FROM WELLINGTON SOUTHWARDS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1775, 24 February 1888, Page 2

FROM WELLINGTON SOUTHWARDS.

NOTES OF A TRIP BY CRAW LINN

Some months ago we, that is self and a compagndn de voyage, whom I will call "Jack" for short, Ip.ft tho great Empire City, and took our paeaagoa In tho " Pangalu " for Pioton, The trip across Cook's Stral a and up tho Sjunds, was m at en joyable. It waß evening whon we arrived and took .the little port by storm as it werr, for the hotels could not wall ncoomniodato up, and It became a oaao of shakedowns with some of na for the night Jack, with hia usual luok, got a good room all to himself, and the next mornlog we proceeded to Blenheim, the capital of Marlborough. It is a. very pretty town, but Bubjaot occasionally to fbodp, m conaequenoe of the Walrau and Opawa rivers overtiming their banks— if they have any — then tha Inhablt-mta of Blenheim go about m boa's a la Venice ; bat it is a prosperous little plaoa, tizd 'the land around produces splendid barley and hops. '. he prinolpal brewer, Mr D jdaon, la alao the member foe the distrlot, and io an old resident. Mr Redwood, of raoehoraa breeding fame, haß his home near, and several other gentlemen of horsey inclinations. It ia a pleasant spot altogether, < and one of the beat show towns m the oolony. For eximple, St. Leon's olrooa, at „ raoent vlalt, took soma £7^o out of the plaoo m fonr nii*hta Hsre Jaok oame to a little grief with a pony named " Butterfly." He wont a tr fl * too near him when he was feeding, and tho pony grabbed him by the arm ; Jaok got away with the lose of h<a ooit sleeve, and tho language he uaod was far more pagon than parliamentary. «• Bu>te*_y " Is only sixteen yeara old aa to time, but a hundred and sixteen m villainy. From Blenheim we journeyed to Pioton by a n earl 7 level road, and en route stayed to water the horsas at the scene of tho Walran mas. aacre ■ there Ie a small cemetery on a bill with a oross oo tbe top to commemorate the event. At Pioton we took steamer fer NelaoD, and were rewarded by a view of some of the moat beautiful scenery m all New Zealand, the steamer dodging about amongst lovely ialanda till we o.ma to the French P_sa. This is a handy place to fall overboard, if anyone is m a harry to get to *' kingdom oome." There is not

the slightest chance of his journey beta? Interrupted. The water bolls and rushes at a fearful rate through this Pass, bat there is suchaklnd of anake likefaaoinatlun about it, that one feels almost inolined to jump m and find out the grand secret qulok. We were only a few hours getting to Nelson, that is tbe porr, and Jaok and I walked from the port to tbe city, " the Sleepy Hollow," as it la called. Sleepy or not, it is tha moat beautiful little spot we have aeen yet, and we liked the people aa mach aa tbe place. Girla here abound. , and suoh pretty onea, five oat of every six we met wore downright pretty, and Jack a got quite Intereated, We found out that tbe cause of ao many girls ia that the young men go away to other parts of the colony to get their living. There is no land to support the people, that is, no

agricultural laud, 'except" one patch, the Walmea, a plain juat outside the city. We drove through it, and Jack sang, " Oh, would I were a boy again." The oountry pat him m mind of his native country In England, green hedges, traes, and level roads. We bowled along through Stoke to Rohmond, where we palled up to water the horses and talk to the landlord. This old identity seemed perfeotly satisfied with the quletno3s of the district. He said, " We' have got acouatomed to it ; the only start Nelson ever got waa the Weat 00-Bt ru_h ; that relieved as of all our surplus atock, and waa a good market for our produce for a time, bat it fell off, and we dropped baok into our old quiet habita, and we are not nnocmf or table." Indeed, they nted not be, the climate ls charming, fruit ia abundant and seems to need little cultivation. Fiah are plentiful too, here, and we bad real eolea one morning at breakfast. Onoe this little spot of earth was very muoh given to horae racing, and there is a good oourse at Stoke, about four mllea from town ; bat the hotel at the roadside is not what it uaed to be, we were told, m days gone by, AU the way from Richmond to Fox Hill, 25 miles from Nolaon, the road is level, and there are pretty farina all the way. We called at Brlghtwater, the scene of the priaa firing, and got some lunch at an old-fashioned inn. There ia a small village here inhabited by girls— pretty, of o mrae — and Jaok Baid,' '* Suppose we Btay here altogether, and start farming 1 " There was more difficulty still at Wakefield, a little farther on, for the village was larger, and the girls still more plentiful, and (If possible) even prettierFox Hill is a place of resort for tourists now. There is a veiy good hotel here and ln the season some splendid shooting. This is a bash country aod there are several Bawmillij. The population has been steadily Increasing, supported entirely by the timber industry. Thero Is a sort of road from hero right to tho West Coaat whioh I travelled yeara ago, bat on th is occasion we returned to Nelson, and m the evening obatted with some of the old Identities. It seems that Nelson ia —according to theae authorities — peifeotly teemtng with oopper, silver, coal, and gold, though the laat ia of the leaat Importance There ia no doubt abnnt the copper, bat the Dan Mountain fai v c m the early days frightened all the Nelson men, and the hllla all roand are felt untouched ln consequence — But a time will come when "Sleepy Hollow" will wake up and tbe mountains around itouppcrb hundreds of thousands of poop'e. There are some beautiful English-looking homo* ateada m tho Waimoa. Ie is here that Mr Henry Redwood brod Zjo, 10, and numbera of celebrated wlnuera both on Australian and Now Zsaland turf. Here resided Dootor, afterwards Sir David Manro, the quondam Speaker of tho Houae of Representatives, and at tha present tin c there at c \ number of wealthy people who havo taken up thoir abode beoauae of tho beauty of tho diatrlct and ita charming climate. All the neoasaaries of life are cheap, and the baer ia par excellence the boat m ali tho colonies. The Nelaon hopa ara sent to all the different brewers In New Zealand, and poing through tho hop groundß of Mesßrs Harloy -and Hooper and Dodoon— they aro within a short walk of tho city — wo felt aB if wo were baok m Old Kont again Leaving Nelßon we started overland on foot, (carrying knapsack.-) for the East Ooaat, m fact It was back to Blenheim, but m a very difierent way. We went np tho Maltal valley and crossed tho river about thirty times before wo anoended the mountain of murder fame— ihe Mokatapu — whore thoae roia-reants — Sullivan, Burgess, and Kelly committed thoir atrocities. Here, aa wo wore well prepared | for a oiuap out, J,ok Btopped on some flat grouud on top of a steep aacerjt, and propi;s*d to atay for the night We did ao, and lay Iv the fern, and emoked j \ after our supper, and talked of homo and our boyish days, and came j to tho oonolualon that wo had been moro sini.ed against than sinning, and became so morbilly virtuous at last that J.ck Bald. * l To you know, old follow, that I think overy one would bo better f. r a little more Naturo It oxalta tho mind to lie m Naturo'a bod -the fern, and contemplate the tttrs Ah how much better than listening to the chimos at midnight — how much better aro these innocent surroundings — pa.s the flißk over old man — how much better is it to bacon.acquainted with a country from aotml personal oxporienoo than to study tho geography ot it from maps, to know this glorious climate m downright fact without a houae or human boing within ten miles Thero ia something so independent of one'B ipacics. A sort of who cares? kind of leoling."

