XXXII 

 IN CAMP IN NEW ZEALAND 



1902 

 FISHING 



WE joined the Napier- Taupo coach at the former town, 

 bound for the upper reaches of the Rangitaiki River, 

 which, rising at the foot of Ruapehu, crosses a very exten- 

 sive plain of pumice covered with low manuka scrub. Forsaking 

 the coach at a small wayside inn, the regular stopping-place for 

 lunch of the travelling public, we entered a buggy here a four- 

 wheeled open vehicle drawn by two horses and leaving the 

 coach-road drove across country and at the end of sixteen miles 

 arrived at our camping-place, where we found a more or less 

 permanent hut used by parties of fishermen for cooking and 

 eating purposes. The horses were turned out into a paddock, 

 where on low-lying swampy ground better grasses grew among 

 luxuriant bunches of flax ; then we put up the tents and our 

 first afternoon was spent in making ourselves thoroughly com- 

 fortable. 



Manuka scrub properly arranged in layers on the ground 

 makes an excellent mattress, and here takes the place of the 

 balsam branches of Canada, which, if more fragrant, do not 

 make a more restful or comfortable bed. The same scrub, the 

 only fuel available, burns brightly and hotly and soon persuades 

 the water in our billy into boiling. Rain has commenced 

 to fall heavily and our hut, though somewhat leaky, is greatly 

 appreciated, furnished as it is with table and bench. The 

 former is adorned with the carved outline of a noble trout of 

 8J Ibs., the biggest fish caught on the river and safely brought 



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