Chapter XI. THE OPENING OF THE KAIKOURA ROAD--SURVEYS OF THE MOUNT COOK GLACIERS--SURVEYS AT THE HEAD OF LAKE OHAU.
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Chapter XI.
THE OPENING OF THE KAIKOURA ROAD--SURVEYS OF THE MOUNT COOK GLACIERS--SURVEYS AT THE HEAD OF LAKE OHAU.
1887
The following March we were invited by Mr. Lance to drive with him in his four-in-hand to the formal opening of the road from the Waiau to Kaikoura. He, as member for the district, had been instrumental in getting the road constructed, and our drive was a veritable triumphal progress. We went by railway to Culverden, where we joined Mr. Lance, and drove to Mr. Wharton's station, where we stayed the night. Next day we set out at 5 a.m. with five four-in-hand coaches, driven by Mr. Lance, Messrs. Rutherford, Thomson (of Balmoral), Rhodes, and Greenwood (of Teviotdale), two tandems, driven by H. Lance and Mrs. Rutherford, and Mr. Macfarlane with a pair of horses. It made a most imposing cavalcade.
The Rutherfords and Macfarlanes are two families that have spread themselves over a large part of North Canterbury; in fact it is almost impossible to speak of North Canterbury without speaking of the Rutherfords. They are like a rugged Highland clan, working together and playing together, having their own polo team, and coming down en masse to the Christchurch races and Show weeks. The first George Rutherford, came from South Australia in 1859, and bought Leslie Hills Station, then named Addington, from Messrs.
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OPENING OF THE KAIKOURA ROAD
Knyvett and Hodgson. His experienced eye saw at once the enormous advantages of this piece of country, bounded on two sides by a great river, and backed by a high range. He realised that it would only need fencing on one side, and thus could be worked much more cheaply than most of the country, and in this and many other matters his knowledge of farming gained in Australia gave him an enormous advantage over his less experienced and less sturdy neighbours. After having bought the station he returned to Australia, chartered two ships, and brought over his wife, his seven sons, the stud sheep, horses, and cattle. (It reminds one irresistibly of Noah and the ark, and indeed there is something patriarchal about the whole Rutherford story). He also brought a goat so that his wife might have milk on the voyage, but the seven sons found that they had to rise early if they were to be in time to prevent the sailors from taking the milk. When they reached New Zealand they anchored some distance outside Lyttelton Heads and swam the animals ashore, and when they had themselves landed hitched up the bullock waggons, and took the whole cavalcade up to Leslie Hills. Standing on the verandah of the old house and looking out to the wide valley of the Waiau one can see dotted all round the horizon Rutherford homesteads, belonging to grandsons and granddaughters of the original pioneer. On his death in 1885 he left Leslie Hills to his sixth son, Duncan; and to his grandson's sons, Duncan Leslie Rutherford and Stuart Leslie Rutherford, it belongs to-day. One of the seven sons settled in South Canterbury, and one in Marlborough, but the rest and most of their descendants remained in North Canterbury.
We had breakfast at Wandle Bush, and lunched at Greenhills, where we were joined by another four-in-hand and many traps, and we drove on to Kaikoura, where a triumphal arch had been erected, and Mr. Lance had to make a speech, which was received with great applause.
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We put up at the Pier Hotel, and next day drove to Mr. Bullen's, where a champagne luncheon was given.
Mr. Bullen came from Sydney to New Zealand, and in 1866 took up the run afterwards known as The Elms, buying it from Mr. Fyfe, who with Captain Kean had taken up, though not stocked, most of the country near Kaikoura. He had great taste in planting, and made plantations on the tops of all the hills on his estate. He built the present homestead about 1873, and it was considered very magnificent. His hospitality was unbounded; cricket teams going to play the local eleven, visitors to the neighbourhood, passers-by, were all sure of entertainment at The Elms.
This country had never been bush country within the memory of living man, though there was a tradition among the old whalers that long ago a tremendous fire had been seen sweeping over the lower Kaikoura ranges; at any rate the number of moa bones found in the swamps suggests that they had fled there from some conflagration.
Mr. W. R. Bullen has told the writer that in draining one of these swamps he found that at some period it had been heavily timbered with white pine, and judging by the size of the roots and remains of the trunks the white pine forest was evidently hundreds of years old. Below these was a layer of river silt and shingle, in which were embedded red manuka stumps, showing that this ground had once been a dry flat covered with manuka scrub, while on a still lower level he came to good rich soil with totara logs embedded in it. As he remarked, it must indeed have been many years since those trees reared their heads to the sun, and it was interesting to sit on a hill and follow with the eye the course of the river from the mountains to the sea, speculating on the time it had taken to cover the rich soil, where the totara grew, with the shingle where the red manuka flourished, and then again by some change of its bed, to turn the dry flat into a swamp suitable for the
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OPENING OF THE KAIKOURA ROAD
white pine trees. Another swamp proved to have been a lake at one time, for underneath the relics of the pine forest was the mud bottom of the lake, where he found remains of raupo and flax, also mussel shells, and the skeleton of a moa, which had presumably perished in the lake when the country was burnt.
