Skinner. — Notes on Marsland Hill. 215 



ing of the report a stream of women and children were to be 

 seen hurrying up the steep path into the barracks, for full ten 

 minutes. Some women with a child under each arm, without 

 either hat, bonnet, or shawl, some with a bundle hastily thrown 

 together, and many seemed utterly bewildered amidst the con- 

 fusion and noise of women crying, children screaming, and the 

 eager, anxious questions to know what it was all about." 

 Luckily, though " wolf " was often cried, the wolf, different 

 from the one in the fable, never came, as no definite attack was 

 ever made upon the town itself. 



In 1874 the barracks were converted into an immigration 

 depot, and continued to be used in this capacity for some years. 

 In 1891 this historic building was condemned by the Defence 

 Department as being no longer required. One wing was given 

 to the North Egmont Forest Board, with a view to its being 

 erected on the northern slope of Mount Egmont for the accom- 

 modation of tourists and others visiting the mountain. This 

 has been done, and the house now stands at an elevation of 

 about 3,140 ft., and is annually visited by hundreds of people 

 from all parts of New Zealand and elsewhere. The main por- 

 tions of the barracks were sold in lots to farmers. 



