Page:Letters from New Zealand (Harper).djvu/312

280 Eton College Chapel a bronze incised tablet has been erected by a number of his old pupils and friends: its inscription, written by the Provost of Eton, records his invaluable services to the College, and his great work in New Zealand; the Committee appointed to carry out the work being: The Rev. J. J. Hornby, D.D., Provost; the Earl of Sandwich; Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt.; Colonel the Hon. G. G. C. Eliot; Bishop Durnford, of Chichester; Bishop Abraham; Goldwin Smith; John Walter, Editor of the Times; the Rev. Edwin F. Dyke; the Rev. John Shephard; the Rev. F. T. Wethered; and Dr. Gerald Harper, M.D.

The winter of 1895 here was exceptionally severe. I had an experience of it that I shall never forget. Early in May, in brilliant frosty weather, I travelled across the Southern Alps by coach to visit Westland. Whilst there the weather changed; heavy snowfalls in the mountain ranges gradually increasing until the whole country was covered from the East to the West Coast. Then bright weather, with intense frost. The only road to Christchurch by the Otira Pass was blocked; coaching impossible. There was little chance of returning by sea, as the coastal steam service was interrupted by stormy weather. The frost continuing, without further snowfall, I took counsel with the driver of the coach, and we determined to make the experiment, as the snow was frozen to a hard surface. With myself as the only passenger, we made a start in a wagonette and four horses, a small mail bag, and my luggage. The first forty miles to the pass was tolerably good going, as there are no steep gradients and the streams which cross the road were frozen so hard that we crossed them without difficulty.