COL. ANSTRUTHER THOMSON 323 



" Captain G. wrote to a friend in Dunedin to find 

 out if I should have a chance of a job there. The 

 reply was favourable, so I came here at once. [He 

 got employment as a draughtsman in Leslie Reynolds' 

 engineering office.] 



" Captain Gardner kept a pack of hounds here 

 for many years, but gave them up as he can't afford 

 it now. He also raised a regiment of Light Horse 

 in Southland. He's a great admirer of you, and 

 regrets never having met you when ' at home ' (which 

 means in England out here)." 



Arthur was one day shooting in the bush in New 

 Zealand and got a man to carry his bag and show 

 him where to find pigeons. He talked broad Scotch, 

 but had been thirty years in New Zealand. Arthur 

 asked him where he came from. The answer was 

 " Glasgy ". Arthur then said, "D'ye ken Carn- 

 tyne ? " " Pine that," was the reply, " when I was a 

 lad I worked for Mr. Hamilton Gray in the Caroline 

 pit, and I mind fine when the new manager came, 

 a lang chiel called Tamson." Mr. Hamilton Gray 

 was Arthur's grandfather, and I the " lang chiel 

 called Tamson ! " 



Arthur wrote to his sister, Mrs. Blackburne : 



"TivoLi, APIA, SAMOA, 

 " i8th Octobfr, 1898. 



" DEAREST OLIVETTE, 



" Here am I on a desert and savage island 

 in the Southern Seas. Why? Oh, because I'm 

 mad. I yearned to come to Samoa ever since you 



gave me Vailima Letters to read, and Fiji sounded 



2 1 * 



