THE SOUTH WEST COAST SOUNDS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8100, 27 August 1904, Page 2

THE SOUTH WEST COAST SOUNDS.

HYGIENICS, SCENtCS, TRAITS AND TRADITIONS. (By B. CARRICK.) iv. PS3SZ-P.V ATION inlet . (CosLti-itied). The Sound at and about Bradsbaw's landing, is a half to two-third 3 of a mile wide. On the opposite bank there is a tract of land which has many recommendations at the nucleus of a deer forest. Ifc is surrounded by isthmus waters on one side, , and Ling Sound on the other. The only communication with the adjoining coontry is a narrow neck or ligament of Jand, afc the north-west, towards the head of the isthmus. It is nqfc more than a quartet of a mile broad, and with that exception, is surrounded by deep water. Fenced over, a large territorial tract, say 10,000 acres, would be completely enclosed. It extends down the western bank, round Colt Head and Useless Bay, to Jane Cove (Long Sound). Tho sail right round, from ona side of tlie neck to the other, is fifteen miles. The land is timbered to the water's edge, excepting at Useless , Bay, where there is a sandy beach. It rises moderately high, and afc Long Sound the rise is rather abrupt. . The water is what navigation calls "steep-to," so that a boat can keep well in to the beach line. Enclosed therein, a few doer would be kept well together, until such time as it would be convenient to liberato surplus stocks. In touristing, it would be ah immense attraction. Deer forest observations could be made from the sea. Confined within a limited area, tha \leer would bo readily seen, and studied in "their native state, without the fatigue and inconvenience usually attendant thereupon. Tha project merits consideration. It would be a " big draw " if tourist 3 could be assured of making themselves acquainted witl). the domestic economy of the deer forest^ afc first hand> and on ea_y ter_n§. • Bradsbaw's Landing is situated midwa,y * . between the head of the isthmus and Colt Head—a through-water channel to Long Sound. The latter scrambles in between ■Revolver and Useless Bays. The' neck or ligament noticed above has data which manifestly refer back to the dark ages, and we see as in a glass darkly the " lay of the. land," under operations of that benighted regime. As stated, the neck i 3 not mora than a quarter of a mil© broad. Tha country afc Long Sound shows conclusively that at one period this was the channel, and thafc the isthmus was simply a continuation of what i 3 now Long Sound. Bac_. from the head of the is.hnius to Jane Core (Long Sound), to which the neck proper is the direct route, the country is made up of a succession of foot-hills, bearing a striking resemblance to\he "tomhen." These tornhens require a word of explanation. According to Celtic philosophy, they are the abode of the fairies— the fairies being off- • shoots of the" nether world, who seem to have renounced the evil of. their ways, and assumed a species of humane beneficence, !l am indebted to Hugh Miller's "Sketch--Book of Geology " for the informatfon that: '"On a certain nighb in the year, of ghostly celebrity, benighted travellers hava se-en open doors in the sides of these green hills .tomhenO, from whence, gleams of dazzling lighfc fell on the thick foliage, and having heard voices of merriment and music, unknowingly entered therein. Entranced by the. -song, bewitched by tha dance, they found that in what seemed a brief half-hour, they had spent their lifetime." ' Commenting on the aforesaid change o* channel, ib has bsen said: "That leaves the down channel by Bevolver Bay and Colt Head unaccounted for. What renders the problem more abstruse is, that Bevolver Bay route is rock-bound and beset by engineering difficulties, whereas Jana Cove is comparatively open, level, and sedimentary. Why the channel should hava deserted an easy path-way, and gone jm* of its road to find unnecessary obstacle*,, looks as if sound judgment anct economy are no more to be relied on in the aquatic* than in the councils." Besides its antemundanes, Jane Cove ha« a host of attractions which brings it up -to , date as an exponent of thes3 part? _ I > * t_ deep indent, with a north-west exposure, extending well up to the CT'a Lone Sound. The tomhen K on^hf other **nd, op «1 . on* ££v*ew d^-n towards tb. *, f* isthmus, aa far as Cordon Islands. It a rarely bdeei thafc a similar extent of vie* can be obtained without; the necessity ol adding a high level. Even then a sunerincumbent height is liable to crop upy intercepting the range of vision on one suk or the other. The Cove has many of th« characteristics of a sea grotto. -Its **™*f cepted by a« r.ef. making it land-lock^ 90 thafc its anchorage is secure. It makea « good fishing ground, and seems to .carry fairly large assortments of algea. Recognising its advantages as a dormitory. Go* vernment has had erected an eighfc-bunj-hufc These huts are a great convenience. *-- v Besides the trafficker proper, family parties, during the season, find their way to tlftm, spending a week or co at the one ...