A DAY'S OUTING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1838, 11 February 1887, Page 10

A DAY'S OUTING.

NEW YEAR'S DAY t ON THE BLUE ,j- ''.MOUNTAINS. '„';."/■'" Having made all necessary preparations for a few dajV cattle hun ing on the Blue Mountains, a small party' of ardent sportsmen, of which I was a member, rode out of Tapanui at about 10 o'clock on Nt-w Year's Eve, well equipped with provisions, &c, for a couple of days* 6port". - We had a 14-mile ride before us, the track running over the monntuins, and we expected to reach our destination at about 12.30, but oi> accident to one of the party somewhat'delayed us. After crossing the mountains' the remaining two miles of the 'journey -runs up a deep.' gorge,' through which the Poiuahaka river winds its' Way.' Oil entering this gorge, the night, seems suddenly to darken, and' there ' being only a' narrow track— in -many places completely over-! grown with scrub ..and fern— -.along which it becomes rather difficult to find the way, this portion of the journey, is one calling for more than ordinary caution. One minute traveller is passing over a small flat within a 1 couple of yards of the river, which here flows; tranquilly along, while the next He is ascending a steep face, with great rocks towering above and the river below i oaring through its rocky bed. The contemplation of how small an object would precipitate him into the : water creates anything but an agreeable sensation.' In the rie ylight a more picturesque pla> c could not be found, as the roughness of .the riverbed, the tail.birch tree's that Hue the bank, and the hills on] either side, form a scene of wild grandeur which it would be difficult to surpass, . , „ Arriving at the Rankleburn at About 2 am. — aa hour and a-balf behiud time— we turned our j horses loose, ami entered the camp, giving the inruatts a surprise at our late appearance, ao visitors in such an outlandish place, and at such an hour, are few and far between As we in* tended to be up betimes we retired early, but unfortunately we overslept Yourselves, not Waking till seven iv the morning^ Having bad a good breakfast on the remains of some beef shot in the bills the day before, we were joined by two friends who had come over the hills a few days previously, and* we all Parted for the mouutains together, it being about an hour's walk to the place where we expected to find the cattle. Two of us carried the' rifles, and the others the provisions, &c., for the day. After following up a gully, through which runs a stream known as the Buck creek, for a mile or more, aud not meeting with anything w.orth shooting, we made a shift to reach higher ground, under the impression that we might get a shot out on the clear. This move as we soon found, however, was to our disadvantage, for ufter having travelled through manuka scrub and other undergrowth for au hour or more, we found that we had made but little progress. The buu was shining down upon us with tremendous fore, and in the distance tbe muffled roar of thunder could be heard, presaging the coming of a thunderstorm. Just as matters seem to be coming to a crisis, we dropped upon a beaten track, aud in a very short time arrived t the top of the hill, about a quarter of ail hoiir before our friend*, whom we had left at the bottom, they having chosen a different ridge for their scene of operations After tiiuiing a swamp, and scratching a hole in which to gather water, we slaked our thirst aud sat down to take a rest. In a short time we discovered our friends coming up the same track that we had just travelled, they having missed the track up the spur on which they first started. We travelled aloug the top of the ridge for a ehort distance, and at last came upon some fre-h cattle tracks, which we decided follow up. Thetop of the hill being much frequented by cattle, we found no difficulty in doiug this, as there' were tracks leading in every direction. The track taken by the cattle led down a steep hill into a gully known as the Raukleburn Gully, through which rushed the waters of the Rankleburn creek, and when about a couple of hundred yards up tbe other side, we came upon a mob of about seven head of cattle, all standing quietly browning on the leaves of a shrub known by the suggestive name of " castor oil," and which ia much sought after by cattle. Presently the reports of shots from two rifles broke the prevailing stillness, followed by a heavy crash, as the frightened animals' (more frightened than hurt as it turned out), rushed away. Neither of the. bullets having hit a soft place, we gave chase, but did not succeed in bringing any to the ground. Turning our steps down the Rankleburn creek, we came in for some rough travelling, the undergrowth of scrub and fern being so dense that in many places we had to crawl on our hands and knees to get through. Suddenly emerging from the bush, we found ourselves in a small clear patch, ou which a deer stood quietly grazing. We are discovered in an instant, and' the agile animal bounded away into* the bush, to be seen no more— kmi this occasion »*t all events. We sat down on the buik •of the. creek to admire the beauty of the hceuury, and we could not nelp wishing thttt we had a tent to pitcb, with a view to taking possession of tbe small flat there -and then. Presently., our attention was attracted by something white shining through the scrub on i.he. face of the hill to our left, aqd which, on closer invastiga-. tion, proved to be portion of the body of a la. ge ■ red and white bull in company with another 1 beast. Examining our weapons carefully, we crept quietly up the hill in order to get 1 above the cattle, which stood without the slightest presentiment of danger. Again the rifles rang out, and this time with more eftecft, for the bull staggered but rose again, and made off down, the hill before another shot could be got at him. As the animal was wounded, we would have -had. little trouble in tracking him, but as .the day was wearing on we thought it prudent to direct our steps to the camp, having a good distance to traveL For' several miles we followed the course of the creek, which wasjclosely" lined with fern and scrub, after whioh we had to climb several steep hills, and by the time camp was sighted the day was far advanced, we ourselves' being both tired and hungry. We soon had the billy boiled, an enormous disappearance' of/ beef . steak and ''damper" ensued, after which,ourfriends left for Tapanuiy.and we "turned in." Tans ended New Year's Day, and on Sunday morning we felt littlethe worse of the jprevious day's exertions. We took matters very quietly on Sunday, a portion of which was spent in rambling through the paddocks and up the creeks, and the remainder in eating, drinking, and hleeping. ' The day seemed a 'remarkably long one. anil after a supp'-r of crawfish, caught in a neighbouring creek we again "went to roost." ,' Rising at 3 o'clock on Monday morning, eager to make a start to the hills. Breakfast ovrr, we made a start, it not being quite 4 o'clock. ■ ' On this occasion we were accompanied by a most useful cattle dog named Rory, who proved of great assistance to us. . Forsaking tbe gullies, we made our. way to the tpp of the mountain, ■ and reached a track • leading along the .main ridjjpV wqftfc tfexfb V& tb fate fcjofy mwtoy fa^hra

