Book: Five Years in New Zealand

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Five Years in New Zealand

(1859 to 1864.)


BY

ROBERT B. BOOTH, M.Inst.C.E.


LONDON:

J. G. HAMMOND & CO., LTD.

Fleet Lane, Old Bailey, E.C.

1912.




Contents.

PAGE

CHAPTER I.

How I came to Emigrate 1


CHAPTER II.

The Voyage--Rats on Board--The White Squall--Harpooning
a Shark--Burial of the Twins--Tropics--Icebergs--Exchange
of Courtesies in mid-Pacific 4


CHAPTER III.

Port Lyttelton and Christchurch--Call on Friends--Visit Malvern
Hill 14


CHAPTER IV.

A Period of Uncertainty--Leave for Nelson as Cadets on Sheep Run 19


CHAPTER V.

Working of a Sheep Run--Scab--C's Departure for Home 25


CHAPTER VI.

Shepherd's Life--Driving Sheep--Killing Wild Sow--Return
to Christchurch 30


CHAPTER VII.

I join a Survey Party--Travel to the Ashburton 36


CHAPTER VIII.

Wild Pig Hunting 41


CHAPTER IX.

Cattle Ranching and Stock Riding 46


CHAPTER X.

Take Employment with a Bush Contractor--Serious Illness--Start
for South and the Gold Diggings 51


CHAPTER XI.

Our Eventful Journey to the Gold Diggings 58


CHAPTER XII.

Life on the Gold Diggings 64


CHAPTER XIII.

Leave the Diggings--Attempt to Drive Wild Cattle thereto--Return
to Dunedin 69


CHAPTER XIV.

Leave for Mesopotamia--Road-making--Sheep Mustering--Death
of Dr. Sinclair--Contracts on the Ashburton, etc. 73


CHAPTER XV.

Winter under the Southern Alps--Frost Bite--Seeking Sheep
in the Snow--The Runaway 80


CHAPTER XVI.

Start on Exploring Expedition to the Wanaka Lake 85


CHAPTER XVII.

Exploration Trip continued--Weekas--Inspection of New
Country--Escape from Fire 89


CHAPTER XVIII.

Death of Parker--Royal Mail robbed by a Cat--Meet with
Accident fording River 94


CHAPTER XIX.

The Ghost Story--Benighted in the Snow 99


CHAPTER XX.

Decide to go to India--Visit Melbourne, etc.--Arrival at Bombay 106




List of Illustrations.

SEE PAGE

Harpooning a Shark 7

The Arrival of Lapworth 16

Pat and His Mail Bag Dislodged by a Cat 96

Killing the Wild Sow 34

Encounter with Wild Boar 44

The Baked Steers 49

Seeking Sheep in the Snow 81

The Gold Diggings 67

Peddlars at the Diggings 67

Mesopotamia Station 73

Upper Gorge of the Rangitata 75

Glent Hills Station 97




Introduction.


The islands of New Zealand, discovered by the Dutch navigator, Tasman,
in 1642, and surveyed and explored by Captain Cooke in 1769, remained
unnoticed until 1814, when the first Christian Missionaries landed, and
commenced the work of converting the inhabitants, who, up to that time
had been cannibals.

The Missionaries had been unusually successful, and prepared the way for
the first emigrants, who landed at Wellington in the North Island in
1839. A year later the Maori Chiefs signed a treaty acknowledging the
Sovereignty of Queen Victoria, and the colonisation of the country
quickly followed.

The seat of Government was first placed at Auckland, where resided the
Governor, and there were formed ten provinces under the jurisdiction of
superintendents. The head of the Government was subsequently transferred
to Wellington, the provincial system abolished, and their powers
exercised by local boards directly under the Governor.

The total area of the three islands is about 105,000 square miles, and
the population, which has been steadily increasing, was in 1865 upwards
of 700,000.

The Maori race is almost entirely confined to the North Island, and,
although it was then gradually dying out, numbered about 30,000. They
are of fine physique, tall and robust, and are said to belong to the
Polynesian type, probably having come over from the Fiji Islands, or
some of the Pacific group, in their canoes.

When first discovered they lived in villages or "Pahs," comprising a
number of small circular huts, with a larger one for the Chief,
mud-walled and thatched with grass or flax. The pahs usually occupied a
commanding position, and were fenced round with one or more palisades of
rough timber.