We had tea at Mr. Collins's house (Mt. Fyfe) and then drove back to Kaikoura, and in the evening there was a grand ball at the hotel, attended by all the leading people. A big picnic the following day finished the festivities.
The Kaikoura township, with its port, is the centre of a considerable pastoral district extending from the Amuri Bluff on the south to the Clarence River on the north, between which places there is some fine farming country which stretches up into the valleys of the rugged Kaikoura mountains. The little town itself is most attractive, with its blue bay in front, the fertile plain behind, with the great wall of encircling mountains beyond, deep blue in summer and shining white in winter, and changing at sunset into wonderful mauves and purples. While we were there my wife went to see old Mrs. Parsons, a member of a Somerset yeoman family, who remembered being at the wedding of Mr. Richard Strachey, my wife's father, some 57 years before. She was delighted to see someone who could talk of her own village in England, and she insisted on giving my wife a plate out of a beautiful set of Lowestoff china that she possessed. When we took it home we found that it was exactly the same pattern as one that had been given to me by my sister as a wedding present. Whether
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the two plates had originally been part of the same large dinner service I do not know. If so, it was strange that they should have travelled out to New Zealand to meet again under the same roof.
We drove back to Mr. Wharton's station, Highfield, and on next day to Horsley Downs and Heathstock, where we spent a few days before returning to Christchurch.
Highfield was taken up by Mr. L. Lee, and after one or two changes was sold in 1876 to Mr. Henry Wharton, who in 1884, formed a company by taking into partnership his two brothers-in-law, Messrs. Frank and James Northcote. A few years later the latter married the only daughter of Mr. Lance. The Woolshed was one of the largest in Canterbury, and much has been done to improve the property.
I had now to go on survey business to the Mackenzie country, and I stayed first at Richmond, Mr. Musgrave's station on Lake Tekapo, and rode with him to Lillybank, Mr. Sibbald's station, which was the land I had discovered and held for a year before my claim lapsed. Afterwards we rode up the Godley River, and had a good view of the two glaciers at the head of it, one of them leading to the Sealy Pass.
Mr. Musgrave, known familiarly as Muzzie, was a good sportsman, keen on hunting, and a great favourite. He was for some years a partner of Arthur Hope, who owned Richmond Station from 1880 to 1899. Musgrave afterwards owned Lake Heron Station, where in 1895 he lost most of his flock in a snowstorm.
Returning to Richmond Station I went on to the Tekapo Hotel, and next day visited the Alexandrina Lake, which, lying some distance from the main road, is not so well known
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SURVEYS OF THE MT. COOK GLACIERS
as the other Mackenzie country lakes. It is much smaller than the others, but is a very pretty one. In the evening I rode down to the Pukaki Hotel, and next day up the west side of the Lake to the Hermitage accommodation house, situated almost at the foot of Mt. Cook. The native name of Aorangi, the cloud piercer, is wonderfully suggestive of this magnificent peak, and in this mere journal of my journeys and experiences in early New Zealand it is impossible for me to describe its beauty and grandeur. I shall not attempt it. Mr. Huddleston, the manager of the Hermitage, a man very keen and enthusiastic in the work he had undertaken, took me for a long walk to Kea Point and then some way up the Mueller Glacier and into an ice cave.
The glacier was named after Baron Von Mueller, Austrian explorer and botanist, and first curator of the Botanical Gardens in Melbourne. When he visited Mt. Cook he is said to have remarked, "Now will I site on mein's own glacier."
This was my first sight of a really big glacier, and as we saw several avalanches, one of them of a tremendous size, falling from Mt. Moorhouse, I was greatly impressed. I was also immensely struck with the beauty of Mt. Sefton, towering like a huge wall above the ice river where we stood, and I think this was one of the most enjoyable days I ever spent. On the following day we rode over to the great Tasman Glacier, and lunched near two little lagoons on the west side of it. On our return ride when we reached the Hooker River, which we had crossed quite easily in the morning, we found large
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blocks of ice coming down it, and had some difficulty in effecting a safe crossing. Having spent two days at the Hermitage, which was all the time I could then give, I determined that as soon as I could spare one of my surveyors, I would have a complete survey made of the Mt. Cook glaciers, and in the next year, 1888, I instructed Mr. N. Brodrick, who was now one of the best on the staff, to carry out this work. I set out on the return journey in pouring rain, and the big creeks we had to cross were flooded, and the driver found it difficult to get the trap over them. We lunched at Glentanner station, and finally arrived at the Pukaki Hotel.
Glentanner station was originally taken up by the Dark Bros, in 1858, and named after the ship that brought them to Lyttelton.
After a night's rest I rode on to the Ohau River, where I had to inspect the site of the proposed new bridge, and I then crossed the river in a wire cage, and went on to Mr. Maitland's station on Lake Ohau, where I stayed the night, and the day after rode up the Hopkins and Dobson Rivers, which I had explored before I left Canterbury. Next day we had a splendid day's duck shooting, our bag including a number of black teal, and the following day Mr. Maitland rode with me to the Benmore station, where we lunched--(this is not to be confused with the Benmore station in Southland)--and then went on with me as far as Omarama, on the other side of the Ahuriri River. In crossing this country I noticed that the rabbits swarmed in hundreds and thousands
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EARTHQUAKE OF 1888
showing how this pest had increased, and I could not help thinking of the fine of £5 that had been imposed for shooting one in Southland a few years before. That night I reached the Waitaki, and stayed at an accommodation house, and from there rode down to Kurow, got a buggy, and drove up the Hakataramea to inspect the site of a proposed township. I then returned to Kurow and went to Mr. Campbell's house at Otekaike, and, after a day's rest, on to Oamaru and Christchurch. Arriving home late I found my wife had gone to a ball given by Mrs. Rhodes, so I dressed and followed, to my wife's great astonishment, as she had just been telling her friends that I was up at Mt. Cook.
