The Cooey in the Bush.

Clutha Leader, Volume II, Issue 54, 22 July 1875, Page 3

The Cooey in the Bush.

r The morning %fHhe^ih^oFWoh T^ka. on Dunedin in Brilliant magn^nce. Peninsula, which then" 7 show;ed an almost unbroken forest of :pine,! looked grand— its outlines, against the ethereal biue of a cloualess *ky, • showed suoh : ,a :Beries of, .. curves ;j as none but nature's limnpr could produce; while Here and' ihe r re a steep cliff, "or' a sandy, sfieily beacbVa rooky- promonoliory, 1 :or. an in> ; | dented bay, beautified its . plpjiuresque' margin. Dunedin itself looked the very embodiment of peace and content-, ment. Her homely cottages, snugly nestled amongst the flax bushes, fern, cabbage, trees— now in full blossom— and; other indigenous products sfabke of comfort and quiet within, ana rural scenery InvaUing ; that pf continental countries without. The stores and equally unassuming merchants told of a prosperity that was slow but sure j -and of a 'success that ;Was inevitable. Her bay wways y in appearance like some of the land-encircled lochs of our natife land, bright as* a miwor, and. calm as placidity's Sjelf, Such were the weather and cifcum-sta-ae'es which hailed r the "Gala's " arrival at Port Chalmers.. And Iso it continued during the translation of boxes from ths " G&la'''' to the lighter, and the removal of the "passengers to th^ diminutive " Pride of. the Yarrow," which, when loaded with the living freight, looked as if another passenger would send her to the bottom.

The ever-open barracks were the resort of the indigent, and the economi-cally-inclined amongst the passengers > and before each got his or her box, with sundry portmanteaus, kits, bucket's, •frying-pans* boulli-fcins, &c, &c.', into their proper places, there was no little strife. On the following morning when the tumult had somewhat subsdied, and when the most of the young men we>e out sight-seeing, Tarn took- the chance of writing to his v am. true love." -. It rah as follows : —

Dunedin Barracks, 1 — thMaroh, 18. My Dear Jeata, — It is wi' a gratefu' heart that I sit doon tab : write to you' iurbrtn_'' T ye o' oor safe arrival at Dunedin after. * rather stormy and rough passage o' riinety-riva days,' six hobrs, I honp ye got: th© piece o' poetry %' scribbled in yer praise, a* richt. 1 hae af ten thbcht o' oor pairtin', an' sometimes, try tae pictur* tae mysel' oormeetin' m this oor adopted land. I'm deter* rained tiedae my best hrere sac that I oan get ye oot beside mo in a short time. The cakes an' cheese wi' which ye stocked my kist; cam' in very handy on the voyage, an' wad hae ser*d me. the maist o* the road, if * muckle greedy' loon "(confoond his guts ! ) cad Jock Macleod, hadna watch'd me ac day, an' as sune as my back was turned, 'transferred them tae his am wallet. ' Of cporse I kicked up a bit c' a row aboot them, but as the evidence' was purely ' circumstantial (a lawyer bodie in my mess pit me up tae this view) t could dae naething tae him. ; This 1 ianr* ane o' the quietest places tae write in 1 assure ye. The squalliri' b the weans } the fjytin' o' the mithers aboot washinl the floor, an' the hanvmerin's o' the faithers, are bnything but conducive tae peace an' quietness. '...The maist o' the young chaps are etrollin' aboot the toon glowrin' in at the shop window's, an'twa o' them Pat O'Grady an' Wull Scott — hae been marched off tae chokey (jail), bytwa' rough-lookin*' tykes o' Hielan'men, wi' blue shirts on, an' wha haeaa the common dacency tae stap' them inside o' their breaks." •-. That's a sample o' oor policemen 1 an' the way drunkards are ser'd f There are mony queer sichts tae be seen in the toon. The thing that maistly . tickles my fanoy is a muckle fat atofc yoked in a cart ; he's a door-lookin' sccondrel wi' fine big horns ; sac fine that I shoudna like tae get a poke in the kyte wi' them. I ventnr'd tae drive him a short distance wi' a big whup, but in tryin' tae use it, it cam' reestle abbot my tin lugs, an' I was fain tae drap it. ; Dear Jean- -I hae got an offer o' a place wi' the bwner o' the bullock — as he ca's it. He looks a decent kin' o' a body, an' aa if he hadna sixty pence, yet ho offers me £60 a-year wi' rations, i.e. board an' lodgin'. Nane 6' yer xaealan' ; milk diets are seen horeaboots ! na faith 1 but tea three times a day, wi' beef, bread, an' butter -*' ad infineetum." Noo, Jean, my lines hae faen in fleasant places. I'll write often an'- tell ye hoo *m likely tae get on wi' my new maister. \ My best respec's tae Kirsty Gibbs (dinna be jealous !}. Wull Pattie, the plooman ; yer maister an' mistress an' a' the bairns, no > forgettin' a'inqviirin' frien's, an' yer am dear sel'. Frae yer devoted an' leal lover, Tarn Shanks. i\S. — Address my letters tae the care o' Mr John Scroggs, Walker-atfeet, Duhedih, wha is gaun tae keep my kist till I see aboot ma. — . T. S.

