STEWART ISLAND NOTE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2654, 25 January 1905, Page 59

STEWART ISLAND NOTE.

HALFMOON, January 18.

I am sorry to say the weather has been again behaving badly— acting in defiance of the meteorologies, and turning things topsyturvy. But for the fact that we have got a day of 15 hours' duration, we would be justified in striking an average, declaring emphatically, "Now is the winter of our discontent." Sunday last, when things were supposed to be at their level best, the services -were cold, damp, and depressing, and even that was an improvement on the boisterous winds of the preceding day. We jnay have summer in courtesy of the season, but in virtue of the solstice — no, never. However, that may he, the facilities we possess for holidaying' were taxed to their limits. Last week's steamer trips to and from were crowded, and the township itself literally swarmed. Had the season "been at all seasonable, the likelihoods are there would have been a dearth of house accommodation.

The Tourist Department having- seemingly overlooked the island, the island has been overlooking the Tourist Department. In pursuance thereof, I am able to lay a few corelative facts before you. Last season 300 people all told visited Milford Sound by the overland route and Lake Te Anau. The numerical was considered sufficient to justify an extra promising trade. The late steamers -were subsidised on a 'lordly scale, lake hotels ditto ; track huts already effected were reconstructed and embellished, and to cap all high-class cooks were employed, so" that the gastronomies of hut life might be elevated to cuisine standards. "What these represented in hard cash I have no means of knowing, nor does it affect the question at issue. Three hundred per -week during the season of. say, 16 weeks is a low estimate to place upon the traffic to Ste-wart Island. If my arithmetical s be strong enough to stand the test -of simple addition, that makes a fraction inside 5000 ioiirist visitors, .and yet. "not the slightest consideration has been given for their comfort and convenience. It is quite right the department should foster new routes, but that should not be done at the expense of old-established resorts. What the island lacks is utilisation of Golden Bay, so as to facilitate traffic on the inlet. Situated within a mile of Halfmoon. it is by fax the safest — as well as most convenient — basis for operation. A few camping-out huts, erected at the oOves. sand beaches, and islands, would be of immense advantage, so that, as a question of cost, the undertaking need not be extravagant. One of our musical events was held on the evening of the 13th in the Athenaeum Hall. It was beneficiary to a Presbyterian Church fund far fencing and enclosing their grounds. The First Church (Invtecargill) incumbent, the Rev. R. Ferguson, who has pastoral charge pro tern, presided as chairman. The Enox Church fDunedin) organist, Mr Barth. and Professor and .Mis*? BJack were amongst the performers. Mrs Blue, popular in the musical circles of Invercargill, and Mi«s ii 'Donald also took pari. A local resident fill- R. N Burn 1 ?) did " fakecr busme o s " In a sleight-of-hand which astonished the audience. Ca^h receipts of the eveningadded material airl to ihe fund.

GLORY HARBOUR AND (BULLY) HAVES.

I have just returned from Glory Harbour £Paterson luletjl . It is great j u eea^cap©

