AS SEEN FROM A WHEEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2356, 20 April 1899, Page 52

AS SEEN FROM A WHEEL.

A TRIP TO MOERAKT ON WHEELS. Dear Emmeline,— ln accordance with our usual custom, my friend, and I elected to go for a cycling trip at Easter. To that end our trusty iron steeds were sent to the cycle shop for a general overhaul (the strict observance of this trial has enabled us to take our trips in perfect safety, never having had one accident), and on Thursday we were up betimes to get away at an early hour. First of all the weather was discussed, and it was ultimately decided to wear our print blouses as the easiest way of carrying them for one thing, and wo hoped the sun might prove strong enough to keep us from feeling cold. As it turned out, we were exceedingly glad we had adopted this plan, for it did turn out very warm. Our dark ones were strapped on the bars, or rather on our luggage carriers, in case they should be required, but we never wanted them at all. We always find that Easter is the best time for a cycle trip, the weather is always more sottled at that time of the year, and, as a rule, there' is no dust and the sun is not too strong.

Well, accompanied by two friends we started off. "They came with us to the foot of the Junction Hill. We decided to take the short out instead of going round, and hero our friends left us, their friendship not being strong enough to" enable them to climb up the hill, even for the sake of having our company a little longer. They therefore returned to town, and wo went on. Just as we started we gave vent to the opinion that the short cut was not so very bad after all, and that, as a rule, men were so much afraid of hard work, and that must have been why somo of our gentlemen friends had given us suoh a bad account of it, but we spoke too soon. By the time we had ascended half a mile or so. we were quite of the opinion that the men knew best after all. It had been raining hard in the valley, and tho road, as all cyclists know who have travelled it, is somewhat like the side of a house for steepness; add to this slippery clay, and you can imagine what we had to do to get up. Struggling, pulling, and — must I Bay it? — grumbling, up we went, and when we did eventually reach, the top, not even the fact that we had saved a whole quarter of an hour by coming that way was sufficient to console us for the excessive fatigue we experienced. We were not too much overdone, however, to admire the lovely view of Dunedin, nestling among the hills ; seen many times before, but always j fiesh and beautiful. Many new houses seemed to have sprung up on tho sides of tho hills, and we could see a great difference in the size of our lovely town. I was too much used up to mount for some time, but when I did, off we went, but were brought to a full stop very soon by tho fact that we were very hungry, and had nothing to eat with us. We intended to stop at Waitati and get a second ! breakfast, but found it utterly impossible to j go on any longer without; so a young lad i and some children meeting us, we asked them, if they knew where we could get something to eat. The lad very civilly^told us that his mother would give us some tea, and 8O wo went to a nice, clean-looking house on the roadside, and the kind womau soon had tea, bread and butter, and some fresh homemade jam. We did full justice to the good fare, and then off again, and a rapid run to tho water trough. Ah, that water trough ! No matter how great a hurry we have been in, we have always stopped there to admire the beautiful scenery and take a drink from the cool spring. Tumbling down the side of the rock comes the beautiful, clear water, rushing away through a large .hole at the side of the road, where we hear j.t going on "for ever" to the sea. The many shades of green on either sides of us, the smell of the bush, and the little cottages nestling among the trees, and, in the distance, the little village of Waitati make up a picture never to be forerotten. After resting a few minutes and cleaning our muddy boots to make a respectable appearance in the village, we mounted again, and off down the five-mile hill with machines well in hand and brakes ready for instant use. At the junction of the short cut and the regular carriage road we halted, and consulted ds to whether we should take the former for a change. We had never done ao before, so thought we would try it for once, but it is very steep and a great strain , on the arms to hold both tho handles firmly and keep the. brake on, so we decided we would not do it again. Now the scene gets, if anything, prettier than over. Seacliff is seen in the distance, and the open sea to the right of us glistening in the morning sun. Amongst the many hills the pretty little cottages of the settlers nestle cosily, and we wonder how in the world some of them ever reached their abodes, they seem so very high up. We came to the conclusion that we should not attend many tea meetings if we were hung up so high. On through Waatati, and past the cheese factory and the manse ; on, up and down small hills, to Evansdale, and then — the Kilmog. This is a bad hill and nc mistake, but we did not notice it so much going as returning, the glorious scenery helping to take our attention from the tiresome walk. At Evansdale we bought some rosy apples at a small shop on the side of the road, and these we discussed as we ascended the hill. Let we recommend my fellowcyclists to do the same ; fruit is far better than drinking water when on a cycling tour, and apples seem particularly suitable. The scenery here is grand and beautiful. On the left-hand side the rocky gorge with the rushing little river and beautiful bush-clad hills, down, down many feet below us ; a fall would mean certain death, but the road is well fenced, and our steeds are not likely to shy, so there is no fear. On the right of ub the hills stretch up a good way, and are also covered with bush of various shades of beautiful green. On we go, up and up, and after a while the scenery entirely changes. No bush now, only bare hills as far as the eye can reach, but even these have-a grandeur all their own, and tho blue tints so well caught by our New Zealand painter, Gully, are seen wrapping them like a cloud. Far away in the distance the sharp peaks can bo seen, range after range, rising up one above' another as far as we can see, all the came bare wild hills, with here and there plantations of blue gums or other trees, planted by the hand of man, and taking off to a certain extent the bareness of the scenery. On to Merton, where tho ficonery again, changes, and we come once more to bush-clad hills. Rabbits are seen scudding across the road, pitting up a minute or two to make quite sure we have no gun, then off with q. scamper out of sight. Across the Waikouaiti Kiver by the bridge, the cattle grazing on, the river bank lifting their hruds for a minuto

