LAWYERS AT PLAY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 7, 8 January 1877, Page 2

LAWYERS AT PLAY.

v; - |By C. Y. F.] ? We had for sdme time past deie'ratined, wind and weather permitting, to spend our short Christmas holidays at sea, and accordingly the evening of Christmas Day, 187— found us m Mr R's smart eight ton cutter bound for Picton, tumbling about the Bay in the heavy swell brought down by the strong N.W. wind which had blown all day. Our ship's company consisted of four all told, namely, " the crew "of one, R. master & owner, myself, aud V C. a Hielandman in monstrous sea boots .4 and a red shirt, who shipped at the last ' moment as cook, a billet for which we found him eminently unfitted, for of cooking he did nil, while his eating powers were simply out-, rageous, and as for his thirst— his state of despair when once he slept whilst the dew of his native mountains was being passed round was absolutely pathetic! Picture to yourself a man of a gloomy countenance, taciturn manners, and six feet in his stockings, and you will have a fair idea of our cook. Knowing of old, R's faney a for starvation, a diet which never did agree with me, C. and I had carefully stowed the lockers with all kinds of eatables, and R. did not forget to fill the bottle rack with stores of the dew aforesaid. Alas, so much was it appreciated that for the last two days of our cruise it was ♦ Adani's ale,' we got worse luck, and nothing else. However, without more prologue, we got away, as I began by saying, on Christmas evening, and when fairly, down thelmy r had tea, "C. and " the crew " took first watch, the wind, falling, and the hoat under three lower sails. At 12, R. and I turned out and took charge, the boat off Mackay's Bluff, and the wind very ; light, so we set gaff topsail and spinnaker, ' which helped her along a bit, and with pipes : and a pannikin between us, the four hourssoon slipped past. At. 8 a.m. we were off 1 Wangamoa, a flat calm, and very hot; at 9 it" was hotter still, as bad as I ever felt it in the tropics, so we tubbed all round to cool purselves, and then felt fit for breakfast, when we all did well, especially Cat the plum pudding, At 10 alightN.W. breeze came down, arid with it the spinnaker, and we just, lay our course for the Pass. The wind being very light, at 12-15 we were off Jules' Island (Croixellea), and at 2 at the entrance of Current Basin,, I in charge, all the other hands asleep. At 3*30 we were eating again, not to say drinking, when there were again great doings at that " plum duff." [N.B.— ' Vote of thanks to the cook proposed by C.,' and carried nem. con.] At four the next afternoon the breeze came right aft and strong, and we tore through the Pass on the first of the ebb like a shot out of a gun, setting the spinnaker directly we reached the other side; However, this was too good to last, and 6 p.m. saw us becalmed off Clay Point: . At 7*30 we attacked R.s beef ; at least we should have done so if we could have found it, but a minute and patient search revealed to us the lamentable fact that it had been left behind, so we fell to at a prime ham and yet again did pretty well. All through that night we . lay becalmed or nearly so ; at 4 a.m., " the crew " and 1 being on deckj I thought I could catch a fish off the easternmost Chetwode, which seemed quite dose; and so put to sea in the " Bellerophon," a craft about three feet over all, by, say, two feet beam, and not calculated to make rapid progress in a seaway. However, I tugged away, and after half an hour's hard work found the ship about hull down and the Chetwodes apparently as far off as ever. To go back seemed as bad as to go on, and meant a licking, besides, so I tugged again, and at last found myself close under the most appalling cliffs with a heavy swell rising and falling and roaring /against the reefs and the long kelp on the surface swaying about in the tide. I moored to a string of ifc growing to the bottom in abont seven fathoms, close to the reef, and began to fish, and soon caught enough bine cod for breakfast, but was quite glad when I lost first my . hooks and then line and all, and I cast off and got away. The sea and the swell, the rocks and the cliffs were all so awfully big, that I never felt such a miserable, lonely Jittle beggar in my life. I wondered if a big hapuka had capsized my cockleshell, whether I could have got through 'the kelp or whether it would have held me up until one of the big sharks cruising about down below could get me, and then I looked out for a landingplace but could not see any, the rocks were so steep and the surf so high. So it was a reljef to get away from that uncanny place and find the Gannet under me again. Though* the swell by this time was so heavy that standing on deck was impossible, very soon we boiled the billy and fried the fish, and enjoyed oar breakfast more, I believe, than the passengers on board the Hawea, which passed us just then, though they had tablecloths and silver forks and we ate off tin plates with our fingers. At 10 a.ra., with the help of the sweeps,, we just managed to save the tide off Jackson's Head, passing the dreaded " rip " without any difficulty, aud getting out of the swell, then a light breeze aft sprung up and we set spinnaker, and spun along merrily. Tfce day was lovely and the scene beautiful. For a short while the snow-covered peaks of Mount Egmorit and Tapuaenuku were both in sight at ouce ; the land soon shut out the former, but the latter remained in sight some time as we sailed up Queen Charlotte's Sound. The wind was light and baffling until about 2 p.m., when we were off the island of Motu Ara, and it came down strong and steady, and at 8, p.m. we anchored ft,t Biqton. The natives of the place put off in their boats and gazed at us from a respectful distance as we ate our tea. They appeared to be of a friendly disposition and quite harmless ; they were decently dressed too, and. some of the younger women had pleasing countenances, and were tastefully ornamented with feathers and flowers. ■ Altogether -we were favorably impressed with the inhabitants of that remote and lonely spofc, R, rather imprudently as we thought, went ashore alone and unarmed, while C. and I went together and traded for fresh- provisions, half a pig and a kind of liquor, said to be made in that neighborhood and called by the natives Waipiro. We found it very palatable when mixed with a little water. It. had been more successful, for he appeared : laden w'ijih 'a monstrous kind of pudding much eaten by the natives at this season, which he said had been given him, by one of their principal men. It was a most welcome addition to our store and formed no bad substitute for our own " duff." We slept on board for safety, and got the bqat uqder weigh again with the early dawn, bound for the Antimopy mine 4l> the head of Endeavor Inlet. For some time there was no wind, so we cooled ourselves by a hasty dip over the side, and breakfasted. At 7 $ light northerly wiud came up the Sound dead ahead, and \ye set to work to reach down 5 at 11 the breeze was strong, we got down gaffstopsaii and found it all we could do to carry the three whole lower sails ; at 2.30 we made the Inlet and hoped the breeze would have carried us up, but no. such luck, it c»nje hard straight gut of th(? place, and m furious puffs, so that a band'had to be constantly stationed at the peak halliards. Wherever we turned the nose of the boat, from that point would come the wind, aud.it was not until 5 that we anchored at the head of the Inlet. We landed a few yards in the bush, found smelting works .smoking away, and several houses then only inhabited by the manager and his family. His good wife took ug for sping minef§ who were expected and accosted us accordingly ; we did not unr deceive her, but went farther up to .meet the [ manager who showed us. all that could be sgen. From what we could learn the whole a *F*fF <ft a ?J? e g. n abouj^aa much mismanaged m mjnes usually gr§ Iq, this pacfi qf. the