sc-erery and redolent in Old "World reminisc.3uce." Bully Hayes looms large in th« latter. Despite the grand moral precept? chilled into the framework of the "Ten Commandments."' I must confess to a lurking regai d for Bully Hayes, and yet his moral calibre never camo within measureable distance thereof. He was about the best aeoomiilished knave that threaded thes<' southern sea. In a galaxy of talent likfi that distinction spells perfection. He demonstrated duplicity as a fine art, and proved eonemsnely it had heretofore been unduly restricted in it.« applications. It- was in the parly sixties he sought sanctuary in Ciloiy Harbour. ?outh side of Paterson's Ink-t. There, for a time, he "laid low." Sleuth hounds of the law were on his i rack. In an unlucky moment for themselves they pounced upon him. Bully was not to be caught napping. They were as the s-equel prove', glad to let go theitf grip, and escape with a whole- hide — i.e.. the flesh-coloured skin, prerogative of tha " pale face." Circumstances leading up thereto are briefly these: — Captain Hayes voyaged ±a " Shanghai. Pie induced a firm- of Shanghai merchants to embark in a trade speculation to the Australian. Upwards of 100 Chinamen, bound for the Victorian diggings, formed part of his freight. Arriving- off the coast of New South Wales, Bully learned for -the first time the Victorian Legislatur-e iiad imposed a tax of £10 per head on Im- ( migration from the. Flowery Land, and thai , the ship was held responsible for payment. That meant £1000 to £1200 for which he rendered himself liable. That was a liability Bully had no fancy for. Arriving off Wilson's Promontory, the coastguard c-picd him flying signals of distress. A steamer was sent to his assistance, to whom he communicated the alarming intelligence that he had sprung a leak, and was in imminent danger of sinking. "It is these hundred odd souls," Bi.ily explained, with ar. air of touching devotion to the -cause of suffering humanity, "for whose safety I am mostly anxious. If I saw them «afe I daresaj*- I might be able to beat in. At all events, the disastei would b& less appailing than if I went down, taking them along with me." The skippet of the steamer was touched with this artlesa simplicity. Thereupon he \-olunteered to carry the "hundred odd souls" ashore pending 'Bully's arrival in port. The Chinamen in due course reached " Melbourne, and were penned up waiting the arrival of Hayes. Hayes, however, did not arrive, and all the information the_ rescue skipper could get was that he availed himself of the_ earliest opportunity for clapping on sail, and making off at top speed on. a south-west wind. In fact. # it became plain - this good Samaritan skipper had been duped — left to face the poll tax collector with oveT a hundred Chinamen on hand. Thereupon, writs and warrants of execution issued, but they invariably arrived after Bully had sailed, and the latter took care to leave -no trace behind a.r to his probable destination. Twelve' jmonths of these bootless errand? • elapsed, and oar»he-ro's craft was getting" " worse for the wear." Refit became Imperative. That was just the emergency in. - which it behoved him (Bully) to act discretly. So -long as he was able to mova about the chances were all in his favour. Laid wp for repairs, unless in solitary confinement, the risk became serious. Stewart Island was selected, and. as noted above, he rendezvoused in Glory Harbour. His career was about completed. A few hours was all that was necessary for enabling him to take his departure. A cutter suddenly hove in sight, and wa? run alongside 1 the* ship. It -was manned with half-castes, besides whom there were two white men. The latter nt once sprang on deck. They were, as Bully had surmised, emissaries oi the law. He received them with a show ot cordiality that disarmed suspicion. They on their part reciprocated with a generous confidence. In token -thereof all hands adjourned below. So effectually did Bully play the part of mine host and the hospitalities that in a most incredible short -space of tim-e the two strangers got very drunk. Tn thai ■stato Brilly had them stowed away for- safe keeping in the ship's locker. Meantime "he and his crew busied themselves completing; arrangements, and po time was lost getting under way. Getting out into the." straits, the ship's motion became lively -enousrh to waken up the two inebriates. By that tim-e their host had changed front, and become their custodian- He to at no nains to disguise the fact. Replying 1 to anxious inquiries as to what he meant doing with them, he CBullv) announced "his intention of black-leading them. and. having nut on a e-ood ebony polish, selling them as I " black birrk "' in the i*land labour trade-, * I "You're a likely lot, and. yes. should fetch a hundred dollars a»ieo n ." Such was the saoro philosophy with which BuhV now re- . praled' his o-uests. Naturally they felt alarmed. To bo rubbed out of their nativity — made niggers of, and ?old into a species of | slavery, .was enouch to appal the sto"t«sfc h*irt, let -alone the heart of a sheriff^ officer. It was. therefore, with feelin2= of no small relief, a couple of daj-s later, tbey found themselves set at li'^rtv <y> the p'nni of land running out into Banks Peninsula.