SOUTH MARLBOROUGH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2666, 19 April 1905, Page 35

SOUTH MARLBOROUGH.

Lower Conway, Awnl 7. — The joumaKs'b ■who, representing the Chrislchurch Daily Press and the Lyttelton Thih"=, accompanied the Hall-Jones party through from Cheviot to Kaikoura, via Parnassn*-, Mendip If ills, Havtkwood, Fermhur&t, Comvay Hills Hundalee, KtMiautara. Buff, and the 131111=, leave u-5 with more than, the suspicion ol a "bi.cAblock" '=imlo af*er readme; then reports. The Lyttellon Times iovn'csenl<>tive starts out by flatteiuig him=elt that the party "penetrated the deepest recesses where the Canterbuiy mutton comes from,'' but many a bearded, fanned, totigh-kneed mu«terer Hiight fell him Uiat the history of Xew Zealand under Briti-.li influence will ba some hundreds of yeai^ old before a comfortable ride behind a four-in-hand will be possible through the "bad landV of the Clarence, the Awatere, and the Wairua. about whose head waters, 10 to the. thousand acres perhaps, graze the sheep that may fatten on Canterbury's fertility, whereas the "bad lands" ol Mendip Hills will comfoitably carry 50 sheep to a hundred acies. The Shrewd Scot whoac "long, narrow little farm" is three miles v, ide at its narrowest end, should have

1 been careful to point out to ihe Minister fo Public Works that a 10ft track through the Coii way Gorge will be practically useless in flood time without the bridge, for the ford wheic it should bs built is narrow, and will bo deep, swift, and impartible. There will be the roPtU to either side of the stream, and the mailman or traveller will be at a standstill. The Kaikoura County Council's case is not put with such clearness as we could wish to see. Having, bei sides their owii high roads, bush roads, and by roads, some SO miles oi what is prac-tic-plly main road to keep m repair, they are mstified in requesting the Government to save the road beneath the Kahautara- Bluff from demolition. £300 or £3000 will not do it, but unless the £-20,000 that was spent there is to ba thrown away and 30 miles of road rendered I useless, it must be done. Mail Facilities. — A foretaste of what might be done by the hospital department for even such an out-of-the-way place as this was afforded me last evening, the 6th, when I was reading the Otago Witness published in Dunedm the day before, the sth. The traveller 1 who cariied the Witness brought it from Kaikoura, where it had arrived by packet boat from Lyttelton ; whereas in the ordinary course we see no papers here until Saturday night. J had seen Wednesday's Witness in Wellington on Thursday evening, but never dreamed of such a pleasure here before. Necrological. — Word reaches me of the death ! of Miss Maiy Boyd, while on a visit to some I friends in Auckland. Her body is being brought bark to her native place for inter- ! nient. It is not a great while sdnce her uncle, Richard Boyd, sen., one of our earlier settlers (ho with his brothers David and Thomas ! settled m Kaikoura about '71), died m the Christchurch Hospital. Mr Alex. Boyd lost or.*' of his attle girls about Christmas time, so Uiat those words of Shakespeare's are verified I for this family, "When sorrows come, they come not sm%le spies." But He whose word is greater than Shakespeare saith, "I will raise him up at the last day." About Christmas time also, when I was away from the district, the whole community was upset by the | deaths of two youths, cousins, Rainy and j Stack. While mustering, they were overtaken by a snowstorm on the rocky slopes of the I Kaikouras, and for several days the men who knew the country searched before their bodies were found. Doubtless their story will be told in the district when this generation has passed away. The wonder is that fatalities are so few among our mountains. -Often the musterer must risk his limbs or his life as ho climbs among the recks. It is hard to I think of the young fellows who went ont young and vigorous as gone, but the Good Shepherd I will lose none of the sheep. April 9. — Our constant companion, the weather, continues her contrarities. On Sunday last, as we drove up the river, I observed to ; the mailman that it was warm for April ; but | Monday evening brought a rainstorm, and I Tuesday night was bitterly cold, snow having iMlen inland. A very sharp frost was ex~ ' l^enenced at Waiau. The weather was again i congenial until yesterday morning, when a, sudden chilly rainstorm came up from the south-east. It passed over, and about 9 o'clock the «ky was clear again, brilliant with stars. It is now £>rt ideal afternoon. The sea drones solemnly on the sand below, and the deep sound drifts at) the river valley I around the dark, ferny hills. The shaded nooks have the frosty autumn odour about them, and the crisoness of the air whispers that winter is on his way to greet us. We almost beg him to keep away for awhile, for we have, hardly had any summer ; but what cares he! The mountains await the snows, the valleys and fields the frosts, and we mv. learn to accept what will come.