The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1866-09-11 00:00:00

Original Littrature.

ADVENTURE IN NEW ZEALAND.

Fcbruaty 27th.—Leaving Arthur' we again took to
tee beach. The walking was good, being low water,
We walked quickly end arrived at the Okatika
river, about eight or nine miles from Arahnra, about
one p.m. I may hero state the three natives we saw
at Arahura were the lest we fell in with until the
return journey. At the Okatika we fond three
noon.. s in • very old and rotten *tato ; these wore ,
lj on.; on the beach. The c nuntry between Arthur. ,
and okatika still maintains the saute chsractor— I
gradu.dly rising am it runs back inland and still quite I
as *owlish Before attempting to dose Okatika river
we boded the tinily (this being the euplionnious name
given to • "peones of saucepan very common with
diggero and all perdus leading a wild out of-door life).
and by doing no wo male • great mistake, and one Met
very nearly cost us our lives. We lost nearly two
hours, And tho tido coming in thus prevented us
from getting right across to the beach beyond. The
river hero at high wider forms a large sort of estuary
on the south side, and, although it is possible to cross
it, 601 you are hemmed in by thick impenetrable
bush, and cannot get to the beach beyond until
low tide. This we now found to be the deo with
ourselves, sod our only remedy was to draw the '
canoe high and dry on I send island, wading a narrow ;
'channel of water beyond, which took ns up to our I
armpits, then go and soup just inside the wood on
the teeth side ; more especially as night was fast
eirnronchlng, and it had already commenced to rain
bud. We made good a "loan-to" shelter with
fin,. as porsible, under the eircomstances, had our
supper and turned in ; but sleep was quite out of the
question, the rain came down in torrents, penetrating
the fern roof, Idling upon our blankets, and completely
destroyiag di chance of • night's rest ; add to this
myriads of undquiton a, and I think any one will ray our
ponsition was not on enviable one. Morning having at
length dawn, n 1 we attempted to light a tire, but as it
wee still raining, And all the wood we could get being
greets end wed, our attempta were unsuecewfuL For an
hour or se Mid state of things continued—the sky
giving no appearance of a change. Our provision.,
dour, sugar, tell, km., were all wet, we ourselves
completely drenched, and had been so nine or ten hours.
At not, shivering with wet, cold. and hunger, we deter.
mined to re-croe. the river (which was now coursing
along, sneered with foam, b abcs. dap, and trees of all
sorts, the effect alone night's rain), and endeavour to light
• ere inside an old deserted but still rainproof Maori
wharth, which we had notioed before crossing on the
previous evening ; by doing this we could not only get
sane breakfast cooked, but also warm our benumbed
and shivering selves. Launching the old and rates
canoe, after caulking her with bits of rag, fiat, Soh, we
peahenl hut into the stream ; we had, however, hardly
got half way across when the canoe began to leak, filling
„pia'', me F. . who could not •rn wa, now began to get
very nervous% Indeed he was so much so that he
could not take his share of paddling, but was obliged to
sit perfectly still and motionless in the water, widish now
hell filled the canoe. Both my brother and I now
began to peddle furiously, hoping to get across beton
alto was quite full, but it was no use—tim stream was
swollen, and ran with such speed, that we were soon
°Awned down, despite all our effort., to within a fearful
pn °shindy of the bar. At last one wave larger than its
fellows filled and capsized her, and the next moment we
were all struggling in the water ; we all managed, how-
ever, to regain the canoe, which d ated bottom up.
wards. My brother was swimming astern pushing
the canoe with one hand towards the north bank,
/lc F. was slinging to the keel, about the centre of it,
and myself was sitting astride of it at the bow end,
and as I had managed to save cry paddle, I added
mine to my brother's efforts to push her towards the
side. About 100 yards ahead there ran out for some
distend • sort of neck or spit of sand ; we thought
perhaps that we might make this, but as we approached
It, the strong current carried no beyond, in spits of our
united endeavours to gain it. We thus wised what
then appeared to be our lad °hence, and were carried
with fearful rapidity to within about 100 yards of the
bar, over which the surf was dashing, the rollers
conning in one long steady swell from one uninterrupted
16,000 miles of western ocean. Our position tow was a
fearful one—death seemed to dare us In the lace—five
minutes more would decide our fate—for if we once
got into those wild and troubled waters, we knew
that we should be seethed from the canoe and then no
power on eattin cou'd save son. At this juncture I got
off the canoe as a sort of girl-mitt resort, swimming
alongside and pushing like lay brother with one hand.
We were now all getting •lhaneted and were thinking
ourselves pest all hope, when klo F., who is • tall man,
and whose legs were banging down, shouted out that he
could feel the bottom. We were than saved from a
dreadful death. Need I any what were our feelings at
this moment, but gratitude. thankfulness, and devotion
to that l'ower from which our deliverance bad so oppor.
lonely and miraculously come, predominated. We had •
bottle fall of matches tightly con keel with us so that they
did not gut wet. We pulled the odd high upon the
beach, went off to the %thane, lighted • fire, took off
our clothe., and set round it naked for at least an hour,
ladking in its genial and life giving warmth. After
wetting thoroughly warm we began to get very hungry,
baviJg had nothing nines the pooh.. night. Now all
our provisions were on the other side, so that two of us
had to go back for sous We took groat care this time
