A HOLIDAY TRIP TO THE KING COUNTRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2707, 31 January 1906, Page 90

A HOLIDAY TRIP TO THE KING COUNTRY.

By G. R. X.

I Ivul heard much of tlip Wanganui River and efPii it desenbed so oft* n a& Jie "Rhine of Nov Zeal.md.'' ihat 1 deton.inod to judge of the beauties thereof tor my.s-tll <uid «il»o to pay a visit to K^ftiln. We left W.mganui at 7 o'clock in the moinni^ m threatening weather. Wit 1 \uuj)] eJ a my lound me, and pn:pueil 1 ti> enjoy iho .nvnery. The current was, of tours*, duid against us, and wo lii.ide but slow pi ogress. After gazing at tl'e nch i/KLii banks, devoid of hush, <u;d tic \\ r piujr willow b that fringe the rlioie .'hi milts, I a 'lced a fellow -pi'^engor when we wre i/oin^ to see the sights. lie ! ii"jhftl and told in >• that th.ie was l'o'i'mnj to feoe until we should .tni\e tit ■U ! iicakin, mii Inn <c\m milf-> ot l*i jhiik i Jn the nn mtime I «inn -ul mw-lt by \v..t< limn tl. -- M.i'jm-. .it thr \,uji>i'j l.nuli:u' pi ii (.;>. Ti ■• st .mm wnM w'.iMle. ."(I ,ts <-lip pit ijhij tt I.1 '. bmk fluMu would 1 I'oll t1"t 1 " C-ll ll,' ])'l| ll' II 11I 1 II ll - 111) jl. " Ulll )• >,•. I j k n,n.i>;i- Cl.-C }'"' I'ilMtlv 10.,k.'cl a (.'•iii ih linh „, , •{','?. ljt-jiiir 'oi 'i- il f-nkh Ui a hud Inn i all'! a jmi. 'H tin I- i-

