EARLY REMINISCENCES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8529, 7 September 1907, Page 5

EARLY REMINISCENCES.

SHEPHERDING IN THE SIXTIES. A recent vi&itor to Masterton vvas an old age pensioner who had spent a number of years shepherding in the McKenzie country in the South Island, and who, of course, was able to give the average citizen of to-day a fair idea of the experiences early settlers had to go through in the wilds of the South Island. When approached by a Wairarapa Age reporter for some early reminiscences, the old gentleman gladly consented, and in relating his adventures he kept his hearer interested throughout. "Yes," he said heartily, "I spent a good many years shepherding in the McKenzie country in the early siities, and the comforts that the shepherds of to-day po. s ;ss were unknown then. It's a lovely country in the summer, but in the winter—well, it's something terrible. The cold, is intense, and the number of shsep that perished in the long narrow gorges, that lead down from the ranges, would surprise, you. Frequently the sheep got snowed in and then it was the shepherd's duty to go out and save them, and bring them in. Mustering was no easy job in those days on account of the scarcity of fencing, and, if I relate to you a personal experience you will have some idea of the dangers that beset the early shepherds. We were 'out after merinos. I left the tent at about 3 o'clock on a lovely bright morning, and reached the mountain tops about two hours later in time to stop the sheep from breaking back, merinos, as you might, know, being noted for that practice. Everything went well until about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when it became foggy, and a drizzling rain set in. The rest of the meri had the camp, but I waited behind in case some of the sheep had beenjnissed in the fog. I happened to see a mob on a shingle face and after some difficulty I managed, with the assistance of my best dog, to drive them through a rough gully, and over the saddle of a hill to join the ether animals. I then thought of ca-op with the additional comfort of a well-cooked chop and a pannikin of tea, but the blinding snow and the rapidly-approaching darkness changed matters entirely, and the result was that I lost my way in a deep gully overgrown with prickly scrub and spear grass. I managed to light a fire, and being in an exhausted state, lay down beside it, and soon fell asleep. How long I was 'in the land of Nod,' I don't know, but I was rudely awakened by my dog licking the snow off my face. I recognised my danger, pulled myself together, and commenced to scramble up the steep bank. In the darkness this was no easy matter, and it was a very much bruised and scratched man that reached the top. It was then all down hill to the station, and this I reached about 6 a.m. after being out in the storm for 27 hours. The only food I had had during that time was a small lunch. I was given up for lost, and the sheep were left to their own free will, while the rrmsterers searched for me, but, thanks to my dog, I have lived to see many more adventures. This one, however, I shall never forget."