Henry William Harper

“ Stripping off everything, we bundled our clothes together and carried them on our necks, and making long bundles of flaxsticks, which float well, by way of life-buoys, and tucking them under our arms, in case of deep water, we entered the Lagoon in single file, the Inspector leading, myself last. Every now and then he turned his head and uttered some encouraging joke. "Pity there's no artist handy! three fellows stark naked, one of them a Bishop, up to their waists in water, clothes on their heads, plodding through mud and water!" ”

“ On the way I had much interesting talk with Horomona, a fine specimen of Christian native manhood, one of Bishop Selwyn's converts in the North Island and, like most natives, one of nature's gentlemen, able to speak some English, and in Maori fashion full of quaint metaphor, and shrewd criticism of the "Pakeha," i.e. the white man, and his ways. "Horomona, you know Pihopa Herewini?" ”

“ Beyond Dunedin our route lay through country that promises well for future settlement, but at present is very perplexing to travellers, who must find their way through swamps and hills, so like each other, that it is only too easy to miss your road, and here it was I received excellent advice from a traveller:—"As you go on, always turn often and look back; remember, you have to come back again, and must know your landmarks." We came to the Molyneux River, one of the largest in New Zealand, unfordable, and with difficulty navigable, owing to the swiftness of its current. ”

“ This occupied the whole day, to say nothing of an excellent dinner he prepared for us, though not exactly up to his standard of a French dejeuner; steamed eel,—they had just caught an enormous specimen, fully four feet long, and very thick, but frizzled, cutlet fashion, with flour, very palatable; some boiled wild pig, tender and tasty as turkey, potatoes, scones and tea. ”

“ Descending some distance down well-grassed spurs, we came to a cattle station, and there revelled in a homely meal, with fresh butter, but were informed by the owner that the boat in which he usually sailed to the Akaroa settlement, some three miles distant, on the other side of the harbour, leaked, and he could only give us a small dinghy, with short oars, in which he thought we might make the passage safely,—the alternative being several miles' walk round the upper part of the harbour, we decided to make the venture. ”

“ As a preliminary to his visitation of the Diocese southward, the Bishop decided to spend some time on Banks' Peninsula, where several settlers have made their homes. As it is a mass of hills, mostly forest-clad, traversed only by bridle tracks, it was arranged that the expedition should be on foot, our party consisting of the Bishop, the Archdeacon of Christchurch, a ponderous man, who prided himself on being able to walk with anyone on the flat, myself, and a Maori guide, Horomona, Anglicé, Solomon. ”

“ A plentiful repast was provided, of a kind,—boiled pork, steamed potatoes, no bread, or salt or mustard; biscuits, no tea, but plenty of hot milk. With native courtesy, when the women had brought in the food, the men with them all left the house, to allow the Pakeha to eat by themselves, recognizing that their guests were "Rangitiras," i.e. men of birth and rank, and treating us as they would treat their own chiefs and principal men,—in this respect Maori etiquette is strong, as between father and son, and persons of rank and others. ”

“ It was interesting to notice, in various houses, different traits indicating the sort of people who had adventured themselves to the ends of the earth to subdue a wilderness and begin the work of a new colony,—all of them, in every class, persons of strong character. ”

“ Jacob's River is the last inhabited place in the extreme south of New Zealand, except that there are a few fishermen settled in Stewart's Island, which is separated from the mainland by Foveaux Straits, apparently about fifteen miles distant. The country here looks fertile; the hills and the mountain country westwards lie open to the explorer, with a good deal of forest in view ”

“ Maories should sit up there." The fact is that they are born orators, quite free from any mauvaise honte, and cannot understand why a speaker does not eye them, whereas the Bishop in his first essay to preach to natives was naturally shy. Maori humour in its criticism of men and manners is delightful in its complete unconsciousness of itself.
Then came bed-time. The end of the long, un-partitioned "whare," or house, was furnished with a low platform of flax sticks, on which mats and blankets were spread, forming a bed intended to accommodate a dozen sleepers. ”

“ We lay there a full half-hour or more before we could recover, and take the tea and hot scones which the Maori wife brought us. Then we explained to our hosts what we had come through, and the man, getting his boat ready, rowed us across the Bluff harbour to the settlement, where Captain Ellis, the Magistrate, made us thoroughly comfortable. Next day we bade farewell to Mr. Pinkerton, our guide, who expressed his unstinted admiration for the way in which the Bishop had come through such a trial of endurance. ”