1 88 A NEW ZEALAND NATURALIST'S CALENDAR. 



Chapter XIII. Moeraki. 



A FTER a year's close application to work there is nothing 

 ^V so restful to mind and body as to get right away from 

 the scenes and associations of everyday life and indulge in 

 a little idleness. It was said of the late Lord Randolph 

 Churchill that after the stress and excitement of his 

 parliamentary work he used to run down to Brighton to 

 a favourite quiet hotel and keep his bed from Saturday to 

 Monday, returning to the arena refreshed and invigorated. 

 Chacun a son gout. Most of us under the same circum- 

 stances would prefer to go to some quiet seaside resort, 

 where, imbending from the conventional stiffness of our 

 daily life, we can abandon ourselves to the pleasures of 

 doing nothing. Our coast line abounds in charming nooks 

 and retreats, the only drawback being that in many of 

 them we have to dispense with a good deal of comfort, and 

 have to rough it more than is compatible with thorough 

 rest. But there are numerous exceptions, spots where one 

 can have plenty of the material comforts which help so 

 largely to make up much of the pleasure of daily life, and 

 at the same time indulge in the negligent freedom which is 

 part of the charm of a thorough holiday. 



Moeraki is one of those favoured spots. I believe its 

 Maori name means "sleep all day" or something analogous 

 to that, and its air on a fine summer's day suggests the 

 appropriateness of the term. It has the reputation of 

 being too often dry and dusty, cut off as it is by the Horse 

 Ranges from most of the prevailing westerly rain-bearing 

 winds ; but this damp summer has just suited it and given 

 the place an ideal aspect. The eye never wearies of green 

 grass, setting off as it does the more sombre hues of the 

 bush, and on a calm afternoon when 



"All the sky 



Is flecked with soft white fleecy clouds which cast 

 Bewildering charms of shadow, and beyond " 



