorn tree iv the garden. The elderberry comes out in white flowers, aud after they, have faded small berries come in their place. The hawthorn has white and pink flowers. There is also a cypress tree in the garden , covered with small cones, which are poisonous. We havo not got many fruit trees I trees nor flower gin the garden. The soil is too dry for most of them to grow in, but there are some •flowers which grow very well. One of these is' balm, 'another mountain veronica, and ' lastly wallflowers and daisies. Though' we have not many flowers in the garden, there are plenty of wild flpwers in the fields, and red berries on the bushes. There are also some pretty creeperswild honeysuckles. . Some are shaped like stars, while others ate soft and fluffy. Others are red with a white centre, and some are white with a red oejitre. The grass is spangled with yellow dandelions, some places being yelfow with* them, while others are white with wild daisies.' There are some pretty blue flowers up here called wild Irish flax or wild forget-me-not. There is plenty of yellow Cape broom up here, but there is not much white broom, I only know of one place where it- grows. ■ There are some very pretty mosses up here, and some of the rocks are covered with lichens. Some of- the mosses are of a dark-green colour, and some are of a lighter shade. I- do not know the names of any of them, but I have my own naipes for them.' The ' ferns are aUq very pretty, and there is a great number of' ttfcm. Some are very' small, while others are large. — Yours truly,' ' ""/ -f' 1 ■ . ' Alick Gcnx (aged 12). Ormaglade Station, Bttriclr, ' '" '■>>' December 18. Dear Dot,— l livfe at the foob of East Peak, one of the Hokonui mountains. They are partly covered with bush, which is very pretty. There I aw a great many different kinds of trees in the bush, and some of them, such as the red pine, the ironwooil, the fuchsia, and the fern tree, are very beautiful. There is a gr^at variety of •ferns, moss, and flowers. The land elopes, gradually from the haso of the mountains to the Aiataura rivqr. The soil ,U feytil**, au<l tho farmers usually gefc good crop*'. Some parts of the country ixvs broken j up by deep gullies, which interfi-ro greatly with I the cultivation of the land. The natural produotiitttß aiv gold, CO;d, and timber. '" ' | On • ifana'ay last my sifter and f wwt up to

the'highpst -pomt ■ of the |H6kohhto' First «, had' to go for a long* way through 't&e^bosh, and then through short grass, flax, and tutu. Wht) we reached "the 'top we were very warm and tired, as it . wi» i »' not'ldajjpfentf we were fulh repaid for #tu\ walk b^ tfie' splendid view w, obtained, or the surrounding country. Invej, cargill, a distance of upwards of. 40 miles awaj is to bo seen from the spot 'where we itooi<' The Mataura', winding' h in" - the valley below' looked Very well. 1 ( The' 'towns of Gore am} Mataura seemed quite hear na', although they were. several milos ! I counted aboat 200 homesteads. Gore is, a' thriving town. \ dairj factory has lately been erected there, and is proving a great success.:-, - X Dear' Dot, if y6u>"are in -Gore at any time and Should wish tog o to the top of the Hoko! nui mountaina, Iwould be-very happy to hyour guide. — Yours Bincerelyi 1 MABfANNB, Gbant (aged 12). Croydon, Gore, December 22. < Dbab Dot,— l write to tell yoa aboofc ray visit to the Skippers reefe/which are about 26 miles from here among the mountains. Starting from the Arrow, we rode along Miller's Flat for about four miles. There are fields of nice green ! corn 'on, both sides of tW road. The road turns to, go up the first hill i which takes about an hour to ascend. About! the foot of this hill I'saw a large boiler in which the poison is mixed for the rabbits. On this hill I saw a pair of Californian quail, plenty of Maori hens; and plenty of rabbits. " You cau get a fiu« view.of the country from the top, and aan st« the Wakatipu lake, the Kawarau river, and the source, of the Shotover river. , We ako s,aw a number of little. lakes caused by the Into raiu and the road to the Cardrona and all the flat country lying about the hills. Every here aud there fields of green corn are to be seen. It looks lovely to 'see the light and dark greeni mixed together. After the hill I walked down Long Gully, because'if I< had ridden I think I should have rolled over the horse's neck. After this steep gully a dirty little place called " Dirty Ford Hut" brings you to some level ground until you come to •' Fool's Bond," whioh id so called because persons goiug to the reefs and QueenStown respectively may both be going in tne same direction.