The Maori dress consisted of a simple robe made of woven flax, an
indigenous plant growing in profusion over most of the country. They
practised to a large extent the custom of tattooing their faces and
bodies, and further decorated themselves with ear-rings of greenstone,
bone, etc.

Owing to subsequent education and intercourse with Europeans, their
savage habits have now mostly given way to modern customs.

In 1860 commenced the disastrous Taranaki war, which lasted some years,
and was caused in the first instance by the encroachment of European
settlers on the lands originally granted exclusively to the Aborigines.
Since the settlement of this trouble, peace and prosperity have reigned,
and the Maoris have become an important item in the community, many of
them holding positions of trust and office under the Colonial
Government.

The Province of Canterbury, forming the central portion of the middle
island, was founded about 1845 by the Irishmen Godley, Harman, and
others; and the English Church, under Bishop Harpur, was established at
Christchurch, the capital of the Province.

Otago, in the south, was founded by the Scotch, and the free church
established at Dunedin. The Province of Nelson formed the upper or
northern portion of the Island.

It is to these three Provinces that the scenes of the following pages
refer.

* * * * *

It has been said that the true and unvarnished history of any person's
life, no matter how commonplace, would be interesting. It was not
because I thought that a history of any part of my life would prove
interesting to others, that I first decided to write the following story
of the experiences of a young emigrant to New Zealand between the ages
of 16 and 21. I wrote it many years ago, when all was fresh in my
memory; then I laid it by. Now when I have retired, after a life's
service passed in foreign lands, it has been a pleasure to me to recall
and live over again in memory the scenes of my earliest life.

It may, however, be possible that the account of the adventures,
successes, and failures of a lad, thrown on his own resources at so
early an age, may prove of some value to others starting under similar
circumstances in life's race; and if it in any way shows that the
Colonies are a good field for a young man who wishes to adopt the life
that may be open to him there, and who is determined to work steadily,
keeping always his good name and honour as guiding lights to hold fast
to and steer by, the story may not be quite useless.

The Colonies are as good to-day as forty years ago, better I should say,
for they offer more varied openings now than they did then.

The great colonial dependencies of Great Britain were founded and worked
into power by the emigrants who overflowed thence from the Motherland.
These, for the most part, took with them little or nothing beyond their
pluck, energy, strong hearts, and trust in God, and still they go and
will go. It is a duty they owe to the mother-country as well as to
themselves, and the great Colonies of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
are calling for more and more of the right sort of workers to join in
and take their share in building up great nations, and extending the
glory and civilising influence of Great Britain over all the world.

I would say to all young men in this country who have no sufficient call
or opening at home, especially to those who have not succeeded in
obtaining professional positions, and who wait on, hoping for something
to turn up, go out while there is yet time, to the great countries
waiting to welcome you to a man's work and a man's place in the world,
and don't rest content with an idle, useless, and dependent position
where you have no place or occupation. Do your plain duty honestly and
fearlessly. Treat the world well and it will treat you well.

I do not, of course, give this advice to all. There are men who will not
succeed in the Colonies any better than here. Some will fail anywhere. I
mean the idle and lazy, the untrustworthy, the drunkard, and the
incapable; these classes go to the bad quickest in the Colonies. There
is no place or shelter for them there, where only honest workers are
wanted or tolerated.

For the man who is prepared to put his hand to anything he finds to do,
and can be trusted, there is always employment and promotion waiting;
but for him who is too proud or too lazy to work, or who prefers to
fritter his time in dissipation and amusement, there is nothing but
failure and ruin ahead.

My advice does not apply either to those who have _good_ prospects,
professional or otherwise, in this country, and whose duties call them
to remain, but to the thousands of the middle and lower classes who are
not so circumstanced, and it must be remembered that the men who are
specially and constantly needed in the Colonies are those of the
labouring and farming classes, or who may intend to adopt that life and
are fitted for it by health and will. For the artisan and the
professional who can only work at their own trade or profession, the
openings naturally are not so plentiful, but there is abundance of
employment for them until openings occur, if they choose to occupy their
time otherwise in the meanwhile.

