AGRICULTUBE ON THE GREY.

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 198, 20 April 1867, Page 3

AGRICULTUBE ON THE GREY.

Jr '?'■-'■ ■ ■ II •;( (PROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) 1 I ■ § Little Grey Junction, April 16. \ I I ie diggings in this, portion of the j 1 60\ ltry being virtually at an end, owing f to ie almost entire depopulation of the i I $is ict, there are few topics of interest in , i po: Lection with. mining matters to dis- i ipo 3e upon. It may therefore not be " m out utility to describe in fuller detail , ih I have yet done the agricultural : vc« bilities of this part of the province, ; ; f|v»i the Government by some of their laMiGfcs seem desirous of throwing open I ftßccnpation, To do this in due order *»-ill just take a ride Hp from the yßira Township to' this point, looking ■^Bdngs on each side of us as we jog Cfßr. The. Ahaura lias been already 9y well described, in my own and your JH 1 correspondents' letters, as consisting aye long straggling street of some score jtt) of wooden or iron buildings, includHabout sixteen so-called " hotels," of Bredt grades and pretensions, and Wit which the inosfc remarkable circuinHce is the speculation as to how they »efc a living. The Ahaura River here X into the Grey, and it being "the culJlatiiig point of the boat traffic, it was fflßio " good old times" of a few months we a bustling and busy place — long Hngs of pack-horses leaving it, loaded Hi goods every morning, and returning 'loaded in the evening — the drivers of I said horses passing the night in the ■•nship and disbursing a considerable ■re of their handsome earnings in obblers," and. other comforts for the er man, and requiring au infinite nuinof " water-tights" and other exterior irnmeuts, which accounts for the : irishiug asppGt of the c( Souter Johnny;" ile the requirements of so many horses nd ample occupation for the two blackiths. But alas ! and alack a-day ! all s is sadly changed, the poor little town 5 fallen into " the sere and yellow leaf," \ idle storekeepers now lounge listlessly their doors, watching, with hungry es for the eagerly expected stranger, 0 so seldom comes, and whose advent en it does happen is chronicled as a smorable event in the long and. weary yof the much bored Ahaurians. Tlie ief storekeepers, Messrs Abbott and ujk<v4are about to clear out, and the j£js placarded with announcements ■Big off at prime cost," the rattle Kd balls is rarely heard at Antonio's ■and most of the " publics" are in "*' l>f fiieavly complete decadence. The ■wurce of the placets now from the /Bau. amount of packing to Duffer's, Wfnd Teviot GuJfpi, and for the 'Moifthe few who are'kill working up ■btle Grey and about the Saddle. ■ isf a considerable and very pros- ■ population in Moonlight and ■.•'sjGullies, which dehouchent on the '■^s&le of the Grey immediately Mtefbutthe township derives small '■tffrom this source, on acgount of jmnjiplies being almost entirely derived 1 ■G|&ym.outh and landed at the month '/■foomight. Creek. There is also some ; ■cdfinand for the supply of a few Jjßtiijswho are .-at work up the Ahaura ,«p-«i',Mit most of those who are getting Ky I,'oJ i have either boats or canoes, get . Kick | rovisions. mainly -f\om down the m['w: ai stl take it up themselves. NeverJahebs^the bntchers and -cattle dealers ■Pseci.l My entertain large notions of the M ca]i:ici^r of the good people to devour beef m ami ifhtton, as there are no less than iX,tlnt;cMutchers established in the townf 'ship wlio. carry .opposition to the point of "\rei!uqmg the price /of beef to eightpeuce i»--i NflFyl anothei\enterprising individn-il of rhejpame Graft tails oxon in Duffer's Grllyjfsome 20 miles away, packs it down an 1 actually sells it at L 3 the cwt. Leaving the township, we cross two or tlne|?wide-spreading beaches that suggest vi<-ijef notions of the erratic current of the rkir in times of flood, and the extent to -.iv'iifch it now appears as a stony and arid thsert. These occur at intervals, between ifntchcs of small scrub and occasional Noises that have quite the look of artificial jpidflocks, offering capital feed for a good ■iinaiiy wandering horses belonging to packers,' and turned out here to get their own living. They seem to ffed a tolerably good one, as they arghnpst of them sleek and in good case, iamng the sore back, whicli is the chronic cQJfditioh of these unfortunate animals. ■\V<s have entered upon the land of the 1* «c ruii or station, which is distinguished A fthe map by the euphonious cognomen ( Ohinetikitiki, a wovd that seems to 1 zzle the best Maori scholars and even 1 Maories themselves, to divine its gin, as there are none of them able to plain the meaning of it. The most obable guess is that it may be the irthen or fag-end of some old song in raise of some famous damsel of those arts. However that may be it is popularly howii as Freeth's or Pike's Station — the ornier gentleman having originally taken p tlfe land, and. the latter having bought Jroin him .about three years ago. The rtion of the run on which we now find pelves, comprehends about 7500 acres, lending over the triangle formed by the iyjatfi. Aliaura rivers, and continuing \Sb{r thl banks of the former stream for imfcteifimiles. From the Ahaura townt. fel;\4ew 3 a very P assaDle llol ' se tl%ack i % /tejeU iuf imes of flood, which, with but I -lie trmble, could be converted into a my; roafl%s far as this point, the junction H<lthe little with the main Grey. It ■■s'ijjfrp s o er a continuous flat, with only 'Wm ci eroile and a halfjof bush that |ajull 1): at all formidable— the Totara fusl -wiich consists almost entirely of •fiea\ y timber, wherein a go.bcl sound road Ifcroull riot be very troublesome or costly §0 make. Four miles from tho Ahaura l|ve reach the homestead, and the country, thitherto confined between the two rivers, ■opens out on to aflat of very tolerable grass ■of about a quarter of a mile in width, fcbunded by the almost .precipitous wall »f a I .hi«'li terrace. On the top of this merrace is a beautiful and extensive plain, •heltered like an .amphitheatre by bush, »nd abounding with rich feed for cattle. flff is 'ia't present dotted by considerable Werds of beasts, whose sleek appearance «yes unmistakeable token of the succulent Mature of the natural gi^-that;'clo|;lies Vie wkole surface of this elevated table ]Hnd At 'some mile and a half across pie K : a sheep path crosses jinto a deep ■mantic gorge, through wSuch brawls mid ■mbles, ja- large rapid c£ek, or .rather Him* Ivor, that forms I .feeder of the ■auAancl some W^jH^ jm, the yrf-

metal. On rising the opposite bank -a much more widely extended plain than the former one stretches before us. It ( contains many thousand acres, aud although a good deal intermixed with rushy t swamp, flax, and fern, is perhaps the most \ valuable part of the run, now that, by the j recent action of the Government, it lias \ been thrown open to the agriculturist or ] sheep importer, as it is across tliis flat that 1 the_ so-called Government road passes, ( which forms the only available track for bringing sheep overland from Nelson. The traces enter the bush at about five miles from the afore-mentioned creek ; and of the horrors of the "Middle Peerage," hence to Starvation Point, I shall have a few words to say, when you can find room for them, showing that the much-lauded Nelson Government is * not more immaculate than its rivals in the ' matter of road making. l ' ■ ■ ii • t