A HARD CLIMB 79 



forests are cut down over large tracts, for the purpose 

 of growing the fungus, and many people support them- 

 selves by gathering it. During a walk, we saw a 

 mammoth white puff-ball. It was on a hillside, and, 

 if strong enough, would have made a comfortable seat. 

 As I sent it rolling down the hill, it looked like a 

 gigantic snowball. We were informed by the inhabit- 

 ants that they grew to that size in one night, and that 

 a group of them on a distant hillside is sometimes mis- 

 taken by a shepherd for a flock of sheep. 



Starting in the evening, we arrived the next morning 

 at Nelson, where we soon engaged a hall. We used to 

 collect shells on the seashore every day, and added 

 many new kinds to our collection. The gigantic 

 Pinna zelandica, or horse-muscle, was very plentiful 

 here. They live in the mud, point downward, and 

 congregate in beds as oysters do. 



One evening, after the lecture, a party of young men, 

 myself among the number, set out to climb the main 

 range of mountains, where we expected to find some 

 good shooting. After walking about five miles, we 

 reached the base of the mountains. The night was 

 very warm and dark. The mountains were fearfully 

 steep, often obliging us to cling to the grass to keep 

 from falling. I have climbed mountains in many of 

 our Western States ; ascended Mano Pass, California, 

 where there is one continuous climb with scarcely an 

 interruption for five or six thousand feet ; followed the 