country. Upon the strength of mere Cindications large sums were spent npon pensive tramway which is fast rotting, ; and smelting works which wouldn't : work,. and now at last they are beginning to do what thej snouldjiave commenced with, namely, findouf wheth|r|there is a real lqde at 'all; there 01 not. The manager's wjfe' when we.eaine oacis was full of sorrow at her mistake, and gave us some excellent tea to make up for it, arid we put off again about 9 p.m. -The nighi was beautifully calm, the Sound illuminated by a moat brilliant moon, the western slopes covered with bush to the water's edge stand ing out bright and clear, the hills on the other side lying in deep shadow, and as we swept the boat slowly along I thought I had never seen a more lovely sighc. We brought up for the night close to the shore, and sai watching until the moon disappeared behind the hills, and then we turned in. Next morning we caught some fish for breakfast, and at 7.20 got under weigh, the wind at first being very light but as soon as we got into the Sound it came down hard, dead ahead, and we had to get two reefs down in the mainsail and 3rd jib oh her quick, and then she run the lee rail well under. This lasted until 3 when we were off Jackson's Head the boat having done some fine sailing, and the wind then fell very light. We 7 passed the Head at 4 under all sail again, and slowly crept up to Guard's Bay, where we anchored in 10 fathoms on the bank, to wait &r the tide. Here G. and I set to work fishing, and our industry was rewarded by the capture of a fine shark. Of all calm and soothing proceedings let me recommend the catching of a large shark in a small boat in the dark, when he comes up with two lines twisted round and round him, and once on board « makes hay "of everything. However, he served us next day for excellent bait. At midnight, the tide having turned, we got under weigh again, but had little; or no widd. and reached the Pass about 10 aim., too late for the tide. We went ashore at Elmslie's where we were very hospitably received, and had.some excellent fishing in his boat; which he kindly lentns. At noon we slipped through the Pass, but got caught in the eddies, on the Nelson side, and had a maunais quart d! heart until we got but of them again, and £hen the weather looking very bad outside we brought up, caught some fish, and moored for the night All night it blew and rained heavily, f a,m it seemed clearer, and all turned out, h"ad s swim fend breakfast, got the dingy on board, housed, topmast, got two reefs down in the mainsail and third jib on her, and with everything snug put to sea. At, 8-10 we cleared the « Beef Barrels ;" experienced a very heavy beam sea, wind fresh, just able to lie our course. At 10 a.m. were off the Croixeiles, the wind blowing very hard, the boat going over the heavy sea like a duck,' and not taking a 1 drop of water on board. '"- By 1 1 a.m. were abreast of Wangamoa, the wind coining, .down in furious squalls, the .bbaf going lee rail under, but behaving, splendidly; at.l 2-5 passed Pepin's Island, and at 1-30 was off the Lighthouse, when we had to heave-to for the tide; the sea was very high and steep but the boat did .well, and at 4.15 we put the helm up, and ran for the harbor, making s close shave of the bar, where there waa only just enough water to carry us over. However, we got in, and so ended, without accident, one of the pleasantest holidays a couple of. lawyers ever indulged in