The Cream of Letters

Southland Times, Issue 20897, 5 October 1929, Page 23

The Cream of Letters

—The Elusive Whitebait.—

Cousin Peter Ferguson writes: “I was whitebaiting to-day and got two feeds out of a backwater, for the river is flooded. No one else got any. I saw four trout chasing the whitebait. I am going to be a fisherman, for I’ve got a rod and line and all accoutrements, etc. Do you know the song, ‘A Gay Caballero.’ I made two verses to the tune of it. I went after the whitebaito, It was getting very lato. I saw a huge shoal; Fifty quart in the whole. I could see them on my piato. I took a great big swoopo, With my new net and hoopo. I slipped; then I fell. ’Twas as deep as a well; Now Pa says that I have got croupo.” (Underwood.) AN ADVENTURE WITH A HORSE. Writing of 'her holidays, Cousin Mollie Fell says: “One day we decided to go for a ride on Sandy, as it was such a hot day, and we had nothing special to do. Seeing I had never ridden a horse alone, I asked my cousin to come on with me. She did so, and while we were on together, my cousin was telling so many jokes that we couldn’t sit still, and nearly fell off laughing. Vai told me it was a quiet horse, so I didn’t mind her getting off at the bend of the road, where we turned to go home. It was going very slow, so to make it go faster, I hit it a bit, and didn’t it go fast! It began to gallop. We were a good way from home and didn’t I feel frightened! At first my cousin couldn’t help laughing, but I can tell you I didn’t laugh. I yelled till I was hoarse, but it would not stop. (Had I known I should have pulled the reins back, but -if I had, I would have fallen off in the few seconds that it took to do it). I was scared when I came to the house, for round the gate there were many rocks, but the horse swiftly turned the corner, was over the rocks and up the hill to the house. I was scared I would fall off any minute, for I couldn’t hold on very well. Goodness knows where I would have landed had not my cousin been up at the house at the time, for he ran down and stopped the horse! I did feel funny when I came off, and my legs were sore for days afterwards. However, that escapade is over.” (Invercargill.) THE TOM-TITS. From Cousin Amy Helm’s letter I quote the following:— “The birds are very noisy to-night. It is just getting dark and I don’t think I have ever heard such chirping and twittering all at once. There must be hundreds of them gossiping before they go to sleep in the gully just over the road. I have found the dearest little tom-tit’s nest. It was built by a gate in the tree fern fence and was hidden by a rambling rose. I would never have thought of looking there for a nest if I had not seen the mother fly there with a feather one day when I was working in my flower garden. The poor mother bird did all the work of making the home; Mr Tom Tit just sat about and watched her. How she bustled. She seemed to fly twice as fast as any other bird. There are three tiny eggs in it now, but she hasn’t started to sit yet. I shall be glad when there are litttle tom-tits to chirp for food and learn to fly. I have never noticed any little tom-tits when they are small.” (Riverton.)