THE EXPLORED

Otago Witness, Issue 1970, 22 August 1889, Page 10

THE EXPLORED

. -4> ON THE TIN TACK, By B. M. M. It was tbe dullest season of that apathetic town Invercargill when the news of the tin discovery at Stewart's Island reached us. Tin fever at once broke out. Everyone talked " tin," everyone dreamt " tin," and kerosene tins, instead of adorning the gardens or finding a' last resting in the Puni oreek, were hoarded as relics. The banker asked his clerk, who had come to demand his daughter, how many shares he had at Pegasus, and on receiving the tremulous answer "None, please, sir," summarily kicked the pretentious youth down two flights of stairs. One of our most prominent drapers was seen gliding down a back street with a Gladstone in his hand and a gum boot under each arm, and next morn was missing from his 'customed pub. The lawyer put up " Back in 10 minutes," and took train for the Bluff.* It was stated that a well-known hotelkeeper spent an entire Sunday in rapt contemplation of a zinc tank — he wanted to know tin when he saw it. This, however, may be only a yarn. Specimens of tin sold at a high rate; but an'enterpnsing merchant, when on the eve of starting a country agency, was found one night in a quarry filling his oart and chuckling to himself as he .piled on the " lode." This spoilt his trade. , The fever was catching, and soon I had an attack in its worßt form, locating the " true lode" so accurately in my delirium, and drawing such pathetic pictures of oysters in my~ convalescence, that a chum who was shepherding me proposed that we, too, should go to ,that glorious land. He had said it I His "blood was on his own head ! He further added that he could " spot mica schist, and majse. damper with any man." These being the two things needful, we made up our swags, and one summer evening when the slee.t held high holiday in Dee street, joined the grand procession the station. At the Bluff there seems to be an unholy emulation among the settlers to see who can perch' his house on the most inaccessible crag. It is said that the family who hold the 1 championship at present have a ladder for their front path, and a lift to raise their provisions from the garden below ! There is a bit of bluff somewhere in this assertion. We left for .Half-moon Bay by the De&patcb, the Pegasus mail boat. She was rather larger than the Roslyn " dummy," but there was plenty of room for the mail bag. She lay .behind a schooner, and to get on board we had to cross the larger vessel — when the captain wasn't looking — and slide down the other side. Another incident that lent interest to the onlookers ' was the erratic movement of a playful jet of steam that spouted up the side at odd and unexpected intervals. Every able-bodied man in the Bluffi,came to see us off, and as many women as, there was room for, There were some babies present who wept bitterly without any apparent reason. Hearing them reconciled us to the parting. When all was ready the geyser played, knocking several jovial tars into coils of rope, and with three convulsive yells to drown their expostulations we spluttered out to the ocean. The way our engineer tugged at a lever — a pump handle, the passengers thought — led them to believe that the vessel had sprung a leak, and they rushed up to tender advice re stuffing it with a rag. The rush caused her to ' heel over, and the captain's voice rang through the mist beseeching us to separate or say our prayers. Tbis being the alternative we separated, and left the engineer to shift for himself. Suddenly a dark object broke through the mist ahead. Some thought we had run into Mount Anglem, but their ignorance was exposed as the Mararoa sailed past. She gave us a wide berth, her officers thinking, as, I afterwards heard, that the Despatch was a torpedo boat 1 She was steaming up the harbour, guided by the soft music that yet stole over the water, some on board doubting if such music could be mortal, and fearing it was the song of the Syren luring them to destruction! She glided on, and was lost in the mist. We were a mixed company. There was the old gentleman with an umbrella, who represented a syndicate ; the masher, down on his luck, but dreaming still of the rink, going to°Pegasus ; the inane tourist in"flannels and Oookhams ; and one — only one, as the boat was small — Tasmanian expert. This gentleman led us to understand that he was a man of weight in his own"country, so we got him to sit in the centre to balance the boat. He appeared to represent universal knowledge, and discoursed on asphaltum, Dgypsum, the Chinese question, de Lesseps, and conchology. Then he took an interval of five minutes to ruminate at the side. He came back and discussed zoophytes, the height of the Bluff Hill, and pre-historic man. Then he retired to the storn, and gazed on the green waters with an awe approaching to adoration. Half -moon Bay must have been picturesque before the settler arrived to burn the bush and erect his barb wire fences. Even now it is pretty in the distance, but as we draw near we are struck by the patchy appearance of the hills ; in place of the bush that was the beauty of the bay, are charred stumps and cows. It is said to be lovely at sunrise. Jack said it would be at its best about two eours before; but tbe inhabitants couldn't grasp that idea in all its intensity. They even' construed it as a compliment, and brought out visitors' books for him to perpetuate his opinion 1 The township consists of four boarding houses, a bathing house, a mill settlement, a school, some fishermen's huts, and a smoke house. There is also a church aud a goal standing side by side. The latter has been seldom used, but they think it will be handy about the Exhibition time. The villagers lead a sleepy hollow existence. Only when the Bluff boat comes in do they wake and " sit round " on logs, watching events with a feeble interest, too inert to move, and with not sufficient vim to throw a brick at a passing our. A stranger is immediately noticed, the word is passed ,and the natives assemble. They watch him as long as he remains in sight. Then they get telescopes. We determined not to go to Pegasus, but to prospect Paterson's Inlet, so we hired a boat to take us to th 3 Nor -west Arm. Bounding Harold's Point tho Neck is the first point