In this year I had to make further reductions in my staff, and I am sorry to say lose my Inspecting Surveyor, Mr. Kitson, who had been a staff surveyor under the Provincial Government, and had been with me ever since I took charge of the Canterbury Surveys.
1888
On September 1st, 1888, we were startled very early in the morning by an exceedingly heavy shock of earthquake, the severest felt in the South Island since 1868, and longer in duration than any previously recorded in Christchurch. It did considerable damage to the Cathedral spire, erected by the children of the late George Rhodes, of Timaru, in memory of their father. About 20 feet of the top of the spire fell to the ground, and large stones were scattered over the footpaths in Cathedral square, so if the earthquake had come in the daytime there would probably have been some loss of life. Several other buildings were more or less
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damaged. In our own house many ornaments were broken, and a marble statue of Diana that I bad brought from Rome, fell from its pedestal and was smashed beyond repair.
The following account of the fall of the spire is from a Christchurch paper of September 1st. An eye-witness who saw the fall of the spire described it in these words:--
"The first view I got of it after my attention was directed to it by the ringing of the bells, was seeing three or four stones shoot out. Then the top part of the spire swayed for a second or two, having a peculiarly weird effect in the kind of half light which prevailed, and then, as it seemed to me, when the violence of the shock was over, down toppled the whole of the topmost portion, the cross falling against the part of the tower which was standing. The fall of the stones and the ringing of the bells made a tremendous noise, and for a few seconds I could hardly tell what had happened."
In his report to the Surveyor-General for 1888 Mr. Baker says:--
Minor Triangulation and Topographical Surveys. As proposed in my report last year, four of the staff surveyors have been engaged on this work to enable me to get more reliable plans made of the pastoral country proposed to be re-let next year in Canterbury. Mr. Welch has been employed on the Okuku and Noble Survey Districts, situated in the northern part of the province, adjoining the Hurunui River; Mr. Hay, in the Mt. Somers and Hutt Survey Districts, in the Ashburton County, embracing the head waters of the north branch of the Ashburton River; Mr. McClure has completed the Fox, Mount Peel, and Sinclair Survey Districts, in the Geraldine County, including the head waters of the Orari, and the Havelock branch of the Rangitata River; and Mr. Brodrick has been engaged in com-
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SURVEYS OF THE MT. COOK GLACIERS
pleting the triangulation of the North Tekapo and Godley Survey Districts, in the Mackenzie country, embracing the northern part of Lake Tekapo and the Macaulay, Godley, and Cass Rivers. The work undertaken by those officers has been of the most arduous description. The unusually late fall of snow in the early part of October last year, the fierce and ever-recurring north-west gales which blew with such force during the past summer months, and the early fall of snow this autumn, have all helped to retard the progress of the work; and necessitated the highest peaks being ascended again and again before satisfactory observations could be obtained. The average height of the stations observed was over 4,500 ft., a great many of them being over 6,500 ft., and the highest 7,645 ft. I am glad to be able to report that no loss of life has occurred, although Mr. Welch's party, whilst fording the South Hurunui River, were washed down it, barely escaping with their lives; and Mr. Brodrick had one of his men so badly frostbitten that he had to be sent to the nearest hospital. The total area triangulated is 416,838 acres; and besides getting the topographical features of this, the topography of 335,154 acres of the higher portions of the mountain ranges extending far into the Southern Alps has been obtained by extending chain traverses to the sources of the various rivers and their principal tributaries, the peaks and leading ridges being fixed by cross bearings and the other topographical features by cross bearings and carefully prepared sketches taken from the various minor stations. The average cost of the triangulation and topography was 0.98d., and of the topography alone 0.35d. per acre, which includes every cost in connection with the field parties to the end of the season. The several surveyors and their parties pushed on the work with the utmost energy until they were compelled by the approach of winter to leave the high altitudes in which they had been camping. The calculations and topographical plans having been left to be compiled during the winter months, I am unable to report definitely on the various closures which have
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been made with previous work. The rough calculations, however, show satisfactory results."
The paragraph in the report referring to the Government's action with regard to retrenchment seems extraordinarily bold as coming from a servant of that Government.
"Retrenchment. --I sincerely regret that the reduction of the office staff ordered by the Government has led to the retirement of ----- and ----- and -----. The compulsory retirement of officers after many years--perhaps a whole lifetime--given to the public service of the colony, without any adequate retiring allowance or without any pension, whilst other officers of perhaps shorter or not such valuable service retire with a good pension, simply because they happened to be appointed in the first instance by the General Government instead of the Provincial, is a great blot on the Civil Service of the Colony, and is probably without parallel in any Crown or constitutionally governed dependency of the British Government; and I doubt if in any Civil Service in the world would such glaringly unequal and unjust treatment of public servants be tolerated."
