A TRIP SOU'-WEST.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 105, 3 May 1875, Page 2

A TRIP SOU-WE ST.

No. 111. Thebe is no accounting for taste even in the matter of the choice of a place of residence. The residents of Hokitika think their (own much finer, and their climate infinitely superior, to Greymouth. But the dwellers in the latter place consider Hokitika far behind them in every respect. And so in some things no doubt they are. The streets of Greymouth are wider and cleaner, the town is more picturesque, and there is an air of business life and activity which Hokitika 6eems just now to lack. The gasworks at the Grey have supplied the inhabitants with the means, of which they have not been clow to avail themselves, of laying their footpaths with aßphalte. When will Nelson do this, and relieve us of the gravelly grinding abomination, dear to shoemakers and only too dear to the wearers of shoes ? As in Hokitika so in Grjymouth there are innumerable public houses, but, speaking generally, of a better class Then there are the extensive stone protective works, which give an appearance of permanence to the place, and the railway to the Brunner mine, now all but completed, and which has been constructed at an enormous cost on the wrong side of the river so far as an amateur can judge. All along the line there are heavy stone walls to keep the hills from slipping, and, if they only stand, no doubt all will be well, but one cannot avoid grave misgivings as to the solidity of the foundation on which they, are built, and, if this be faulty, down, some day, will go walls, railway, and al). The Chinese live mostly on one particular quarter of the town, and are said to be quiet and inoffensive, and very fond of music. I had the felicity of bearing a sort of concert. Three Chinamen playing each on a onestringed fiddle at the same time was the delicious musical treat their countrymen crowded to hear, and seemed thoroughly to enjoy. I cannot say that I did. The pleasure of living in Greymouth is greatly marred by the occasional bursts of icy wind that come rushing down the gorge, and I think if I were a business man there I should advocate building a foot bridge over the river, and set up my household goods in Cobden, which is a veiy pretty place, and completely sheltered from the gorge wind. The drive from Greymouth to Ahaura is- at first along a hilly and dangerous road, but the scenery for the first seven or eight miles is enchanting. One sees at every turn beautiful sketches of the Grey river, with the bright green patches where culiivation has been carried on for some years, ut;d the coal barges moving up and dcwo, or here and there stuck upon n sandbank, give life and interest to the prospect. 'Ihe road hos been well metalled and formed both from Greymouth and from the Ahaura to the Arnold river, the boundary of the two provinces, which is crossed by a bridge owned by a private person, who has a protection for it. It is not nearly rotten enough yet for. the Government to think of buying it, and bo, for crossing, this little bit of a somewhat leugthy road, the public will have to pay black mail for some time to come. The number of miles from Greymouth to Abaura by the new road is twenty-one; the number of publichouses along the said road is twenty-four, how they all make a living is a mystery. In one place there are three all in a cluster, and yet they all looked clean and respectable. We stopped at the tree which marks the spot where poor Dobson was so foully done to death by those wretched Thugs, who, met a righteous doom in Nelson, but not ue- ' fortunately until other good fellows like Dobson hud perished by their murderous hands. From the Arnold to the Ahaura the road is cut through the bush; there is nothing more to be seen of the river, and the track is exactly similar to that from Greymouth to Marsden. The township at Ahaura is prettily situated on n terrace overlooking the river. At the foot of the terrace, and I should think in flood time at a rather dangerously low level, is an extensive clearing on which have been erected the convent and schools, which I waß told, had already cost £1400 although they are not nearly completed. It seems at first Bight an odd place to have selected for such a large establishment, but Ahaura is very centrally Bituated for many surrounding diggings, so perhaps there was more wisdom in the selection of this locality than most people would think. At the convent 1 found the simple, plucky, high minded Father RoMand whose name in connection with the Maori war is " familiar as a household word." There is no hospital at Ahuara, but the lady superior is about to open a sick ward at the con* vent. This lady was one of that band of devoted women who went out to the Crimea to nurse the sick and wounded of our gallant army, and her experience will no doubt prove of great service to (hose who need medical assistance in the neighborhood of Ahaura. The Church of England parsonage stands upon the slope of the tei race and is a very comfortable building. There is as yet- no church but subscriptions are being raised to build one, and there was a rumor of an extensive hoarding school beiug opened under the auspices of a Nelson lady. These two large educational establishments ought to go for to make Ahaura au important place. There are not so many hole's as in other places, but there is of course " Gilmer'fl, as there is in every othertown, nearly on tho West Coast ; in

facf, "Gilraer" is quite an institution iv those parts. His hotels are many, ihe proprietor seems übiquitous, and he keeps them all in good style.