Page:Rambles on the Golden Coast of New Zealand.djvu/141

Rh and to speculate on the fate of the crew in this strange country, where people are few and far between, or not at all, and better not at all than few, since, meeting with a stranger, they took him in—their mouths—and, without reading or learning, marked and inwardly digested him. These ship captains are now-a-days so given to accurate investigations, that there is no chance for a second Sinbad or romantic Robinson Crusoe.

Mount Mosquito marks the vicinity of the Haast, and in the vicinity of the Haast there still is, and has been for many years, another Marks, a pioneer storekeeper in the southern district. The beach between the Haast and Okura was once a busy scene of diggers, of which mention has already been made in this volume.

The next river to be entered is the Okura. Like the Haast, it is not always accessible. Here the traveller is almost sure to meet, as we did, a man happy in his solitude, hearty in his hospitality, and as picturesque in character and costume as his strangely chosen, but beautiful situation—that man being none other than Joe Collyer, a name well known in these parts, and a “jolly good fellow.” Collyer officiates, at all times, as harbourmaster, signalman, boatman, wharfinger, guide, philosopher, and friend to all who visit the Okura. Some excellent land is to be found about the several branches of this river, and where it is swamp, the swamp is not of that description known as the “pakihi,” but a soil of good deep loam, capable by drainage, for which there are facilities, of being fitted for cultivation. The timber also hereabout is the best on the West Coast.

The Waitoto is the next river that is passed, six miles from Arawata, which is again three miles from Jackson’s Bay, towards which we are steaming, as the sun is setting. Our first view of the Arawata township was obtained as the sun was setting behind the peninsula, some of its last rays lingering in the little valley in which the town is situated. Generally, in regard to its surroundings, and particularly in regard to its water frontage, Port Arawata bears a close resemblance to the situation of Port Chalmers. It differs from Port Chalmers inasmuch as it is not situated within the shelter of magnificent headlands, nor do the hills surrounding it occupy the same position, according to the compass; but otherwise the contour of the country is strikingly similar.

Special correspondents have, in past years, written so much of Jackson’s Bay, and its prospects as a place of settlement, and so few of their hopeful prognostications have been realised, that we think it best to draw the veil, rather than enlarge, in these pages, upon its unsuccessful history as a special settlement.

Geographically, the cliffs around Jackson’s Bay are interesting by the variety of the formations—as a large area of the country around may be said to be. There are slate, sandstone, limestone, and some strange conglomerates. Between the two first bluffs we pass, there is a slate face in which there are numerous quartz-leaders, and at its foot there have been found, in crevices, several specimens of shotty gold. In fact, all the gold that has been got about Jackson’s Bay and headland—and there have been some pockets of peculiar richness—indicates by its character that it has not been carried any great distance, or subjected to the pulverising process of beach or river wash or wear. In one instance, 600 ozs. are said to have been got in a sort of natural ripple-box