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silk handkerchief. One of the men r*» jo'ced in the name of Nicodemus We passed Moutoa Island, the scene of a historical fight between the friendly Maoris and tli6 Hauhaus. In. the Moutoa Gardens at Wanganui is erected a monument in memory of the fight. By the. way, v the turf in these gardens 16 the finest I have ever seen, and in walking on it, it is like treading on a fine Brussels carpet-. - At Jerusalem, which is a fairly larga settlement, founded by the missionaries, there was quite a crowd to greet us, and! wo disembarked many Natives of both e exts\ From Jerusalem to Pipinki the • scenery is much finer, and when the 6un . shone out the reflection in tho water was; exquisite. There is. however, too nracfi: " of ,i sameness about the reaches, and oil th.o whole I was disappointed. Above Pipiriki " tlio scenery is said to be magnificent, bufc the advice I received from an old traveller, was to start from Tauniaratiui and conio down the river, as otherwise- the journey becomes tedious. After a nine hours' trip we arrived afc Pipiriki, and as I had met three young follows who were going by the coo eh in the morning, we set out to book our seats, but found there, was i» roc-m on ' the • coach. A resident of Pipiriki, Mr Smith, * ufi'ered to take us to Raetini for the ?nme fare as the coach, and we closed! -, with his offer. The next- morning broke Jear and, beautiful, and the view from' the verandah was cliarming. The river was clear as a, mirror, and the bush-clad banks looked ievely and green in the> morning • isunlight. We started out in a- light trap, ' v-ith' two light horses. Smith said they were "the best horses in the district," and we would get through, although the mud Mould be up to the pole at times, aaid in places we might have to walk. The ihsfc. four miles was a. good load, and we began to anticipate sui enjoyable drive. The trees were the grandest I had ever seen, and the ferns were simply magnificent. At a place called "The Bridal Chamber" thereis a deep hollow in the road, spanned! by a bridge and festooned with perfect specimens of Prince of Wales's ferns — truly, a charming spot ! We had to walk al that' part, as tlie mud was up to tho axle. * The rain was coming down in torrents, and the feet and wheels «f earlier passpngers had worked the papa surface into a sticky batter, occupying the whole width of the formation. From the appearance of the surface one could not tell wjfethcr the horses would finding a footing* *Sa6 3 or at 18 inches. We walked about a mile, and then came to the "Dress Circle." ! The road here winds round' in a semicircle," , and as it is over a hundred feet of a crop at that part, a parapet about thei ssmo width as the front of a dress circle I has been built and is overgrown with moss, | resembling the pliish in a theatre. The i beautiful native bu3h makes finer scenery than we had come across at anj stage- of our journey, and if the traveller looks down over the parapet be will see that tho water has eaten under the bank and hollowed it out till it resembles the pit. In parts we walked on top of the parapet, aa we could not make any progress on the road, but at such times we did not dare to admire the view, but watched our feet, for we were of tli'os-e who walk in slippery places. Then we had a ride for a few hundred yards. The mud fell off tiie rising spokes like butter from the blades of a churn ; the horees were bogged", and out we climbed once more. Our friend tiniith seized the occasion, ungraciously left '.is in the mud, and pushed on. One of cur number mounted a Maori horse that was being driven along the road ; but as the Maori kept telling him, "I make it fifteen bob, you ride to Raetihi," he dismounted after riding some miles. Ever/ here and there we passed a dray with a broken axle. The mud was up to our knees, and we walked as much as we could on the sides of the road. We found Smith waiting for us at the surfaceman's tent, and as it had been raining all the way, and we were wet to the skin, he was treated to 'observations the reverse of complimentary ; but we all smiled when someone wanted to know ''why Smith le*t home?" and the speaker wished to know ttliy we were so foolish as to have come with him. We had only completed seven miles of our journey (four on a good road), and it hud taken nearly three -hours, though wo did have "the best horses in the district," an assertion on which, to the diivei's disgust, Me tried to ca6t a doubt. In the tent we had a welcome cup of tea and tome "kai," which we sadly needed* After a rest and a smoke we staited again, and, of course, after diiviug a mile or two, we got out to walk once more, and were tiicd of .Smith and Smith's horses and eveiv thing, that was Smith's, especially his tongue, which, like Tennysdn's brook, went on for ever, as did the mud. Ther« weie nine miles of bad road altogether, and' vt c walkfd on the sides, in the middle, thiough the bush, and on ledges a feiv inches wide — in fact, everything except on oui head?. We made our Oliver's life lnihoable by asking him. whenever we were bono^d, which was not seldom, how far it -nas to the metal, and, as everything must have an end, we got there at last. Then we i-olc ninly shook hands and thanked? hea\ r -n v. c were et if I alive, and Smith told us "In.-i hordes wire the " At least he > ( am(l to tell up, but we said we knew. Wien we got on the metalled road we fxpe-tfd to see the horses move along, bul> tluv seemed to be as tuc-d as we were.

Our troubles v<re not \tt o\er. Our doilies h.<d d j i < <J after lunch, but when vt: wcit* tiii'O miies fioui Eaetihi, down (ani° :i hliowpi- of hail, and we again got' f.nkfd. Smith started to sing, but we jiohtil* told linn to hurry up and get ifc (ivn .60 In- did not finish the selection. A& '.ins sS.i^e 'the best horses in the district* n.'Vfl 1 heir title by walking slowly along,; ,i> -I we weip too full for words.

YV, „iMved at R.ietihi, after taking seven 1. el'--. i<> tia-fl 17 miles, and we paid 10s in: i'm' iiii\il-i;e of walking on the same v; 1 vi<h '"the be&t horses in the dis> ' . . i "'

— Tl i 3 'laiol tbaf swimming is In fuiufo ir> l>c^ i audit ir <h<- Rt'-sian nr-vy. Ex* pii'isip m il'p la->!. war phoned it to b<| ab.oluk-lv nec.'.3-:ai7 fr