Traveller. Three Weeks in Southland, N.Z.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1961, 31 January 1885, Page 2 (Supplement)

Traveller. Three Weeks in Southland, N.Z.

Bx Frank Mohlkt.

(CoKTINrP.D.) Ahot t two o'clock on Monday morning I •woke to find the ship going along, at apparently bait speed, in calm water. When I went to bed we were steering east, a quarter north, and it was blowing a good stiff breeze, with the sea sufficiently rough to be unpleasant. Looking out of tbe port-hole in my cabin, I could distinguish a light upon the part bow, and I immediately came to the conclusion that we were steaming along the west coast in a southerly direction. Striking a match, I consulted my pocket compass, an instrument which never, or hardly ever, lies ; and this blessed and generally truthful machine indicated that we wero travelling north-west. At first I did not know whether to lose confidence in my captain or my compass ; when the happy ! thought occurred to me that I was lying within iix inches of the side of an iron ship, a fact quite sufficient in itself to account for any eccentricity on the part of a magnetic needle. Then my confidence in Captain Popham, which was barely ahaken even by the mute appeal of the erratic needle, returned ; and I went to sleep again. ' When I got on deck, about 7 o'olook (after vainly trying to fill the bath with sea-water for a final dip, and failing because, as tbe ■teward informed me, the ship was going too •lowly to pump the bath water), I found that we were making for the Bluff, and leaving behind us a ghostly looking mountain range, ■hooting up grim and blue from the blue sea. This Bnow capped mountain range, whiob melted away in tho distance to the southeast, is Stewart Island. To our right lies Iluapuka Islands — at least I suppose so — as when I pulled out & map and said, in authoritative tones, " that is ltuapuka Island," nobody contradicted me. lam tired of asking geographical questions from gallant tars who, scorning to display their ignorance always answer me promptly, but no two answer alike. So whether tho lighthouse that I see on the starboard bow is on Iluapuka Inland or on the main land, your deponent sayethnot. The Bluff is somewhat disappointing to me , but that the mental oondition is subjective rather than objective, is evident from tbe fact that Dr. M. is highly delighted with it. He expected to see one thing, I expected to see another. The Bluff has bettered his expectation . it has fallen short of mine— that it all.

The Blnff is a bold hill which drops down not very abruptly to the sea. It appears from the deok of tho eteamor, to be of volcanir origin ; And where the waves have prevented the growth of vegetation the black rocks, laved by tho vrators of Foveaux Strait, appear to be basalt. I don't Bay the rock it i basalt, beoause I oonld got no authentic information on unch a point on board the Arawata. Of course I could have got information of « sort. For infitance, if I had said to tho captain, or any other gallant oflicor : "Arc those rocks made of soft soap ? " he, in default of knowing anything abont it, and in order to be polite, would have promptly answered : " Yes." The cottages we see near the nhoro doubtless belong to tho customs officers, whonc boat, containing tho health officer, is jn«t pa-" ing that toy lighthouse fixed upon a "ort of jolly boat and moored a few chains from the beach. The health officer's fnnotioni are, it appears, to oomc on board and hare a dridk with tho raptams and go away again. Turning round a point on our left we come in sight of the nhipping backed by tho mountain ranges in tho distance , and before very long we are moored at the wharf. It h worthy of note that we are accompanied by a flock of pretty sea-gnlls; and ono, to show hi* confidence in us, perches upon tho main mast, and there remains for gorn« fcim<\ a happy omen of a happily conducted voyage. There spemi to be a plontifnl lack of porters at tho Blnff; and tho only one immediately available was at once collared by the doctor, whono eye teeth having been cnt for a oon* aiderable number of years before the reflt of ns were born, gives him a wonderful advantage. Howevor, a porter at laflt raado his appearance with his barrow ; and putting our luggage on that primitive vehiclo we made our way to the office of the customs. Not without oertain misgivings as to contraband goods we opened our portmanteau, first of all making a virtue of necessity by stating that we had therfin a box of special cigars for oar own private aso. We had no trouble, however, on this head, as the officer very civilly informed ns that as thoy were for private consumption they were considered as luggage. As the train itarted from th« Bluff for Inveroarg'-U at 8 55, we immediately took our eeats, paying St. 7d. for a ticket. The flnt view of New Zealand obtained en route from the Blnfl to InvereargiU, has a rather depressing offeot, as the entir* distanoe of 17 miles lief through low, twampy country of a very poor character. Clnmps of New Zealand flax and manuka scrub, intersperaed among swampj tussock grass, varied with occasional belts of weather-worn trees of a very desolate looking, dissipated sort of appearance, are the principal featurei of the outlook. Bat the oountry, bad as it appears, must have some little value as pasture, judging from the appearance of the stray cattle and horses grazing about, and apparently picking up a good living under very unfavorable conditions.

