Page:Letters from New Zealand (Harper).djvu/164

138 all, it enables the Bishop to be to his Clergy especially, as well as the Laity, a true Father in God. There is a certain sense of family brotherhood in this way brought about by our Synodical system. It may, perhaps, in the course of years, as population increases, begin to wane, but at present it seems to represent what should be the normal condition of Diocesan life and Church work.

There is talk of changing the date of our sessions to the spring, as winter travelling is inconvenient. Certainly, in this diocese, I had a taste of this in my return journey also. Thaw had set in, and I started very early by coach, reaching the half-way house in fair time. Bad weather came on during the night, and the next day, after only accomplishing the stage to the river Bealey, where the coach dines at noon, snow was falling. Roadmen from the Otira Pass said that it would be difficult to get the coach across it. I was anxious to be at Hokitika for Sunday, and the driver wanted to get his mails through, so, as the other passengers declined to venture, he and I started on horseback, my horse leading, then the pack-horses, and the driver bringing up the rear. I was well-clad, with a Scotch plaid over head and ears and descending to the saddle, but soon the heavy flakes turned me into a sort of snow man. We travelled slowly, darkness came on, and it was a matter of trusting one's horse to find the way. Descending the Otira Pass, I came to the long shelf-like rock cuttings which follow down the gorge, and overhang the glacial stream below at a great depth. I lost touch with the horses following; dismounting, I shouted again and again, with no response; it was pitch dark and, moving a little, not knowing how close I was to the edge, over I went,