CHAPTER VII 
Letter VI. Christchurch. — Picton — A weary coach-ride — Deforesting 
— Lunch at Canvas Town — Cats and rabbits — The charm of Nelson — 
Weird beauty — Longford — A land of loveliness — Reefton — Lunch at 
Grey mouth— The Teremakau River — Unpleasant passengers — Impress- 
ive scenery — Comfortless quarters — The Lincoln School of Agriculture. 
Christchurch. 
It was with difficulty I could tear myself away from 
kind friends in Wellington, who hoped to the last that 
I would miss the steamer. On the contrary, it had 
been put off for an hour, so we were in good time. We 
had a five hours’ run across to Picton. The storm which 
had been blowing had quieted down, and left the sea 
with a long heavy swell ; but after passing the tide rip 
at the entrance of Tory Channel, with its breakers 
ahead, we came into smooth water in Queen Charlotte’s 
Sound. On several of the hill-sides are the remains of 
gold workings, and here and there are old whaling 
stations, but nowadays whales are seldom seen here, 
and only porpoises chased each other and our steamer 
too, in sport, as she glided smoothly in between the 
endless succession of high hills and deep indented bays. 
The little town of Picton lay nestling at the far end, 
locked in by an amphitheatre of hills. They told us 
that most splendid fishing is to be had here, and it 
boasts of having one of the largest fish-curing establish- 
ments in New Zealand. It was just dusk as we came 
