STEWART ISLAND NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2663, 29 March 1905, Page 13

STEWART ISLAND NOTES.

(Fhom Our Own Correspondent.) HALFJIOON, March 14. On more than one occasion reference has been macJe to a '' combination of musical talent " at The Neck which has made several creditable appearances in public. They have succeeded in raising fundis for the purchase of an American organ — use/ul in any circumstances, but niore so in an isolated spot like The Week. A meeting of promoters of the fund was held on Saturday, at which a statement of accourts was submitted and approv-d. Three entertainments were given at Halfmoon, realising .£lB 12s 6d. and two at The Neck, which added £5 13s 2d to the fund — making the total £24. 5s Bd. The expenditure on these entertain nients, including hire of halls, etc., amounted to £5 Os Bd. The instrument, with its freight, etc., cost £19 9s — a sura winch has been liajidecl over for transmission to the sellers. Encouraged thereby, steps are about to be taken for the erection of an entertainment hall at The Neck. The services of the musical combination are again in requisition, and more will probably be heard on the point.

Nothing more has been heard of the bodies of the victims of the late boat accident. The probabilities are they will never be found, or, if found, they will be unrecognisable — a mere battered skeleton or skeletons cast up on the lee shore. A strong current runs though Ringarrnga Pass, at the entrance to which the catastrophe occurred, and the idiea is the bodies have drifted through into the open, extending up the inlet towards Kaipipi Bay. It is now refliembered an accident many years ago in the immediate vicinity resulted in remains of the boat being, after the lapse of weeks, cast on shore in that neighbourhood. It seems a hard thing to say, but it is due to navigation in the inlet to add that no opinion exists other than £hat the late accident was purely the result of foolharcMness. A mile or a mile and a-half s extra sail by the south end of the island -would have obviated all risk of the accident that ended so disastrously. The Portuguese whose name was not available at the time of the mishap is now ascertained to have been Janson. He was a boatman, aged about 20 years, and nothing is known as to his relations. He was en route for the flasmill at Mason's Bay when, along with the others, he met his death. Mr Arthur Morrison, one of the victims, was a son of the late Rev. R. C. Morrison, and had resided at Invercargil! since 1833.

A beach erection at Manning's Bay. Paterson's Inlet, tisedi alternately as a smoke-house and a fish-station, was destroyed by fire between the night of Sunday and morning of Monday. It had been in use during Sunday for smoke purposes, and when the owner (Alexander 31'Kellar) left late at night there was no seeming danger. He slept aboard a craft a cable-length from the shore. He must have slept soundly, as the first knowledge he got of the mishap was when he awoke next morning to find the premises reduced! to a heap of ashes. The contents of the place were not of much value, so that the pecuniary damage done is not serious.

The weather has set in easterly, and for days past there has been a breezy blow from that quarter, with a heavy swell breaking in white foam on lee shores. Fishing, in consequence, haß been interrupted, and in a, measure nothing in that line is done. Active preparations for the mutton-bird season have enabled the men to fill in their time advantageously. To all appearance the muttonbirdiers will make a brisk haul. The birds are visiting the inlet in clouds, and squatting on the surface of the "water they extend iniies in length. In their habits they are most unique. They make long journeyings in their flights. Leaving off-shore islands at, say, South Cape, they dto a long day's "graft" among the fish shoals returning again in the evening. Respite the fact that their grounds are absolutely honeycombed in nest-burrows, and that one suckling is as like the other "as two peas," they never make a mistake in the " rightful heir." Watching the setting sun with the instincts of an empty stomach, these bantlings know -wlren to look out for supplies, and when the parent bird arrives they are "on dit," perched at the mouth of the nest, anxiouslywaiting developments. Instead of being spoonfed, they are fed from the mouth. The parent discharges mouthrals of an oily solution into the bill of the " baby," the process being repeated so often that it is said its carrying capacities are oxit of all proportion to its bulk. A square meal would, I am told, if collected in a " liquid! mass," drown at least a dozen of these young gourmands; but then it must be remembered they get but one meal a day. By the time the season has fairly commenced the old birds are ready to desert the nest, and fly away — no one seems to know where. They leave thin and attenuated, but when they get back again to the " old diggings " six months thence they are fat, plump, and in good condition. Wherever they rendezvous ad interim, it must be a place well supplied with the luxuries of life adapted to mutton-bird tastes.