Towards the end of this year I had some very long rides with Mr. McMillan and Mr. Foster, the two other Run Classification Commissioners, going over all the properties in the lower part of Canterbury, south of the Rangitata River. I arrived home two days before 1889 Christmas, and a week after we started again at Hakataramea and visited all the stations in the Mackenzie country, which took us till nearly the end of January. Being near Mt. Cook I went up to the Hermitage to see Mr. Brodrick, who was now at work making the complete
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SURVEYS OF THE MT. COOK GLACIERS
survey of the Mt. Cook glaciers. Setting out early one morning we crossed the Mueller glacier, walked to the terminal face of the Hooker, where we had lunch, and then walked on up the glacier to a point opposite the saddle at the end, afterwards named the Baker Saddle, where I had a magnificent view of the head of the glacier and of Mt. Cook. It was nearly 5 p.m. before we turned back, almost dark before we regained the Mueller, and we did not reach the Hermitage till half-past nine, having done the longest day's expedition in the Hermitage records of glacier walks. I am of course speaking of a time before Mt. Cook was ascended, or any of the other big climbs made. I now gave Mr. Brodrick instructions to have numbers painted on about a dozen of the larger rocks moving down the surface of the Mueller Glacier and to fix their position by trigonometrical observation so that these might at a later date again be determined and the rate at which the various parts of the glacier were moving could be easily ascertained. I also asked him to range lines and fix rods on the Hooker, Tasman, and Murchison glaciers, and a few months later to re-range the lines and measure the distance each rod had moved, so that the rate at which these glaciers were travelling should likewise be discovered.
From Mr. Brodrick's report, published in 1891, it appears that the greatest movement of one of the rocks on the Mueller was 611 ft. in twenty months (from March 29th, 1889, to November 14th, 1890), and the greatest movement of the rods placed on the Tasman was 49 ft. in a month (5th December, 1890, to 7th January, 1891).
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It was at this time that Mr. Brodrick surveyed the Noeline Glacier and named it after the daughter of his chief.
After a visit to the run on Lake Ohau we went up the Hopkins River, and then over the Benmore run, and down the Omarama River to Kurow. Here I parted from the other Commissioners and went to Otekaike, where my wife and daughter were staying, and returned with them to Christchurch. We then made a trip up the Rakaia to Glenrock Gully, which was the pastoral country that I had discovered in 1860, about 29 years before. Later we rode over the Lake Heron country and up the Rangitata to the Clyde River, and then back to the Mt. Somers railway station. This concluded the work of the Land Classification Commissioners, and we returned to Christchurch. After this I had to visit Wellington to see the Minister of Lands about the classifications we had made. New leases were to be submitted to auction at Timaru and Christchurch that autumn, and the object of our inspections had been to determine the size of the runs and the minimum rentals to be charged.
In May Mr. Percy Smith, who had lately been appointed Surveyor-General, came to Christchurch on his first official visit to my department. Mr. McKerrow, whom he had succeeded, had been made the head of the Land Purchasing Department for buying back land from the big station owners, to be divided for closer settlement. On May 30th I held the first large sale at Timaru of the runs in the southern part of Canterbury, and on the 4th of June, in Christ-
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CHRISTCHURCH LAND SALE
church, of the runs in the middle and northern parts of the province. It was my first experience of acting as an auctioneer at big land sales, but I got a good deal of credit in the Press for the way I had conducted them.
When the Provinces were abolished in 1875 and the General Government took over the administration of the land the runholders were allowed to continue their leases on the old conditions till May, 1880. The runs were then re-valued (under the Land Act of 1877), and the rentals were based on the carrying capacity and position of the stations, varying from 9d. to 2/- per sheep, and from 4/- to 10/- per head of cattle. Before the leases ran out again in 1890 the runs were let at these auction sales for periods of seven, fourteen, or twenty-one years, the time being based on whether the land was likely to be needed for closer settlement. At this time a certain amount of the land was taken by the Government for closer settlement, but the majority of the tenants obtained their runs again.
In July I went by train to the Waipara, and drove on to the Motunau station, and had two days' shooting there. I cannot remember the number of guns, but I kept a note of the bag. We had 41 hares, 23 pukakis, 3 pheasants, 3 ducks, and 2 swans, not a bad bag for those days, as shooting was nothing like as good as it had been when first I arrived in New Zealand.
At the end of this year we lost our very good friend, Mr. Robert Campbell, who had been ill for some months. He was an extraordinarily genial kindly man, his own worst enemy, and we had always been made very welcome visitors at his charming home. He was buried at Dunedin, and I went down there to attend the funeral on December 11th.
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Mr. Baker's report for the year 1889 refers to the very heavy work being done by the office staff.