IMVBROARQILL. On our arrival at Invercargill w« had a pleasing indication of the independence of the Australian working man ; for, on politely requesting a railway employ £, whom we supposed to be a porter, and who, certainly, had not yet risen to the dignity of a guard, to take charge of oar luggage, h«! replied, in tho scrliest possible tones, that he had nothing to do with it, and stalked on to his more oongenial labor of cleaning window?. Having at length convinced a little man that we did not want an " Express " to drive us to the Albion, a distance of three hundred yards, and that a dab wonld ho quito sufficiently grand for ns, we were allowed to take our seat in a dingy looking hansom ; and tho half-bred plough-horse in this ancient and remarkable vehiole cantered the whole distance to the hotel in tho unprecedented time of two minutes and a half without once stopping to take a rest. It may bo here m«ntioued that the hacks and H B h* harness hones of InvcrOftr gUi are not very ntriking animals, although they may be good, usefal weiplitcarriera. On the other hand, the heavy draught horses are very good, and are not inferior to animals of a similar description in any of the colonies. Tho streets of Invercargill are broad and handsome, and are laid out in parallelograms north and south-east and west. The names are all excessively Scotch, and almost every man you meot is a Scotchman. __ My hotel is situated in Dee street, tho continuation of which to the south is Clyde street. Turninc the corner, yon are in Tay-street. Then you have Forthstreet, Ness-street, Doon street, Yarrow-street, Tiviot-street, Et-trick-street, and so on, ad inlmitum, until one begins to think that any street daring to flourish under any other than a Scotch name ought to be ashamed of itself. The railway to Punedin runs along Tyne-stroet, to the south of the Public Gardens Iteserves, through which a burn ripples along, which a courteous vray-farcr told me was called I'uni Creek. Hero, as elsewhere about Invercargill, the Pinux Imignitt is conspicuous by its healthy and luxuriant appearance. A feature of Invercargill is tho tramway which runs along the principal streets, and appears to be of considerable utility, and is devoid of the excessive ugliness which mars the steam trams of Sydney. The trams of Invercargill are certainly not pretentious, but they are useful ; and if they only have one horse, he generally goes along at a fair speed, and the tram-car, capable of holding IB passengers, seems to be fairly patronised. Thanks to the courtesy of a gentleman to whom I had & letttr of introduction, Mr. Carswell, of Carswell, White and Co., I had the opportunity of being present at a sale of stock, -held at Wallace Town, eight miles north of Inveroargill. We started about 11 o'clook in the morning, with five in a buggy. The two passenger! on the seat behind did not start exactly at the same time as the rest of us, for the first plunge of the horses (one of which was a choice apeoimen of a half-broken colt, handed over to his client by a livery-stable keeper in order to have his education completed)" resulted in landing the back seat of the buggy and its occupants in the mud. However, no bones were broken, as they landed in a soft place, and we speedily made a fresh start. The road to Wallace Town is along Dee-street, and the tramway follows the same direotion for about two miles, where it abruptly terminates. Nearly all the older houses in Invercargill and suburbs are built of wood, although the banks, tho publio institutions, and the principal plaoes of business are built of brick, and oemented. Thero is no building-stone in the immediate vicinity of Invercargill. The prinoipal building timber is Totara, which is a hard wood, and is used for somewhat similar purposes to the stringy bark and rod gum of Australia. The red pine, the native name of whioh is Ilemo, is used for the finer parts of the buildings, and is a beautiful timber, with a fine grain, and capable of taking a high polish. (To be Continued.)