RECLUSES OF THE SOUND.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 448, 14 January 1909, Page 3

RECLUSES OF THE SOUND.

The Call of the Wild.

Christchurch, January 10.

Mr R. M. Lang, describing in the Press the recent visit to the Sounds of a number of Christchurch residents, writes “ Those of us who went ashore at Bishee Bay met a former teacher of the Dunedin Normal School, who leads a hermit’s life on a little island several miles inside of Puysegur point. For some twenty odd years he has lived by himself chiefly in this sound, and has now lost all desire to visit the outer world. Before his arrival here he spent a few months on an islet not a mile in circumference at the junction of Thompson, Smith, Doubtful and Bradshaw Sounds, and it is now named after him, Seymour Island. “ The Sounds have always had an attraction for the recluse or the solitary prospector. Sutherland, who now keeps the accommodation house at Milford, and after whom the great falls are named, spent years alone prospecting and exploring. Docherty, who long wandered about Preservation and Dusky seeking for minerals, and died suddenly in one of the Sounds, was another example of. the wanderer who shuns the life of the town. Mr Henry, the former Caretaker of Resoluticfn Island, and now at Kapiti, also belongs to the same type. “ At Dusky Sound we met Lieutenant Goldfinch, the present caretaker of Resolution Island, and his wife. The latter two montns ago, in a brave attempt to join her husband, walked from Orepuki to Preservation Inlet. Becoming exhausted on the way, she took shelter while her guide sgught for

help at Preservation Inlet. He left her protected from the storm in a hollow tree, with a fire in front of it. Unfortunately the tree itself caught fire,’ and to avoid being burned she had to leave it and spend the rest of the night exposed to the inclement weather. On assistance arriving she finally reached Preservation Inlet, and from there was able to join her husband by boat.”