Here I felt a heavy drop of rpin — I had been watching a cloud for some time — hut did not wish to interrupt Jack, who went on saying — "Light your pipe, old man, and have a Bohemian Bmoke. What a glorious life the gypsies must have. No trammels of civilization, no dressing for dinner, no slippers, no blessed piano, and no cursed female performers thereon. The Lord forgive me— What'B that T'

Nothing muoh. only a clap of thunder ; then a flash of lightning, presently a few drops of rain.

•• Let's get under the lee of this rock," said Jack.

We did bo, and let the storm go on. We agreed to do that beoauae we had no ■ .means of stopping It. It kept on for j About two hoara, we were wet through and both oar flasks were empty when daylight came. Jack said, ' before I forget It. let me apologiae for the bosh I talked laßt nlgbt, oome on : at leaat we have some tobacco and matches left."

It waß about eleven o'olook m the moaning when we leached Havelook and persuaded the landlord of the Bjllarat hotel to let ua go to bed at onoe and have hot brandy and water. He did not mind, and after we had explained how and where wo had passed tbe night he informed as for oar comfort that the rock we sought the shelter of was the same one tbat the murderers fired from when poor Kompthorne was Bhot. However, it was past and gone, and Jack said be rather liked a haunted rock than otherwise, (it was after hla second g _ss of hot brandy and water though) and he would'nt oare two straws about getting wet through ln a common every-day apot. Then we went to Bleep till evening and bred afamine when we »yoke ap and had a look at Havelook. Havelock ! sprang into existence at tae time of the Wakam.arina gold tush* After the rash was over the little township faded as all gold field townships do, and then revived again aorae few yeora ago, and la now a thriving place, supported by the timber trade of the Poioroua Sound From Havelook we went by way of tbe Kaituna valley to the Wlraaa, crossed the river at Henwlck Town, and then passed through, perhaps the best, or one of the beat, batley-growing aialrlota m the oolociea. The Wairau vßlley barley Is m general r.quaat now, and New Z.alaud beer ia on the improve. It haa at last got rid of the colonial twang— that aheoak flavor bo muoh complained of m the old daya of Viotoria. We only atayed to rest a day m Blenheim, and then commenced our jonrnoy down Sooth. We got to a sort of a chanty whioh had a license to sell poison, on the banks of the Arawatara river. Jack oaraed the ilqaot and tho landlord, and then wa waded aoroaa the river and made for Star borough Station. Thla ia supposed to bb a sheep ran, bat it ia more a rabbit run than anythiog else. We a-w thousands—the ground for miles was a warren. It appears that they oannot poison the peata m tbe summer time on account of the a enob from the oarc-saea, bat next winter a raid will be made upon them. Here hawka are aaored birda like tho adjutants m Calcutta. What, between the batrks and the rabbits the province of Marlboroagh la ln a happy state. Thla la the provinoe where) aoab In sheep was ao prevalent In yean gene by; m fact, there waa at one time not a aonud tUßsook from the Wai an valley right through the Amurl, aoroaa the Hanmer Plains, and away throaga that corner of the Neleon province into Canterbury. We atayed at Starboroogh for tho night and had a pleasant walk the next day to Flaxbourne. . We were escorted by rabblta all the way. They sat up and looked at aa. Weaald, •'Shoo," bat they dld'nt care and skipped about aa if they thought they had a right t. the land. It is pretty rough on the run-holdera. The ekios are nearly valueless now ; formerly there w»b enough profit from them to pay the expenses of killing the rabbltc, ani even then the grass was not taken Into the account, but now— well, it ia awful. Miles and milea of wire netting haa been plaoed upon the fences to keep oar tain cultivations free from them, but ia no nie. Mr Bunny ie m possession of the country, and it aeems Impossible to tub him oat. (to be continued.)