-- and then going to the other. By that means they exploit tho Sound in a leisurelyway, extending over a. month or six weeks? , holiday. It is in the stone science — " rock-cob-Wings "-eJaaie Cove most abounds. If w» imagine an inin-eicsity in ecclesiastical -truss turer— cathedral spires and other orders in irohitecture, symbolical of "Holy Mother Church" — Jame Cbye conglomerates afford wnple idea of the effect. Then again wa j^fc tie "eye aatiquei" seriously asserting

■that there are others bearing imprint of '■ more remote antiquity — stones bf Woden, where the old-world Skatlander sealed his rows of fidelity, confirmed the testimony to , the truth. Or it may perchance be the "Stone of Destiny," of which it has been prophesied: TTnle-a ye Mea are faithless grown And prophet's voice be vain, "Wh«re'er is fcund thia mifeihty stone Th« Scottish race shaJl reign. It is of no particular importance to recaill *&c (fact that this "dynesty "or "destiny," 1 is now to be found in Westminster Abbey, , and that in breach of treaty rights the . Baxen stoutly refuses to give it up ; but it is of importance to know that quite as good "m "flitch" of granite can be had any day, , on application to Jane Cove. : The sail between Colt Head and the head , Of the Sound is a novelty, but the nature of the novelty is determined by the character of the weather. In fair weather its scenes are gay and crratic x in foul weather : fehey are wild and emphatic ; but in either case they are novel — exceptionally so. The Traiers work their passage through three : distinct reaches. The middle reach opens : out by far the finest sheet of waiter. It is the broadest part of the Sound, having an J expanse of fully one mile. Under suitable | conditions', its refulgence becomes an im- '. menpity, a profound study in optical illusion-. In one way or another it Jias arranged things with the noonday sun, in token whereof the sun reproduces its facsimile in these depths of the sea, so accu- - rate in detail that, but for the "lay of the land '■' it would be difficult to tell which was ( •whioh. So absolutely indefinable is the ; surface, of the water in conjunction with the air, tbat in skimming ovei' the former you get the sensation of being buoyed up in ', mid-air, with the world in rustic felicity ; turned upside down. A face in full bloom or a mountain mantled in snow, gives ineffable delight to this submarine panorama. : What beggars description in the topsy-tur-vy is a waterfall. There you get it defying the face of the rocksj between high . and low water-marks there is a curious line marked in the shape of a pencilled band- It is caused by the incrustation of shells, worked out in a pattern amazingrin its re- ■ gularity. In detail it figures out on the : lines of a Runic inscription — aai invocation to the unknown god. Long Sound is essentially a "lone land" — a profound puzzle. Its outlines are as in- > conceivable as they are unconventional. They embody every formation, from the mountain mas 3to the faintest flakes of ghost-like vapour. In chromatics they are . equally profound, radiating from dazzling silver lights to rich purple and a glowing red, with simultaneous contrasts of the sad- ] dest grey and the blackest of darkness. Its rock-bound shores, punctured with nooks. '< crannies and indents _ luxuriate in the dark, varnished -greenery of the New Zealand forest, the lighter hues of its scrubs and undergrowths, carpeted with flowery moss, and backed and bculdered with the parti-oolourtki stones of the foreshore and ' its great bare rocks. Towards nighffall, as evening deepens into darkness, and western exposures alone survive ir. the twilight, with their rigid topknots ootlined against the luminosity of vhe after-glow, far-away cries and flutters are heard with 'startling distinctness.' They are "deep calling unto deep " echoes of eerie cries by the feathered tribes, inviting each other to ioost(and Test, after the day's labour. Altogether, the scene and its surroundings are typical of the saga song of the weird woman:-— "Wild and wayward' was her chant.' The . fire of her piercing black eye. 1 ? brightened and dulled, or almost went out, as she sung •myth on myth of the mystical symbolism of the intensely poetic and- imaginative Norseman. Gods and denii-gods were its theme, the nether frost- fires, the long night of utter darkness, the -.