Station Life in New Zealand | Page 9

got more among the hills and off the usual track, and there were
many sharp turns and steep pinches; but Mr. L--- is an excellent whip,
and took great care of us. We all got very weary towards the end of this
second day's journey, and the last two hours of it were in heavy rain; it
was growing very dark when we reached the gate, and heard the
welcome sound of gravel under the wheels. I could just perceive that
we had entered a plantation, the first trees since we left Christchurch.
Nothing seems so wonderful to me as the utter treelessness of the vast
Canterbury plains; occasionally you pass a few Ti-ti palms (ordinarily
called cabbage-trees), or a large prickly bush which goes by the name
of "wild Irishman," but for miles and miles you see nothing but flat
ground or slightly undulating downs of yellow tussocks, the tall native
grass. It has the colour and appearance of hay, but serves as shelter for
a delicious undergrowth of short sweet herbage, upon which the sheep
live, and horses also do very well on it, keeping in good working
condition, quite unlike their puffy, fat state on English pasture.
We drove through the plantation and another gate, and drew up at the
door of a very large, handsome, brick house, with projecting gables and
a verandah. The older I grow the more convinced I am that contrast is
everything in this world; and nothing I can write can give you any idea
of the delightful change from the bleak country we had been slowly
travelling through in pouring rain, to the warmth and brightness of this
charming house. There were blazing fires ready to welcome us, and I
feel sure you will sufficiently appreciate this fact when I tell you that
by the time the coal reaches this, it costs nine pounds per ton. It is
possible to get Australian coal at about half the price, but it is not
nearly as good.
We were so tired that we were only fit for the lowest phase of human
enjoyment--warmth, food, and sleep; but the next morning was bright
and lovely, and I was up and out in the verandah as early as possible. I
found myself saying constantly, in a sort of ecstasy, "How I wish they
could see this in England!" and not only see but feel it, for the very

breath one draws on such a morning is a happiness; the air is so light
and yet balmy, it seems to heal the lungs as you inhale it. The verandah
is covered with honeysuckles and other creepers, and the gable end of
the house where the bow-window of the drawing-room projects, is one
mass of yellow Banksia roses in full blossom. A stream runs through
the grounds, fringed with weeping willows, which are in their greatest
beauty at this time of year, with their soft, feathery foliage of the
tenderest green. The flower beds are dotted about the lawn, which
surrounds the house and slopes away from it, and they are brilliant
patches of colour, gay with verbenas, geraniums, and petunias. Here
and there clumps of tall trees rise above the shrubs, and as a
background there is a thick plantation of red and blue gums, to shelter
the garden from the strong N.W. winds. Then, in front, the country
stretches away in undulating downs to a chain of high hills in the
distance: every now and then there is a deep gap in these, through
which you see magnificent snow-covered mountains.
The inside of the house is as charming as the outside, and the perfection
of comfort; but I am perpetually wondering how all the
furniture--especially the fragile part of it--got here. When I remember
the jolts, and ruts, and roughnesses of the road, I find myself looking at
the pier-glass and glass shades, picture-frames, etc., with a sort of
respect, due to them for having survived so many dangers.
The first two or three days we enjoyed ourselves in a thoroughly lazy
manner; the garden was a never-ending source of delight, and there
were all the animals to make friends with, "mobs" of horses to look at,
rabbits, poultry, and pets of all sorts. About a week after our arrival,
some more gentlemen came, and then we had a series of picnics. As
these are quite unlike your highly civilized entertainments which go by
the same name, I must describe one to you.
The first thing after breakfast was to collect all the provisions, and pack
them in a sort of washing-basket, and then we started in an American
waggon drawn by a pair of stout cobs. We drove for some miles till we
came to the edge of one of the high terraces common to