the gentlemen began rolling
huge rocks down the sides of the hills and watching them crashing and
thundering into the valleys, sometimes striking another rock and then
bounding high into the air. They were all as eager and excited as
schoolboys, and I could not go on and leave them, lest I should get
below them and be crushed under a small stone of twenty tons or so. I
was therefore forced to keep well _above_ them all the time. At last we
reached the spur where the horses were tethered, re-saddled and loaded
them, and arrived quite safely at home, just in time for baths and
breakfast. I was amused to see that no one seemed to remember or allude
to the miseries and aches of that long cold night; all were full of
professions of enjoyment. But I noticed that the day was unusually
quiet; the gentlemen preferred a bask in the verandah to any other
amusement, and I have reason to believe they indulged in a good many
naps.

Letter XVIII: A journey "down south."

Waimate, May 1867. In one of my early letters from Heathstock I told you
that the Hurunui, which is the boundary of that run, marks the extreme
north of the Province of Canterbury; and now I am writing to you from
the extreme south. I hope you do not forget to reverse in your own mind
the ordinary ideas of heat and cold, as connected with those points of
the compass. The distance from our house to this is about 160 miles, and
we actually took two days and a half to get here!--besides, into these
miles was compressed the fatigue of a dozen English railway journeys
of the same length. But, I suppose, as usual, you will not be satisfied
unless I begin at the very beginning. The first difficulty was to reach
the point where we were to join the coach on the Great South Road. It
was less than thirty miles, so we could easily have ridden the distance;
but the difficulty was to get our clothes all that way. They could not
be carried on horseback, and just then the station-dray was particularly
employed; besides which it would have taken three days to come and
go,--rather a useless expenditure of the man's time, as well as of
the horses' legs, where only two little portmanteaus were concerned.
Fortunately for us, however, this is a country where each man is ready
and willing to help his neighbour, without any inquiry as to who he is;
so the moment our dilemma was known various plans were suggested for our
assistance, of which this was the one selected:--

On a certa