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Mihawhenua: The Adventures of a Party of Tourists Amongst a Tribe of Maoris Discovered in Western Otago, New Zealand

Chapter II. Dunedin to Queenstown

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Chapter II. Dunedin to Queenstown.

The day fixed for our departure was not long in coming round. Three days previously Macdonald had been despatched to Queenstown in charge of the bulk of our baggage and three horses, so that he might have things ready to start from there immediately on our arrival. Two other horses had been procured in Queenstown through the agency of a friend of Gordon's. We agreed to meet at my office on the eve of the day of departure, so that we could talk over our plans and see that nothing had been omitted which was necessary for the expedition. Punctually at the hour named I was waiting, and was immediately joined by Gordon. A few minutes later Dr. Richards entered, and we three sat down and chatted in a general way in expectation of Chapman's arrival.

It was nearly half an hour afterwards before he appeared. Immediately he came amongst us we saw that something was wrong. His face wore so distinct an expression of trouble that we could not reproach him with his want of punctuality. He did not long keep silence. As he settled into the chair standing vacant for him, he said—

"I'm awfully sorry, but I'm afraid I won't be able to start with you in the morning."

"Why I what's the matter ?" we asked with one accord.

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"My sister has been taken suddenly ill with typhoid fever, and I really couldn't leave to-morrow."

We saw the case was serious. Chapman's troubled look convinced us that he was thoroughly depressed.

Knowing the depth of his affection for his sister, we all remained in a state of sympathetic silence. Seeing this, he continued—

"If I can possibly follow you in a couple of days I will, and hope that I may. You can telegraph me when you are leaving Queenstown, and if I can get away to follow you I will do so."

"Can we not delay starting for a day or two?" suggested Gordon.

Chapman would not hear of this. Every day was so important, and to suffer any such indefinite delay as waiting for him would entail, must not be listened to.

The disappointment we experienced in thus having our ranks thinned on the eve of setting out was somewhat serious, but as we could not gainsay the wisdom of Chapman's remark we agreed to proceed. He remained with us discussing and advising on our equipment, and when we separated for the night and gave him a parting handshake, it wall with genuine hope that he would join us before we left Queenstown.

The following morning I was up shortly after daybreak, and reached the railway station nearly half an hour before the train started. My fellow-explorers soon joined me, and we had several friends on the platform to see us off. Chapman came too, and gave us the encouraging news that he might yet be able to leave in time to follow us. The look of disappointment he strove much to hide was page 26the first painful experience of the excursion, and somewhat damped our spirits for the day. It was not the happiest omen we could wish for under which to start out on the prolonged holiday we looked forward to.

The train sped away, and as we got clear of the town it seemed the most natural thing in the world to sit down and read the morning paper.

We were voluntarily about to shut ourselves out from the circle of civilisation around which the newspaper circulates, shedding the influence of its power for good. The immediate future might be full of events momentous and extraordinary, but we should know them not. The magic bond which throbs around the globe, linking our little island with the whole world of humanity, would bring to us no daily tidings of our kindred's weal or woe. The fingers which write manhood's history on pages in every different centre of the earth's surface would send no news to us. For a time, at least, we should know nothing of the world beyond the limits of our vision; and in the unexplored district we hoped to reach, we would be as completely cut off from human history as if confined in the most remote island of isolation.

Filled with such thoughts, and abrim with contemplation of the possibilities of the next few weeks of time, I threw aside my newspaper and sat gazing out upon the passing landscape. The different scenes moved swiftly before my sight, but my mind was busy with other visions, and had no faculty of reception for the pictures in my eyes. The train rattled along over the fertile and expansive Taieri Plain. My thoughts kept pace with its motion, but were passing through other scenes, and busy forming pictures of imagi-page 27nation perhaps never to be imprinted upon the retina of reality. The stillness within the carriage lent aid to the current of my reflections, and nothing disturbed the fantastic productions of my active mind. Presently the engine drew up at the lake-side station of Waihola, and a period was put to the course of my meditations.

When we started again there was no opportunity for farther solitude. My companions' papers were cast aside, and time passed pleasantly under the stimulation of an animated conversation. It seemed as if hut an hour had passed when the train stopped at Clinton, and the luncheon bell rang out loudly to indicate that a meal was awaiting those who cared to enter the refreshment rooms. The twenty minutes' stoppage gave us ample time to discuss a substantial lunch, and when we again started on our journey it was under the satisfying influence which overtakes the man who can truly say, "Fate cannot harm me, I have dined to-day."

At Gore we had to change into the branch railway across the Waimea Plains, and got some experience of the excitement occasioned by having to look after our tolerably extensive luggage.

After a somewhat monotonous ride over the plains we reached Kingston, on the southern border of Lake Wakatipu, where we met Macdonald.

The Scotchman was a trifle loquacious, and greeted us immediately on alighting with—

"Certies! We've come to a lan' o' muckle hillocks an' knowes. I'm a wee bit anxious tae get a keek aroun' frae the tap o' ane o' thae big knolls."

Macdonald seemed wound up to descant on his surprises page 28and desires to the end of time, and Gordon somewhat sharply interrupted him—

"Yes, Mac, you'll get plenty of 'keeking' soon. Now you must look after these things," and he pointed in the direction of the heaps of baggage being discharged from the luggage van of the train.

Macdonald set about collecting the different packages with all speed, and made no farther remark until the process of transhipment to the lake steamer was completed.

As we steamed over the clear, cool, placid waters of this prince of lakes, the Scotchman enlarged freely on the wonders of the locality.

"Div ye see hoo clear an' bricht like the watter looks? It's a' clean, cauld snaw watter, an' as puir as can be."

"As pure as 'Mountain Dew,' eh, Mac?" enquired Gordon, smiling.

"Na! na! There's naethin' in creation can come ower that for puirity. Gin ye get guid 'Mountain Dew,' ye canna get onythin' puirer than that."

"I'm afraid, Mac, you'll have to be content for some time to come with the mountain dew you can collect off the hillsides for yourself," remarked Gordon, with a mischievous wink at the rest of us.

The countenance of his retainer fell palpably at this dreadful intelligence, and gazing at his master he replied—

"Oh! dinna say that, sir; ye'll suirly no be gaen tae dae withoot it a'thegither yersel'? I'm no savin' but ye canna; but ye'd no be ony the waur o't, an' ye canna hae a better freen' i' thae cauld snawy hills than a drap o' the rale kin'."

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"Well, Mac, it all depends on how you behave yourself, if you have a friend on the hills."

"'Deed, sir, I'm no a bit feer'd bit I'll behave masel I wis suir ye'd no neglec' the bounties o' a mercifu Proovidence, an' forget tae bring wi' ye somethin' to remin' ye o' yer belongin' tae the ceevilised warl'."

We were now all standing looking over the bulwarks of the steamer, gazing into the pale blue waters of the lake. The clearness of the smooth sheet was quite phenomenal, and the great body of snow-born liquid, stretched out on all sides, carried the reflection of the surrounding hills as if conscious of the grandeur it created.

The lofty rugged mountains were quite awe-inspiring in their immensity; and far away on the distant snow-clad summits the rays of the now setting sun cast a dim golden light, which gave to the scene an intensity of beauty beyond the power of tongue or pen to describe. The feeling of sublimity born within us at the wonderful works of Nature around, fitted us for the explorations we had planned into the yet hidden haunts of creation's best handiwork. As the steamer glided slowly under the shadow of the big hill at the foot of which lay the capital of the Lakes District, we felt subdued with a sense of reverence at the glories of the mountain and the flood.