Page:Letters from New Zealand (Harper).djvu/159

Rh of outlet. Merino and half-bred sheep accustomed to the mountains will live through several weeks under snow, kept warm by the proximity of each other, and to some extent finding a little rough pasture. If they survive they are weak, and the growth of wool is injured; in any case there is much loss, for in such a country it is impossible to dig them up, as is done in the North of England; shepherds can only wait until a thaw sets in. Cold as it was, so that when we took out our flasks at lunch time water dropping on waterproofs instantly froze, yet we were lost in admiration of the magnificent panorama of snow on every side, lit up with a flood of glorious sunshine. Passing under great precipices of drifted snow against the hill-sides, we met large caverns full of that heavenly blue which is seen in glacier caves, due, I believe, to the sunshine as it penetrates the porous roof of snow or ice. Towards evening we made the house where horses are changed, and the next day, finding that the snow had thinned out, were able to utilize the coach, and reached Christchurch, after four days' travel. Taking farewell of each other, one of my fellow passengers exclaimed, "Oh, that I were a competent ink-slinger, what a yarn I could write of our adventures!"

Diocesan Synod. Let me explain very briefly the position of the Church in New Zealand. It has never been what is known as an Established Church. In the early thirties, after Marsden's missionary enterprise amongst the Maories, the Church began her work in the extreme Northern part of the North Island, under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society, which sent out a band of devoted men, who did great work in the conversion of the natives; risking life, living in the simplest style, busy with the