BEACHCOMBING.

Otago Witness, Volume 23, Issue 2684, 23 August 1905, Page 79

BEACHCOMBING.

By E. M. M.

•^rso-ee!" rings through tho night, and, mixing with my dream, imparts colonial relish to the escapade in which my wandering spirit is engaged.

Dreamily I make it fit, and my fancy flies off at a tangent till "Coo-ee-hey !" — ,vith the "hey" crescendo, — then visions alter and fade, 'and the stem realities assert themselves.

"Yes — right!" I answer, and the voice outside is heard no more-.

The tide is early this morning ; ro, after a hurried breakfast, we sally forth : over the crisp frosted grass, over slippery plank bridges, and past the flaxmill, where the great water-wheel l^oms darkly through tbe gloom; then, skn-ting the lagoon, o\v track leads over frosted sand and shingle that rings underfoot. Mechanically adjusting our steps to the slippery flax * fascines, the sand, or th? shingle, we dodge Lound great derelict snags — trees that have drifted down the Waiau and wera stranded when the erratic river took a short cut for the sea. ' The Waiau, for so majestic a river, is always in an undignified hurry. At Maiiapouri shie gets up speed, which seems to increase as shi flows. Drawing fresh sap fvonii the brawling Wairaki, she rushes past Clifdpn and Drummond's Perry. In former times sfce skirted the sea line before break ing bounds ; but now she rushes straight out, while a line of lagcons marks her former course. Only the rising tide can check her flow. It sends great rollers up the river and banks her into lagoons. Over the shingle bank on to the beach we go. The tide is well out now, so we push on quickly, for beachcombing is on/ possible when the tide is out. Southward the sky is nark, but tih© foreground is whitened by the quick succession of crated rollers that are tumbling toward us. Long tomgties of froth lap into the shiugle bays, sweeping impetnouely forward, then* suddenly breaking- and falling backward, merging in the advancing wave, to fall and break one© more. '

The beach is eerie before the dawn,. Sometimes a scia, bird glints through the darkness with a faint, weird scream, and tho depressing eSect cf the ceasekss roaring, the tossing, and the tumbling is accen tuated by the gloom. Daylight is breaking: the upper clouds are brightening, and the blackness of the water is merging into green. Arriving at the claim we find that the sand so lately battered by those thundering waves is" bare, and in "the bays cut into the shingle bank streaks of dark red sand are plainly showing-. Stooping, we ascertain that it is red sand, and not tko remains of yesterday's sandflies that feasted and were slain.

The first thing, as pipes are full and drawing freely, is to prospect for the bestpatch of gold-bearing sand. There may b& better seams lower down or in another bay. A shallow, basin scooped in the sand soon fills with water. In it a shovelful oi red sand is washed* — that is, swirled and jerked with a peculiar retrograde motion, rapidly but carefully, so that the shingle and" grey sand are washed over-tbe shovel, while the red and black sand remain. Then a little water is dripped over tho shovei till the gold shows plainly on the rim_of tbe black sand. As we lexamine our proepect a bag wave may sweep up tbe beach and over our gumboots. Such things must be, and we lordly notice it ; so, if the prospect pleases, we heed not waves nor tides, but fly round to s^t a start. The first thing is to run out tie hose which conducts the water from the dam to the copper plate. It is made of strong calico, and is practically waterproof. One lensrth is fitted into another til 1 an un broken connection is made. If our hose happens to be frozen we simply throw it into the ocean, and it soon thaws out.

The copper plate is finmed on three sides like a sheet of wiadow-glass, tho fourth side—the lowest — having only a ripple, or wooden slat, across the plato.. to catc-1) any amalgam that might obhiGiwiso go over the plate. The plate is set on legs, and over it is placed a hopper made of sheet iron, framed like thie copper plate and punched sufficiently to prevent the stones falling through and yet allow enough water to pass to keep the plate clear from. sand. The ho&e is led up a sloping board, and the water gushing over the hopper sweeps away the stones and washes the sand and gold over the plate. The mercury amalgamates with the gold, and aoon little specks are visible. Those specks grow amd gather, and the quicker tlhey grow amd tli9 larger they swell so doth tihe beachcombar's heart rejoice and his soui hanker after life's luxuries. Gold sometimes comes in quartz : beei usually comes in gallons. This joke is not copyright in the United States. We dress the grsMrisbj places on the plate with cyanide of potassium, then drop mercury where required and rub it with an air of wisdom., and then start work. Only fully-fledged miners can keep one eye on the stratum of sand and the other on the rolling waves. The celerity with whicth they spring on the hopper when the odd "daddy" wave sweeps up, fljitd the ability they display in chasing an errant silver bottle, coat, or dinner bag that is gaily dancing seaward, and the scientific dexterity with which they rake out tihe absconding object, can only come with continuous practioe. Shovel, shovel, shovel! Keep moving! The prospect is good and the tid/e rising : there is no room for it and us on tho fame beach. Each day the tide is later. In a few days we mis® the dawn and snuggle longer in the blankets, reckoning that beachcombing is not so uncivilised after all. That is until the sandflies wake up ; then early work seems preferable. Once upon a time a pair of festive sandflies new along the Waiau Beach. They were eloping, probably, but th^y lecked rot of their parents' grief. Opposite Hinchcy's claim the lady fly drew her mate's atten tion to the ruby sand. "My dear," slie

said., in her own language, "red sand spells gold : gold spells men ; men aie good eatinsr. Let us camp, assured that our children and our children's chi'dien will be provided for." They earned. Myriads of their descendants watch for our coming; myriads have fallen into untimely graves. The. children's children settle on the finger nails and find them indigestible. The children fasten or, the ears and nose. But the parents come out when the chill has gone off the land and the sea is glimmering under the noontide sun. They crawl into the hair, and browse securely. They are getting feeble now, but they rejoice in the multiplicity of the clan, and are content that the pasture provided is so clean ajjd sosweet.

All v/ithin throw of the plate has been scooped up, r*D we shift on to a fresh bay a.nd work on. At last the waves wash over our feet. Leaves have their time to fall, And we have our time to leave. — the poet says ; so shovels are thrown down, and we catch up our plate by the projecting shaft and struggle up the shingle bank out of reach of the tide. There we hang over it lovingly, striving to delude ourselves that there is an appreciable difference since morning. Up hose and clo&e the dam ! Smoke, oh ! Beneath us tho tide is creeping up and battering the bank once more, but we smoke and worry not.

Tbe amalgam is left on the plate, and sets hard. When the spirit moves us we clean it off and wring out the surplus mercury through a rag. Then we weigh the hard little marble of amalgam, and realise fully and forcibly that jin ounce, far from being an unconsider-ea trifle, is something to bs remembered and reckoned with. To our fevered fancy an ounce of amalgam seems like a cricket ball.