Page:Picturesque Dunedin.djvu/304

276 sea-girt rocks, sandy beaches and beetling cliff, city and suburbs, seaport and shipping, hills, dales, and mountains, the varied foliage of the native bush and the contrasting hues of introduced plants, herds and flocks, imposing mansions and sod huts, and a hundred other objects which meet the eye, bestow an interest on the locality which very few other districts can excel. Nature's lap has been filled to overflowing with gems of rarest loveliness, and is it to be wondered at that amid scenes like these the goddess of poetry should have enwrapped so many of her favourites in the mantle of her genius? Even prosaic individuals could hardly fail to draw inspiration from such abundant resources. The fact has been somewhere recorded that the rhymester who first felt the afflatus was a resident here; at all events volumes of poetry have issued from the Dunedin press, indited by local celebrities. One of the earliest efforts was thus expressed to Otakau:—

We are passing through changeful country in name as well as in character. The first surveyors called it Ocean Beach District, then the largest proprietor, Mr. Sidey, whose residence we see on the hillside, named it Corstorphine, after his birthplace, near Edinburgh, which name it now bears. From the summit, looking towards the east, a splendid view of the Peninsula, the harbour, the mainland, and a portion of the city is obtained. In front is the mansion of Mr. Cargill, appropriately named The Cliffs, as it stands almost on the brink of a precipice, 320 feet in height, with White and Green Islands lying close in shore; whilst the ocean, calm this morning as a mirror, displays its vast bosom to the rays of the heat-giving sun in all his unclouded splendour. The southern coast-line shows the course we propose to follow, and will then have special notice. Turning inland, the Kaikorai Valley lies before us, stretching up to Wakari, and having its surface dotted with numerous factories, the homes of divers thriving industries. At the head of the Valley, and in the Borough of Roslyn, are Bone, Flax, and Flock Mills, and most notable, the Roslyn Woollen Mills, well worthy