to gaze at us as we pass and wonder what ■we are laughing at. By this time we have quite exploded the theory that it is impossible td laugh when guiding a bicycle; we feel as if we had not a care in the world, and as if telephones and offices were a thing of the past. We are living in the present, and enjoying it. What is a ride to St. Clair compared with this I Even the long climb up the other side of the Kilmog is fully made up for by the long run down this. But by this time it is getting uncomfortably warm, and we are thankful we decided to wear our cool blouses. The air in the cuttings is oppressively hot, yet on we go, as we have made an appointment with another cycling friend to meet her at Waikouaiti — she is coming by the express, and -we are anxious not to keep her waiting. <We see the train in the distance somewhere near Beach street, and on we rush, determined to reach our goal within reasonable time. Up the hill to the township, and with one final rush we reach our Waikouaiti friends and ask whether a large parcel has come from town for us. We are told "Yes, she has been here just 10 minutes," and we are ushered into the Bitting room, where we find our Dunedin friend, looking so cool and easy we quite envy her — but then, as we hasten to remind her, " she has come by train." Of course tea is got ready, and we are not sorry for it. then a rest of half an hour, after which our friend pumps up her tyres and announces herself ready to start. 'We bid our Waikouaiti friends a warm adieu, and off we go, the last addition to the party setting all the laws at defiance and riding gaily down the footpath. We, having the fear of the policeman in view, keep to- the road, and in a little, when there is no more footpath for her to break the rules on, our friend joins us, and we jog along very comfortably. Up and down hills at a record pace, for we are anxious to reach the Beach road before dark, and we fly along in single file, keeping a careful distance apart when we come- to the hills, and thus being able to ride at a good pace down them without danger. We have just crossed the railway lines about four miles from Waikouaiti when I in advance hear an ominous pop and a phiz ; I steer to the side and jump off. Looking round I see No. 2 just dismounting as quietly as if she were riding in an ordinary way, and in spite of the sorrow I felt for her, I could not help admiring her coolness and presence of mind. The tyre has gone, and we run the machine to the side of the road and hold a consultation. No. 1 (myself) thinks deeply, but like the old lady's parrot does not say anything; No. 2 (the victim) says in a despairing tone: "What shall we do?"; but No. 3 (^he practical) turns to me and says : "You can mend it, can't you?" Now, if there is anything I pride myself on, it is the fact that I am truly British— that is, I never know when I am beaten; but this time my inner conscience warned me that with two critical onlookers like these, I should certainly be found out if I attempted to deceive them, and in a stammering voice I said 1 had never actually mended one, but had seen it done, and I thought I could manage it, provided No. 2 had the necessary materials. (I was half hoping she would say no, but it was not to be — she produced them out of her tool bag, and I had to set to work.) "Of course you can mend it," said ' No. 3 ; " you generally manage what you un- \ dertake." I felt it was a little tiresome to have such a reputation, but was bound to live xip to if if possible, bo- down we all went on our knees, not to " worship," but to " unship " the invalided