O^0M$MCK to the LAEM. V Ul. —f ' I j|(bY Op: OF A PARTY.] j ,.,.-, > ' '! OUR/fetlDE KATE. !'

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1693, 12 May 1883, Page 2

O^OMSMCK to the LAEM. V Ul. — f ' I j|(bY Op: OF A PARTY.] j „,.-, > ' '! OUR/fetlDE KATE. ! '

RBTaJRNiN,^ froV^the little mission cnurclf to tlii-liptejKiyought the smoking room, jiml \\ v ifchixi«' t its sacred Avails was introduced to the renowned "Kate,'' oiie-.of. tlio guides to the Terraces. The auspices under which we met were not of the happiest kind. Kate, indeed, had just performed a very arduous day's Work",and was suffering from the kind treatment she had received at the hands of, " her visitois," as she called them.! She( was evidently dull and sleepy, but' still sufficiently self-possessed,. to {.JauglJ and joke with usl 'Strangely^ enough totffshe,was playing euchre. 'Four of my friends, not having a predilection for moonlight walks under avenues" of"' Acacia, had started a game at cards, and Kate enteY* fing^aft^sdpnbecamjj'.in interested onlooker. One' of the players it seemed failed to .-profit by. her. hints and admonitiohs,*so without much ado she simply took his paper out of his hands and the game herself. It was naturally pobo expected that she should cdmiriii; mistakes, r should deal herself sfcix Icards occasionally, for instance, bu,tf is ithese slips generally resulted advantageously to her side/s'lU foiind an able apologist in the person .of her partner. He has lost caste ,in our eyes. for t ever.,. He tried to induce us to " take a hand severalitimqs afterwards, but we sternly "passed." Kate is a half-caste, and is, or rather lias been, (for she is no longer young) a fine' specimen of the race. Her long experience as a'gnidejhei'iknowledge of Maori character andcustoms, lip, pleasant; manner; and last, though iiot least, her iin^ compromising honest}' makes her a' most valuable aiclltd tolirista. She is, inJdee/1, a treasure which, the moths and ntst 'of ,to,unstdom do nob fceenl 'to ; ha\e J cqrrupted. When Kate's attention could be diverted from rtjhe all-important subject of euchre, we asked her all sorts of questions about the, pioceedings of, the moirow. Unfortunately, the morrow was a Sunday, and our guile in jprospective expressed grave doubts of our seeing the Terraces at all on that day. The missionary, she i said, had told the natives it was wrong to work on the Sabbat l ), and they w!ere now wrostlingiwifch the problem > which our arrival had put before them. It was ; cle,ar that they could not serve two masters, alid though Kate- wa& i ai> opinion that they had a 'learning towaMs mammon, because be generally paid injiard ,casb, I question very inucli whether" tlic quandary into which the' natives had'got was at all comparable ( with ' the dilemma in which we found ourselves. ' Should avc induce the natives to break tlie Sabbath, or forego the 'delights of Kotomahana ? This was the question we lyid,to answer. Foi* our qwn part we were agreed the crime of visiting the Terraces was ,more venial even than " Avhustling" on the Sabbath. The day of rest,' it seemed to us, could not be spent more fittingly than in contemplating the ra I3terpeices of the groat Architect and Builder of the Universe. This opinion so increased in weight as to over-balance any lingering considerations for the < immortal welfare of our dusky boatmen, and in the full conviction that ■justice and right were entirely on our side, we sought the comfortable beds whir.h Mr^lcOae had prepared for us, and slept as soundly as a cradled infant.

