occasion to sleep at the Greenstone he went to Tracy’s shanty. Tracy said, “You can have Mr. Preshaw’s bed, you will find it very comfortable.” Broham and I have had many a laugh since about my bed at the Greenstone. Another great hardship we had to undergo was the total absence of fresh meat. Wild pigeons and other birds were very plentiful, and were shot by the dozen, and boiled by the bucketful, adding fern tops called pick-a-pick, which, when boiled, made a splendid vegetable and substitute for cabbage, and to which the population were indebted for the absence of scurvy owing to their constrained daily diet of salt meat.
“Apart from my own affair, the one and only theft committed up to the time of the great rush, was by a Maori named Jacob who was in the employ of John Hudson. He entered a digger’s tent at the rear of Hudson’s store, at Hokitika, and stole a small quantity of gold. He was, however, caught with the gold upon him, at once tried by a jury, and was sentenced to be tied up to a stump all night and hanged next morning. He was, as was thought, securely fastened to the stump, but lo! next morning Jacob was nowhere to be seen; how he freed himself never transpired. After a lapse of six weeks Jacob returned looking penitent, and seeking employment.”
As the country to the north and south of Hokitika continued to attract an ever increasing
