Of Course I Called My Companion Up, And He Agreed With Me That He Had
Never Seen Anything So Wonderful.
We got down, very much tired, a
little after dark.
We had had a very fatiguing day, but it was amply
repaid. That night it froze pretty sharply, and our upper blankets were
again stiff.
* * *
May, 1860. - Not content with the little piece of country we found
recently, we have since been up the Hurunui to its source, and seen the
water flowing down the Teramakaw (or the "Tether-my-cow," as the
Europeans call it). We did no good, and turned back, partly owing to
bad weather, and partly from the impossibility of proceeding farther
with horses. Indeed, our pack-horse had rolled over more than once,
frightening us much, but fortunately escaping unhurt. The season, too,
is getting too late for any long excursion. The Hurunui is not a snow
river; the great range becomes much lower here, and the saddle of the
Hurunui can hardly be more than 3000 feet above the level of the sea.
Vegetation is luxuriant - most abominably and unpleasantly luxuriant (for
there is no getting through it) - at the very top. The reason of this
is, that the nor'-westers, coming heavily charged with warm moisture,
deposit it on the western side of the great range, and the saddles, of
course, get some of the benefit. As we were going up the river, we
could see the gap at the end of it, covered with dense clouds, which
were coming from the N.W., and which just lipped over the saddle, and
then ended. There are some beautiful lakes on the Hurunui, surrounded
by lofty wooded mountains. The few Maories that inhabit this settlement
travel to the West Coast by way of this river. They always go on foot,
and we saw several traces of their encampments - little mimis, as they
are called - a few light sticks thrown together, and covered with grass,
affording a sort of half-and-half shelter for a single individual. How
comfortable!
CHAPTER VI
Hut - Cadets - Openings for Emigrants without Capital - For those who bring
Money - Drunkenness - Introductions - The Rakaia - Valley leading to the
Rangitata - Snow-grass and Spaniard - Solitude - Rain and Flood - Cat -
Irishman - Discomforts of Hut - Gradual Improvement - Value of Cat.
I am now going to put up a V hut on the country that I took up on the
Rangitata, meaning to hibernate there in order to see what the place is
like. I shall also build a more permanent hut there, for I must have
someone with me, and we may as well be doing something as nothing. I
have hopes of being able to purchase some good country in the immediate
vicinity. There is a piece on which I have my eye, and which adjoins
that I have already. There can be, I imagine, no doubt that this is
excellent sheep country; still, I should like to see it in winter.
* * *
June, 1860. - The V hut is a fait accompli, if so small an undertaking
can be spoken of in so dignified a manner. It consists of a small roof
set upon the ground; it is a hut, all roof and no walls. I was very
clumsy, and so, in good truth, was my man. Still, at last, by dint of
perseverance, we have made it wind and water tight. It was a job that
should have taken us about a couple of days to have done in first-rate
style; as it was, I am not going to tell you how long it DID take. I
must certainly send the man to the right-about, but the difficulty is to
get another, for the aforesaid hut is five-and-twenty miles (at the very
least) from any human habitation, so that you may imagine men do not
abound. I had two cadets with me, and must explain that a cadet means a
young fellow who has lately come out, and who wants to see a little of
up-country life. He is neither paid nor pays. He receives his food and
lodging gratis, but works (or is supposed to work) in order to learn.
The two who accompanied me both left me in a very short time. I have
nothing to say against either of them; both did their best, and I am
much obliged to them for what they did, but a very few days' experience
showed me that the system is a bad one for all the parties concerned in
it. The cadet soon gets tired of working for nothing; and, as he is not
paid, it is difficult to come down upon him. If he is good for
anything, he is worth pay, as well as board and lodging. If not worth
more than these last, he is simply a nuisance, for he sets a bad
example, which cannot be checked otherwise than by dismissal; and it is
not an easy or pleasant matter to dismiss one whose relation is rather
that of your friend than your servant. The position is a false one, and
the blame of its failure lies with the person who takes the cadet, for
either he is getting an advantage without giving its due equivalent, or
he is keeping a useless man about his place, to the equal detriment both
of the man and of himself. It may be said that the advantage offered to
the cadet, in allowing him an insight into colonial life, is a bona-fide
payment for what work he may do. This is not the case; for where labour
is so very valuable, a good man is in such high demand that he may find
well-paid employment directly. When a man takes a cadet's billet it is
a tolerably sure symptom that he means half-and-half work, in which case
he is much worse than useless. There is, however, another alternative
which is a very different matter.
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