Tom Hungerford. A STORY OF THE EARLY DAYS OF THE OTAGO GOLDFIELDS.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 242, 19 September 1872, Page 9

Tom Hungerford. A STORY OF THE EARLY DAYS OF THE OTAGO GOLDFIELDS.

ByJB&iMAM Baldwin.

•."•I Having arrived atHbeiM&stkiftionT; o the jrfirpt^hin^ Tpm lißuageEfoai} did ' -was very little tp look. at.. There was. JißmftU.^MaieJl : JOBti^m^ift Iwas about all there was > 'to be seen. Tjbere, was, najhQiaesteady.TJor,.Btqckyard,,nor ehcloßure'^faTiXTiiflrd f no? thing, 1 inJfacVbut~tliis^Bolit f a'ry little tut,' x ow '■of^the jand,njosfe|primitive iof;it8"! kind^that. a, : man could well* crawl into. And a* 'man^had actually to crawl to get jinflide. it, and to stoop." very; low", too, when he got in ; for tfyq little.canyas dboßway^was #- smalL. hole^ and the! ridgepole stqod scarcely .four feet and 'a* half abovte'the 1 floor. Altogether^ it Wag a most- simple affair,' outside and t in ; just a few manuka poles' stuckj iri^ the ground^ and lashed to, one 'another at the top, and covered ove^. with some: coarse, grass ; that was all, that, and a little Wiid' ; chimney at the' end. It r wasfjußt'aa-'simfjle inside; Theresas nothing, in fact, .within, but a few . bunks bullock hide and covered with fern ; excepting the little djsal cand'ebox" where the pannikins and tin;-, plates -were "kept. I am wrong, .though^ the roof was pretty full of things; , v and an odd assortment of things they were too. It waanot that the things were either rich or ,' \r4w;V .. i «' l ■ ' • -But -tHMr-wondered how ' the "devil * they got , there. 7 : . , '. ■- . And.jWell might >ione wonder, too, to, find, stuck above, his head, pipes, apd spurs, 'and^stock-wips/ and stirrupß, and bitsfand pocket-book's, arid-boxes of^ matches,-^ and watches, and sheath knives, and belts, 'and a gun or two, and, some , Whitney's arrival was a cause of great' Rejoicing to the' inhabitants of the little hut, who rushed- out to meet him-, when they knew of his presence,, and^ welcomed- him bactiwith words of jwacm. welcome. I ! ila^them hi« coming, was a great event. You can readily understand that ife : «sh'duld be so, when* you .bejair in_ mind he was_ bringing them letters, _^r,om.the^;far-ofE hpmes ; letters tlfafLhave been lying in dhs'ty pigeon, holes,, r at tb& r post-office," for many and many ..a long -month, whilst those Who", sent ,'themj' dear loving ;8'0itf&;!; 8'0itf& ; ! • have bebnyearning,iarid' pining, and waiting for- answers untit'hope •haß welL-niglrdied/ away within them. Then, .besidps these letters, ihej was bringing them news from the outside world ;' anfl'^wnat,, I am afraid, they valued very nearly^as much as theletters, a'nd'a great deal' 'iridre" than the , Ouews, .he was bringing them tobacco. ... • . . . ! Sublime tobacco, which from East, to West i , Cheers the Tar's labour^ and the Turkman's •„ ; rest; ' . '• .*>■•- * " ; Which on the Moslems Ottoman divides;. Bis hours'/ arid rivals opium and his brides. Aye ; ; so it may. But not in Wappirig or the' Strand ; no, nor in Stamboul- . itself,, either, ;has it ever been* enjoyed with a keener zest than in those little huts of bjegone days, that dotted the far interior. , , The little party 1 who welcomed them back so very 'warmly, consisted of three; individuals.. Two out of three ■were cade,ts. t . Now cadets, as .a rule, are i^ery, objectionable young men, who "come out to the colonies to, make* their fortunes in a "year 'or two," and fancy the -right-way~ to-do* so isiro~be vej*y.larzy v _andr very idj.e,rand tp give ttfemseLvesAaiVs > -bri worse stilVtbeyare young reproba.tes who are sent ou,t' amongst -vs 1 to reform, and they carry out the" reformation in the most ap- ' proved.styJe, by goingiheadlong to the devil at railway Bpeed. But /there was nothing"objectionable'~about these two yolung-fellows'; at all events,' t^ey w,ere. neither/ ofethem given tVthe running of the devil's race, nor to the' shrinking 'or fjheif work, either... ! 'Henry IHtehgrb'ertf- wtts nbt,?cerl tainly, on&'of'th^garfc.JHeih^d'better stuff in him than that; .and <-was.>a bright, sunny-faced, fine-looking younff lad, if, indeed, he could be called % Jidi sefeing^th^^tweatj^x^affiiad ,pjasgejd, jjcjyerj^hig" ; /Jsi§b. .fathgH ooionel~**Fitzherbert, , naving decided to settle inr.JOiigbi.'a^ completion of JiiflLchjJdren's education permitted of his doing so, had sent chia son'out, beforeh«ndi^ ! s'jKe ! 'pioneef of ( the^Jaamj; ; tpr-fall across, Whitney^ some ' little' time belforb,: young twiith) Mm to the station^andithefe-'rej-mained since, picking up sucht information as he cauloV as to the management of cattle. X '3€fe ( o yg4 /linsdayV: tbe' < MB^&&h