The noxt day saw Tarn mounted on the identical cart, propelled by the selfsame stot, wending- his way southwards ; 'through what is now the suburban township of Caversham— -the hired ploughman of John Makpenhy. Tarn, strong, yet active and nimble, a true; stamp of the veritable. Scotchman fed on oatmeal and kail — which imparts a 'stamina, though despised hy \ young "colonial," yet dreaded — was an apt disciple ; frightened at nothing, he. tried anything,- from grubbing in the primeval forest to turning over the virgin soil of the open land, from making a milking-stool to eree.tipg;a;wharry (ofttimes a difficult ta.sk from. the compliqation of styles), from, thrashing 'with; the primitive flailto feeding the pepper box mill, and whatever he -tried he mastered, for his motto was that of the clan Cameron— -" Whatever : men dare they can do ! " Of course, , the change froni slavish servitude., to , eight hours' work out of. the twenty-Tour ; the sub- i stitution "of a variety oPmeals from "'brose 1 brose ! eternally brose ! " and tfre luxury Jof a ; bed under the same; roof with his maister, in lienof* : one ml that ge.ne?ative,hotbed of jimmprtality, ! the bothy,, were. sufficient to, make him !j grateful, t and create within him' a spirit'! of content. ' Yet amid hi's~ good fortune!] he would ofteri' 'fecal- to f _tfnd' formerj: r joys enjoyed Under less (/ auspicious cir-! 'cumstarices r ere his-':jexo4us y from thej -land of bondage,; He r "woul^ruminate? on :the I happ*y,hQur> r spent in the com-j ,BWUi *?£ , Jeannie" Toddr lorhard. labor! x W l m^^m in her|i presei!ce. c? 'The •ehoughfc'ai cthaiir meet 4 tng in^this:countiyicseered him exceed-j ingljj for , then he hoped to be in v tha

