ii 3 o AUSTRALASIA ILLUSTRATED. 



deep one cares not to enquire, yawning gorges and ravines, to fall into any one of 

 which would be instant and terrible death. One begins to wonder when this maze will 

 end, when the sign-board of a siding informs him that he has compassed the seven miles 

 lying between Kaitoke and the Summit, and that the descent is now to begin. 



But the descent is still more exciting than the ascent, for, on this side, Boreas 

 always seems to hold open court. There are four tunnels on the line, and between two 

 of them lies the place called Siberia, where, in September, 1880, a furious gale, sweeping 

 up from the gully beneath as if forced through a funnel, hurled several of the passenger 

 carriages off the rails and into the gully, with the result that four persons were killed 

 outright, and some others were wounded. Since then the danger has been minimized 

 by the erection of break-winds, and the gales may now be set at defiance. There is 

 also a "running siding" in case the engines should become unmanageable by making 

 the descent too quickly. From the Summit it is eight miles to Cross Creek Station, 

 where the train once more regains level ground, and parts company with the 

 couple of " Fells." 



The route now emerges upon the Wairarapa Plain, which extends from the mouth 

 of the Lake of the same name in Palliser Bay to the head of the Pairau Plains, a 

 distance of nearly eighty miles, and with an average breadth of some ten miles. The 

 extensive and shallow Wairarapa Lake soon breaks upon the view, and to sportsmen 

 the intelligence that its shores abound with wild duck and black swans may be sufficient 

 inducement to court closer acquaintance with it. To the Maori mind its chief recom- 

 mendation is its wealth of eels. The valley itself bears all the evidence of having at 

 no very distant date formed the bed of part of the Lake, or of an inland sea, and as 

 a consequence the soil is of poor quality, fit rather for pastoral purposes than for 

 agricultural enterprise. To pasturage, therefore, it is mainly devoted. Eight miles from 

 Cross Creek lies the township of Featherstone, founded in 1854, and named after a 

 popular Superintendent of the province. It covers an area half-a-mile square, and presents 

 a comfortable aspect to the traveller. 



Seven miles farther on, the train stops at Woodside Station, and a branch train is 

 in readiness to carry away those of the passengers who are bound for the township of 

 Greytown, which may be clearly discerned in the distance, built in straggling fashion upon 

 both sides of the road leading to Masterton. It was, of course, named after Governor 

 Sir George Grey, and was originally settled by a "small farm" association, for whose 

 members the land was cut up into one-hundrecl-and-twenty-acre blocks. At another 

 interval of seven miles, the township of Carterton is met with, and the prevalence of 

 timbered land adds greatly to the attractions of the prospect, besides affording scope 

 for a busy saw-mill. There is also a dairy factor)' in the district, and to the outward 

 view every manifestation of plenty and settled content. A stretch of nine miles through 

 forest and pasture land takes the tourist to the isolated railway station of Masterton, 

 and 'busses are in waiting to convey travellers and their luggage over the couple of 

 miles that separate them from the township. It is a pleasant drive, and forms an 

 agreeable introduction to the largest and certainly the most attractive town of the 

 Wairarapa District. It is the centre of a rich pastoral country, and its situation on a 

 far-extending plain, once covered with timber, but now pretty well cleared and laid down 



