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CORRESPONDENCE.

Waipmii Notes fop. September. ' Day TeTr-crpturc::. — Average for month,

49deg. ; : highest. 59deg. ; ' lowest, -_ 35deg. ; rainy days, 6 (three heavy rain). j Plants, etc.,- Observed. — Ist, Daffodils, ■wattle; 3rd, brcom, gorse ; 6fch, kowhai, pittosporum, melycitus ; bees working ; flower- j ing currant/ ' cherry, polyanthus, willows, ] currants, and gooseberry in leaf; dotterel! £«en ; 7th, daisies, jonquils ; 12th, hawthorn in leaf, poplar catkins, apple b'.osscm; 13th, native fuchsia, laurel, hyacinth, marigold; 16th, celinisia (small) on hills; 23rd, plum; 28th, celinesia (large), in garden, willow catkins, auricula, gooseberry, strawberry, butterfly. Birds Seen. — Redpoll, goldfinch, house sparrow, white eye, "thrush, starling, blackbirct, - linnet, tui, beilbird, pigeon, tomtit, skylark, groundlark, dotterell, fantail, seagulls, hawk, young wild duck, cockatoo. M&takanui October 22. Dear " Magister," — We celebrated Trafalgar Day to-day by a picnic at Thompson's Gorge. This famous gorge extends for about six miles from Tinker's towards Hawea Flat, and through it King £solua send 3 his most boisterous winds, sometimes for weeks without cessation. Through tha gorges winds a picturesque creek, bordered on both sides by precipitous cliffs, from which project jagged rocks of schist with wide spread screßs of fragments spreading fan-shaped towards the bed. Ten o'clock was the apj^pinted hour, and the Tinker's claim the rendezvous where gathered the two teachers and about 20 of the senior children. a.ll laden with provisions — some with billies • and hammers, for we were bent on geology as well as a picnic. Frjm a prominent point we got a fine view towards the east, taJrinjr in Drybread. Lauder, and the aged Biackstons Hill, one> of the oldest mountains inOtago, compared with which the ether ranges are babies. Bounding Whisky Point, we see two rocks which are recognised as_the Old Man and the Old Woman, of whicn some of us ma<ie a sketch. We spent soms time examining and naming rocks, pmeng which gresa chlorite schist, lithia schist (pink and purple}, lime formations, and quartz of different colours. Many of the rocks are deeply stained with iron, and in some cases they look like masses of iron. We noticed the, con toiled schist, which lo»ks as if it had been forcibly squeezed out of shape, as indeed it has. by the crushing of the earth. In 3oaie places the rocks are crushed out of their usual dip, and instead of lying horizontally are erect, and present jagtred edges to the sky. Then we caught and' examined small fish, a lizard (which caused much squealinty among the' girls lill it lost ite tail and escaped); an ant's nest also met with investigation and inquiries from the teachers. About 12. tlio beys lit fires and put billies on, whila lunch was being laid out in quiet and sheltered corners among the boulders. After lunch we resumed our journey along the side of a w*ter-race -bringing water to tha claims. Near the race we saw tutu, young and delicate. Did you know that chewing shoots of this plant is not only a remedy for, but a preventive, of toothache? This is a local legend, and is believed in implicitly ■by many. Before we got very far a heavy shower came on, and we all ran fox shelter. Away on top of a high rocK the children gathered, and after announcing that they had reached the North Pole, began to' sing p-atriotic songs. At la.=t it was decided to strike for home, which ws reached about 2 o'clock, drenched, but jolly. . J. K. Menzies.

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19091117.2.277

Bibliographic details

Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 84

Word Count
570

CORRESPONDENCE. Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 84

CORRESPONDENCE. Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 84

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