ROUGHING IT ROUND THE HOT LAKES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 5673, 21 January 1890, Page 2

ROUGH ING IT ROUND THE HOT LAKES.

When some ten days before Christmas the idea of a ride round the Hot Lake district took definite shape, I, as one of the party, anticipated a very large amount of pleasure from the trip. Now that we are all back again, and now that I personally can affirm that in a fairly large experience of pleasure trips, few have equalled and none havty excelled this last one, I Jjfiye conceived the idea that it would'"' be pleasant for the members of the party, and possibly a few of their friends, to have a rough account, written while the enthusiasm of the trip is still alive, to refer to in the future. On enquiring of the proprietor of the Herald as to printing, he was good enough to suggest that it should appear first in that paper. lof course, had no objection, although I fear it will fall llat. On his shoulders be the responsibility. . I feel the more inclined to try my hand at the task for a reason that I'will mention later. I aim only a* recalling a few of the more striking incidents of the trip, especially those verging on tho comic. lam Hot about to inflict any second - hand scientific knowledge on my suffering friends. I have no claim to be a very observant traveller, and do not care much for the cause of things I meet on a holiday, so long as the effect pleases me. Ona more intimation and I will get the party started. lam absolutely ignorant of the Maori language and have a very dim idea of the orthography of some of the names, so if anyone meets old friends in new forms I trust he will not be surprised. Then, again, in the matter of distances. I do not want anyone to take me to task for that. It seems impossible to get accurate - information. The natives have no more idea of miles than they have of the Milky Way. I give the distances, as I think, approximately correctly. Please excuse this long preface — now to business. We started on December 24, meeting for breakfast at 6. 30 a.m. Let me describe the party once for all. If it had one apparent fault it was this. All save ono ivere men who earn their bread and cheese in the honorable if arduous work of teaching tho young idea how to shoot, and in the writer's mind there was a lurking fear that the conversation j would be of the shop, shoppy. It was a needless apprehension altogether. ! One was able to forget entirely such matters as examiners' reports, &c, &c, and go in for undiluted enjoy/ ment. We were six in number — five when we left Gisborne, recruited at Opotiki. We were singularly fortunate in our leader. Ido not like to say all I feel on this subject for I know he would not like it, but I simply could not write an account of the trip without recording my conviction that its Huccess was due, firstly, secondly, and thirdly, mainly to that; gentleman's good manageir-jnt and unselfish kindness. lam afraid we tiled -him sc.net' ins, but now it is all over I am sure we all feel that we owe a lot to the " boss," and the more we think over the trip the more convinced we shall be of our debt of gratitude. Was a horse too fresh for one of the indifferent riders— the boss rode it. Did a horse get Its back touched— the boss with rare skill, and I fear much discomfort, rode it so as to save it. Did a careless member leave something behind and discover it ten miles on at the end of a long trying day— who but the boss volunteered afc once to accompany him back. And so oh in everything, putting his own wishes on one side in all littlo matters, and yet keeping us in order in important ones ; taking the all-important commissariat department entirely on his own shoulders, and very rarely bringing us to. short commons. Once we were reduced to sardines and potatoes only, but they went well. At other times we were warned that the state of the larder did not justify butter and jam on tho same piece of bread, and that discretion was necessary in tho matter of sugar. But we flourished under it all. All hail most worthy boss — prince of good fellows. The next most useful member of the party was the non-scholas-tic one. Accustomed to camp life and the j management of pack horses, he was invaluable. When ifc came to camping he waa worth the rest of us put together, doubled and multiplied by four. Let me express to him too, the practical man of the party, our appreciation of his servicesThen there was the sweet singer of the party, full of life and fun, enlivening us evening after evening with cheerful ditties, we joining more or less inharmoniouely in the choruses., A useful man too with horses, and in camp ; a first-rate chum, in short, for a trip of the sort. The youngest member of the party worked hard, and was very useful all through. Being blessed with a good appetite like the rest of us, and being a little freer in his growls at the lengthy periods of time elapsing between the meals, his craving took tho form of a standing joke among us, mainly because he would not suffer in silence. By tho way, ho entirely upset one of my notions. I always thought a man had three skins. Now to my knowledge he had six or seven layers off his nose. Will some scientific friend explain this ? I myself am sporting my fourth layer, and the foature seems solid enough. Lastly, there were two of us who would scarcely earn our tucker, I fear, in a surveyor's camp. In no way connected with the Centaurs, we found our hands quite fully occupied in maintaining our equilibrium on the fiery untamed steeds we were riding. Personally I did not feel equal to. managing the packhorse. In camping we j did at times try to lend a hand, but I fear. Iwe were of very little use. We shone mo.st at such occupations as fetching water and so on. And here let me express my thanks to the working members for abstaining from growling at us for our utter usolessness. They must have thought a lot, but they said nothing in my Hearing. I refei'rod above to a reason for undertaking the pleasant task of scribe. It is that I am anxious to atone, by some work mor« in my line, for my practical usclossncss during the trip. Two of us arc amateur photographers and took our cameras with us. lam thought we must havo tired them out, but afraid we were a great nuisance at times to the rest, but in this matter as in all others the party was good-nature personified. We took camp after camp ; we have them gazing pensively here, admiringly there, eating their dinners, at rest in the tent, swimming a river, &c, till they must sympathise with the feelings of the much photographed Jersey Lily. I no, up they caiue smiling whenever we wanted them, to the very last. Now I havo described the party it is time to start. For convenience of reference I propose to dub them respectively the Boss, the Practical One, The Songster, Eager for Meals, and two somewhat Useless Ones. If it becomes necessary to distinguish the two last; one was the Useless One with a camera, and tho other without. I am sure all the above will take what I say in good part. I caused as much amusement by my awkwardness as anyone, and I do not propose to spare myself. The start was fixed for 7 a.m., and we really started by 8 a.m. on Christmas Eve. Anyone who, has toad experience of similar expeditions will own, I think, we did very well in only being an hour late. Wo travelled very slowly, for it was a blazing hot day. Went through Qrmon.dj buying a few odds and ends we had forgotten, and over the Kaiteratabi ford. A deputation of fcwocalled at the Willows, and I, as a deputation of ore, stopped to lunch. Then the same deputation was invited by Mr Wetl^ered to refresh, and a second lui}ch was dispqsod of. We caught up the others about tho third crossing of the Waikohu ? halted and had a bathe. Then,

