STEWART ISLAND.

Gisborne Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1401, 11 March 1905, Page 3

STEWART ISLAND.

Stewart Island is a charming place an very pioturosquo, as the people of Otag have discovered. Thoy have made it regular summer resort. There thoy basi in the sun, whioh thoy have found to b ns bright, and warm, and pregnant,' am long shining ns in tho most favored parti of New Zealand, and there they ont thi lotus in many forms, but ohiofiy in th( form of tho oystor. Tho Stewart .Islnno I vnrioty is pronounced by all visitors, more I especially by thoso familiar only with tho I oxpoitcd and somewhat stale 'article, to be I “the food of tho gods ” when first taken from its native bed. The necessary “ nectar,” in tho shape of stout,-is not obtainable on the island, but the visitors who havo experience never fail to take it aoroes with them. Sojourners in the Southorn lotus-land have otbor pleasures of the gastronomic order—dairy produoe, what there is of it, being excellent, vegetables and garden stuff succulent, and the humble potato in perfection. They fish they boat, they bathe, and they wander I abont the forests as far as thoy can go, j which, to be sure, is not saying much ; and I in the whole thoy have a wonderful time, I

:y I with rogular intervals of rest in bostelries I ly I that are olean, oomfortable, up to-date, j n j and would be perfeot if they could be I I licensed so to be. I I Tbe island is approached through a I I chain of green islots of charaetoristic and I I fantastic form ; tho coast is indented with I I bays formed by tbe spurs of the main I I range which constitutes tho island ; and I ] I these bays are horse-shoes of yellow sand 1 j and leaping water, set in green frames I j broken by bluffs, with dark forests behind I , J them. There are, moreover, three of tho I . I grandest harbors south of the lino—Pater- j

. I son Inlet, Port Adventure, and Port Pega { I sus. Each of those, it is said, would easily I accommodate all the navies in the world I sheltering them from every wind that J blows. Finest of the three is the Inlet, I some 30,000 acres of blue water lying beI hind its ourtain of islands, broken by more I islands, branching off in three places I among tlje soft, descending hills. AltoI gotber, a picturesque, boautiful holiday | country is this island of Rakura. I It is curious that in this peaceful spot I tbe inhabitants should bo seriously divided I about tho future of their islaud. The I differences on this subjeot wax almost I serious in tbe intervals ’of lotus-eating. I Debate turns on whether the place ought to be devoted to tho tourist entirely,- or given up somewhat to the settler. In the former case the forests will bo preserved, and bird sanctuaries multiplied. In sup- , port there are ancient inhabitants on the isle who over that if you out the timber down it comes up again, and whatever grass you sow dr.es not persist—is not I “hold,” is tboir way of putting it And! truly their heartbroken utterances seem I justified ; for, speaking broadly, the major I portion of the .country is - wet, black peat, I from sea-lino to mountain-top, with a tre- I mendous undergrowth round the forest I trees. I

I On the other hand, the enterprising ones I point to tbe settlements which have been made to smile out of the wet, black wilderness with tho best of pasture. These declare that if the bush is felled so as to let tbe light and wind into wide areas, there will be good burns, and all will go well with the new grass—they point to grass that has flourished many years - and very badly with all attempts of the scrub to return. _ This action of the community is reinforced by the sawmillers. All agree I that the labor of reclaiming from the bush is so great that as yet no one has been able to make a living without the aid of tho sea. All og.ee, also, that the only thing that will encourage the settler to enlightened effort is tho freehold. None is I now offered, as the island is proclaimed a goldfield ihuugh there is no gold. The I Land Commission has a somewhat hard | nut to crack in Stewart Islaud.—Times. I