THE MURRAY (NOT OF BRUCE) OF THE SOUTH.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5443, 6 September 1878, Page 3

THE MURRAY (NOT OF BRUCE) OF THE SOUTH.

Each of the Senators whom a sense of public duty and ab-seuce of confidence in the representations of the Government impelled to see personally that the railway from Lyttelton to Dunedin was really opened, aud who left by the Hinemoa for that purpose on Wednesday, was, we believe, before starting invested with a copy of the following route de voyage : LYTTELTON TO TIMAIUJ. The entrance to Port Cooper, or Lyttelton, is marked by Godley Heads, a hold pt-oihou-cory so named after Mr. Godley, head of tho small body of pilgrims who first settled Canterbury. passing up tho harbor, the quarantine island and pilot station are passed on,the left; while the right view comprises the Lyttelton hills, along whose rugged sides may be traced at intervals the remains of tho firet Public Works policy iu this part of the colony. The “roads” on this side of the harbor were not nearly so successful as the “ Bhodos” on the other side, at Puran Bay.. Lyttelton was named after the late Lord Lyttelton, Chairman of the Canterbury Association. It seemed at one time to have a groat future before it ; but instead of that it only has a great tunnel behind it) through which all its prosperity escaped. In the early days, the only line of communication between Lyttelton and the plains was the bridle-path, which may still be seen zig-zagging over the mountain. A good smart walk over that path every day is admitted by the obese to beat Banting hollow. The attractiveness of the surrounding scenery at a score or more of points in the ascent is said to be extraordinary. The steamer moors alongside the Gladstone Pier, so named after Mr. Gladstone, an English politician of some note, who, by-the-by, would appear to have always objected to bo made a peer. Lyttelton has been said by some to resemble Naples, but it will probably be thought more" like Venice, becase it has at all events a prison on one hand. In this establishment is collected the crime of Canterbury, or, rather, so much of it as comes under the severer punishment of the law. The harbor works have mainly been constructed by prison labor. The other leading features of Lyttelton are the Orphanage, far away to the left, the church, tho Colonists’ Hall, and the Government Buildings. Leaving tho railway station, we plunge into the gloom of the Moorhousa Tunnel, formerly known as “the ’ole in the’ili.” This is, so to speak, a burrow between two boroughs, and, owes its existence to the supreme contempt for dirty dollars of a former Superintendent of Canterbury. There was a time when the project was scouted as “ the wildest chimera that ever addled the crazy brain of a demented visionary.” They knew how to sling ink in those days. Now people run through it without a thought, as if it were a work of nature, not of art. It is a curious fact that the same number of posts would suffice to make a fence over the mountain above tho tunnel as to make one through it. Work it out on paper with a pencil, and see if it is not the case. The change from the darkness of tho tunnel to the light of the valley is generally admitted to be pleasing, though it is not easy to say why. The lino presently crosses the Eiver Heathoote at the pretty village of Opawa. The houso in the .plantation on the left of the station is built of stone brought from the very middle of the tunnel. It happened that the strata were straighter there than else- ■ where. A few minutes’ travelling from Opawa brings us to the city of Christchurch, otherwise called “the Cathedral City” or “ the City of the Plains.” Christchurch was so called in accordance with tho plan by which Canterbury was made in the first instance a. Church of England settlement. The whole thing was really an ingenious device on tho part of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who cared no more for the Church of England than he did for tho Shrine of Vishnu, to interest the “ hoelite and bong tong ” at Home in his scheme of colonisation. It was certainly very successful as far as nomenclature is concerned, and tho “ churchiness ” of tho place is everywhere apparent. Even the streets of the city arc named after tho various bishoprics, and its squares after tho Protestant martyrs. Tho best things to be seen at Christchurch are the Museum, the schools, tho public gardens, tho Godley statue by Woollier, aud the artesianwells. A row up the Avon on a fine dry will bo found a new sensation by visitors from other parts of the colony. It is the quiet, the stone buildings, and the deciduous trees, more than anything else, which give Christchurch its peculiarlyßnglish air. This is specially striking when it is remembered that less than thirty years ago it was a howling wilderness of swamp and sandhills, unbroken by any tree save tho clump of native bush at Papanui, long since extinct, and that at Biccartou, now completely enclosed in exotic growth. An Australian visitor recently described it as a nice place, but very backward in bush-oloariug. A caustic public writer once said that tho founders of Canterbury made two mistakes :, tho first being the choice of Lyttelton as tho port, and tho second the choice of Christchurch as the capital. It will probably bo admitted, though, that the settlement has managed very well to outlive its youthful indiscretions. If there is one thing more than another upon which the Canterbury people.plume themselves, it is their ton, and this too is plainly discernible in their local nomenclature. Thus along the line of railway there are found Lyttelton, Addington, Middleton, Templeton, Bplleston, and a, number

