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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 8 (December 1, 1929)

Told on the Map

page 45

Told on the Map.

A map of an island is always a document of interest, sometimes of a peculiar charm, due to its shape, its names of inlet and headland, and the human associations that such names suggest. For the aroma of adventure in a map, I know of no island chart that equals that of Stewart Island. What stories those names hold for the enquiring mind—such names as Port Adventure, Smallcraft Retreat, Murderers Bay, Glory Cove, Pearl Island, Sealers’ Cove, Ulva Isle, Bravo Island. Half Moon Bay could not be bettered as a descriptive name, unless it be Horseshoe Beach. Some of the names are those of ships of old time, such as Sydney Cove. There are olden heave-downs, that is, convenient beaches where a vessel could be put on the ground for cleaning and repairs. The best places were close to the forest-edge, where hawsers could be made fast to the great trees on shore and the ship hove over till she was on her beam ends.

“Clusters of woodland, knolls and bosky bowers.” (Government Publicity photo.) A scene in Paterson's Inlet, Stewart Island.

“Clusters of woodland, knolls and bosky bowers.”
(Government Publicity photo.)
A scene in Paterson's Inlet, Stewart Island.