of interest. There is a Maori settlement j numbering nearly 80persons. Out in the ocean lies Buapuke where King,'' Toby " lives, and other islands, where the mutton birds hold sole possession until the beginning of April, ' when the Natives come in quest of the young ones. These they preserve for winter use in kelp bags rendered air-tight by melted fat being poured in. Far south lies the Antartic. One boatman, with a humour essentially islandic, made some tourists believe that the mast of an oyster boat appearing above the distant horizon was the South Polel One immediately seized his sketch book, and the others lay in the boat gating on it in speechless rapture. Eat the other mast hove in sight, and they turned to him inquiring why was this thus. " Oh, that," he said, with an earnestness that carried conviotion, "is the South Magnetic ! " The inlet stretches about 12 miles inland and has several minor bays branching off — Big Glory,, Little Glory, Abraham's Bay, and the Sou-west Arm on the south side, Nor'-west Arm, Kaipippi, and Golden Bay on the north. At the head standa Eakeahua, a massive and picturesque mountain, from which the loveliest and most comprehensive view of the island can be obtained. We entered at the Passage — a feat of daring, as there is hardly room to swing the Great Eastern. But there are hidden rocks or a latent maelstrom somewhere, judging by the sudden importance our boatman assumed, his antics in hauling down sails, and his language when fixing the jib. Hidden dangers are most feared, so we kept a careful watch, I with two ropes in each hand, the boatman grasping the tiller with both hands, and Jack supporting the boom. I thought of Herve Biel as I watched our noble waterman, and my faith revived. He was undismayed by the glassy appearance of the water, and the dead calm that would have made any other man quail had no such effect on him. In his eye were despair, resignation, hope, and sorrow — sorrow, as he said, that our young lives should be thus sacrificed in their glorious springtime 1 There were other sentiments too, but I couldn't wait to analyse them. After five minutes of anxious watching he told us proudly that the danger was averted. Then he waited for us to bless our deliverer or return ,thanks. And he is yet waiting. Up the inlet the sun was shining, and the hills, wooded to the water's edge, gleamed with crimson rata. No sound broke the stillness save the ripple at the bow and the flap of the sail. Up the inlet the sun was sinking, and the Rugged Mountains in the far distance outlined boldly against the crimson sky, orangetinted where the sun touched, and with the crevices deep in shadow. As we watched the darker clouds gathered closer, the orange faded in purple, a transient glory gleamed i from the setting sun, flashing its former tints into nothingness by its gorgeous splen- i dour, and then it sank. The clouds banked j closer, the colours deepened, and a chill fell i over the water. One star came out — the ! only watcher in the wilderness. We landed at a deserted saw mill, and had to climb a 10ft slimy pile with the aid of a rotten rope. The likeness to the Invercargill wharf was brought forcibly before me when the boards I was standing on collapsed,and I sank to my arms, showing the astonished boatman a vision of boots. Poor Jack got quite homesiok on the strength of it. Herve showed us ■a ventilated hut, and when he had told us of miasmata and of the fevers and agues that had been bred there, he thanked goodness that he hadn't to stay, wished us luck, and disappeared into the darkness. That night the first plague appeared — mosquitoes. But we fought the battle bravely, and ere the night was gone Full many a corse lay ghastly pale to wait the rising sun. While the wounded were resting we took up our beds and retreated to a hut that they knew not. This was a change for the better, as it was furnished with a couple of chairs and a table. Soon our fittings were displayed round the room, German sausage and ••Juno" adorning the mantlepiece along with Liebeg's extract. Outside was a scene of desolation. On every hill stood huts— doorless, windowiess, and with their chimneys moss grown. In the gully were stables, huts, and the old mill. Tins and horse collars lay about overgrown with rank grass, and the trolly wheels were rusted to the rails. One hut bore the inscription "Fiddler's Hall," with a sketch of the rustic Orpheus in charcoal, and a standing programme : Duit— " 2 lovely bla<?k eyes"— fiddle and accordion "2 lovely black eyes "—fiddle, with accordion obligato Song (sentimental)—" 2 lovely bl " There seems to be a lack of variety in those items, but they were severely classical. How impressive and grand must those duets have sounded in that dark, sombre gully. The majestic strains of the accordion pealing and thundering through the forest, with an exquisite minor in the roar of the torrent and the anthem of the pines It was surely the lost chord of Nature. Thoy are gone now, and only the weka holds her solemn orgies in that lone valiey. (Te he etmtinued.)