of others, each expressive of tho hauteur, ]mr San'/, and jt ns sais quol of the aristocratic pilgrims. ■ .The’immediate suburbs of Ohri*tchurch are densely planted and populated ; but after quitting them the country will be found very dreary and uninteresting for a long distance. One of the fo-.v objects to break the monotony is the Industrial School at Burnham, where the crooked ways of the juvenile larrikins of Canterbury are straightened out. Near this spot the “ Transit of Venus ” expedition established their station, in tho beliefthat the stony plain afforded a good, steady foundation for their instruments. A very slight wobble in a lens makes a difference when tho radius of sight is a hundred millions of miles. long. It was a cloudy day, though, at Burnham when Venus transited, and tho steadiness of the atony plains was all wasted, which. was very discouraging to the atony plain. They will most likely have a healthy young earthquake on hand in those parts when the next batch of stir-gazers come round. The Selwyn and,Rakaia Rivers will probably be viewed without emotion. It was a different thing when the traveller had to cro*s them on horseback, or even in a coach. He took an interest in them, and had a respect for them then, and not uufrequently he became so attached to thoir cooling floods, that when ho once got in he could not be prevailed upon to come out again. Engineers formerly decreed, ex catkedrd, that the Gaterbury rivers could not by any possibility bo bridged. It is nob the only mistake that engineers have made. The town of South Rakaia is mainly remarkable for its hotels. Indeed, if the hotels were taken away, the rest of tho town might be thrown into the bargain. This is the principil habitat of the dreaded simoon, the duststorm of the desert, which occasionally obscures the landscape so completely that the traveller, who is compelled to keep his eyes fast shut, cannot see anything at all. In former days the interval between Rakaia and Ashburton, eighteen miles in length, was the longest and most trying stage in the coach journey ; but now it.is divided by several railway stations. The old song says,—

Let the stcampot hiss till it’s hot— Give mo the pace of the Tantiery trot! ami there may be something in the sentiment on gooil turnpike roads, and when time is no object. It will not hold water for a moment, though, in the case of Cobb and Co., and the bumping, thumping, dusty, dreary plains. Ashburton, -five years ago, consisted of a melancholy little accommodation-house, a blacksmith’s shop, and a police station. It is now a town of two thousand people, and is increasing at the most alarming rate. It is the centre of a vast farming district, and its distance, fifty-two miles from any port, enables it to hold its own as a genuine inland town. In the course of a few years, perhaps, it will ho as large as Manchester, which it is said to resemble ; but then, on the other hand, perhaps it will not. Time will show. Nous verrons. Allez ! The Ashburton also is a : very nice river to cross on a bridge. On the south side of it is the little Town of Tinwald, which- has sprang up like a mushroom within the last year, and which threatens to rival Ashburton itself in the rapidity of its growth. The people of the district found it went against the grain to carry all their corn across the bridge, so they established stores at Tinwald, where they put their produce on the railway. . It is pleasant thus to seo the real progress in the cereal production of the plains, which, until recently, were looked upon as the sheepiest of sheep country, “Wheat and Wool” is now the favorite toast with the Canterbury farmers, just as “Wine , and Women” was with those shocking cavaliers ; or “ A sickly season and a bloody war” with the fire-eating Indian officers. So easily do men adapt themselves to the circumstances which surround them. The scenery between Tinwald and the Rangitata is not exactly picturesque. In fact there is not any scenery at all, except the distant mountains, which are a’ways beautiful. The principal peaks in view from tho railway are Mount Hutfc, Mount Somers, Mount Peel, and Mount Pour-Peaks, the Rangitata River running out between Mount Somers and Mount Peel. This river, like the Rhine, has its legendary lore, which makes it the abode in olden days of an aboriginal myth named Rangi. This deity, or demon, or whatever ho may have been, the legend represents as a highly-cultivated personage—a regular swell, in fact—and when the first bullock-driver disturbed, its ancient solitary reign, he was so shocked by the language of the intruder that he wished him a graceful .farewell, and vanished from the earth for ever. That is why the river is called the Rangi “Ta-ta!” It is admitted that just a shads of’ doubt rests on tho authenticity of this derivation, but it is at least as probable as many that are readily accepted. The Rangitata Inland is a cheerful spot enclosed between tho north and south streams of that river. It is not exactly the place where one would go to mingle in the maddening crowd, or plunge into tho whirl of gay and thoughtless dissipation. Yet there is a good deal of society there. It is of tho kind referred to by Lord Byron in “ Childe Harold There is iv rapture on tho lonely shore, There is society where none intrudes. Nobody ever intrudes on the Rangitata Island. Two or three miles below the railway bridge is what is called tho lower crossing—one of the most dangerous fords in any of the Canterbury rivers. There used to be an accommodationhouse and a ferry-service there, but not even the knowledge of experienced guides sulliced to take the traveller safely across the treacherous tide. It was here that Mr. Hunt, headmaster of the Tiznaru school, and his wife, and mother, were all drowned together, some three years ago. In times of flood the Rangitata is a boiling torrent, from bank to bank, tearing along at the rate of eighteen or twenty miles an hour. It is quicker to walk ten miles and catch the train than to try to wade it on these occasions ; but the latter course is tho cheaper. It saves funeral expenses. The district of South Canterbury is now entered, and the scenery becomes much pleasanter. On the right, seven or eight miles away, may bo seen the Waibi Bush, and further on Geraldine, nestling under the wooded point at tho foot of Mount Pour-Peaks. The pretty homestead on the north bank of the Orari is a specimen of tho home of the bloated squatter, whom free selection has almost improved off the face of nature. Prom the Orari forward civilisation everywhere asserts itself. The next station is Winchester, which has a good deal to make up before it equals its namesake at Homo in size or beauty. The old-fashioned cottages on the right, just beyond the station, are the homes of a number of immigrants who, when the barracks were over-crowded,, were given £lO a piece in money or material, and allowed to build for themselves. It will be seen that, though the tenor of the arrangement was that they should Have no fixed tenure ,they did very well with their “tenner.” Temuka is the capital of the County of Geraldine, but, as the Counties Act is not in force there, it takes but little interest in it. It contains about a thousand people, and is a considerable depot for the grain trade of the district. About' five miles away to the left, beyond the plantations at Green Hayes, is the famous Milford Lagoon. At present it is not .visible from the railway, but when the harbor is completed its locale will be plainly distinguished by the forest of masts and spars. The two rivers which arc crossed by long bridges immediately, after leaving Temuka are the Temuka—properly Temukaka—and the Opihi, and it is the embouchure of these which forms the sheet of water-which it is proposed to utilize for harbor purposes. The intervening patch of land is the Temuka Island, and tho melancholy group of cottages on the left is Georgetown, a private township, the privacy of which the public declined to disturb to any great extent. On the right is an old Maori settlement, where a few of the dusky lords of the soil still maintain their native dignity. The real name <?f -this locality is Arowhenua, a euphonious word which tho rough-tongued Europeans have corrupted into Elepbanoa. Tho Hue now skirts tho Levels Plains on tho right,’ tho Levels station being marked by adense mass of gum trees, - and the Seadown Estate on the left. This last is one of the blocks bought under what are known as “ Sir George Grey’s Regulations,” at 10s. an acre. To buy land under that' system was better than finding a gold mine. This property was sold a year ago by the original purchaser for £ls an acre. VVaahdyke is one of the chief stations of the New Zealand Meat-Preserving Company, whoso works aro clearly discernible with the naked eye. - The smell of them is generally very clearly discernible with the naked nose. The Washdyke lagoon is a shallow expanse of brackish water, a great place for shooting ducks and pukeko in the season, and for skating during hard frosts. Wo now arrive l the pretty suburbs of Timaru, passing on either side tho residences of tho older settlers, who have nestled down cosily under their own gum trees. After emerging from the narrow pass under the high bridge, the little Waimataitai Lagoon appears on the left, and it was on the rocky point to the north of it that the illfated barque “ Melrose ” was wrecked lately. The viaducts opposite tho pretty gardens of Beverley are the bugbear of nervous travellers, and were at ono time certainly very cranky. Thoy have new been strengthened