: "went sic dy on to the Mobil bush, where we arrived at 7 p.m. I -: jnd my pony had a patrician soiil that scorned base luggage on its back A bi^y had fatten off the pace, and we were canning it in turn. A plum pudding wes inside. My te n c *me and I took it. We were riG'.rg v\ o ?3le lie on a narrow track. lac poi ; y « light sight of the plot .-an b-it. rseM uttn? Promptly it bc;a'n to practise waltz steps of anew and intricate kind, including reversing on its lvndlegs. As I was rv the middle of the cavalcade there was a lively scene for a minnteor two., Atlast I dropped the bone of contention, and a'l was pea^o again. Nothina damaged save the pud- I ding and that w~as pieces. We found tho whare at the edge or the bush in the possession of a camp of surveyors, by wn->ni we were most hospitably received. The cook especially earned our undying gratitude by his attention. Here let me s>iy that wherever we went we found kind folk only too glad to give us a iielpinc hand. As we could nob have beci so fortunate us to spot the only good ones about, we are driven to the conclusion that the whole district we traversed is populated by good-natured souls who are gla:l to welcome and assist strangers. There was little feed for the horses, unfortunately.' That reminds me of another genei;al remark. If you are on a riding tour it is a matter of nec-.:sity to look after your horses' interests before your own. Stages must be so arranged that they shall fare Well however you get on yourself. We slept, eight in all, in the whare, and were packed like sardines. The two of the •urveyors' party in with us amused themselves by telling us tall yarns about the size aud ferocity of the mosquitoes j but they were not very bad. On Christina Day we were up at 4 a.m. and took a colt bath, a very short one, for the water was bitterly icy cold ; took a view or two of the camp and ourselves before we lost the semblance of civilised beings, and then •started off. Gave the horses a spell at the first decent feed we came to. Passed the bridge and got on to fresh ground to all say« Eager for Meal 3. Had another, halt at Pukakiwi. My pony gave an exhibition of a skilful nature by getting the saddle all askew, aud then kicking vigorously, at the same time dodging trees innumerable. Tho Boss' promptitude save< \ the gear from being much damage* < Camped in a whare at Whitikau, tlrrt;, three miles in the bush. As I nai. brought a hammock it was slung to' the roof. Now this hammock was not fit rung correctly bo the bed was simply a straight piece of canvas on which one could not move without endangering one's equilirium and risking a very nasty fall. However, by passing a strap over the rafter I secured something to clutch and survived the nigh*-. The mosquitoes were very pressing in their atten'i^n and there was a large family gatheiing of them. Personally I found they fed away on me without disturbing my rest. I believe they left some very pretty desigrs on tr" f oi ahead, but not having a inn. -or th r beauty was thrown aw.iy on me. Never shall I forget that night. Three times I happened to awake, and each time on my sleepy cars was borne the sound of the blessings that one of the party, whom I will not identify, was invoking on the heads or the stings of those sweet irsects. I shall not forget it, and I am sure the victim will not. Off" by seven on Boxing Pay, after a hearty breakfast. Here let me emphasise what I have indicated be fore. Although I have dubbed one member of the party "Eager for Meals," I must say that most of us gradually worked up tremendous appetites. If -wo could only keep that keen relish for food always ! Dry bread becomes toothsome, jam deliciousi lobster or sardines perpetual joys. The last twenty miles of the bush is much more interesting than the rest. The track runs high, 1600ft, 2100ft, 1500 ft at places. The track is good, but for some miles you have the plepsnit knowledge that there is a considerable precipice to fall over. I did not carry a billy along that part. There had been heavy rain in the ()potiki district a day or two before, and we had to pass half a dozen slips, one of them a rather nasty one. All through the bush we came across streams of delicious water. We wanted some of these streams badly later on in tho trip. At last- we left the busk We had been picturing our gallanthussarsthreading their way through to stop the gentle Te Kooti, and we came t9 the conclusion that if that amiable individual had managed to get into the bush he could have made things very unpleasant for the E.C.H. After crossing the fern hills from Waiawa we got on to the beach j had a fair view of White Island ; got caught in a heavy squall of rain arid reached Opotiki' soaked. We had been discussing about the best place to pitch our tsnti, but under the circumstances it was decided nem con that of all sites for a camp the Opotiki Hotel was the best, and so there we camped — 111 miles out. We all liked the look of the township. We heard with surprise, after seeing cattb and horses grazing in the streets, that they had a pound there. I hope tne ranger's salary does not run on the commission principle, for nobody dreams of impounding. Saw the steamer come in from an excursion to White Island, and regretted we had not started a day earlier go that we might ha^e joined it. (To be continued.)