RAMBLES IN OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 1927, 29 January 1891, Page 39

RAMBLES IN OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND.

By Oswald E. Hugo.

Otago is rich in natural beauties, though those which in my opinion are the finest scenes are the least known. The best advertised goods are not always the bestBrave men lived before Agamemnon. There are, no doubt, many women in England handsomer than Mrs Langtry ; and there may be soap as effectual as Pears'. So there are landscapes in Otago the beauty of which equals and surpasses the much advertised beauties of the Lake districts, the absence of foliage in which gives a saddening, monochromic effect.

OATLINS EIVEB would be my choice — the place to which I would go to awaken in me a loving feeling towards Nature, and for the sentiment of awe I would go to Skippers. The one would be like reading the "Midsummer Night's Dream " ; the other like reading " Macbeth." In the Oatlins district we have all the necessary elements of beauty — the sea, the forest, hazy blue distances; and then a sail up the slow : flowing river under the arch of huge intertwining trees, among which the yellow kowai and the crimson-flowered rata attract our eyes, is a pleasure worth a long journey. For a honeymoon trip, and to anyone seeking a transient retreat from the worry of active life, I would recommend Catlins. This district is also rich in ferns. Several of the rarest specimens may be found there. Any botanist who might visit the place will find his labour of searching lightened by an interview with the teacher at Lower Owake, Mr Bryant, who knows the habits and locality of every fern in the district, and who is an enthusiastic student of all departments of science.

WYNDHAM

is also a prettily situated little town, famous for its fine quality " of land ; but to me it chiefly endeared itself by the fact that I met there, in the library of the teacher, Mr Clarke, a most perfect collection of the Greek and Latin classics. It was a great delight to stand before so many of the old world's great spirits, whose languages^ unfortunately, are becoming more and more dead tongueai. Though, when I had the choice of selection for reading, I felt somewhat- what a boy feels who, with a sixpence in his pocket, - stands outside a confectioner's shop contemplating all the tempting-looking delicacies, and hesitating in his choice. 'There are so many things he would like. In fact, he would like them all, as a little Oamaru friend of mme — when I asked what she would like best, lollies or apples— replied, " Lollies, apples, nuts, and figs." Wyndham shall be remembered by me from having breathed something of what Heine calls Der leiiohtende MenshenfruhliDg Uiid der bliihende Himmel yon Hellas. BALOLUTHA

is by no means a stirring place. Yet it was there I witnessed more stirring scenes than I ever saw before. They were unrolled in a drama called "The Ticket-of -Leave Man," played by the local dramatic society. I-have often admired the skill with which: storekeepers manage to pack dozens of cups and saucers into a box, which in my eyes seemed fit only to hold a small part of the number. It was with a similar feeling I wondered at the amount of sensational incidents, and what Captain Jackson Barry would call II hairbreast " escapes that had been packed into this play. The acting was " very good considering," as we say about a young lady's painting. The scenery, painted by a local artist, was, however, excellent — fit for the best of theatres. One fact pleasing to record about Balclutha is the extensive cultivation of flowers. Almost everyone of the old residents has a hothouse. That of Mr Sievwright is the largest and has the finest specimen of flowers and ferns, the owner having talUn a great number of prizes at different shows. The library is very good, and I must express my thanks to the librarian for his courtesy and kindness to me during my stay.

OKOMWELL AND THE SUBBOTJNDING DESEET.

I thought the gumfields of Auckland the most dreary scenes I had seen ; but they seemed almost Elysian compared with the surroundings of Cromwell. The town lies on a sandy plain between two mountain ridges, on which not a square inch of green is discernible. A dismal, monotonous grey tint meets us everywhere, and has a most depressing effect. I asked a digger if he did not get melancholy always looking at such scenes. He replied : " Yes, I think I would if I did not get drunk occasionally"

THE MOST GO-AHEAD TOWN.

