FOR SENIORS AND JUNIORS.

Otago Witness, Volume 06, Issue 2899, 6 October 1909, Page 86

FOR SENIORS AND JUNIORS.

L'jnduc'.ed by MAGisrEHT. to whom all communications must be addressed.) A RAMBLE GX RIYERTON BEACH (Continued.) Though this article is headed " A Ramble on Riverton Beach." we shall not confine ourselves to the sr,rip oi foreshoie, but bhall vran-der ar will, as far back, at least as the sandhills stretch, in tome places a •distance cf two or *hree miles. UTirst, however, let -is take note of some things of mtsreet on the beach it?elf. Strolling along at about h'gh- water mark, our attention cannot but be arrested by "the many curious . hings c-ast up by the never-resting wo-Veo. Here is a log of sawn timber, fieshly cut _;pd sound, perhaps washed from the d?ck of some little ocean carrier, or possibly • wept away froia some half-Snished brioge .:> flood time. Alongside it lies anoth-er •earn, but of what a different history it -peaks. Every corner rounded off, each cad bartered til' the loosened fibres stand out like ha ire, barnacles of all sizes clustering on its surface, and the whole riddled like a honeycomb by the worms of the eea. Years, perhaps, of incessant tossing has been its lot — sometimes gently heaving under a summer sun, sometimes hurled hither and thither in the fury of a midnight storm : now rasped up and down the grinding shingle, and now flung against granite pinaeles of rock, — never at rest, till one day a mighty roller lifted it at flood tide high on its curving crest, and, carrying it far up the bead), dropped it almost among the fringing growth of tusscck. to rest at last from it 6 , weary wanderings. Scattered among the larger logs are countless smaller pieces of timber, saplings, o-nd boles of tree-ferns torn from tome b;ishcovered river, bank; firewood and scantiin? from the same eouree, with hare and trcr* the remains of a fruit-ease or soap-box thrown overboard from some passing steamer, ilinsrle-d with this flotsam and iciloam are shells of many kirxrs. an occasional shark's egg-rass, bones of fish a.nd sea birds, pieces of sponge, ,and an extraordinary numbear of old boots. Whence comes air this ancient footgear? Surely a boof, sodden -with water., would nof float long enough" to be carried any distanca by tb« ocean currents. ~%ei- there "they Are, dozens of them. A few may 'have been abandoned by picnickers ox fishermen, but the majority, from their position, appeal to have been cast ud by the- tides. Of course., their prevalence 'may. • ; ih part bs accounted for by t>he>" material's lasting qualities.- " There's' n6fehin.g- like leather/ and it is 'hard to eay.hovr ~mh&? years the collection h&s beeo -accoimilating- ''^ ■ > Let -us -Jook '* ditt\e=-Taare z<&oaeh:-st: tht ihells which are scattered so freely about. These, large-, bivalves, which, are so abon daoli,^ape,. t 'siipis,"* or clams.' They wert evidently *n impoait^nt- .actide. . of foor the Maorja ; , hirther inland we shal find Jrr.e*t heaps pf,t^>«?e -^h^Us, ma-rkinf the; old wok.Lnp-places . In_. some ipfitanca on ..the^ New Zea.liyid vooast {tljearp- .kiteher •hell-heape cover, square. <ihajns. ojf /groupd and ar» several' fe«t in tJudkoess. Tin

, pipi— its scientific name is, I thiiik, Papliia ! f.pissa — is found Jjuri-ed in the sand at low j ti-de, and can easily be procured, as a little ! hole Always marks its position. The wdli knann " pawa " (lialioris iris) is retresentpd by many broken fragrrorrts ar.d" by an ocftirional' who!-? shell. As the pawa is a rock-frequari'tinfj siwc'es. fhe&e must ha\ a l ' bofn washed o^er from Sfc»warc lela-r.tJ cr pe.-ha<>3 frcm the rock% cciit ne«ir Riverton. Th& Maori ;'.te the pay.a, and us-;d irs Leauruul shell for rrany* ctscrative pur- ! O;cs. 'The eyes of thek- fr-otoscjue carved s iiTure? w~re alwava formed of a uisc of 2 law-i shell, ani I think t ! iat they u-c-d t trlittf-rin^ bits of if us a lut-^ wh?n 'fishing t fur cerram kir:<T-5 of fi*h. No shellfisJi can 1 b? c-illed an alfo-rethpr invirm^-!cokin'jr mor-.nl, a:x i v-hen ro an Mnp!;D-in2 appraif ance is ?dc!>ed a «x>'our black a-, ink, it rer quires some >.v>«o!tKio-i an<l a k^en appetite 1 0:1 ihe part of the- dinpr to overcome the 5 effect of th^s a combin-o-cl cti-a-dxuma^cf". Neverhhele-'', black and uninviting f'rou^h t it may anr>o3.'\ the nawa is not to h? de1 spis 'd. Well ncu--.'e>d to co.;nfe;act it, - tonrhncFS, dredg-.i in flour, and fried ie . form- a very eatable dish. The Mao.-I=, ,■ i'ot bain/ po^"-sed of amthinsr in th« t «.'iape of a frjins; pan, probably cooked it , in th?ii- ovens of hot «tonss, c'r rerh«ir«— I hor;ibJ« thous-ht .'—ate it raw. M-tnv othor kinds of shells, cockles. mu.veis. limpet", I etc., are strewn around, and not a few pleasant and profitable hours could be , sp?nt in collectir.g the different varieties . and noting t.heir peculiarities. I (To be continued.)