ON BLUE TARAWERA. 1 The morning was an exceptionally fine one. The morning air, "aait unvari ably must be in this narrow, gorge, was keen and bracing, and we thought better of the previous night's resolution to dip in the Wairoa Creek, which flows just at tlitfliottom of the garden.- The eiichre player went down and made believe that he had abluted himself, -but as. my bedroom window commanded the whole prospect^ I bowled him out.' ' The lights and shadows were only beginning to chase each other across the fnce of the mountain as we descended the stairs, which is a poetical way of intimating that we got up much earlier than is our usual custom. We ' found the boats' crews waiting outside the hotel, still in an undecided fiameof mind. lam afraid some ot our folk broke into profanity under their breath. It could nt have been me, because I was &ufteiing from a most awful cold, and not even profanity could live under , my breath. I, however, joined with the rest in giving vent to our viituous indignation ag mist missionaries, against swcetbriais, acacias, walnuts, and everything that could Migqest an association with the subject. In the end our arguments, carried the day, and then 'ensued a scene of 'the greatest excitement. The crews (of couise the " tourists" were going, though not in the same boat with us — not exactly) were selected, the luncheons packed, s\\ags got ready, and after breakfast we sallied forth. The expiession is old, but perennial, and best expresses our mode of proceeding, which waa to stiaggle along in a, sort of irregular Indian file. Our road toolt us down a long declivity, the altitude of the lake, as I have said, being much lower than that of the settlement of Wairoa. En rohfc we passed the Wairoa Waterfall, lormed by the creek dropping over a ledge of rock sixty feet. Embosomed in a wood, the fall is one of remaikable beauty. On reaching the bottom of the lull we traversed a few hundred yards of level ground, and aui\cd at the landing place, which is situate in a little creek or arm of the lake. Two large and stoutly built whaleboats were in leadine-ss, and pur attendants having put our belongings on board, without more ado pushed outon.to .theblue waters of the Jake. Thescene was a most enchanting one. "We alone in our modern costume, sailing in a spick and span new boat, were out of harmory with it. The sky waa of the purest azure ; the water was of 'the same colour, but flecked with scales of golden sunshine, while the profuse foliage on the high mountainous banks was in places of an emerald, and others of a .sombre olive hue. If the good genius of the place had decked the scene for our special delecta* tion, the prospect could not have been grander. The six row»rs set, to work with a will, cmpelled by the promise of a suitable reward if our boat reached its destination first, and soon We emerged from the narrow inlet into thcopen lake! The scene was superb. Down by the waterside the pohutukawa trees clustered thickly in all the wealth of red berries, while above them, tier, beyond tier,' grew the richest vegetation. Straight ahead, in the only gap it seemed In tlie encircling chain of hills, was visible the clean ,cone of Mount Edgecumbe, and to the right, towering above the neighbour heights the triple head of Mount Tarawera, seared and scarred by the fires and storms ot ages. From the lofty mood up to which we had all unconsciously climbed in out admiration of the magnificent panorama unfolding itself before us, we were~ somewhat rudely dislodged by the euchre player's plaintive remark that "he'd be , blowed if he ' , could ifind. the prog kit an3*where." This ; wag. startling intelligence. ' The sublimity of our surroundings was instantly forgotten, and on^ and all joined in a search for the missing articles. It was'nt the 1 aUdwiches that we deplored so iritfeh' as 'the— its no use beating about the' bush— whisky. The wine \ve had brought for our only lady passenger ■■was, also amissing. An.intelligent Maori suddenly remembered., that all the refreshments had been put into the " tourists" boat. There was no help for it, so rnuttering^something! about r-r-revenge, we came to the conclusion that whisky ,was a 1 A?ery "unsafe thing to drink,' not'all comparable ,to the clear, crystal water that a beautiful Providence' Had placed to ,our hands, so to speak. Presently, we rqu'n!.' ded Mbra Point, and headed^ the boat fdr the native village close by ? for,the osterP sible purpose ot purchasing ' alp'ples and lcoura>> (or crayfish), but, in. ieality ? lp decoy our tourist friends into, doi^g like--' wise. They did, of course. ' How could it London ■ tourist be expected to flusg

nt(ytlsig^P&e<MirW''6ui4 book ! And then'aHtff'f' We got alongsrae and threatened to board them if they did not tfiWtlfc m^d^-tJb^-^idy-ttnd liquid nourishment rightfully belonging to us. After inmbtfng aBout 'they handed over 't^iewiiKpaiKL sandwiches* bafcdenied all -lcnbwtedge <jf Wte^em&iMlig 'trifle. Being honeat. n we r7 ,\v«re. r n%turally confiding, and •^HkfeverTttcir story, tintil Iwlien 3 Ye , were">ionoens.n)dre'^afloat, ,we , 4 sa^Y the , wretched . perjurers spirit 7 W 'Mr Walker, who had not, therefore, been lost, but 'only wt?nt befoi'c— we cotildTget! tt him. Then wegrsiytVpcklcss, and sane; songs abo^Qaj^(UajL_ooatmen,» au.d Venetian j&n3. ;affe^3T(o)w. gondoliers fabulous { of, money if 'they would only run our enemies down, and give flust at that moment, thovjiat of .one^of miserable PMliUirifes W blWrf^'bff and lost, whereat we shrieked ourselves hoarse ■with deliglnj. l "*'ln tlii'B ; exl>ilBral;ihg frame of mind w e>.reniajned until we entered .the south-.east arm of tlie^lake, called Te ■ Ariki, <■ and' beheldthßr-neatrfdwellings of the natives acajt^rsch around the spot where we were to land on our way to ;Rptpinolpna.j •* > f , i * } / J ,*