A VISIT TO TUAPEKA MOUTH. (BY OUR WANDERING REPORTER).

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue II, 2 January 1869, Page 2

A VISIT TO TUAPEKA MOUTH. (BY OUR WANDERING REPORTER).

attended to the business. A ap.dLa Jittie. girl with^a tambovdiscoursed " Bweet melodies " to ft, c great delight of the spectators. Herbert, who" was to have acted as Hyge, failed to put in an appearance •" MLtunately Messrs. Robertson and ■jvans were on the ground, and they B^^ciated to the satisfaction of all. Mr. Hjuchcn, who had promised to act as iljtarter, was compelled to go to town |ll f n Lusincss, tut a most efficient substiKlute was found in Mr. Roscow. il ("The first race was won very easily IlliV a very tidy little mare belonging to |ljj r Roscow" snd the two following ilones were c more £n a wa^ over Hfor t>e only Jumtion horse which ran. ■ Mr. James Robertson's I'reedom, by ' lpiemicr. A protest, ' lodged against IjYccc-oni in the Storekeeper's Plate, ■ irtis almost settled in an entirely novel I and original manner, viz., by means of ■ a set-to between the unsuccessful ■ snd one of tho stewards. After ■ the rac-imx the sports began ; end owing ■to the "high spirits" of all present, I ivcrc not quite what might have been I expected. Donnybrook Fair on a small^ I gcale followed, aiid I was only too glad Ito start up the creek for my friend's I but. " On the way up I had the good I h'k to encounter a Lawrencian — Mr. I Bloxham, who was there on duty as I Lot al Preacher. It says a great deal I f or f}, e energy and pluck of the WesI leraus to provide for the requirements I of outlying districts in this manner. I "Walking up the creek you first pass I ]\lr Brown's cottase, which is surI rounded by a well-kept and highlyI cultivated garden. Advancing onwards, I and leaving the claim of a Chinese I party of eight on the left, the next I place you come to worthy of notice is I I claim recently opened by Messrs. I O'Shangbnessy a"nd party. These were formerly mates with Mr. Lewis, and are partners in the long race known by his name ; but owing to private reasons they have slopped work on the rare, and are now engaged on this daim. I was glad to learn that it is likely to pay well, as they have worked for a long time without any return. A visit to the nest claim would repay a longer journey than from the Junction to the'' Mouth. Seldom, indeed, has more encay, pluck and skill been displayed than Messrs. Yernon and Anderson have shown in opening out^ their ground. T'oeir race is a triumph of mechanical skill, and cannot have cost much under a thousand pounds. It is carried across the creek in fluming, and comes, I believe, from a large Teservoir about five miles distant from ' ihe claim. Thanks to the courtesy of Mr. Vcrnon, I was shown several prospects, and can vouch for the richness of the ground. No person will envy good fortune so thoroughly merited, and all must rejoice in seeing theenterprisinsr proprietors obtaining their well merited reward. The only other claim X visited was that belonging to Hughes and Co. (four men's ground), which has been very shortly opened. The proprietors expect to begin washing this week, and from the prospects I was shown, seem possessed of a very fine property. My first night in a digger s hut did away with a pood may of my preconceived notions of " vouching it," and

I dried up a erood deal of my former ) sympathy wift the " poor miners." ■To I live in aVomfortable house, to eat the I best of food, to be able to vary the I u^ual 1 cef and mutton with nich luxI unes as wild pig and eels may be hardI e'lipp. but for my own part I should I not mind Fufferinjr thus for the term of I in? natural lift 1 . I both felt and saw I one inconven : enco, md' only on<\ I Many caMle have unfortunately been I po : *cned by the tutn s^rub, and their I boflios are left to pollute tV atmoI 8-hero. A s-ent-bottle should be in 1 th". ror ket of every visitor of the TaaI peka Mouth. I I rad intrnded to visit the saw mill R owned by Mr. M'Coli, but as the wind r moderated slightly, I took advantage 1 of tV change in' the weather to turn 1 Old Mores homewards, and_arrived all I * cafe and sound after a rery pleasant