"Office Work. --Since the reduction made in the office staff last year the whole of the office work as regards the checking and construction of all plans, district, county, and Crown-grant record-maps, has been supervised by Mr. Shanks, Chief Draughtsman. Fifteen new district plans have been made for the public map room, and were revised and added to. Four new districts have been traced and sent to Wellington, for photo-lithography; but the principal draughting work done this year was the construction of four run plans, on a scale of one mile to an inch, showing all the topography, fences, run-boundaries, etc. This last work was only completed in time to let the public have the use of them before the run sales by the strenuous efforts of several of the draughtsmen, who for many weeks had to return to the office after the usual hours and remain nightly till 10 p. m. in order to get them finished. Twenty-eight large and forty-one small plans were sent in by the surveyors, most of which have been checked and passed. There were 313 certificates of title or Crown grants of 435 sections of rural, town, or suburban land, containing 20,298 acres, prepared. Plans were put on 104 leases in triplicate, involving the drawing of over 300 separate plans on these deeds."
During the year 1889 the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors was formed, and Mr. Baker was one of the original members.
1890
On the 29th January, 1890, the first sod was cut of the Midland railway, which was to connect Canterbury with the West Coast. The ceremony took place at Springfield, then the terminus of the railway from Christchurch, and little did those who were present guess that this short line would take over 30 years to complete.
In the beginning of this year it was reported that sawyers were illegally cutting timber in
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SURVEYS AT HEAD OF LAKE OHAU
the forest at the head of Lake Wanaka. This necessitated a visit of investigation, and my friend, Captain Temple, an amateur artist, begged to go with me. We went by railway to Oamaru, and up to Otekaike, where I left my wife with Mrs. Campbell, going on myself with Captain Temple to Kurow. Next day we hired a buggy and a pair of horses and drove to the Benmore station, where we stayed the night, and then on to the station on Lake Ohau. The following day we drove to Mr. Brodrick's camp at the head of the lake, where I had work to inspect. He had by this time finished his surveys of the Mt. Cook glaciers, and was making a topographical survey of the Dobson and Hopkins Rivers. Having examined the maps, I rode with him up the Hopkins River, an exceedingly attractive ride, with lovely views of the adjoining hills. We camped in a horse paddock at the junction of the Huxley River with the Hopkins, where we obtained a most magnificent view of Mt. Fraser and other snowy peaks, and on the next day we rode about two miles further up the river, which is wooded on both sides, to the glacier at the head of it. The following morning we rode back to Mr. Brodrick's camp, and shot rabbits, which had now penetrated even into this very wild country. The day after we rode up the Dobson River, but the scenery was not nearly as beautiful as that on the Hopkins.
It was at this time that Mr. Brodrick discovered the pass over to the West Coast at the head of the Huxley River, which is now called the Brodrick Pass.
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My work here being completed we drove down the Ohau Lake to the Benmore Station and on to the Omarama Station, and after staying the night we drove up the Ahuriri to Birchwood Station. The following day, a Sunday, we rode up the river to an out-hut where Captain Temple stayed to sketch, but I rode on to where the birch forest comes down to the river on both sides. It is an extremely pretty valley. Next day we said good-bye to our hospitable hosts, and drove down the Ahuriri and over the Lindis Pass to the station where Owen and I had stayed in 1861, 29 years before. After spending the night there we drove through the Lindis Gorge to the Morven Hill Station, lunched there, crossed the Molyneux at the Ludgate Ferry, and went on to Pembroke at the south end of Lake Wanaka. From here we determined to make a trip up the Matukituki River, which I had never seen, so we rode round the south end of the lake to Glendhu Bay, where there is a lovely view of Mt. Aspiring. Mr. Cameron, the manager of a station there, kindly piloted us by a short cut to the river we intended to explore, and we had beautiful views all the way up to a sawmill, where we spent our first night. We then rode for two miles up the west branch of the Matukituki, and obtained a magnificent view of the Rob Roy glacier. Here Captain Temple stayed to make a sketch, and I rode on a few miles further. We lunched at another sawmill and went up the east branch of the river till we reached a spot opposite the Cascade Glacier with its hundreds of waterfalls, a most glorious sight. On the return journey we rode all the
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LAKES WANAKA AND HAWEA
way back to Pembroke in one day, not reaching there till half-past ten at night, both of us pretty tired with our long ride. The following day, putting our horses on board the steamer, we proceeded up Lake Wanaka, stopping for a short time at Manuka Island, where we walked up a little hill to see a pretty lake at the top. Descending again to the steamer we went on to the head of the lake, and landing our horses rode up to the Makarora station, of which Mr. Symonds was the manager.
Mr. Charles Symonds went first as a cadet to the Makarora Station, which was on the east side of the river opposite Mt. Albert. This run belonged to his aunt, Ellen Symonds, who also owned Kekerangu, in the Marlborough province. Later he became manager, and lived there for many years.
Next day I proceeded up the Wilkin River to the sawmill, which was the object of my visit, and seized the cut timber as being Crown property, and notified the sawmill proprietor that he would be prosecuted for cutting it without a license. I then rode on up the river to where it forks into two branches, and had a grand view of the Castor and Pollux peaks and of Mt. Alba, part of the snowy mountain range dividing this country from the West Coast. I also had a ride up the Makarora River to the forest, to seize timber illegally cut there, and I afterwards returned to Lake Wanaka, and went by steamer back to Pembroke.