and propped up, though, and will probably last our time. A circumbendibus’’coursenowbrings us to the Timaru station, bn the very verge of the Pacific—misnamed, as far as this part o£ it is concerned,'at all events. Jloil nu, thou (Lop and dark blue ocean—roll! Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain ; Mvu marks the earth with ruin - his control Stops with the shore ; upon tho watery plain Tho wrecks aro all thy deed * * *

Timaru is a town of about five thousand people, and is the centre of the largest grainproducing district in the colony. The name signifies-“ The Shelter,” and, as a matter of fact, here was the only landing-place for many miles along this iron-bound coast. This, being resorted to first by whalers, and afterwards by the sheepown&rs of the neighborhood for the purpose of shipping their woo), made it the nucleus of the present thriving town. What is it Virgil says,—

Urhs anllqua fuit • Toni tenucre coloui. In this case, though, the colonists were not of Tyre, but of Rhodes, that family having been the original settlers nt Timaru. Visitors will doubtless look out with interest for the celebrated Timaru breakwater. Let them scan the horizon keenly, and it there aro any clouds hanging about, let them seek in them the object of- their inquiry. The breakwater, iu fact, is yet in nubihv.s. The first preliminary steps, however, have been taken by tho contractors, at a spot a little to tho north of the railway station, and, if sanguine hopes are of any avail, the Work ought to bo successfully completed within a very few years. It must be admitted that there is no instance on record of a breakwater being constructed of sanguine hopes; but, still, whoa all other gifts flew out of Pandora’s box, Hoperemained, and it augurs well forth© darling project of the Timaruvians that, iu spite of all discouragements, they themselves have never lost confidence in it. The best things at Timaru aro the hospital, the public school, the domain, and,the flour-mills. Eor the rest it is in a hobbledehoy state, half-way between village infancy and civic manhood, and is, therefore, not particularly attractive to the visitor, though its own citizens are Wtarmly attached to it. To use a Hiberniauism, the surrounding country is the best part of the town. My task is done, my song hath ceased, my theme Has died into an echo; it is Jit The spell diould break of this protracted dream. Farewell! a word tfiat must be and hath been A word that makes us lingeryet—farewell!