For the young man who can afford the time, and many can, a few years'
fling in the Colonies would be the best of educations, but he should
determine to see all that was to be seen on the spot, and take part in
all that was doing, and not rest content only with a few days' sojourn
in an hotel here and there, or joining in the gaieties and dissipations
of the towns.




CHAPTER I.

HOW I CAME TO EMIGRATE.


I was one of a family of nine, of which four were sons. My eldest
brother was destined for the Church; the second had entered a mercantile
house in Liverpool; and I, who was third on the list, it was my father's
intention, should be educated for the Royal Engineers, and at the time
my story opens I was prosecuting my studies for admission to the Academy
at Woolwich, and had attained the age of sixteen, when my health failed,
and I was sent home for rest and change. I did not again resume my
studies, because it was soon after decided that I should emigrate to New
Zealand.

The decision was principally, if not entirely, due to my own wishes. I
had long entertained a strong bent to seeing the world for myself, and
the idea was congenial to my boyish and quixotic notions of being the
arbiter of my own fortunes. I recollect I was much given to reading
tales of wild life in America and elsewhere; they contained a peculiar
attraction for me, and influenced my mind in no small degree detrimental
to continuing my studies for the Army or any specified profession at
home.

When I first proposed what was in my mind it created somewhat of a
sensation in the old home, and my father would not hear of any such
madness as to throw up my studies after having advanced so far, and go
away to the antipodes on a mere wild-goose chase, etc. On consulting his
friends, however, many advised him to let me have my will; others (more
wisely perhaps) expressed their opinions that I should be forced to
resume my work, and that the ill-health was imagination, or foxing! (I
have often since been inclined to agree with the latter supposition.)

The final decision, however, was that I should emigrate to Canterbury,
New Zealand, in the following April. This colony was at that time about
fourteen years' old, and was highly thought of as a field for youthful
enterprise, and it was then the fashion to consider such tendencies as I
expressed to be an omen of future success which should not be baulked.

A young friend, C----, son of a neighbouring squire, offered to
accompany me as my chum and partner. He was six years my senior, and had
had considerable experience in farming, so was considered very suitable
for a colonial life; whereas I knew literally nothing of farming or
anything else beyond my school work.

Our preparations were put in hand, and our passages booked by the good
ship "Mary Anne," to sail from St. Katherine's Docks, London, on April
29th, 1859.

When all was finally settled my elation was supreme. The feeling that
school grind was past and gone, that the world was open to me, and that
I was free to do and act as I would was exhilarating. I felt that I had
already attained to manhood, and that the world was at my feet, and a
glorious life before me; well, I suppose most boys prematurely let loose
would think the same, and I don't know that it is any harm to start
under the circumstances with a hopeful and happy heart.

The day of parting at length arrived. It was a bright and lovely
morning, about the middle of April, when I said goodbye to all my
playmates at the old home, took a last look at the guns and
fishing-rods, visited the various animals in the stables, gave a loving
embrace to the great Newfoundland Juno, whom I could not hope to see
again, submitted to be blessed and kissed by the servants and labourers,
who had assembled to see me off, and took my seat on the car with my
father, mother, and eldest brother, for the railway station, where C----
was to meet us.

C---- and I went direct to Liverpool from Drogheda, to which place my
eldest brother accompanied us. My father and mother, having business _en
route_, were to meet us there on the following day.

We had a rough passage to Liverpool, and the steamer was laden with
cattle and pigs, the stench from which, combined with sea-sickness, was,
I recollect, a terrible experience, and it was in no enviable condition
of mind or body we arrived at the Liverpool Docks on a foggy, wet and
dismal morning. My mercantile brother, Tom, came on board, and had all
our belongings speedily conveyed to the lodgings we were to occupy
during our stay. On the following day my father and mother arrived, and
we spent a few days pleasantly seeing the lions of the great city and
visiting friends. On arrival at London we found that we had a week or
more before the ship sailed. Neither my father nor mother had been in
London before; all was as new to them as to us, and we made the best of
the time at our disposal.

On the evening of the day before the ship sailed, after seeing our
luggage on board, and cabins made ready for occupation, we accompanied
my father, mother, and brother to Euston Station, where they were to bid
us God-speed. I was in good spirits till then, but when on the railway
platform, a few minutes before the train started, my dear mother fairly
broke down, and the tears were stealing down my father's cheeks. The
less said about such partings the better; it was soon over, and the
train started. I never saw my dear old father again.