I then had to assess the carrying capacity of some country taken up on the Hunter River at the head of Lake Hawea, and to do this was obliged to swim my horse across the Molyneux
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as the punt at Newcastle was laid up for repairs. I rode to Lake Hawea and up to the Dingle Station, arriving there at 10 p.m. Very early next morning, having secured a fresh horse, I rode on to the station at the head of the lake, and had breakfast here, and again being supplied with a fresh horse, rode about fifteen miles up the Hunter River to the country I had to assess. It did not take me long to complete this job, and finding a shepherd there I changed horses with him, rode back to the station, where I had breakfasted, had dinner there, and, mounting the horse I had ridden up returned to the Dingle Station. Then getting on the horse I had brought up from Pembroke, I completed the return journey, arriving about 9 p.m., after being in the saddle, with only short intervals for meals, about fifteen hours, a good day's work for any man.
Next morning, with Captain Temple, I drove to the Tarras Station, where we had lunch, and then on to the Lindis Station, where we stayed the night. Leaving at six o'clock next morning we drove to the Woolshed, and had breakfast in the hut, and then drove over the Lindis Pass down to Omarama, where we had tea, changed horses, and got down to Kurow a little before midnight, after a very long day's drive. Here Captain Temple left me, as I had to visit the camp of Mr. Mathias, one of my surveyors, and at the same time a cousin. I also went to Otekaike, where my wife and daughter were staying with Mrs. Campbell, spent Sunday with them, and returned by rail to Christchurch. At this time Mrs. Campbell was seriously ill. She had strained her heart nursing her husband,
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LAND DUMMYISM
who was a big heavy man, but it had been hoped that rest and quiet in her own home would bring improvement. As, however, this was not the case, my wife took her down to Dunedin to consult the doctor there, and later Mrs. Humphreys (Mrs. Campbell's sister) came down to be with her.
I now had to go to Wellington to see the Minister of Lands re further sales of runs in the Midland Railway area, which were to take place the next month. Shortly after I went down to Dunedin, where my wife was still nursing Mrs. Campbell at the Criterion Hotel. An exhibition was being held there, which I visited, and then dined with the Ritchies, and had supper with my old friend Professor Sale. Two days later I returned with my wife to Christchurch, but in less than a fortnight a telegram came saying that Mrs. Campbell was much worse, and Mrs. Baker went back to Dunedin, and the following day Mrs. Campbell died. I went down to her funeral, which took place on the 19th April, only about four months after that of her husband. We thus lost two friends who had been very kind to us ever since our marriage, nearly fifteen years before.
In July of this year I had again to visit Wellington to attend a conference of Chief Commissioners about an Amended Land Bill, and also to attend a committee on "land dummyism." Since the Act had come into force restricting the area that might be bought from the Crown by any one individual a certain number of people had evaded the law by purchasing not only in their own names but also in the names of other people, and in this way held more land
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than they were entitled to hold. This practice was known as land dummyism, and the Government was determined to put a stop to it. The committee of enquiry sat for ten days, the various Chief Commissioners gave evidence, and I was detained in Wellington for the whole of this time.
Commenting on the evidence given before this Committee, the "Oamaru Mail" said:--
"There is a striking dissimilarity in the evidence in reference to dummyism given before the Waste Lands Committee of the House by Mr. Maitland, the Commissioner of Otago, and Mr. Baker, the Commissioner for Canterbury. Mr. Maitland lent all the authority of his official position to the statement that dummyism was unknown at present. Mr. Baker acknowledged that dummyism is an existing evil. He mentioned the case of a 'certain company in Canterbury which had obtained land by dummyism, the dummies being the manager and a number of employees. "It is also said that one proof of the case being one of dummyism is that "the cheques for the sections were numbered consecutively."' Mr. Baker also did good service by directing attention to the fact that when applicants make false declarations the law appoints no one to prosecute them. Of a verity our laws are wonderfully made."
Whether the virtuous Scotchmen of Otago were less addicted to this reprehensible practice, or whether Mr. Baker was more observant than Mr. Maitland seems to be a moot point.
In the spring I had a long ride up the east coast of the South Island, from the Hurunui River to Picton on the Cook Straits. I went by train to Waipara, and then rode on to Stonyhurst, the station of Sir George Clifford, who was to accompany me on this expedition.
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TRIP UP EAST COAST
Stonyhurst was originally taken up in 1850 by Mr. Charles Clifford and Mr. Frederick Weld (afterwards Sir Charles and Sir Frederick). It is one of the few stations that still belong to the descendants of its first owners. The run then included Greta Peaks. They were experienced sheep farmers, which was by no means common among the early runholders. In 1848 they brought sheep down to Flaxbourne, in the Marlborough Province, which also belonged to them, but they did not send sheep to Stonyhurst till 1852. Later Weld sold out his interests to his partner, and joined the Colonial Office. Both he and Sir Charles Clifford took a prominent part in New Zealand politics; the former was Prime Minister in 1864 and 1865 (later Governor of West Australia), and the latter was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1854 till he went to live in England in 1860. His son, Sir George Clifford, came out to take charge of the two estates in 1871. At Stonyhurst there are fine plantations of English oaks, Australian hard woods, and pines from all parts of the world, and the greater part of the property is surrounded by rabbit proof fencing. It grows some of the best wool in Canterbury, and is the home of the Stonyhurst thoroughbred stud, and has a stud flock of pure Tasmanian merino sheep.
