NOTES BY THE WAY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 159, 23 February 1871, Page 5

NOTES BY THE WAY.

(By our Vagabond Keporter.)

I got away from the Arrow at la-3t ; but the tender hospitality of the indigenes there ha 3 nearly been the death of me. " Going to bed " appears to be quite "an exceptional institution amongst this primeval race ; and a brass pipkin, instead jof a stomach, is absolutely necessary for a favoured guest, so frequent and so potent are the drinks. The intended evening extended to a week, spent much as folio^ : — Kxcitad, two days and nights ; " too-roo-100-ral,'' two days and nights ; "suffering recovery" and cursing my fat*?, two da/3. T left at last, c ,vjrtiy, in the dead of the morning. (N.B. — The landlord was in bed, so, unfortunately, I could not pay my bill ; but, through yonv columns, f tlp'nk him for his kindno3S, and " wish he may get it.") The hateful hor3e I also abandoned to Im fate — whether sausages or sale, i caro not. His owner can recover him by sending over, paying his and my bill, and his own expenses. With <;omo difficulty i climbed up on a sort of wooden tray on whoeJs, denominated and charged as a coach, and drawn ny two attenuated beasts, whose special object appeared to be to get and keep as far away from tho pole as possible, We started, In my usual affable manner I conversed with tho only passenger. '•Fine d?..y," said I. "D-d sight too tine, I guess," says ho; " wait till you gat into the dust." He:e was a chance. i h<id evidently fallen upon a nugget— an American, sure to be full of witty anecdote. He turned out, I may say, to b 3 a failure in this way, being entirely and exclusively interested in these detestable elections, and bein.^ totally devoid of conversation, except about Keid, Shepherd, and the dust. He was good enough to expound to me, at length, hia political crved, which appeared to consist in a seiioa of showy negations aud premissless conclusions. Having, to my disgust, congratulated me that 1 should arrive at the Dunstan in time to partake of the fun (?) of the election, he t>roc3eded to discuss the candidates much in this f>whion. The Arrow hospitalities have slightly siiucl<*ed the "tablets of my memory" (Shakespeare), so 1 can only give the substance, not the ipsissima verba (i.e., "the very words.") What do 7v r ou thiuk of that quotation, eh?: — "Eraser's a sort of rickety coon, politically ; and I guess he " antys up" pretty considerable smart when Old I'ararod gives the word of command. He's a squatter, too, and they're the curse of the cnimtrv ; the miner* wont have 'e.n at any pruj. 'Than there's Honest John. I wonder what he's a doing of to-day, at Bannockburn. I hear he'll only get Old Burrowes At th^ G- -rge. He's a useless old. cuss is Honest John, and wastes hjU time coming lumbering up hero. Then there's the little cockatoo Mervyn. What blessed good has he ever done tha district '{ Ils'd a useless s >rt of a skunk, he is ; darned if he aia't." Here I ventured to interrupt, "None of these worthy candidates seem to please you. May 1 ask whether you are the happy possessor of political privileges on this occ-ision ?" " Shepherd's my man," says my Columbian friend. " lie's a man for the people, commonage, smiling homes, no — " Here f interrupted, " I have seen the posters," said I, uin the district we have just left ; therefore, further quotation will be tedious and unnecessary." " I shall give him my vote," says he. " Vote away," says I. " And we'll put him in." " I hope so," says I, "for if he is out, the public will be deprived of a great treat, and the Council H ill will loss half its charms if that bursting eloquence should ceass to rarify the air." This rather stunned him. Says he, "Stranger, no gam-js. You're a literary gent, you are, and will hi putting me into a paper." He relapsed into utter silence, and opened his mouth not more than ten times after, being the exact number of public houses between the Gorge and Clyde.

I know you admire variety of style, so will try my hand at a " Murray's Handbook" description of the towns passed through en route from the Lakes to the Dnnstan metropolis. The R. taring Meg is a picturesque village, consisting of one honse, devoted to the s.ile of alcoholic drinks and the rearing of the large and healthy family of the proprietor. It is situated upon the banks of the creek from which it derives it name, and which name accrued, it is said, from historical circumstances at present not investigated.

The Kawarau Garge is a rising township. The principal street consists of a public house npon each side, and two stores. The enterprise of the oldest inhabitant, Mr. Burrowcs, has erected a shower bah, which raises its stately — no, that won't do — which raises its — hanf{ it, what adjestive will suit a shower bath? Try again : which raises its— ah ! — head with an inscription denoting its uses. The population, when not drinking, are employed in " arresting the auriferons deposits from the mother earth" (Warden's report, passim). Distance from Cromwell, eight miles and a bittock.

Cromwpll, a municipal town of the nrsfcd?vSS, having generally two mayors, with fill 1 complement of councillors and town clerks. It is chiefly remarkable for dust and the eccentricities of its principal in? habitants . Hero many horsey men abida, and the annual races are as great a sell ai usual in up-country places. It was the - then mayor of the town who requested ' Governor Grey to come and see hi 3 " sanguinary pigs," and who is report id to have sent to Dunedin for a scarlet ro ;e of office "trimmed with vermin," so as not to be cut out by his municipal brother of Queenst'>wn. Politics run high and continuously — every grown man being either a mayor, a councillor, or a rejected candidate for these offices. Tha result is lively, if not altogether agreeable. The principal buildings aro the hotels, there bein^ two to evpry store, and one store to every fiv.e people. The I^awarau River is here spanned by a bridge, which was designed by Mr. J. T. Thompson, anrl cosf, £28,000. With tho exception of being rather weak in tha back, and. drooping audibly in the middle, it is a fino structure, and will probably" drop down altogether some day with a heavy load/ The Cromwellites are distinguished for their sporting tendencies, especially "poker" and "props," and for their undying hatred of Clyde and all apper-> taining thereto. There ! I have hit you off a bifc/of M'irray. I hear the dinner bell. Farewell J