occur to them, and the day was close and sultry. They entered the bush at a spot nearly opposite the railway station, with the purpose of traversing it right through to the further end. For over three hours the two gentlemen, who were by no means of light build, forced their way through the prickly scrub and tangled lawyers, and over fallen trees, and across and through marshes, and then, exhausted and out of breath and drenched with perspiration, to their relief, but with a feeling the reverse of that of exquisite satisfaction, they emerged from the labyrinth, only to discover that they were not more than thirty yards from the spot at which they had entered!
Shortly after the first party began work in the bush, what is now known as the Upper Building, and which was intended to be the farm steading, was erected by Mr. Mills, contractor, then of Waikouaiti, under the inspectorship of Mr. Cairns, of Dunedin. Upon the completion of this building in 1879, it gave accommodation to a second party of 60 males and a number of females, with their attendants. The Seacliff section of the institution was then termed the Branch Asylum, and from the first it was placed in charge of Mr. John Macdonald as manager, and Mrs. Macdonald as deputy-matron. In the following year (1880) another building, to accommodate a third party of 60 men, and so constructed that it could be taken down in blocks and be put together again in the form of cottages for warders, was erected by the patients, under the direction of Mr. David Reid, carpenter, who is still in the service.
No one can form from the present appearance of the surroundings of Seacliff Asylum anything like a correct idea of the condition of the place when, and for a long time after, Mr. Macdonald took charge, and of the severe nature of the work that devolved upon him and his fellow pioneers. The Reserve, as already stated, was a dense, trackless forest, and the bush had to be felled, and the trees and scrub removed, roads made, watercourses formed, and the ground grubbed. As no road metal was available, in winter and in wet weather the grounds around the buildings were a veritable Slough of Despond, and, for about four years, in the rainy seasons the only means of access on the public road was a corduroy path formed of rough logs, and extending for about half-a-mile. All this is changed. Firm
