plan would have given a good trotting road all the way, and, when in 1914, the use of motors made it necessary to avoid the steep-gradients and sharp turns of the Zig-zag, the Government, in conjunction with the several local authorities interested, adopted the actual line pegged out by Captain Thomas some sixty-five years earlier—a remarkable endorsement of the Captain’s skill as an engineer.
The road was opened in picturesque fashion on August 24, by the Superintendent, and writing nearly fifty years afterwards, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Canterbury, Sir Charles Bowen described how Mr. FitzGerald “insisted on risking his own life and that of his friends by driving a tandem over the half finished Zig-zag. It was negotiated with the assistance of volunteer grooms hanging on to the horses’ heads, and a stalwart crowd hanging on to the dog-cart behind. The Provincial Secretary, who was an elderly gentleman, felt it his duty to accompany the Superintendent, and manfully stuck to his seat throughout; but it was reported that he had made his will the day before.” The Provincial Secretary referred ta was Mr. Gouland, mentioned above, and Sir Charles was himself a passenger, but got out at the top of the Zig-zag. The “circulating medium,” in which this journey was accomplished, was mentioned in the last chapter in connection with Bishop Harper’s arrival. A more detailed description of it has been supplied by Mr. Alfred Cox, in his “Recollections,” published in 1884: “A vehicle,” he wrote, “at once the delight of small boys and the terror of all horses. It had two wheels only; but such wheels! They towered to the level of the wall plates of the houses of that time—the thing resembled a timber carriage, with shafts instead of a pole. . . To drag it about two horses were absolutely required, and were yoked up tandem fashion. . . One of Mr. FitzGerald’s last drives before leaving Canterbury was over the Sumner Road to Lyttelton. .
