DUNEDIN BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2370, 3 August 1899, Page 54

DUNEDIN BOYS.

They learned to love the mountains -when Long years. ago they woke and found How like a mother's arms again The mountains girt Dunedin round. As babes they rambled to the Belt, Where ferns in native grandeur grow. And even then in childhood felt "What now makes manhood's bosom glow. Boy-souled, they clambered " Flaggie's !' side, Proud of a flask and Tusty gun; Then Silver Peaks became their guide Where, in an April setting sun, They vowed that patchy tents could keep More comfort in than any roof; Whilst ever in their eager sleep They heard the clatter of a hoof — . A clatter that had known no rest Since Eastertide had bade them roam, Armed with a weapon theirs to test Its temper in the wild boar's home. Which boar, as proudly fond as they .To breathe the vale's untrammelled breath, Kept savage dog and spear at bay " Till " Time " was called by surly Death. Then, leaving tent and boar behind, Afar, from a commanding peak, Bareheaded, breathless, in the wind, They heard the mountain spirit speak. A language they alone can know Who claim the dearest hills on earth, Where stream and everlasting snow Give highei thought a noble birth. Beneath in morning splendour reached The plains that round Zealandia lie; Above her alpine ladders stretched A stair of ridges to the sky. As far as early eye could see One pride beyond another Jay. A name for every joy would bo To name the hours of life away. The hunting days of youth are gone ; Tho boys by land 'and sea removed ; But still they call these haunts their own, And ne'er were mountains better loved. Spreydon, July, 1899. - — J. M.