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CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE RISE AND PALL OF H. G.-S. AND A. M. C. ' 



IT was upon the 4th of September 1882 that the new owners of Tutira 

 took delivery of their sheep-station. They were wild with anticipations 

 of sport, of riding, of the mastery of animals, of life in the wilds. At 

 least, by one of them, every hour of that golden day can still be vividly 

 recalled. He remembers wakening at dawn and rushing out to forecast 

 the day. It was a perfect Hawke's Bay spring morning, and be it said, 

 no weather in the world can beat a fine September in Napier. The sky 

 was cloudless, the faintest crisp suspicion of frost mingled with the 

 salt tang of the beach. Behind the town rose the magnificent snow- 

 clad ranges Ruahine and Kaweka, in front heaved the Pacific's vast 

 expanse. 



What magic there is in possession ! What a pleasure the sight 

 of the hacks ! They were not quite like any other horses in the world ; 

 they were our own, they belonged to us, an earnest of that glorious 

 sheep-station which was to provide after a few seasons easy enlarge- 

 ment of our minds and fortunes, endless rivers, moors, and forests in 

 Scotland. 



We rode through the picturesque town our horses' hoofs sounding 

 loud on the quiet streets where half the inhabitants were still asleep. 

 We passed through Port Ahuriri, crossing the newly-built wooden 

 bridge which linked the northern and southern portions of the 

 province. We followed the beach road along the western spit, peopled 

 then only by a few fisher-folk, some of them living in homes built 

 of biscuit and kerosene tins in lieu of iron sheeting. We passed 

 the Petane Hotel, then run by the redoubtable William Villers. We 

 forded the Esk river, and, riding through the Jcainga of Petane, scanned 

 with deep interest the reed -thatched whares of the owners of Tutira. 



