The Place To
Look For A Ford Is Just Above A Spit Where The River Forks Into Two Or
More Branches; There Is Generally Here A Bar Of Shingle With Shallow
Water, While Immediately Below, In Each Stream, There Is A Dangerous
Rapid.
A very little practice and knowledge of each river will enable a
man to detect a ford at a glance.
These fords shift every fresh. In
the Waimakiriri or Rangitata, they occur every quarter of a mile or
less; in the Rakaia, you may go three or four miles for a good one.
During a fresh, the Rakaia is not fordable, at any rate, no one ought to
ford it; but the two first-named rivers may be crossed, with great care,
in pretty heavy freshes, without the water going higher than the knees
of the rider. It is always, however, an unpleasant task to cross a
river when full without a thorough previous acquaintance with it; then,
a glance at the colour and consistency of the water will give a good
idea whether the fresh is coming down, at its height, or falling. When
the ordinary volume of the stream is known, the height of the water can
be estimated at a spot never before seen with wonderful correctness.
The Rakaia sometimes comes down with a run - a wall of water two feet
high, rolling over and over, rushes down with irresistible force. I
know a gentleman who had been looking at some sheep upon an island in
the Rakaia, and, after finishing his survey, was riding leisurely to the
bank on which his house was situated.
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