The first morning we crossed the Hurunui River and rode to Cheviot, Mr. Campbell's Station, and he drove me to Gore Bay to see the landing place there. In the afternoon Sir George and I rode on to Mt. Parnassus (then owned by G. A. Anstey, staying there the night, and the following day we went to the Conway River and down to the coast, where we obtained a most lovely view of the Kaikoura mountains. That night we stayed at Claverley, belonging to Mr. Smith, and then continued our journey along the coast till we reached Kaikoura, where we stayed at the homestead of Mr. Collins.
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This was one of the most beautiful rides I have ever had, as our way took us along the base of the hills, which here come right down to the shore and are covered with bush. The track passed through groves of karaka trees, which later in the year are hung with brilliant yellow berries, and skirted lovely bays, where the sea is of a wonderful brilliant greeny blue, and where the great waves from the Southern Ocean break themselves into foam on the jutting out ledges of rock. Some of the beaches are covered with large paua shells with exquisite iridescent colouring of greens and blues and mauves. Next day we rode on by the new road to the Clarence River, where we again stayed the night, and the following day we lunched at Kekerangu, belonging to Mr. Edmund Rutherford, and in the afternoon reached Sir George Clifford's station of Flaxbourne, in the Marlborough Province. I remained there for four days, riding about the run, and I saw a Wolseley shearing machine at work. These were quite new to the Colony, and it was the first time I had seen one. We afterwards rode on to Blenheim, the capital of Marlborough Province, stayed there one day, and went by rail to Picton and by steamer to Wellington, and the same night I caught a boat going to Lyttelton, but had rather a rough passage, and was glad to get home again. Mr. Percy Smith, the Surveyor-General, came down in the same steamer, and spent the night with us at Chilcomb. I was going with him up to Mt. Cook, but it was the time of the November races, and the Bachelors' and Jockey Club Balls, and as I wished to be present I left Christchurch a day later than my
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TRIP TO BANKS PENINSULA
chief, who had no taste for such frivolities, and had to make a forced journey to catch him up. I went by rail to Fairlie Creek, where I procured a buggy, and leaving there at 8 p.m. drew up at Tekapo about midnight, and though it was raining hard I set out again into the night, and arrived at Pukaki Hotel at 6 o'clock in the morning. There I had an hour and a half's sleep before starting with the Surveyor-General in the coach for the Hermitage, which we reached at 4.30 in the afternoon. I had thus taken only 29 hours to make what was generally a forty-eight hours' journey. We were unfortunate in the weather, as for the next two days it rained or snowed the whole time. The third day was fine, and we went to Kea Point and to the terminal face of the Mueller Glacier, returning through Governor's Bush, a pretty piece of native forest so called because one of the New Zealand Governors had camped there. We afterwards went back to Fairlie Creek and on to Timaru and Christchurch by railway.
Early in December I had to visit several places on the Peninsula, and I took my daughter Noeline with me. She was only eleven, but was used to long rides on her pony, though this was her first riding tour. She had never been away from her mother or governess before, and though she could manage a horse there was great doubt if she could manage all the buttons of her clothes. However, we decided to risk this. We rode across Dyer's Pass to Governor's Bay, on Lyttelton Harbour, and spent the night at the small hotel there, and next morning rode round the head of the bay to Purau, where we lunched. We then went over the hill to Port
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Levy, staying the night with the Flemings, who were among the oldest settlers in Canterbury, having come out in the Randolph, one of the four ships that brought the first founders of the Canterbury Settlement in 1850. From there we rode over to Pigeon Bay and on to Mackintosh Bay, where we stayed with the Menzies family. We spent a day there, left very early the following morning, and by breakfast time came to Little Akaloa, where my daughter had spent her first birthday when we sent her away from the unhealthy heat of Christchurch. She says that if she lives to be a hundred she will never forget the breakfast they gave us at the farm. It was only home-cured bacon, new potatoes, and home-made bread, butter and jam, but eaten after a long ride in the early morning air, it tasted more delicious than anything else she ever tasted. We stayed that night with the Thackers, at Okain's Bay. They were very old settlers there, and had a comfortable farmhouse overlooking the bay, with a sloping sunny garden.
Mr. J. E. Thacker and his family arrived in Canterbury in one of the "first four ships." He lived for a few years in Christchurch, but in 1855 he went to Okain's Bay, where he bought a section. It was fine bush land, and from that time till his death he kept on adding to his property, which then consisted of 4,500 acres. Since then his descendants have increased it to 7,500 acres.
They had no spare room, but they welcomed us warmly, and said Miss Thacker, "You shall have my father's room and the little girl shall sleep with me." Now the little girl, being an only child, had always had a bedroom to her-
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TRIP TO BANKS PENINSULA
self, and the thought of sharing a bed with a strange woman filled her with horror. She has told me since that she walked up and down the kitchen garden path for an hour saying over and over to herself, "What can't be cured must be endured. What can't be cured must be endured. Noeline, you are eleven years old, and it is quite time you knew that," and finally having screwed up her courage to sticking point she marched into the house, undressed, and went to bed. Little did the kind lady think that the generous offer of half her bed would necessitate such heroic resolutions. On the other side of the bay was a Maori pa, which we visited in the morning. This was a matter of great interest to Noeline, as she had never seen a native village before or spoken to any Maoris, though she must have seen them occasionally in the streets of Christchurch. I also had to go to the top of the range to inspect a reserve, and we afterwards rode over to Le Bons Bay, and then on to Waikerikeri Bay to stay with Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, who were old friends of ours. We remained there over Sunday, and we went for a walk into the bush to see the magnificent tree-ferns that grew in that part, and on Monday went over Mr. Roberts's property along the Gough Bay ridge.