The new road, instead of coming from the top to the bottom in a zigzag, comes round the hill near the bottom of it. Although ,tho new road is not much shorter, it is an easier one than the old one, and it consequently saves a creat deal of time

Ab a place called the Bluff you can see for 600 ft above you where the rucks have beeu blasted, and the marks of the drills -and picka are plainly discernible After that again there is a stretch of level ground till you come to Maori Point, where there is a newquarta mine. Thou over another hill brings us to Skipper's Point, where there are some of the most beau* tiful flowers I have ever seen — from p&nsiea of all kimlt) to' orchids, which look like butterflies, and orange trees. After leaviug the point you come to ttw creek, which I crossed 90 times, but it was high. Wo then came to the' Phceuix mine after a 1 ride of five hours. • It is the wildest-looking place I ever saw. There h no level ground to be seen. All the houses are built on the sides of the hills, which; rise up from both banks' of the creek, ' The houses loog like pigeon boxes stack 'here and there above one. auother on both bides. Ididnot[go into the tuuucl where the gold is foundrr-H looked like a black hole iv, the. side of the mountain; but I saw the battery where the'quartz ia broken up, and whdre the gold fy, separated' from the dirt. The btampers thump, thump down ou the quartz, making such a riotfie '{hat you are glad

to get away.

I walked over to a place called the v left-hand braucb," where all the electric machinery in worked. When you . get a 1 shock you would think somebody had hold' of you shaking you as hard as he could, but you .oannofc imagiue what it is like unless you feel for yourself. After spending a week up there I came home, having eujoyed myself very much. — Yours truly, Emma Foord (aged 12). * Arrowtown, December 20.

Dear Dot ,— We have a pretty place, and lots of fruit in it. Mamma and all my sisters, but one" went in a boat up to part of our land to gabber some of the fruit, and my other sister and a friend of ours and myself went i up in t> canoe. We got , stuck on a log for about a quarter of an hour, and I had to undress myself and go in the river and push her off. ■ Our place runs seven miles up the river, and it is 14 miles from Wangaijui. I often go in the river for a bathe, and I go over the hills hunting after birds' nests. I found one the other ,day witb four young birds in ifc, and yesterday I 'found a nest withone litble blue egg in it ; ifc was such a pretty one. ' We have a pretty garden, uud a lot of big bluegurns growing rotnd the house. i go to school every day, and I am in the second class. Our schoolhouso .s just by our own house, fo we can go in wet weather as well as in fine. — Yours truly, Fkf.diuck Lookktt (aged 10£). Mara Mara, Tolara, IVaiiguuui, December 17.

Drab Dot, — I live on the side of the main road between Oamaru and Dunedin, at a place called' Waianakarua, which is .tho Maori name for the meeting of the rivers. ( Twp rivers meet tiear our house — the Otepopo river and the llookery river. Away up' the Rookery' there is beautiful bush on the hill sides, and plenty of fine singing birds and pretty wild flowers, and such fine fern tre^s, and t ever so many differt-nt kinds of ferns. There is' some fine trout in tho river, aud 1 like to stand ou the 'river bank and watch them play in the pools. Gentlemen come here to fish, and picnic parties come from Oanioiu in summer. The Oamaru baiid held their picnic hero, there bemg 3000 persons p«bent. The railway line to Dunedin runs past the, back of our house, and we caii see all the tr/iinfi ns they pass. I wish you would come to Waianakarua. You could spend a pleusant time in the bu:*h and along the river bank! and you would seeHauipden township, aud BJoeraki bay with thb fishermen's pretty cottages' and the lighthouse ou your way coming from Dunedin. I would give you some flowers .to take home wish "you, and would nhow you my scrap-book and pictures that 1 got seut,to me, from Scot-, land, and my kuifcting aud sewing, nnd.'my doll. I am' going to buy a uew doll at Chrintmas, and you could biirig your*,' and we would have a five time. I'would like to go to Dunedin this summer. I havo been twice there, and .father took us to the Museum where I saw wotfderful thing* --a little elephant aud the' skeleton of a big whali*, and the, skeletons of a lot of moa bird*, ./md tu,ch a lot of pretty stuffed- birds from dif» ferent couutries, and flyiqg fiah : and .'lots cf animals that I had never seen, before. When I go back. J intend to nave a better look at the in t and I will get .father to tell me more about th<-m. I will .write and tell you how 1 get on. When I was iv Dunedin I noticed that your big clock chimes evt:ry quarter of "an, hour. It* very nice li> hear It chime during ti^j day, but how can you sleep wi^h it night? I like, to «pc the pretcy'- : i3ower' gardeits about

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Duneairt.add tfieffine' shops/.arid tramcars, the ships, and' the 'fine hj!lvrp,un4»£koufc,,aud.<t.he, waodA-on'>'l»e road-going to and«TOniing;froni Dunenin it was so pleasant running' along m the train past bays ?md round the cliffrf, where W e could look at .the sea rolling in underneath u« There arc, many things' l could tell you jiiioufc' tlwrf Voul'd please yotV very much, bnt probably you will say' 'that my .letter is quite long enough.— Yours truly, • , ,>. '• • "■ AMTir.ix Srrwxnr. Waiauakarua/.December 20. t ■ ' ! '. (To he, continued!)