We have been to the Tararuas only in thought, but we have been in person to High Misty. What novelties in the menu appear on such occasions ?

We pitched into the Hutt Forks down a most precipitous moss-covered bluff; we scaled the giddy heights of Mt. Fitzherbert; we splashed through the Orongorongo to ride in the dark through a leaky tunnel on a madcap trolly; we went after the most elusive Butterfly; we did these and many other things, for what? asks the infidel. And we reply—to enjoy the freedom, which is Nature's alone.

We eke out these scanty notes-but are not our real notes of the memory?—with a somewhat lugubrious ditty pinched from the pages of the New Zealand "Free Lance," usually so bright, so witty. The poet, as the kind friend who communicated the extract to us truly remarks, "is evidently unsound in doctrine."

The Wanderer.

Folks sing of the ease of the vagabond's lot,
Of the joys on the road when the sun is hot,
Shunning the human race.
But that doesn't tell of the rain and snow,
Of the howling winds that mockingly throw
Hail in the vagabond's face.

They prate of his winking camp-fire glow,
And envy his wanderings to and fro
Over the breezy downs.
But what do they know of aching feet,
Of slushing mud and the driving sleet,
And winter's gloomy frowns?

They write of his joyous spirit gay,
Of his merry laugh and his tuneful lay,
Working for no man's wage.
Little they rack of his lonely cares,
Of his failing strength and scanty hairs
Whitening now with age.

Oh! it's merry enough when the heart is young,
When songs come clear to a lifting tongue,
And youth is having its fill.
But how when the spring of life has gone,
When its summer draweth to evening song,
And winter lies over the hill?

—John Platten, Napier.

Syllabus for 3rd Term, 1925.

September 26th and 27th, Papatahi. Catch 1.20 p.m. boat to Rona Bay (return fare 1/3), and tramp via Catchpole and Orongorongo to Matthews Creek. Next day climb Papatahi, leaving swags at camp, where return in time to catch 8.15 boat to town.—Leader, Mr. J. C. Beaglehole.

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October 4th, Pipinui Point. Catch 9.30 a.m. train to Johnsonville (fare 10d.), and tramp via Ohariu Valley to Pipinui Point. Return via coast and Makara to town.—Leader, Miss E. M. Holmes.

October 10th and 11, Kapakapanui. Catch—p.m. train to Waikanae return to Paekakariki 3/6, and return from there Waikanae 1/10, (total 5/4), and tramp to Reikiorangi. Climb mountain and return to Waikanae in time for 5.53 p.m. train to town.—Leader, Mr. H. McCormick.

October 18th, Mt. Cecil. Catch 9.10 a.m. train to Trentham (return fare 2/6), and walk via Moonshine Bridge to Mt. Cecil. Back to town by evening train.—Leader, Miss N. Fowler.

October 24th, 25th and 26th. (Labour Day week-end), Baubau. Catch 12.15 p.m. train to Silverstream (return fare to Upper Hutt 2/6), and tramp via Whiteman's Valley to head of Orongorongo. Next day cross into Wairongomai and come out on the Western Lake Road, which follow to Burley's Creek. On Monday, follow up this Creek and over Baubau to Upper Hutt in time to catch 7.10 p.m. train to town.—Leader, Prof. Boyd Wilson.