tyre. We got if off, and with inward qualms I viewed it, not* by any means certain whether we should ever get it on again, and proceeded to investigate the wound. Sure enough there it was — no mistake about it, for both inside and outside were gone. The rubber patch was neatly cut, and solution put- on, and with much quaking lest it should not stick I put it on. Oh, joy ! it did. Next business was to get it blown up and put on. I issued directions to my two assistants (I felt very much like Uncle Podger hanging a picture) to see that the sides were clear when I blew up (the tyre, I mean). To tell the truth, I was not by any means sure how to do this part of the business, and so I hit upon the happy device of putting them in charge of this department, so that if it did not go all right I should have someone to grumble at. We blew softly and slowly, and tii6 tyre began to go up. "Ah," said I, " tout's all right," and was just about to give vent to a shout of delight, when pop ! phiz ! and in a .trice I had the valve off and all he wind out, guessing what had happened, and by acting in this way saving a larger rent. *' Oh," said No. 2, " it caught in the rim on my side." I looked at her, but she was so . intensely miserable that I could not find it in my heart to say. " There, I told you so," as I had fell inclined to do at first ; so instead said, • " Oh, never mind, we'll try again ; .but look out this time." But all this fixing up had -•used up very nearly all the solution, and I was obliged to be very gentle with the small stock we had. But we fixed it up^properly next time, and great was our joy when we . i ounS; it would really blow up. ' Then the outside had to be attended to, and I sent No. 2 to a cottage near by for a piece of -strong . rag, and while she stood at -the door, which was within calling distance; shouted to her to bring also a piece of tape if she could get it. She was successful, and came back beaming with both articles. Then we solutionised on a large piece of canvas, and over that bound a piece of rag, finishing up with the tape put on so scientifically (we were all three nurses) that it really gave quite a finish to the machine. The while tape at first rather dazzled my friend as it went round and round, • but she soon got used to it, and rather liked it than otherwise. All went well then till we reached Palmerston, when, as we were just going into the township, the same ominous sound was once more heard, and this time it was the back tyre, and as we had not any more solution or rubber, w« looked out a cycle doctor, who promptly diagnosed the case as hopeless, and No. 2 decided to go on by train, leaving the unfortunate bicycle to be " left till called for " on the Monday following. Of course after all this we telt we "wanted a cup of tea.; and here, by the way, I would remind ladies that when they begin to feel tired, the best thing is to get something to eat and drink, and it will refresh them wonderfully. We were advised to gc up tc the \ Temperance Hotel, but finding it was some distance up the street, and as we were afraid our friend might miss the train, we thought we would try the railway station for a cup of tes», but the result was by no means to our liking. However, we drank the tea and disposed of- the sandwiches— which, by the way, were not at all bad, — and then left No. 2 waiting for the train to take her on to Aloeraki and headed for the Beach" road. Asking our way from two horsemen, they advised ub tc take a different route from that our friend had described to us, as they said we should have difficulty in crossing the

