LAWRENCE TO WAITAHUNA.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1213, 13 January 1886, Page 3

LAWRENCE TO WAITAHUNA.

No. 11. The origin of " Clarks Flat " is as yet to me as deep a mystery as the identity of Junius or the man in the iron mask. Interrogating a native of this Arcadian hamlet, touching that particular point, is, somehow, about as fruitful a task as impressing a Chinaman with the beauty of truth for its own sake. On the subject of the weather or the grain market, my melancholy acquaintance was fairly communicative, and not unwilling to trade an opinion or two ;but even on these congenial topics his leaden eye spoke the vacuity of his mind. Now there are few men ao utterly dead to the world and its influences as not to have, at least, one object on the horizon of Hope, at the sight of which they may be made to feel a return of i something like pleasure, and give outward and visible token of it. This man had fared badly, what between bad seasons and the banks, and Sir Julius Yogel was ; hia saviour. The ten-million loan was his lone-star — the beacon that was to light him into some peaceful haven, whither he might spin out his few remaining years with some degree of comfort. " Let us have another boom," he said, in his strong national dialect, " and then my name is ' Walker.' " While the ten millions was being disbursed he explained, which he affirmed it would be with a generous hand, he intended to rake in his share, sell off his land while the " boom " was strong, doff his own ancient patronymic and assume the euphonious name of " Walker." The old man was ablaze with admiration of the rosy picture he had painted of his future. I had, at last, touched the chord that made his old shrunken heart expand and palpitate, and his wasted weather- j beaten features assume a temporary appearance of joy. But time calls, and I leave the old man to himself, to enjoy his imaginary triumph over adversity, and no ! doubt very soon to relapse into his former state ; for pleasure, though only ideal, is short-lived. In vain 1 look around here for the trim gardens and neat cottages nestling among the trailing honey-suckle and sweet-smelling roses. In the English mid-land counties, while Joseph Arch was still making all creation vibrate with the sufferings of the agricultural serfs, 1 have seen more taste and beauty displayed in the arrangement of a laborer's cottage than I have in this free region, where land is any man's and labor is king. Everywhere aromd in the appearance of the people there is an evidence of independence and rough comfort, exactly in keeping with their surroundings. There is room here, as there is in similar settlements in the district, for the influence j of the Horticultural Society. There is an unpretentious schoolroom here conducted, : I understand, in a very efficient manner by a lady named Mrs Milne. Being an offday, a couple of half-grown youngsters are disporting themselves in a pool hard by the modest hall just spoken of, and are innocently beguiling time by holding the head of a smaller comrade under water, with his legs well poised in the air. I break in upon the fun somewhat unceremoniously, and the pair of youthful Neroes, after scurrying to a safe distance, bestow on me a few as nicely-turned compliments as I have heard anywhere out of the " New Cut " on " The Dials. " At the doors of some houses, standing a considerable distance off the roaiway, many young matrons stand with arms akimbo, and view me with much curiosity. lam evidently a rare avis here, and my personality has aroused the bile of ouriosity in the female breast. The "heathen Chinee " has invaded the solitudes round i here in force. He is constantly issuing, with his usual look of unbroken gravity, from the dry watercourses and unfrequented gullies that skirt the road . Here, at all events, he does not come between his European brother and the sun. He is content with the humble pennyweight, which the latter does not consider sufficient for his industry or his wants. Further on, I am suddenly reminded of the many incongruities that go to make up the sum of human existence. I have surprised one of the genus homo, known as a " swagger," going through the form of a late toilet. He is as tuneful as a lark, and beguiles the time by whistling snatches of melody, picked up heaven only knows where. He monopolises a pool of clear, sparkling water all to himself, and moves about his ample dressingroom with the air of a man accustomed to commodious quarters. He surveys himself affectionately through a mirror about the size of a crown piece, which long practice has enabled him to hold in such, a manner that he can examine in detail each one of his weather-beaten features. He notices my approach, and is inside of his coat in a twinkling. "Twenty years' gathering," mutters the vagrant, as he points deprecatingly to the ghost of a blanket that flutters on the fence. He holds a pipe somewhat conspicuously in front of him, into the cavernous bowl of which, eyeing me the while, he thrusts a large forefinger. I respond by religiously sharing my tobacco with him, and overwhelm the half-uttered gratitude on his tongue by dropping a coin into his itching palm ; of course he will steep his thirsty soul in "aheoak" to-night, and will wake on the morrow with a fevered brow, and a mind racked with misery, both present and prospective. But what if he does ? The Bin is his own, and the merit of giving, though abused by a fool, is still yours. What a cold cynical world it would be were such beggarly logic allowed to >overmaster the generous impulses of the heart. On the top of the hill at last— ,the hill that looks down on Waitahuna — once, I believe, a busy mining centre, full pi life and bustle and prodigality ; but 'now, indeed, remarkable for nothing "more interesting than a diminutive breed of Chinamen, general desolation, and an annual cattle-show; This, it seems, is par&d&dty for the: Waitahuna Rifles. I

am overtaken by an elderly, civil-spoken man, who carries his rifle slang somewhat rakishly over his shoulder, after the manner of a Cockney sportsman. He wears a long, loose-fitting frock or gabardine, carries his head high, as behoves a soldier, his hat slightly tilted, breeches strapped at the knees, which higher up causes an abnormal growth of moleskin, and developes a boot in which the corps might be [ occasionally exercised for pontoon drill. He is besides highly impregnated with the pungent odours of the stable, which he has just quitted at the stern call of duty, and he looks generally as if he had undergone a long sequestration from soap and water. He explains volubly the mechanism of his rifle, and for my instruction draws what he calls his "bagnet" from its peaceful sheath, and with most soldier-like celerity attaches it to his rifle, all without accident or shedding of blood. He is withal a man of thews, who might be relied upon to deliver an effective bayonet thrust, which, according to I ancient orthodoxy, should be somewhere j in the small vicinity of the third rib, counting from the top. But jonder stands the village hostelry, ever open to a i plethoric purse, the which I enter and j regale myself moderately, as becomes a man and a Pilgbim.