The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-04-21
LONELY IN new ZEALAND
Great Stretches of Country Are
Sparsely Settled.
Even on CoReh Roads Travellers co
twenty Miles without Pass
ing single House.

As nothing in Europe astOnishes the
New Zealander so much as the crowds. so
nothing in New Zealand is so surprising
10 the Englishman as the vast stretches
OF uninhabited land.
Even the tourist on the coach roads may
easily travel twenty miles without pass
ing single house. on the road leading
to one Of the most popular resorts Of the
North Island. along fifty miles OF high
way there is but one small inn where the
horses are changed, says "a correspondent
Of Macmillan's Magazine and one Moari
village with solitary white teacher for
IT'S school The rest is scrub or swamp
where Wild horses roam or cleared bush,
where blackened stumps stnl stand. or
fem land with patches Of rough pasture
And to reach the far-famed lakes Of the
South Island. beautiful enough when they
are reached. the coach toils.for two whole
days through inches of dust or mud, ac-
cording TO the season dragging its slow
way past miles of seeming desert. where
even the yellow tussock grass is sup
I planted by thistles or By patches Of green
iEchen resembling nothing so much as
yerdigris.
In New Zealand they appraise land by
the number of sheep il VIII carry. and this
T is five or six acres 10 a sheep, and "a
merino sheep into the bargain.
! The driver as he passes filings out letter
bags al the little wayside Dost-ofnces OF
tucks them into wooden boxes DeTched by
I the highway. In this way the post is de-
/ livered twice or possibly thrice week
( in summer and once in winter. But this is
lalong the coach roads-auy map viii show
Ihow few they are-and even they are often
impossible for wheeled traffic in winter.
/ Then the post cart, sunk 70 It's aXles, lum-
/ beers along az the rate Of two miles an
hour or the poslman rides in mud up %
I his horses girths. ana those who have
business abroad do likewise or wait at
home for better weather.
I Luckily ia no part Of New Zealand are
T the winters so long and so severe as II
/ England. but metal for road making is
/ scarce in New Zealand and labor Is
! scarcer and dearer When one thinks OF
all that has been done, and Of the nifty
! years or so that it has been done in, the
wonder Is not that the roads are bad
( but that there are SO many roads o. any
kind
{ TN many UlE t4A1s winch years hl tr-
{ have gone to make. all the winters store;
must be housed not later than April, be
cause when the rains come only an on
dray or "a pack horse can travel along the
road TO the township, and that with diff
/ Guilty. and the storekeepers must bTins
all their wares from the nearest railway
station or coast town before the weather
breaks, standing out Of thHiT money iol
many months. or else they must suiTel
the loss Of oxen and horses begged or eN
hausted with the heavy winters work.
No wonder store goods are dear. "Fou'
foot deep and four foot wide is ms
1 familiar description of roads in the road
less north" which has a pre-eminenth
evil reputation Ia that way; but even II
the old settlements southwark walking is
often out of the question, not only De
/ cause there is nowhere % go within walk
ing distance. but also because of tins
roads aud the Unbridged rivers. Nor Ia
that the worst that can befali. for 1t
many districts even yet there are n'
roads. only bride paths, or foot tracks
ending M The waters edge, whence
boat can be r0wed TO the nearest por
Of call for coastine steamers