creeks, and we followed them aerops the bridge and over a stream with a plank bridge, with a single line of fencing wire for a guide. We were glad we had taken the advice given ua when we saw the height of this firoek, and went on till we reached the next.

[ Now this was at Bushy, and we found it impossible to get over it, so remembering that , one of the men had said to cross the raili way bridge, we took that way. The getting over the railway was all right, as there were four planks and therefore no danger of falling, but when vre reached the other side we found the getting down to the road a very difficult I matter. The embankment was very steep ! from the line and composed of large rough | stones with sharp edges, a barbed wire fence I prevented us from getting over any other ' way, and to lift the machines over this ! seemed to be impossible, so one was dragged I down and then the other, which was rather I lighter, was after a great struggle handed I over by me to my friend, who was in waiti ing on the other side. All this took some ] time, and it was beginning to get dusk, I which prevented us from noticing the beauty of the scenery, but it was a lovely calm evening, and in spite of our anxiety to get on, we rather enjoyed the ride. On we went till we reached another stream and plank bridge, where we met a lady to whom I addres&ed myself and asked how far we were from Moeraki. To my horror she said about nine miles, and advised us to get over the beach as quickly as possible before it got dark, bo we pushed on till we struck the beach, and of all the wild, weird places I have ever seen, this was the worst. It gave one an eerie feeling, and more particularly -so as by this time it was almost dark. The roaring of the waves, the steep precipices on the left hand, and the feeling that we did not quite know where we were made us feel rather nervous, but we had been in worse predicaments before and always got out safely, and guessed we should do so this time, and so it proved. Well, we lighted our lamps, and coming across a cottage on the side of tho road asked if we were all right for Moeraki. The man said we should have difficulty in getting across the creeks for it had been raining very heavily the night before, a fact which we of course were not aware of, or we should not have undertaken the Tide this way but have gone as before over the range. This did not improve matters much, but we pushed on, unable to ride much because the road was shingly, and in parts very muddy. At last we met a man on horseback who shouted out to us to turn the lights off as his horse was afraid. My friend then scrambled up on the bank with her machine and I handed mine up to her, but in the dark could not see that she had not properly got hold of them, and letting go too soon, over she went, machines and all. Of course I apologised, and extricated her from the muddle, but no harm was done— the lights did not even go out — and by this time tho man had got up to us. He asked where we were going and then very kindly said he would return with us to show us the proper ford across the creek. We were exceedingly obliged to him and were very glad, and when we reached the banks of the creek, for the*noon was beginning to struggle up, things began to look better. .My friend waited behind to pour out our united thanks in her warm Irish way to our unknown friend, and I shouted my thanks and pushed boldly into the stream, finding it rather above my ankles but not as bad as it • looked in the dim light. Then we arrived at the next creek which was not nearly as bad as the first, and then at last turned off the beach. On we rode but at last reached the main road, but * oh, worse and worse, it branched off to left and right and we did not know what to do. Finally we decided to try the one to the left as there was a: slight rise, and we thought we might perhaps be able to see where we were, but after riding a mile or so we came to the conclusion we must be going back to Dunedin, and turned back. By-and-bye we saw a house, and being afraid of the dogs we rang our bells and a man came out on to the verandah and directed us to go on till we reached the railway station and ask our way there. After riding on for souie time (the man said it was one mile and a-quarter, but we discovered that, like tho rest of the country folks ho had no idea of | distance, and it was considerably further) i we came to the station, but the gates were locked, and although we climbed on the fence we could not see the name, but at last we decided it must be Hillgrove, and so it proved, and on enquiring at the stationmaster's house we were directed for the last time, and eventually reached the gate of our friend's house. But here again, not being certain i whether we had taken the right road or not, we were not quite positive that it was the right house, and seeing what I took to be a chain on the gate I said in a despairing tone, " Oh, this is someone's country house and the gate is chained up, but on closer inspection the chain proved to be only a rope, and in a few minute 3we were in the house being warmly greeted by our cycling ; friend and her kind relatives, and after a j warm supper and a bath toddled off to bed, feeling of course tired, but glad to be at laßt at our journey's end. — Yours truly, IRENE.

add the white of an egg, and whisk sharply until all is a utifi froth. This will take son:o time, especially if you have not a proper whisk and have to use a fork. It is then ready tc pile up in a glass dish or on top of the fruit, custard, pudding, or whatever you want to serve it on. j BROWNED BREADCRUMBS TO SERVE