The following day we rode to Akaroa, and catching the steamer Penguin reached Lyttelton, and arrived home that night, to the great delight of my wife, who had, I think, felt rather nervous about allowing her precious baby to go for such an expedition.
The whole of the peninsula, before it was occupied by the settlers who purchased land
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there, was covered with bush, and it is astonishing to think of the amount of labour which must have been expended on it before the bush was felled and it was turned into splendid grazing country. Most of it was sown with cocksfoot grass, and the sale of the seed when gathered in, helped to a great extent to pay for the original cost of felling the timber, burning it off, and sowing grass in the ashes of the forest. Of course the stumps of the burnt trees were for a time very unsightly, but gradually these were levered out, piled up, and reburnt with the fallen trunks, and eventually fine grassed paddocks carrying large herds of cattle and sheep took the place of the forests with which the hills were originally clothed. This happened in all the innumerable bays and inlets of the Peninsula, and when I revisited it many years afterwards in 1920 it was impossible to believe that the smooth grassy hills had been an almost impenetrable forest when I first visited it.
The following quotations from Mr. Baker's report for 1890 are of interest:--
Whilst up the Huxley River Mr. Brodrick found a saddle in the Southern Alps at an elevation of 5,308 ft., which he crossed, and thence descended to the Landsborough River. This is marked on Mr. Mueller's topographical survey of this river, but it is now found not to lead over to the head-waters of the Hunter River, which must rise somewhat further south; it is a connecting saddle between the Huxley and Landsborough Rivers. Mr. Brodrick has written a detailed and interesting account of his climb over this and Sealy Pass, at the head of Godley River, with sketch map illustrating his route. So far as I am aware, he is the only person who has actually crossed the main range between Whit-
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SURVEYS, 1890
combe and Haast Passes, though Mr. Sealy, from the Canterbury side, ascended to the top of the pass named after him. Mr. Brodrick has completed about 90,000 acres of triangulation at under 3/4d. per acre, and 189,000 acres of topography at 0.37d. per acre.
Land Transfer Survey. --Mr. Munro, the officer in in charge of this work, reports as follows:-- "The amount of work which has been passed through this office during the year ended 30th June, 1890, has been approximately the same as during each of three previous years.. . . From a tabulated statement extending over several years, compiled by the District Registrar from gazetted monthly returns, the amount of work performed by the Christchurch office of the Land Transfer Department is about two-fifths of that passing through the whole of the Land Transfer Department of the Colony, both as to value and as to number of documents."
From 1881 the survey reports make mention of many roads constructed by the Department in addition to other survey works.
The Surveyor-General's report for 1890 says under the heading Road Work:-- "Since the Department took over the whole of the constructive road works of the Colony, in January, 1889, this branch of the service has been a somewhat important one. A very large amount of work is immediately conducted under the direction of the Chief Surveyors, with the occasional help of road surveyors and a staff of overseers specially engaged, whilst some of it is supervised by two Assistant Engineers, who were transferred to the Department for that purpose from the Public Works Department."
From 1885 to 1890 there was much coming and going of relations at Chilcomb. Mr. Baker's nephew, Hugh Fisher, had come out to New Zealand in 1884, and when Mr. and Mrs. Baker returned from their trip to England in 1885 he came to live with them. Her nephew, Claud Strachey, was still working as a cadet to Mr. Charles Harper, and was a constant visitor, and these two young men brought many others to the house and there were frequent tennis parties and small dinner parties for their
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amusement. In 1887 another nephew, Clive Strachey, came from England, and joined his brother at Clearwell, which belonged to his father, and was managed by Mr. Harper. Like his brother he was often at Chilcomb, and being charming and amusing, added much to the gaiety of an already cheerful household. In 1886 Mrs. Baker's eldest brother, Richard Strachey, the father of these two young men, had come out on a visit to see to his interests in the Colony. He had had various investments in New Zealand, but in 1880 had invested money with his brother Alex, and his son-in-law Cyril Hawdon, in the Westerfield Estate. When the partnership dissolved, which it did shortly afterwards, Clearwell, which had been part of the estate, fell to his share and Barford to Alex. Strachey. About this time also he acquired an interest in the Maronan property. In 1887 Claud was married to Miss Macpherson, the sister of Mrs. John Raine, and the wedding naturally took place from Chilcomb. Children came, and they and the children were always welcome. Lastly, in 1890, Mrs. Baker's twin brother, Alex, arrived with his very handsome wife, and remained in New Zealand for six months, spending part of the time at Barford but much at Chilcomb, and the same year another nephew, Claud's eldest brother, came on furlough from India. Mrs. Baker was very attached to her family, and these numerous visits gave her great pleasure, and were the excuse for a good deal of entertaining.
