THE GOVERNOR OF NEW SOUTH WALES. (Thursday's Daily Tunes.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2288, 6 January 1898, Page 7

THE GOVERNOR OF NEW SOUTH WALES. (Thursday's Daily Tunes.)

ViseouTjt Hampden, "G 'VercoL' of New South Wales, who with a small patty, comprising the Hon. Dsrcthy Brand (l.is daughter), Miss Diilsy (daughter of the Ctiief Jasti.ie of Net? South Wilos). and O--pt*iu Fielderi, A.D.C., arrived in Dunedia on Wedutsday night, will reai«iin here until Mo.iday motuhsg nexfc, svhen hi wll proß*,cdtj QjeensLown. Ills Excviienjy will spes d üboul ;■„ week ab Lake Wakaapu, visi'hig the Head of the Lak<j during ths time, and then sake train to the Bluff ia order Lo join the steamer Ta'uie, leaving there ou the lUh iust. for Ilobatt. Ths liraiied tima thai ha hss afe bis disposal ceses/ Hated Lr;rd H&mpdeu's dce'iniug an iuvifcatiou from Lurd Riiofu-lr to accompany him on tho trip io the West Coast Sounds, which the Governor of this eoiouy is about to make in the steamer Tulanekai, and for a similar reason he was unable to visit Mount Cook. There is a possibility, luwever, that the Taiune may call in al M'frord Sound on her ■svay from iht; Bluff to HoLarb, and on tbafc po«,?ibi!i'-y his Fxe* llriicy at p-cseoi pins hia hope of seeing a r ij o? the) WestCoisii scenery.

In the Coar.se of coaver?atioti ab Ihe Crrand H'/tel lasb evening with a member of our staff, wh'^n reference was made to the recently telegraphed report that Lt(3 Hampden had decided to visit this eo'ony am>u>lly during hi? ti-rm as Governor of New South Wales, his Excellency was careful to guard himsolf against confirming the s^a'.ement. Ib was, he said, " too lur^e an order." Hoover much he might desire i*", hs printed oub that the l c .oo miles between New youth Wales and New Zealand, and the impossibility of his making lengthened absence? from tbe colony of which he is Governor, were an effectual obsbacle to his antiuvlly visiting Naw Zjaland. The im-pi-xjs&ions he has formtd of this colauy on his pr<;seut crip have been of the mo^b favourable kiad. He was, in the first pi ice, fortunate in the trip over from Syduoy to Auckland, inasmuch as the Muana w.13 ths steamer in which be wa3 a paiceoger — and he speaks very highly of the accommodation provided on this s f earner — and hardly a wave was encountered on the voyage- across. Fronl Aui kland Viscount Harnpden pcoaeeded to " do" the ' thermal district, visiting Rotartia, Wairskti, Taupn, Tokaanu, Kerioi, and Pipiriki. This district he found mosb interesting and weird, lla was particularly impressed with the wo&dera of tho "Blowhole," and he satisfied bina'scif' a? to the appropriateness of its name by tSie performance of a tcb*-, tossing a penny iuto the mouth of the " hole " only to see ifc immediately thrown back 40fs into tha air. Ab Tokaana Lord Hampden hid his •first experience of an earthquake, and he confesses that he does not wish a repetition of the experience. Asked as to the accommodation that was available for touris's on the route taken by him through the thermal spiings district, Lord Himpden spoke with some re&ecve. For himself, he said, he was satisfied so long as the food was good, it simple, and so loug as the beds were c!ean, bub he recognised that the accommodation was capable of improvement — that it was not all that nvghl be de3ired for touris's gonerally and for ladies particularly. The difficulty that he fouud to exist was that in the King Country, which is a prohibited district so far as the sale of liq'ior is concerned, the innkeepers complained that even with the accommodation they provided they were unable to make both ends meet, and they could not afford, therefore, to give improved accommodation at moderate charges, J3io Excellency believes

that if better accommodation were provided and reasonable charges made thousands of tourists would be tempted to visit the district, and he thinks that, failing the licensing of houses in the King Country, it would be desirabl?, with the view of encouraging tourist; traffic, that the Government should either subsidise the innkeepers or else themselves " run " accommodation houses, a precedent for the latter course having been established iv the caße of the Hermitage at Mount Cook. Lord Ehmpden was much impressed with the scenery on the Wanganui River, and was greatly charmed with the spectacle presented on the upper reaches by the masses of foliage on each side of the rirer, the ordinary beauty of the site being enhanced by the fact that the rata was in fljwer. His Excellency has made a more rapid trip through the South Island than through tha North Island, but he found time to visit &Ir Jchn Grigg's Longbeach estate, which interested hi>a much, and to spend some time in fishing near Winchester. He has a good word to say for all the hotels of which he has had experience in the South Island.

Viscount Hampden visited the Otago golf links yesterday afternoon, and will go over them again this morning. In the evening, with his party, he purposes attending thß production of •* The Sign of the Cross " at the Princess Theatre. His Worship the Mayor officially called yesterday upon his Excellency, who will iv due course return the call.