Page:Old Westland (1939).pdf/211

Rh the kind,’ he said, ‘had you been called upon to make good the amount, it would have been paid by the principal business people here (Hokitika) and the Grey unknown to you.’ I was thunder-struck, and at the same time gratified, to think I had such kind friends who would have assisted me out of my difficulty.

“To account for my cash balancing at Taramakau, as I said before, I had no gold scales there large enough to weigh off, so took the weight for granted, putting the value down at so much, say 500 ozs. at £4—£2,000, which balanced my cash, but on weighing off found I had only 465 ozs., which at £4 would be £1,860, or £140 short. A letter was written and signed by nearly all the business people on the Coast, and forwarded to my inspector, calling his attention to the hardships I had to undergo, the liability to loss through having no office, etc. When at the Greenstone I always slept with my clothes on, even to my boots and hat. I had my own blankets, which were kept (or supposed to be) in a bushel bag to prevent their being ‘fly blown,’ but which had not the desired effect, for when I had occasion to use them | found them ‘crawling.’ I was, of course, disgusted, but what was I to do? I had to grin and bear it. My bedstead, too, was anything but a comfortable one; four posts stuck in the ground, three saplings on the top, the middle one a shade higher than the other two. The first time Broham had