OLD-TIME ECHOES

Southern Cross, Volume 17, Issue 16, 31 July 1909, Page 12

OLD-TIME ECHOES

THROUGH FLOOD AND FIRE,

(By A. H l . Duncan).

I was but a youngster of eighteen at the time, but had. seen enough of Colonial life to know how to handle a stockwhip or sit a buckjumper, when I was told off by the squatter in whose employment I was, to escort a .servant girl from his station, on the Pomahakal River, to Dunedin, the capital of the Province of Otago. For more than a week the weather had been exceptionally hot, and the snow on the ranges was fast melting and bringing the rivers down a banker, while the dry state of the grass was causing fires to be more tha*n usually plentiful, and in every direction the plains and ranges were in a daily state of combustion. As the distance to the Molyneux Ferry, where w r e wore to put up for the night, was about fifty miles, it was necessarv for us to make an early start, so 1 was up before daylight and drove the horses into the stockyard, where I saddled and bridled them, and made everything ready for proceeding on our journey as soon as we should have finished our breakfast.

The girl’s luggage consisted only of •a leather bag, which was lashed on to the offside of her saddle, her heavy baggage having been sent away by bullock-dray some days previous, whilst I had the usual valise, containing my worldly goods, strapped in front of me. The sun rose fiery red in a brazen sky, and the heavy smoke came rolling along the valley in a way that I did not care much about, for it appeared to me as if we were likely*' to find more fires raging towards Popotuna than was to be seen on that side of the Tapanui range. The girl was mounted on a quiet old cob, very big, very rough in his paces, and on the whole not an animal likely to be described as a good lady’s horse ; but, as his rider was unaccustomed ta the saddle, the principal thing necessary was quietness and an absence of vice, so Bob was selected as in every way likely meet the situation. I was mounted on a little half-bred Arab mare that afterwards became celebrated throughout the length and breadth of Otago for the extraordinary distances she carried me when she was employed in stock-driving. Before we had gone many miles we arrived at the ford across the Pomahaka River, and I knew it sufficiently well to be aware of the fact that the river was in such a state of flood that it would be a case of swimming for my little mare, although Bob. I fancied, might just manage to cross without being carried off his feet. Previous to entering the water I showed the girl what part of the opposite bank she was to guide her horse to, but I added that in the event of Bob’s having to swim she must, on no account, lie back, but catch him by the mand and pull herself as far forward as possible, because sitting back was apt to put down a horse’s hindquarters, and cause it to rear over on its rider.

In her case, however, any instructions were unnecessary, as Bob was never taken oft his feet, and she landed him all right at the place where I had told her to head for, but it was a very different thing- for me, as the pony was soon out of her depth, and struck out gallantly for the other side ; but the strength of the current carried us past the proper landing, and we were swept some distance down stream before the mare got a hold of the ground again, when she quickly climbed out on to the bank, and we returned to where my companion was waiting for us. Nothing of any moment occurred as we crossed the ridges by the Waipahi River, and we had gone across a considerable portion of the plains teewards Popotuna, when I noticed that the smoke which had been growing denser as we rode along, seemed to be drawing nearer to us on all sides, and as the wind had risen considerably I began to get uneasy. The dray track was a mere narrow line through the withered grass, and I knew that it would in no way be able to stop a fire running along the ground, so that if we were surrounded by the burning grass it would be a very awkward situation for us to be in.

The road ascended at that point to the top of a low ridge running across the plain, and from the top of this we saw that the whole country around us was in a blaze, the fire in front of us running along the ground towards us, and it was quite evident that in ten minutes more It would

Ibe upon us. Retreat also was cut off, for the fire was crossing the plain towards the dray track, about a mile I behind us, so as it was a case of forcing our way through the fire in whatever direction we rode, I concluded to go ahead. Dismounting, , therefore, I took off my coat and rolled it round the girl's head, tying it securely so as to protect her face, and, having made her put her hands inside her jacket, I took the reins of her horse’s bridle, and having pulled my cap over as much of my head ajs possible, I mounted and rode forward, leading Bob by my side. When we were a few hundred yards from the fire, which was skimming along the ground towards us, I determined to make a rush for it, as the smoke was becoming unbearable, so, warning the girl, I told her to stick close to the saddle as 1 was going to urge the horses into a gallop. I started off, and we flew over the ground as fast as the horses’ legs would go. As we approached the fire the horses tried to turn aside, but I forced them on, although the sparks were falling on my face and hands, causing great. pain, and I was obliged to keep mv mouth shut, while the tears poured from my eyes as the smoke grew thicker and stronger. As we dashed through the flames the sparks flew up around the horses, goading them on to their best speed, but a short distance cleared us of the smoke, and then I was able to pull up in the centre of the track and see what damage our partv had suffered. Jumping off the mare, I untied the coat from around the girl’s head and found that she was all right, with the exception that she had been nearly stifled, but the horses had not escaped so easily, as the hair all the way up to their knees and hocks was singed off, and several burned parts over their bodies showed where the sparks had fallen. As for myself, I lost every vestige of eyeorow and eyelash I ever possessed, and what was probably of more importance to m at that time, an incipient moustache, that had engrossed much of my attention for some time previous, was singed completely off. My hands were horribly burned, but these I got dressed at the hotel at the Molj'neux Ferry, where I put up for the night. Next dak" I rode round to the house where the girl had gone to stay with some friends, leading Bob, and having picked up my companion we proceeded on our way to Dunedin, where we duly arrived without any more accidents by flood or field.