>.<■ -««orge saay,' tlfe 1 oraef^cadety was just as go^jtJad, in bis way, as bis companion. t One, of, a r large famil^tHe^d^^f^pod^^a'rwickl ahire clergymanr—young Lindsaj ha4"to. pußb r hiniaelf oititt^e'-iWorlc .aa:heaiLn.fr. dniiln,- —^ButJae— waa-gemc entirely pn^ bffrOKtt ieXerfciouß, anc was ready, at all times^to turn hit band W TO^Sfitf %Hifi!P work ai assuredly, n^afr^MSita >ftw years, nor did he atta'u great, wealtb either, though," t wheh last I "saw him, be settler, *-*-.." •*■>

' G^b^i^a^r^a j^e.ijoiri m^rjb'er •df the* p»rty_ i_ "JS»oriw Read wliose since b.econie. ,a kind ; of' nousehold word- amongst us, as ihk 'fir*b disdoferer '6f g^ldi^ Ne^v Zeal- • 'a&ffj} .**■ % HaTO 1 his h phdtolgraijh: in Imy. ifu^hf .^ he. J fc&tj.knew hitn^ iet mB sea if I can-t iprpduce-this photograph. He was not a tali man, to-beg'in with, Tj^nratrfiy©^^tT»me,,"pf"fiylß :fe;et. nine <: ati ! d 7 a Mf'ai'thecaitsidfej 1 ana he was'^eli-pttt togetKer, 'though hegave .you^fche idea of pein^ apY-a^tjy^man rawer $aa,a B^rQpg'.gne. ' The face was a very- -pleasing one, that is to say the 'Expression was- pleasing; and it was fair; and ruddy, and very much bron?qd , by constant .exposure to the weatne?'; and' was set off, I think, I , by t a gijeati Jsag brpwn^beardj he, ,wp?e, soft and silk'ylooking, and very luxuriant in its growth.

He was what would call " a regular good fellow J j'* alwap goodnatured, . and « always obliging, but never cringing, There was about him, in fact,, in his words and in his way 3, a happy' combination of two qualities you .seldom fir^d going hand in hand together, ih&.suaviter in modo and the fortiterin re. ;He was a. Tasmanian native, and <of a f respectable family. L^k^most other young Tasmanjanß he left hjs\ native country at an early age, and crossed over "to Victoria, where a brother of his settled down as a sheep-farmer .\ He .knocked about Victoria for some years, turning his hand to such work as fell in His way, until the goldfields broke out and gave him -occupation of a more exciting nature: The digger's usual luck attended him- for . two or three years, as he knocked about t from field to, field Worth hundreds of pounds today, without » -shilling' to' bless I himself ■ with- to-morrow, and on whole doing very, little good for.himself. Ho was a.restleßS kind of, fellow, and grew tired of this knocking about in Viptflria, and. he, must needs go :to California, v But, "for some time, he was no better off in California than had been in yictpria. . r At last, as luck would have it, he came across a good claim up by HarysVille somewhere, and he stuck to it, for a time,' and what was more • to the purpose, he cleared oufc-pfcit- eventually, with a good round sum of money, in his pocket. "VyTth this money he bought a schooner and sonic cargo, and went cruising' about amongst the 1 Islands of the Pacific, and, oh the whole, was doing very well when he .was wrecked. .It wag close by the spot where, Captain Cook was killed, near Kara Kalcopa Bay, I : tbink,- inJEEawaii, one of t}ie Sandwich* Islands, that this misfortune .befell. him and deprived him of his all ; and very nearly deprived him of his life too. >,c He fared badly on the "coral reefsj and, altogether, had a very nai"fow escape "t of if; but he did" escape and made his way up to Horiolulji, and, from Honolulu he worked his passage to Sydney, and from Sydney he came on to-Nekbni At Nelson 1 he fell in with 11-Whitney,1 1 - Whitney, assisted him to drive some cattle- overland, and then entered his services for a lew months, until, the winter was over.