«iligbt of- the gods, the eternal darkness of the slain, the city of Asgurd— dong and wonderful was the saga song of this white-haired woman, who had seen the ice of more than five score winters float out of these northern .seas."' Other strange and indefinable weirds are \o be met. with in this approach to the noclurnals. Day having done his daily task, and the sun retired from public gaze behind the barrier ranges, domes and rent lnctmtain pinnacles are clearly cut in the snow and purple, against the saffron curtain of sunset. The wall of rocks presents itself in a variety of aspects, some being striking, nay, startling in their contrast. Dull and dark afc its base, they become sharp, luminous,- and well-defined along the serrated summits, with a coupling lick cf indistinctness along the face of the hill between these two extremes. In that way night gathers at its feet, while day lingers in a halo-of glory around its head. It is no mere form >f speech to say "halo of glory." Glows kindle into flames of untold beauty, such as the resplendent orb of day oan alone divulge. Night deepens and the light dies away, but long after nightfall these resplendents live in the western sky, and peaks and pinnacles stand out alone, landmarks of the decline of day and its retreat to northern worlds. Dwncing by the fhauntcd spring, Riding on ihe whirlwind's wing; Aping in fantastic fashion '. Every c/hange of human passion ; • "While o'er tihe troubled mind they pass •■■ Like shadows from, the mirror'd glass. "Wayward fickle is tho mood, Hovering betwixt bad _nd good. - Tfti-at is all tha-t we can slicw,. Th-at is all that we c*n know. A night's camping in one of these huts can be made exceedingly jovial, as well as instructive. the latter, the boatmen tell of an exquisite they cha-neroi-ed. He came exceedingly well accredited, in fine linen, serviettes, etc. Before they had done with him they had so far entrained .him in Bohemianiam that he relished his whisky in a> pannikin,, and \the serviettes did duty . as bandaging for pock-puddings. An educational endowment like that is not .fo be despised, .although it comes to us from the "schoolmaster abroad." The family camp has become a popular holiday institution. Last season there were as many as twenty visiting families. They steamed to one of the ports of call in Preservation. Thence they proceeded by sail-ing-boat — bed and board, stock, lock and barrel — to one or other ot the huts, where they were left to rusticate, say, one week. -At the expiry thereof aaiy fresh visitors were taken on, and the others picked up and conveyed to the next camp. In that way. they "were carried round the Sound, , and when it suited their purposes they were brought back, and despatched by the outgoing _ steamer. The weather 'throughout was absolutely fine, and these trips elicited nothing but wami encomiums. Tlie one drawback, was the want of a steam craft, nothing of the kind being available. A much-needed improvement in that way will be wrought by the projected auxiliar}-' erigined service. Indeed, this will be a service of the utmost importance to Fiords traffic in all its branches. Families desirvous of availing themselves of these camping trips are advised to communicate with •omeone at the Inlet, and register the probable date of their arrival. It need not hstated'that, during statutory holiday periled*, the number of visitors is liable to ex- i ceed the accommodation, j Regarding the ordinary .route trafficker, ] ■who spends a night or so; at the 'huts and moves on, arriving early in the afternoon, each sets out on the bent of bis inclination, eqine to fish, others to shoot, botanise, photograph, sketch, etc. By the time it gets dark, and these "outlanders" re-as-lembl^,. each exhibiting his spoils and arranging specimens, the scene becomes most interesting. Latent- traits and faculties _of „ ; the mind arc brought to light, affording ; : fairly correct ideas of our- fellow-travellers. y. Indeed, a better inception into the realities L. ©f the men with whom- we are to be as»Lsociated during the ensuing eight or- ten vjidays could not be had, and, if so minded, Life can shape a course that may obviate %hat might otherwise be disappointing, perhaps disagreeable. That the accommod|tion of these huts is a boon will- not be '.' -dwied, and the fact that they enable us !M%ccommodate ourselves to circumstances -Mtot the leakt of tlieir i^cemmendartion-". •