that we started sufficiently high up stream, so that
the current could not again carry us ao far down with-
out reeking the opposite side. After a great deal of
paddling increasing and re-mowing, we brought all our
provisions but about 3511 m. of dour, this we left hanging
about • foot below the roof of fern, after placing and
piling a great quantity more upon it; but when we
@gain visited tine spot to get our tour, we found that
the rats had even got to it in that position, and bad
made several large holes in the hag through which a
great deal of the dour fell to the ground and was wasted
—this was • serious less to us. After stopping several
days to recruit, And not Inking to venture into the
canoe again until the river Is nd fallen, we dein made •
start from tho south side, after safely crossing it.
We bad capital walking on the sand, the tide being
out. The country south of the Okatika is still
covered with dense woods to within WO yards of high
water mark the trees nearest the sea being
assail, some 30or 35 feel high, the top of earth tree
being so flat, so near, and fitting so exactly into the
top of its neighbour, that it gives it at a little distance
all the appearede of being dovetailed, the various
hues of each species adding wonderfully to this effect.
The mountains still appear to be some 15 or 16 miles
distant, the country gradually sloping dawarda. The
mountains here do not appear to attain so great an
altitude, nor are they so rugged, but more rounded
aad smoother in form. We cannot manage to catch
any soli near the toast, though we caught several
very Ine ones before we arrived at the sea. About
nine miles from Okatika, the forest recede a little,
leaving for a distend of ten miles along the coast •
long, narrow, barren, strip of scantily covered sandy
billicks: a lagoon commences here, running parallel
with the coast for about eight miles. At the heed
of this lagoon we found an old long desertod wharrd,
and as it gave every appearand of • wet night, we
determined to stop and sleep in it. Next morning,
getting up early, we had a look at our night Ithea, but
found nothing on them ; this was a disappointment ;
our procidons commencing to get short, we pat our-
selves on allowance. For the lint eight or ten miles
we walked at tine edge of the lagoon, on the low sandy
hillocks above mentioned, those being thinly covered
with a sort of creeper, • little gram, and clumps of tutu
(toot). We then came to a small but rapid stream
running from the south-east, which cuta •deep channel
tight through the sand, the banks on each side are
about six feet birch, the stream is narrow but it rune
with greet rapidity; at high water it 141 about, at Its
month, seven feet deep, and at low water comes nearly
up to a man'. bresat ; here we waited an hour until
the tide had gone down considerably. We then domed
the stream, which was so strong that it nearly swept
our leg, from under us. We again bad good walk•
leg on nice hard sand ; ahead of was, some ten miles
distant, appeared • !sigh conical shaped headland, at
this distance appearing more like an Wand, we not
being able to we the long neck of land that joins it to
the main. This conspicuous object le called Bold
Head, and mud in some places he nearly 300 feet
high. Aix or seven miles this side of Bahl Head the
eountry is very low, but as thickly wooded as eves.
Four miles before arriving at this headland, a small
but rapid ricer, averaging from 40 to 60 yards in
breadth, runs into the ems This is called the Mick.
anui ; Is ending it came up to our knees, lost at high
water it would be considerably higher. Having crossed
the Mickanui, an hour and a half took us to the
commencement of Bold Head, and the tide being out
we determined to go round it. We found the distance
to ire about one mile and a half round. At the base of
the cliff, some in and tome out of the water, huge
meds of granite and glad are to be seen, those in the
water flaring their fantastic-looking weed-covered crests
above the surf ; on these may be seen great numbers of
rm., which as the traveller am'proacbee, fly off in all
direction., making day hideous with their wailing,.
I noticed • huge mass of rock, which appeared to be
over GO feet high and 40 or 50 feet each way. This
stood just at the base of the cliff", leaving • narrow
passe between. through which the wind rushed with •
melancholy hissing and meaning cry. Beyond Bold
Bead the mountains again some much nearer to the ass;
a mil* beyond it the Waits, a good aid stream not
fordable after afresh (a rise in the river), runs into the
se.a. We bad travelled to-day about twenty miles and
are very tired, so we determined to othlth sod here we
made a grunt mistake ; the stream has two channels,
and between there is an {slim I thickly wooded with tutu
an .I other hnabes, this completely a the b shuts out the sightrace of the river beyond. we
crowed the first sad nearest channel •
wharra, and camped for the ni ht, thinking ii"
tight over the dream, but thellio arag we
wen
found out our midek., and it toS
bigh°rDinir we
were completely hemmed in. and bs,o wall'''. 7°
for low water in the eveasig_ the. 10.1/1•• laii•detr7
part of •
(W day. Here we apt. 'lll the greeter
moms wood hens aal, not hsving e'en any few de All our
endeavours to snare any were 'rodeo...duid the
natter shy; true I got the noose easeth. 14" :( were
bat somehow or other it deems lode. fly
also "hot at one with • revolver, hitting It right jr3
breast, bog the sough bird ran sway apparently lois.
ObOOOCIMIed. Our provisions were 001, gottmn
scarce, ell our oatmeal was dose, and we ha
ry
about 20th.. of flour left, with • little rid oa.d.die7.
This evening were a great naiades, but as night
approached they left us only to give pled to mornmitose,
which were ten times worn. I never remember,
except in British Columbia, to have den them so nume-
rous aod determined as they wire that night.