; Gathered' together, and briefly told, this was Reid's history, as I learnt it from himself, in , detached pieces, by the blazing ' watchfire, by the wayside jcnlrney, in ' the tent J at night when telling- me of the many adventures -that had befallen "him, during" This chequered' and somewhat eventful life. •

Tom and Whitney rested Jbhe next day; and as they, were both, very .tir&d a£ter , the. -Jong rj.de, 'they enjoyed the rest thoroughly. To Tom, however, the rest was more ' especially ! enjoyable, for he IJ was without practise in the way of riding, of late, and felt stiff, accordingly,' and sorely bruised. But the nextmorniug they,. alL five of them, started off, by daybreak, for a distant portion of the 7 run, where some' cattle were supposed to beknooking about. They arrived -on the "ground in good time, and camped for the night in a large cave,, where they ,were very comfortable and very happy. The next.day the muster began. The great object of the muster seemed to 'be; to make as milch noise as possible,; !_and they made enough of noise,, in all ,'jcpnscienoe, who:oop-ing, and coo-e-mg, tand cracking their • stockwhips, ' like maniacs; as they scoured the country •for miles and toyles, looking sharply cm the' ground the whilfe for any cattle tracks, tfiat might be visible. But this ' J. noise ,was not made without a mean!j ing :<it^waa- meant? to rouse' the cattle. Resting under some friendly shade or another, or hidden away down in some deep gully, browning off 0 in'e green herbage, .by the, .margin, .of. .the creek', this sound comes suddenly upon them, causing them to scamper up to the -nearbst height to' satisfy their curiosity. 'is ,sWrig within \thejn— jjbrong.^asiin^ijiwQinan— : and must be satisfied: The 'stockman's eye* is upon ithem in a Tnbment: Then comes the pui> r .sUit and flight. "What a glorious ex'citSr^M%^esureJ ■ fow quickly "a man s breath " cornea and goes ; -and JsW;Wsine.tively h e . settles^own iii hia jmddle ;< arid kittle he thinks of danger, as he fiißhea fhrou'gh darigeV s%fc.*WW?Pfc:iW«c .URty creeks, anc -io»a-precipito»B--guUieß-in~ that-mad ' asgßxc&ed Af4fy& gni?; > itHow hjß^uiferq «*fia str^fcairfSaJb?^ bit^tween n3i£nt*s VeiPtaft'dlt t^e f^nffiftl of EgJE^f^^^i-^fi ' &el -the fcejtli .air strike sharply your face, and lei*

/hi^fe^e^-OTOBLway,-^^ wiH \u& it whether you- like or no, untiji he. y«Q< mob of &#le in frpnt. Th'on, t>nce they are beaded, look out "&£ yourself, for quick as though,, he wiflton around, guddonly, on hia own length. v • • 3?hiawai "the'kind of work they were at all day long, and they were hungry-, and jaded and sunburnt, and covered thickly over with, dust, as they dropped into the camp in the evening, in ones and twos. Young Lindsay was the laS'irtp. return. Me was^.yery late in turning up, so rery late, indeed, that some alarm began to be felt about him, and they were just on the eve of starting off in search of him when he came in on - foot. He had lost his * horse altogether,: he said, in a swamp a few miles off higher. up on the Hough Bidge.. The loss occurred .i&.-a, somewhat unusual manner too, at all events I know of but one other instance, of the Bame kind occurring. The thing happened in this way. As the young man was making his way back, towards dusk, rather tired and very thirsty, he came across some water and got off to have a drink. Tying the bridle to the stirrup, he let the horse graze fabout~ whilst he filled and lit his pipe. This done he got up to get his horse but there was no horse to be seen. At last he caught sight of the animal in a swamp close' by, plunging violently, and sinking deeper and deeper every plunge he made until, finally, he disappeared from Bight altogether. They all went over next morning and saw the thin crust of the swamp broken and muddy, but it was too dangerous to get near.

The cattle' were driven home, and then a general muster was made. Satisfied that the number was, tolerably correct, and satisfied too as to the goodness of the bargain, Tom Hungerford became the owner of the place_ Then he, and Whitney, and Bead started^ for town ; and Tim Dwyer returned_ I with him to take Bead's place. r .

After their return their hands were r pretty full for some time. A stock- , yard, and a larger, hut were put vp ;,_ and a small patch of garden was," [fenced in ; and, altogether, they had^ as much to do as they could well man-" It was a rough life to live, perhaps, but take it ,all in all, it was a very pleasant one for a young man ; full of freedom, and excitement, and healthy occupation. It was a life without care and without anxiety, when the days flew t quickly by, and the summer glided into autumn, and the autumn - into winter, unnoticed' by. those whose history"! 'have been writing.