SOUTH MARLBOROUGH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2604, 10 February 1904, Page 45

SOUTH MARLBOROUGH.

KAHOUTERA, January 31.— The past week Las been somewhat waim and 'dry. A very lioavy sea, heard very distinctl3 r from here, ten rcilea inland, was running off Kaikoura during ths earlier cteyc of the week. On Friday a warm, drying nor'-wester set in, and blew eteadily until sunset last night. A peculiar and beautiful electrical display took place on Friday night. Above the northern mountains the. clouds loomed darkly, beautifully mooniinted abova, and over the Kahouitera Hills hung a luminous cloud whence foiled lightning zig-zagged intermittently. Mr Wood {old me yesteiday morning that this i 3 a sure sign of rain within 24 hours, with the, wind from the north-west as it then was ; and sure enough refreshing sliowcrs set in from the south-west early this morning, and welcome, though light, xadn is falling now. The Crops. — Harvesting is general about the ciistrJot. Swyncombe has a good crop of hay •stacked, and the binder is busy there and on th.2 Reserve flat, where a good area of oats is ■standing. Stock Sale. — At Messrs Pyne and Co.'s, Ka-i-l:cura, sale last Friday competition for {he lots offered was poor, enly two southern buyers being present. Some sheep changed hands locally, and considering all things prices were very fai r . Sunday Night. — The rain has ceased, and the clouds are breaking and Tolling- away from the range in great, moon-silvered masses. Out fceie in the aromatic scrub, beneath the tussccky hills, the night is somewhat romantic. TEhe river murmur rises and falls with the variation of the wind), and the black shadows chase one another over yellowish spxirs, dark gullies, ej)<3 belts of manuka and ta-ukinau. Babbits. — I was talking with an old-timer yesterday, and he spoke of the times wh-en the labbit was mia3ter here, when the tussocks were nibbled so bare that they looked like paint brushes, and his horses had. nothing to crop but coarse cutty-gross. One day he and two mates killed 30 rabbits on the snow-covered Black Hill, hunting with dogs alone. The came country fattens fine mutton now.