C---- and I, after watching the train disappear, started for the docks,
and before bed-time had made acquaintance with some of our future
_compagnons de voyage_.

The scene on deck was confusing and affecting. Upwards of four hundred
emigrants were on board, and the partings from their friends and
relatives, the kissings and blessings and cryings, mingled with the
shouting of sailors, hauling in of cargo and luggage, and general noise
and confusion incident to starting upon a long voyage, continued without
intermission until we were fairly under weigh about 11 o'clock at night.

After the unusual exertion and excitement of the day, we both slept
soundly, and when we awoke next morning, off Gravesend, we were
disappointed at having missed the "Great Eastern," lately launched and
then lying in the river.

By 12 noon we were fairly out at sea, with a favourable breeze, and the
pilot left us in view (it might be the last) of the old country we were
leaving behind.

Before my eyes again rested on the cliffs of old England I had seen many
lands and people, had mixed and worked with all sorts and conditions of
men, had many experiences and adventures; and although I did not find
the fortune at once which I thought was waiting for me to pick up, I
found that there is always a fortune, be it great or small, according to
their deserts, waiting for those who determine to work honestly and
heartily for it, and that every man's future success or failure depends
mainly on himself.




CHAPTER II.

THE VOYAGE AND INCIDENTS THEREON--RATS ON BOARD, THE WHITE
SQUALL, HARPOONING A SHARK, BURIAL OF THE TWINS, A TROPICAL
ESCAPADE--ICEBERGS--EXCHANGE OF COURTESIES AT SEA, ETC.


The "Mary Anne" was, as I stated, an emigrant ship, and carried on the
voyage about four hundred men, women, and children, sent out chiefly
through the Government Emigration Agents. Persons going out in this way
were assisted by having a portion of their passage paid for them as an
advance, to be refunded after a certain time passed in the colony. The
only first-class passengers in addition to C----and myself were two old
maiden ladies, the Misses Hunt, who, with the doctor and his wife, the
captain and first-mate, comprised our cabin party. In the second-class
were three passengers--T. Smith, whose name will frequently appear in
these pages, and two brothers called Leach, going out to join a rich
cousin, a sheep farmer in Canterbury. Smith was the son of a wealthy
squire, with whom, it appeared, he had fallen out respecting some family
matters, and in a fit of pique left his home and took passage to New
Zealand. His funds were sufficient to procure him a second-class berth,
but on representing matters to the captain, who knew something of his
family, it was arranged that he should join us in the saloon, hence he
became one of our comrades, and eventually a particular friend.

The captain's name was Ashby, and he soon proved to be a most jolly and
agreeable companion. The first-mate, Lapworth, also became a favourite
with us all.

The doctor was usually drunk, or partly so, and led his wife, a kind and
amiable little lady, a very unpleasant life. The Misses Hunt were
elderly, amiable, and generally just what they should be.

Our cabins we had (in accordance with the usages of emigrant ships)
furnished ourselves, and they were roomy and comfortable, but I will not
readily forget the horror with which I woke up during the first night at
sea, with an indescribable feeling that I was being crawled over by
some loathsome things. In a half-wakeful fit, I put out my hand, to find
it rest upon a huge rat, which was seated on my chest. I started up in
my bunk, when, as I did so, it appeared that a large family of rats had
been holding high carnival upon me and my possessions; fully a dozen
must have been in bed with me. I had no light, nor could I procure one,
so I dressed and went on deck until morning. As a boy I was fond of
carpentering, and was considerably expert in that way. My father
thinking some tools would be useful to me, provided me with a small
chest of serviceable ones (not the ordinary amateur's gimcracks), and
this chest I had with me in my cabin. On examination I discovered
several holes beneath the berth, where no doubt the previous night's
visitors had entered. I set to work, and with the aid of some deal boxes
given me by the steward, I had all securely closed up by breakfast,
where the others enjoyed a hearty laugh at my experience of the night.
The captain said there were doubtless hundreds of rats on board, and
seemed to regard the fact with complacency rather than otherwise.
Sailors consider that the presence of rats is a guarantee of the
seaworthiness of the ship, and they will never voluntarily take passage
in a vessel that is not sound.

