being informed, unhesitatingly pronounced in much more forcible than polite language, that he must be a ‘fool.’
“April 6th—Got ready this morning for an excursion into the country. Messrs. Tuckett and Davidson” (a surveyor) “started in a whale-boat for the head of the harbour, from which point they are to make their way by a line said to be practicable for a road to Mr. Deans’ station on the great plain. Messrs. Barnicoat” (another surveyor, and afterwards a member of the Legislative Council), “Wither and myself went ashore on the W. side of the harbour, in a little bay in which there is a miserable pah, called Rapuki, to reach the plain by crossing in a direct line the ridge which lies between it and the harbour. We followed up the narrow valley at the mouth of which is the pah, for some distance, passing through a very pretty bush which runs up nearly to the top of the range, fringing the watercourse. After leaving this bush, we had a very steep ascent to encounter, and soon reached the summit of the ridge, at an elevation, I should imagine, of about 800ft., from which we looked immediately down upon the waters of Port Cooper, and over the broken and rugged country to the east of if. But looking westward, we had a magnificent view—an immense plain, apparently a dead level, stretched away below our feet, extending in a direct line to the westward at least thirty miles, and to the southward as far as the eye could reach, backed by a far remote chain of grand snowy summits. The colour of the plain was of a brownish yellow, indicating its being covered with dried up grass, and several rivers, with tortuous folds, marked themselves upon its surface by the glitter of their waters. On this immense sea of plain, there appeared to be hardly any timber—one or two dense isolated groves of gloomy pines were all that we could see, and at one of these, our guide informed us, was Mr. Deans’ station. To the southward our view was not complete. The ridge next
