HAPPY THOUGHTS IN NEWZEALAND.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1974, 3 May 1875, Page 2

HAPPY THOUGHTS IN NEWZEALAND.

11. . I find I was wrong when I imagined that the waiter's remark about "working shifts" referred to the miners making their own garments, for he explains it to me by saying .that its another mode of expressing what he calls " working turn about." I see now. Odd I-should hare made such a mistake. "Happy thouglit!" quote Horace to him, Jo, show I'm educated, and say, " Ob.! a case. I -suppose, of naiura volvit vices." (Nature changes, her shifts) eh ? He replies, " Yes," and laughs; though I fancy he docs not quite appreciate the** joke, as he subsequently informs me that/ he doesn't understand French. However," I can't stand here all day; besides, I camo down to. ,see a goldfield; and so I ask the waiter, who is still at the door, if there are any walks about here, lie says, "Oh, yes! if you take, the first turning to the right you can get down to Par— something; and if you take the first to the left you can - get" to Tar — something-." "Which shall it be? Happy thought! toss up for itHeads Par-Tails.Tar—lts tail! Then I go to Tar—. By-the-bye I must get the waiter on my return to spell the name to me, because when I como to publish my work on New, Zealand-it would loot veryodd to be obliged to call a place Tar— with a large dash after it. Happy thought! ; Learn the native language and' quote largely from it in my • books ! I need not be very particular' a* - no one is likely to read my-works-(I like speaking of them in the plural) will be able to tell whether what I write is right or wrong. I start for Tar—and notice first of all what ill-constructed things are the side paths which-serve in-place of pavements. They are made of board 3 with the heads of the nails "projecting? - and if you have on thick boots your toe 1 catches in the nails and' trips you up, .and. if you wear thin ones you are certain to be painfully aware of the presence of the nail by treading oa it and feeling the head' through the sole of your shoe." The roads, too, seem all middle, that is, they are highest in the middle and slope down very much towards the sides, they remind me of a feather bed on which two people have been sleeping and each has gone to a different side-and left the middle unoccupied, so that all the feathers have arranged themselves there in' a lump. There is not much to notice in the shops as I go along, but that doesn't matter, as of course I didn't come to a goldfield to" look at shops.- I can't help, noticing though, that the linen drapers at. the I Thames are men of very kindly feeling, as I see that nearly all of them wish todispose of their goods considerably below English cost. price, which when you come to consider the cost of carriage, &c, certainly displays a consider* able amount. of philanthropy. I proceed on my way to Tar—and suddenly come upon some sort of erection" which is suggestive of machinery, and ; consequently (to my mind) of something to do with gold. I ask a man who is passing what it is. He replies, Association." I wonder, if the whole of the Thames is supplied by one pump; if so, water must be very scarce and hard to get; and perhaps that accounts for the antipathy to it manifested by the red ruffian this morning. I think air this, and ask the man if there is only: one pump at the Thames ? He only laughs, and is going to pass on, when I ask him if I can go and see it. H,e says, " dtn't know," and walks away. I certainly should like to see the pump—it must be a large one; at any rate there will be no harm just going inside and seeing what there is to be seen. I don't see any one at the gates, or I'd ask leave. Happy thought! Go boldly in, as if I came for water. There is not much to see inside the gates; and I have not advanced-very far when I hear, % voice shouting out, .'.' What d'ye want Ther c:? " I don't see any one, and so remain where I am. The same question is repeated, and a man, a relation probably of the ruffian, emerges from his concealment, and comes toward me, and again asks me what I want. I don't like to say Water, because I don't want it; and so say " nothing." - He says, " Then you had better 'hook, it;'" implying, I am."to leave without seeing the Thames'pump. This I do, and resume my journey.to Tar—. The walk is not interestingeach street seems dirtier than the last, and every fourth house either an inn,' or hotel, or public-house. T mean, they all sell something to, drink, but I do not known In what their difference consists, for, except in the name, the Inn might be the Hotel and the Hotel the Inn, and theyj all more or less partake of the characUJJl of the public hcuse, the " more/ probably, predominating—Miners must be ..thirsty individuals. There is not much to see, and I don't like to risk' another repulse by Venturing into any more of these places. I think I shall go back. Happy thought,! Luncheon, and then go to Par—. I return along the same nail-studded pavement, and reach- the Hotel. By-the-bye, what a' capital idea it would have been if Chaucer had made his Canterbury Pilgrims crawl along on all fours on pavements like. these. Any one who had once walked along them in their boots would have appreciated their efforts. On my arrivalat my hotel (or inn), I find the ruffian standing at a window, holding converse with the waiter. He salutes me by saying." Hullo, mister, you .was my mate last night ~ upstairs' wasn't you ? " I think I understand his meaning though he does not express himself well, and I say "Yes." He then asks me if " I'm going to shout!" '• Shout! goed heavens ! what on earth should I shout for "-^-Happy thought! "No." He says, " then he'll shout." I'm just going to put my fingers into my ears, for I feel certain he will make a horrid row, when the waiter explains that "thegentleman.*' wishes me to "join him in a drink. The waiter's notions of gentleman must be extremely vague and undefined. The ruffian says, "well, what is it to be ? " I don't want to drink, but I don't like to offend him. Happy thought—" Anything." He orders two," stone fences," and with the sentiment of " here's luck" empties one into himself in a. .very brief space. Mine makes me cough, but I manage it badly somehow, and the ruffian, who improves on acquaintance enters into conversation with me. ,He informs me that he "has been up "somewhere looking after gold, but couldn't get any, and so has come back; again and intends to go on the night shift to-night. We are here-joined by another "gentleman " who asks my friend if there is anything doing. He then nods to me

(although I hiave never seen him before) and tel Is the •waiter—pointing to our glasses— to fill them agaiu ; and before I can interfere they are filled and partially empted. This one does not make me cough as much as the first one, and some-' how I feel in better spirits and more; talkative than I did a short time ago.: We all enter into conversation; they tell me a great many things, but as they; explain them in language I don't understand, I am not much the wiser. I. finish .my "stonefence" No. 2, and find myself laughing, and I don't know what at; but as it would appear mean to go away -without "shouting" for them, I suggest that I " shout.' X They it appears have no objection, i and the waiter fills the glasses again, being for the third time of asking. Ifeel lively and rather poetical. I know ihere is a hidden vein of poetry in me! somewhere, if I could only discover it. If this is a miner's life its a very jolly one. I feel with each successive sip more poetical. I find myself say to myself. Oh ! a miner's life is a joyous We As he doTi.<i I'fe's s.'veam doth drift, He h;s noiiryg to do Imi to "shout" all day, And at night b.3 does his shift. , ; ■ v Happy thought! Why not write a lot of poems like Bret Harte, in the vernacular, only of coarse, in the' Colonial vernacular,' and make a lot of money. I will; but I must first get hold of some of the miners' phrases. I know two already. Happy thought! Arrange them with their meanings in my note book thus :-— "to shout; " "to pay, for stonefences;" " to work a shift;" to work turn about and add to it daily. I will do so. Somehow I don't feel inclined to go to to-day-Happy thought! Put it off until tomorrow. I sitdown.inmy chair.