WITH GAME

' Rub about 2oz bread through a coarse wire sieve. Pry this a nice brown colour •with a little butter in the frying pan, having the butter quite hot before adding the crumbs. Season with the tiniest pinch of salt and pepper, and hand round with roast fowl or game. | CREAMED CODFISH ON -TOAST. To one cup shredded codfish add two of water, boil briskly 20 minutes, pour off water, add one and a-half cups sweet "milk, one teaspoonful butter, half a saltspoonful of pepper, one beaten egg. Allow this to simmer 10 minj utes. Serve on rounds of toasted bread.

A NICE SUPPER DISH,

j A dainty dish is prepared by cutting some / thin slices of beef from a steak. Beat them with a beater, brush each slice over with an ■ egg, and sprinkle with fine herbs, season with pepper and a dust of celery salt. Now roll them up very tightly. Put a little stock at the bottom of a stewpan that will exactly hold them (for by being pressed together they will ' keep their shape better), cover them with fat bacon sliced and cover ; put the beef rolls to do very gently on a slow stove, cook for two hours, when they will be ready to dish. Pour i a tomato sauce over them, and garnish with j potato chips.

FRENCH POT-AU-FEU.

Put in youi pot 6lb beef, cut into pieces, and some bones, lib mixed green vegetables, four teaepoonfuls of salt, on& of pepper, and two or three cloves. Add eight pints of water. Simmer all very gently, removing scum from time to time, for three or four hours. Remove any fat and serve. The addition of ljlb bread, of broken biscuits, or of cold potatoes will be an improvement. Toast should be served with it. This is g. most nutritious dish.

CLARET CUP.

A bottle of claret, one of lemonade, and one of sodawater poured together into a bowl with sliced lemon, sliced cucumber, a wineglassfnl of brandy, and from 21b to lib castor sugar stirred in the last thing. For a dance or m hot weather add ice if possible.

GOLDEN PUDDING.

One-quarter pound breadcrumbs, }lb finelychopped suet, Jib orange marmalade, Jib sugar, four well-beaten eggs. Mix all together, press into buttered mould or basin, tie down with a flowered cloth, boil two hours or steam thre-3. Be sure not to allow the water to cease boiling or it will not be so light. Of course the pudding is plunged into boiling water sufficient to cover it; as it boils away add boiling water from the kettle. These boiled puddings are very wholesome and nice, though a little troublesome to moke.

Custard Sauce for the Above. — Pint of milk brought to a boil, and add to it one h'mlbeaten egg and level teaspoonful cornsSarch (moistened with a little cold milk), two teaspoonfuls sugar. Boil up once and Berve.

A GOOD. BROWN STOCK.

: Put slb shin of beef, 31b knuckle of veal, and some sheep's trotters or cow heel into a closely-covered stewpan, to draw out the gravy very gently; allow it nearly to dry up until it becomes brown. Then pour in sufficient boiling water to entirely cover the meat, and let it boil up, skimming it frequently, seasoning it with whole peppers, salt, and -roots, herbs and vegetables of any kind. That being done, let it boil very gently five or six hours, pour the broth off from the meat, and let it stand during the night to cool. The following morning take off the scum and fat, and put in a stone jar to make soup or gravies.

APPLE SHORT CAKE.

Make some moderately-plain pastry. Roll in two thin layers and bake lightly on a tin, placing one on the other, well floured, but not pressing together. When baked they separate easily, and rich apple sauce should be spread between and cream on the top.

SALMON MAYONNAISE.

Turn out a tin of salmon, free it from the liquor and bones. Make the following sauce : — Boil one egg hard, mash the yolk quite smooth, add to it a teaspoonful of unmade mustard, a small saltspoonful of sugar and salt, cayenne pepper tp -taste, a little anchovy and Worcester sauce, a tablespoonful of vinegar, and lastly, a wineglassful of milk or cream. Pout this Ijauce over the salmon, cover "it with lettuces torn into small pieces, and place over them the white of the egg cut in rings.