position of meeting her, not as a fel]ow-;, "semht^Wliri^ longed for the ■years to pgg when mr hard- earned, gains Ifewiila^^ra^feTredr to Mr ShorFal^^li^clia>ge!'mr' £ta\ equivalent Htf land' f -^B?*i, v nie clay^ drikm would be realised,^and.the^'meT>nanjs would flatten his : vanity /, by : addi*4g Esquire to his name/ '•reß^t now his colpniaT^xpeneride waa seven monthaCold, *^hen he? received > miisive-«thajttjivhi6h^ 1 new chum, there is nothing more dear. If w^s; frbmrJeatf, and ran asrfollows trr w'• w £ w u Mt Dba»^AM,--I received your, Smd arid welcome letter in dae time, an' wm; prood t»e hear b> ye* weelfare. I didna kenwhaur tae look *£*W Tanmas, t y^gn»Wt^iran , Tr««r: I.eouidua yet till I had read it tlwougH^n* through Yer iyeT*^llas>y^;Tanvi I kuchedaa-r grat, -by t^rns at yer funny jokes an' dear-Bbcht ii' parlances. - c." O "•'/.'. ,« •;,'., oj[? f 'V; a-'T'k Dear Tam— "Remember yer vows tae m« an ' yer duty tae God, in"^'^ ~- • --..-. "Lest ia terapUtioiSßpath yd gang^strayj ! Implore His eanaM an ;&x&tui' . I'mwearyin' for the, lime when ance mair ire'U meet in cor adopted sietonti'jd*- naircrniair tae pari «n earth. Oh, Taa! I feef it Whe 'lanmiom© witho*at -j/ei-the ( ihooht that. *yi're 16000 miles awe is \encaoliltb. dhmfonnder Me ; but iho' I'm far af ay frae y*, I ha'en*' heeii left *anprotectit,forJEiafi a rguid -miptsr an' mistress, ' ana comfortable hame. I was hame' »eein' my am f onke at Hansel Monday, an' they're a> weel. My iuaisi^rr.siAd m« thro* days tae. mysel, nor. did he send ma a*7a smpity 'hinded-^he gisd ins! hauf-a°orown to keep mr pouch. Think o' that. Taml'* -- 1 "- .' '"---- -".-t/i.' It maun be a queer plac? New Zealand. I- wad gang a lans. way jtio eejb | coo-be*9^ in a. cart. Bu*^ od Tarn tak* csre o^yerssP whan yer ; driTin , the mnoklo brutes in oate they mayvgie ye a, ding •ri' their ngly horns. Qic thao black wretches— th9JMouries — a wide berth, •Tam.V'lr'ire'Bhou'd fa' a victim tae their murderoias clnba what wad become o'rne. Thi» warld wad be it dreary blank. Bat I boup thasit nae ill wj© befa'.y^j for I dinna forget ye in _my prayers,, an' He has" said, ' " Aik and ye shall rec^ire.'* But noo, deaf Tarn, guide nicht, as it ia late, an' 1 maun be .up .betimes i' the raornin'; for ye'ken I'm aye busy, j Nae mair frae yer afieotionate troo lure, 'Jtkswtk Todd. 7,P.S.rrI araaist forgot to- tell ye-rthis ia a •eoret— that WulL "Pattie and Ohriaty Gjbbt are drawin' thegither, an' I think Its' no unlikely that ye may yet sea them in Otago. '^ilister "and mistress send'their'reepec'».^-J.. T. After reading the letter^seyeral times over, not even* misSiß*^ tne address or the enrelope and theTarioußpostmarksj Tarn planted: it" very carefully in the sejcret drawer of his li kisi,"

| The winter, w^a an. exceedingly wet one, and the roads wer« iikWythfng b\it ajpassable condition; yet'TainHttidged on uncomplainingly, grid in courge of time gpt thorough ns^d to the road that he never once contrasted those' with 'tlie macadamised roads around Craigton. Tarn liad been sledgirig^wheai; „c 9 into Dunedin almost constantly, lor two or tjiree week*, and conseqnenily had been much exposed. to_ tae weather. The labyrinths and intricacies/of the Kaikorai Valley! ind' even the unfathomable hole on Look-out-Point-'-'in which a Maorie on horseback 1 (so. tradition says) had sunk never to rise again. . So bad were the roads in those, days that on 6 o LthjL?etfe wear long feathers in their (hats so that their friends might have some idea of where to seek for them. **; Where now the snorting of the iron horse is daily heard, the plunk, plunking, of the bullocks* feet, and the noise of the fee-tow cracker of the bullock driver's whip, were all that sought to relieve" the monotony (if relief it could be called) of the JDunedin journey. Although the Otago of to-day is further advanced in civilisation -with its concomitant et j ceteris, still as regards^ homely sociality j its motion has been retrogressive. It is true that entertainments are nume- | roua — too numerous to be appreciable ! —-yet their publicity mars' their effect, and stamps them as^ striking contrasts to the social parties which frequently took place during ' the period of Tarn's servitude with ' Mr Makpenhy. Now-a-days the" ballroom is but a showroom where the. ..persons (ofttimes scan tty dressed) of tne ladies are dis-.. played to the greatest possible advantage— a ' living advertisement f6r the milliners and haberdasher8 e of that ilk-r— ,and where tne bust, bustle, "and barbaric !chignon~of course, their own, ic. bought with their own money — are more descanted on than the dance is enjoyed; . , " There's eic parade, sio pomp, sic art. . The foy can scarcely reach the heart.''

Tn those days of blue-shirts and cabr bage-tree hats, the kitchen or sometimes the barn was the scene of their terpsichorean revelries. .The dancers," whose social sym^dthies^ were of the riiost natural order, were devoid, of affectation, and the fulness with which nature had endowed their -pergons laughed to scorn the, artificial ..bolstering qf tq-rday. /-'..To tripat on ,^gllt/•fant-%t^(()-to9, , '' was then the rule, not as now, the exceptlbru Dancing Was then indulged in ai a science, while the action bf those i engaged fiiid. not L.resemble .Aiiirmalj rigid automaton. =.;;The iron rules of etiquette were .disbanded, , and vivacity of, the highest order ruled' the aay.

r .To be continued,