Gore is destined to be in the future the next city to Dunedin. If ib advances in the same ratio as hitherto, it will not take very many years before it surpasses Invercargill. It has all the desiderata for permanent prosperity, being the centre of as fine a grain-growing district as exists anywhere in the country. The town is well built, and has two very good newspapers. What is always the sign of a town's intellectual activity — there is as a rule in Gore a great interest taken in all municipal and political matters. There is a decidedly wide-awake look in the people of Gore, and signs of activity and inquiry in their walk, manners, and voice — more so than in the population of any other inland town.

SKIPPERS has been one of the richest goldfields of Otago, and it is still well to the front. Among the miners there I met as intelligent and as well-informed men as I have met with in any class. They could converse on almost any subject. But then the stupefying and effeminating effects of lawn tennis — the delight of microcephalous dudeism— has not spread its contamination to Skippers ;*and it never will, for there would not jte flat land

enough for a court. The country is sublimely rugged. Any visitor to Queenstown should make it a point to visit Skippers. The distance is 20 miles. The liulo township has an excellent library, and I saw book 3 one would not dream of finding in such an outlandish place. The Phcenix mine is about six miles from Skippers. This is, so far as I know, the only gold mine in the country worked by electric power.

LAWRENCE has not many features of interest to the artist or to the uncommercial traveller. What strikes one chiefly from an architectural point of view is the size as well as fine structure of the churches. So, if that is an indication of the solidity of the adherents' faith, Lawrence must be firmly religious. Two other "features o£ excellence must be mentioned. The cemetery is exceedingly pretty; and the local paper, the Tuapeka Times, is in the front rank of country papers. It may seem incongruous to couple together Death and the press ; but it is really most appropriate. Both are very powerful factors in life, and both often cut Bhorfc the length of a politician's career. The Lawrence people show more business stir than those of Balclutha ; but are less hospitable than those of any other Otago inland town. This feature is, however, often to me a desirable one to, meet with. If in travelling I made friends in too many places I would have to neglect jthe society of those mighty dead whose companionship is so much more desirable than that of the living — especially of that class who delight in lawn tennis. If one can asssociate with Sophocles, Lucian, Homer, Virgil, and Heine, one is apt to feel very lonely in society.

QUEENSTOWN.

If one wishes to enjoy Queenstown to the fullest extent, he should reach it through Cromwell. It would then be what the sight of the rich valley of Italy was to the Carthagenians coming down from the Alps. What struck me most was not so much the grandeur of the surroundings as the picturesqueness of the town, and the neatness of everything. There is nothing dirty or slovenly to be seen ; but everything gives an indication of greater refinement than is usual in digging towns. A highland climate is more conducive to the formation of a virtuous population- than a lowland. Queenstown bears that out. There is no drunkenness or irregularities; but an air of respectability pervades everything. During the winter there are weekly meetings for debates, which are attended by most of the inhabitants, old and young, males and females. Most of the tourists go to Queenstown during the summer, but really the winter is just as attractive. No place in New Zealand has such a splendid' winter climate. The clear, cold, and dry air has a most stimulating effect. The departure of the Rev. Mr Ross from the place will be a lose. He has bad charge of the Presbyterian Church there for 25 years. Travellers will miss him equally as much as residents. Every man of education was always made at home with Mr Ross. Most travellers attempt to ascend Ben Lomond, It is more difficult to climb than Mount Bgmont, but as I ascended it in the middle of winter when, we had to struggle through snow up to our waists perhaps I formed an exaggerated opinion of the difficulty.

CONCLUSION.

These rough notes are not so much topographical sketches as impressions and the thoughts suggested by them. One thing is oertain, I shall not have occasion when seeing them in the Witness to feel disgusted like I did when seeing some notes written for a Northern paper. .The printer had mixed them up most strangely. Imagine my consternation when I read such a line, " In the blue sky a man with a swag on his back, and a magnificent pine rising beyond the sun." I thought of how I once laughed when a similiar calamity happened to a friend. He was a classical scholar, and in an article he had written he made us of the Ciceronian exclamation, " 0, mores ! " Imagine his disgust when he read it in print as " 0, Moses I "