oded and picturesque, till we at
length passed through the narrow precipitous gorge that led us to the
open plateau upon which the station buildings stood. These comprised the
dwelling house, a long, low, commodious building, furnished most
comfortably in English fashion; the men's huts, comprising three
sleeping rooms, the kitchen and dining-room for the hands, the store,
dairy, etc., with an enclosed yard, formed one group, while at some
distance away stood the woolshed and sheep yards, paddocks, stock yards
for cattle and sheds for cows and working bullocks. In front of the
dwelling was a pretty and rather extensive garden plot, through the
centre of which wound a small stream of pure spring water. The entire
group of buildings, with the garden, paddocks, etc., occupied the centre
of a piece of undulating land, open towards the south, where a fine view
of the country over which we had journeyed was visible, and on all other
sides was bounded by hills, which to the north and west stretched away
to the Alps. It was a grand site to make a home upon, although I could
not help the feeling that it was a somewhat lonely one; the nearest
neighbours were fifteen to twenty miles distant.

Mr. Lee's run comprised about 30,000 acres, principally hills, with
occasional stretches of flat land upon which the cattle and horses
grazed, while the sheep fed on the mountain sides.

We speedily fell into the life, and found it exhilarating. Mr. Lee was a
fine specimen of the English country squire, a good horseman and
sportsman, and he could put his hand to any kind of work. He had a large
store and workshop near the yards, where every conceivable thing needed
for use on a station so far from supplies was kept, and he was an
excellent carpenter and smith. Indeed, a great portion of the rather
extensive buildings and yards he had erected himself, with such
assistance as he could derive from raw station hands, while only such
articles as doors and windows, furniture, and suchlike were brought from
Christchurch. The house walls, roofs, and floors were all of green
timber cut in the neighbouring pine forest. The walls of the living
houses were composed of a framing of round pine averaging 4 or 5 inches
thick, covered on the outside with weather boarding, and on the inside
with laths, the space between of four inches being filled with clay and
chopped grass, and the whole surface afterwards plastered with clay and
mud-washed. The roofs were