59 
unavailing. and we skidded about from side 
to side, with the water-table on the left and 
a bracken and scrub-clad declivity on the 
right. Every now and again the tyres got 
into the water-table, and a general dis- 
embarkation had to be made into the sticky 
clay and quantities of scrub cut before the 
car could be extricated, 
Perilousiy Near Disaster. 
Rain showers became very frequent, some 
of them very heavy, and the climax was 
reached as we approached the summit, when 
the car skidded badly to the right, and a 
few inches of soft clay alone saved us from 
going over the bank. We made as rapid 
an exit from the car as we possibly could, 
the young lady passenger whom were taking 
as far as Hikurangi being our first care in 
this grave emergency. She was got out 
with precipitancy over the side of the car 
as the baggage, which. was strapped to the 
side, prevented the door being opened, and. 
one ‘after another we followed in an undigni- 
fied scramble, all landing safely in the mud. 
Fortunately the car held its position, the 
gear was put in reverse, and the car cau- 
tiously withdrawn from, its perilous position; 
we then had a long run down a greasy 
slape for several miles without any special 
dificulty, and were at the foot met by a 
horseman who warned us that shortly ahead 
lay a bog hole that made the main. road im- 
passable. Under his guidance we entered the 
manuka scrub to the right of us, and had 
barely done so when we came upon another 
car that had run into an extension of the 
bog on the main road. ‘This car was extric- 
ated, and we followed in its wake and got 
through with a struggle. With the excep- 
tion of a puncture we had no further 
trouble, and reached Whangarei about half- 
past 9, an hour and a-half < after the Manaia 
had sailed for Auckland. Thus was the 
object of our special journey over these des- 
perate roads frustrated. There was, how- 
ever, some compensation in entering the 
well-lighted and comfortable quarters of the 
Commercial Hotel. where a good supper and 
a comfortable bed awaited us. 
