Page:Rambles on the Golden Coast of New Zealand.djvu/147

Rh of Mr John Hudson, making our number five in all, two of whom had their own steeds to carry them as far as the Waitaha River.

Between Hokitika, Ross, and the route thence by beach to the mouth of the Waitaha River, a distance of about thirty miles, little of special interest is presented. The only good view of scenery worthy of record along the twenty-one miles of coaching, is met with after crossing the Hokitika River by the Kanieri punt, upon ascending the hill, where the river, and the Kokatahi, and Hau Hau districts are brought in sight, furnishing one of those pleasing landscapes with which the coast so abounds. A geological curiosity on the way is the Half-way Stone, being an enormous block of granite standing above and closely adjoining the main road. A similar boulder, measuring, at a rough guess, about 100 ft. in circumference by 50 ft. in height, is passed at the Waitaha Bluff, close to the surf. The presence of such prominent objects in these positions can only be accounted for by glacial influence, as they are dissimilar in vein and grain to any of the stones in the surrounding neighbourhood. Such stones are not unfrequently met with at higher levels on both sides of the central mountain range of this island, but the deposit of these at such a distance from the great mass of primary rocks would seem to prove that glaciers in past ages must have been more powerful and far-travelling forces than existing samples of the coast would lead one to suppose. However, as the theories thereanent have been exhaustively discussed by Dr Hector in a paper read before one of the London Societies, there may be better opportunity for settling the birth-place and early life of these monster blocks by perusing his paper than by depending on any of my crude suggestions. Apart from such occasional curiosities, the drive along the Ross road is only remarkable for its extreme monotony, reminding one of Punch’s panorama of a voyage across the Atlantic, in which the stern of the steamer is exhibited as the one visible object. The traces of the coach got unhooked two or three times and dangled against the horses’ hind hoofs, but the horses preferred stopping until the matter was rectified, rather than furnish even a “hairbreadth escape” paragraph to enliven the journey. A short stay at Ogilvie’s, and the gratuitous supply of a basket of fruit to the passengers by Mrs Muir, as we passed her garden a few miles from Ross, the apples and peaches furnishing ample proof of the adaptability of the soil and climate of the district, were the only incidents on the way until we reached Ross, which but a few years previous was the most thriving place on the coast, yielding from its rich soil thousands of ounces of gold per week—where so recently the banks by day and the casinos by night were scenes of money-changing and “bustle”—and which presents now a very different picture. Had we entered the town preceded by two black in place of brown horses, and at walking pace instead of under full whip, and robed ourselves with white hat-bands, we should have been more in uniform with the appearance of the main street on the 14th of March 1876. But surely there is on the face of the Totara horizon indications of a brighter lining to its long dark clouds. With the prospect of the completion of the Mikonui Race, which is its greatest hope, its downward commercial course should shortly present a turning point. The