The captain's supposition proved true enough, and it was not unusual of
an evening to see these friendly rodents taking an airing on the ropes
and rigging, and upon the hand-rails around the poop deck, and while so
diverting themselves, I have endeavoured to shake them overboard, but
always in vain; they were thoroughbred sailors, knew exactly when and
where to jump, and flopping on the deck at my feet would disappear, with
a twist of their tails amidships.

I do not think that the sailors approved of the rats being destroyed,
and rather preferred their society than otherwise.

We soon settled down to our sea life, and the groans of sickness and the
screaming of children from between decks ceased in time. Our own party
of nine had the poop to ourselves, and were very comfortable; we soon
got to like the life, and generally arranged some way of spending each
day agreeably. We had a fair library, chess, backgammon, whist, etc.,
and when we got into the Tropics and had occasional calms, we went out
in the captain's gig; then further south we had shooting matches at Cape
pigeons and albatrosses, and in all our amusements the captain and
Lapworth took part.

There were not many incidents on the voyage worthy of note, but I will
mention the most interesting of them which I can recollect. The first
was when we encountered a white squall about a week out from England. It
was a lovely evening, a slight breeze sending us along some four knots
under full sail. We were lounging on deck watching the sunset, and
occupied with our thoughts, when suddenly there was a cry from the "look
out" in the main fore-top which created an instantaneous and marvellous
scene of activity on board. It was then that we witnessed the first
example of thorough seamanship and discipline; the shrill boatswain's
whistle, the captain shouting a few orders, passed on by the mates, a
crowd of sailors appearing like magic in the rigging, and in another
instant the ship riding under bare masts; a deathlike stillness for a
few seconds, and then a snow white wall of foam, stretching as far as
the eye could reach, came down upon us with a sweeping wind, striking
the ship broadsides, and over she went on her beam ends. Half a minute's
hesitation or bungling would in all probability have sent us over
altogether. There was a shout to us novices to look out--away went deck
chairs and tables. The Misses Hunt--poor old ladies--who had been
quietly knitting unconscious of any coming danger, were unceremoniously
precipitated into the lee scuppers. I seized the mizen-mast, while C----
falling foul of a roving hen-coop, grasped it in a loving embrace, and
accompanied it to some haven of safety, where he stretched himself upon
it until permitted to walk upright again. The officers and crew appeared
like so many cats in the facility with which they moved about; so much
so that deciding to have a try myself, I was instantly sent rolling over
to the two old ladies, creating a shout of laughter from all hands. The
squall lasted about half an hour, and was succeeded by a fine night and
a spanking breeze.

[Illustration: HARPOONING A SHARK.]

Another bit of excitement was the harpooning and capture of a shark
which had been following the ship for days. This is always an omen of
ill-luck with sailors, who are very superstitious, believing that a
shark under such circumstances is waiting for a body dead or alive, and
will follow the ship until its desire is appeased. They are always,
therefore, keen to kill a shark when opportunity offers. Fortunately,
for our purpose, a calm came on while the shark was visiting us, and
he kept moving about under the stern in a most friendly manner. The plan
of operations was as follows:--A large junk of pork was made fast to a
rope and suspended from the stern, letting it sink about a foot under
the surface. C----, Smith, and I were in the captain's boat, with three
sailors, under the orders of Lapworth, who had taken his stand
immediately above with a harpoon. The shark came up, nibbling and
smelling at the pork, so close to us in the boat that he almost rubbed
along the side without apparent alarm or taking any notice of our
presence. He was a monster, nearly nine feet in length, and as he came
alongside, his back fin rose some inches above the surface. He did not
seem inclined to seize the pork until Lapworth had it quickly jerked up,
when the brute made a dash at it, half turning as he did so, and at the
same instant received the harpoon through his neck. I recollect the
monster turning over on his back, Lapworth swinging himself over into
the boat, a little organised commotion among the men, and in a few
moments running nooses were passed over head and tail, and he was
hoisted on deck and speedily despatched. The body was cut up and divided
amongst the crew, some of whom were partial to shark steak. A piece of
the backbone I secured for myself as a memento of the occasion.

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