THE PHANTOM DREDGE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2677, 5 July 1905, Page 63

THE PHANTOM DREDGE.

You know where the Matsu wildly sweeps

In a seething rapid of foam and spray Through the narrow gorge in. the mountain steeps. Where the waters have carved a tortuous way? 'Tis there, when a crescent moon hangs low In the faj-ofi west witli a pr.lhcl sheen ; When shadows he on the stieam below, The phantom dredge is always seen. Theis, on the rapid, she proudly rides, While her every line is fast ashore, And the foaming torrent that laves her sides Flows past with a madd'ning dm and roar. All night long, if- you listen, you'll hear The throb of her engine, steady and true, For the phantom dredge has the best of gear, That woilcs at the will of a phantom crew. A dredgeman never is heard to say How rich the ground in the gorge may be, And whenever he takes his dredge that way He passes it always silently. He minds the time when a dredge went there, For the master had given his oath as p.ledge That he'd work the ground to the bottom bare Or go as cfdet on the phantom dredge. The story goes that he and his men Got into the gorge at the clos-e of day, But never have they besn seen since then, Aud floods have borne their boat away. Often at night, when a boat floats pa-st On the seething rapid of foam and spray, Or when a crew in the gorge makes fast To await the light of another day: 'Tis then, when the gloom of night is round, The wakefu] watchman shudders to see The phantom, dredge float down to her ground With her bows to the stream and her headline free. The Matau has many a crevice and seam Fill'd with a wealth unmeasured, untold; They lie deep under the turbid stream, Holding their treasure of glittering gold. Wherever the crevice, or where the Geaui, Be it on bar or beach or ledge, m Or deep in- some whirlpool or midstream, 'Tis known to the crew of the phantom | dredge. There at night in the gorge is she, Riding the rapid of foam and spray, Till when morning dawns she silently Lifts her ladder and fades away. — J. H. S. Clyde, June 24.