The track ;was a very narrow ouev and. if .->« lost watery aiffloSlt^fi«U'a|iiin.lTa&d to f? -difficulties met with, in some portions the ncnA had been } burned, leaving the sharp manuV, sticks standing; and these were/as may be eagfl imagined, exceedingly disagreeable to walk amoij However, we arrived at the top of Siberia \ about. 8 o^clock, and from, this jtrigh jwfot got splendid view of the" 'surrounding" country, n* one eiile lay the*; Clyde vale^eMate, with 1 hundreds of acres or ploughed land .iond- «„? paddocks, and the' homestead situated on *h hankortb^Moiyneu*/' The course of th! Pomahttka was plainly 'discernible, winding J2 .serpentine course over the plains, autil it fa foj Iv .thelMolyneux; into wbioh several other * a 7n streams alsi* run* .; Away, in distance 1« . Clinton, .nestled behiuda cluster of hills, w,^ far, as the eye could reach splendid agricultuS Hud, was, every where, to be.seea. Then by *„ of contra**, turning to, th' pother, Bide,>uothiii; but bu^h and hills meeff the %«i — deep gujui lined with bush, above {hem towering bare ourin hills, with great ,roclss dotted here and tW Looking down: upon the country we" had i«5 travelled, the beauty of the manuka scrub which was in full bloom—attracted the eye th» white" surface looking remaikably. tike a «»« paddock after a heavy frost. " Hills, Jrilfc, hi\u rising one above the other, until an exception»ll» high one shuts out the vitsw, all having, a num or less amount pf.Bhe!ter"fpr animals of different Npecies. While 'crawling ' through some dett« scrub on our hands £i}d knees' to* reach a clear patch ahead, Rory 'raised a Mob' of cattle, but being iv an opposite' direction they were out of sight before we coiil«r get'Vdikuce at them Shortly afterwards while we wefe seated ou tbi brow of a hill takinga re*'t, our opportunity came again. Beside us was a nanWgully in which tbs bush.'was very close. Suddenly the dog became restless, and bounded down the hill, and in an instant we were ready for action. . Presently the •log began to bark, and, we started .off to find him. On running down the hill, the first thins we encountered a huge brindle Iball, olosvly followed !>£ Rory. ' W§ had some, goocl shouting «t the animal/ but his* hide proved remarkably tough, indeed, practically .bullet'propf j[ start wasthen inaaebu our homeward journey and we arrived at camp at about 12 o'clock, in good | trim for dinner. After partaking of a good i square meal, we saddled our hornet and made & start on the return journey. On crossing the gorge'we had ample time to drink in the beautiej of the river scene., enhanced here and there by the appearance of wild ducks.shags, and seagulls. In places the silence of the wood was broken by the roaring of the river as it dashed over the rocks disappearing aud reappearing as ifc pursued its winding course t« the large body of water in which it was shortly to lose its separate existence. 'Ou reaching tbe top of the mountain signs of cultivation make their appearance. At long intervals we come across a hut situated in the rnMdle of a ploughed patch of land, and gradually well -appointed iarm; hnuseg are passed as, we ge f „> into a more thickly populated neighbourhood. W« reach Tapanuj at, about 5 o'clock, our* only, regret' being that stay , had necewsnrily. ty-en of so limited s character; hut otherwise thoroughly natisfi-d with our "New Year's |trip to Uw Blue Mountains." ' ; - , " H.P.