WHAREONGAONGA.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 548, 23 December 1890, Page 3

WHAREONGAONGA.

A PLEASURE CRUISE IN A KEROSENE TIN. Bomx time last summer I had reason to com plain of being lured into so-called pleasure trips in open boats, schooners and such like. I really think I must be ‘ as soft as they make ’em,’ for here I am onee more pouring my troubles into your ready ear, Mr Editor—an ear that is always wide open and its length knows no bounds [!!]. The programme was to fish and pies chetries at Whareoogaonga ; Jones was coming, and Brown would tie there, and w<*nid turn up; two dozen crajfi-h and half a dead shark were in baud for bai ; the Snark would leave at 8 o'clock sharp on Tuesday morning. The weather was everything to be desired. I hanker after the sea, delight in deep sea fishing, and love cherries to distraction; so, * Fare you well, my own Mary Anne, Fare you wen for a while *, The ship she is ready and the wiod is alfair, And I bound for the sea, Mary Anne/ A water excuraion, fishing, and the prosr!Gt of robbing an orchard, are a combination believe even the • Uncrowned King ’ himself would not be proof against. To tread the quarter deck (it is not a quarter deck, it is barely an eighth, and tnen must be taken on the bias) of the Snark, to ensnare br-autiful fish as fat as bu ter, and to cheat the Maori pickaninnies of their heritage vf wild fruit, is altogether too tempting a prospect for one whose mental faculties have just passed through the fiery ordeal of an East Coast election contest. The OQarm, free air, and ozone i f the sea; the thrilling excitement incidental to the chase, added to the piquant sauce of danger that surrounds the cherry picklog, which m»y resua in our being kiased into thr tea by the great Bangiiira of those parts,— all combine to shed a refulgent naiu around the prospect that almost rivals the glories of the last eclipse of the sun as viewed by many twidenta of this district at 7 o'clock in the

morning, when the actual first contact was 4,15 o’clock in the afternoon. As the excuisioui-iB came to a focus in the hesit of the city, with thrfr kits of fiihiug gear, hampers of fci-ki, and gunny bags to pack the fish io, toe well known and taieoted ccrner man shook his head and wagged his beard, remarking, ‘lt is supremely preposterous anu utterly reprehensible for a crowd of individuals to absent tuemseives from their legi imate occupations and fritter the business h .ur«away in such absurd piscatorial frivolities; let us have a wine, dear boy—have you got the necessary buo?* etc,, etc, The Snark is a smart little boat, and sits as gracefully and * bobuish line’ on the water as a newly emptied kerosene tin If the sea is calm as a milk dish, and she has no freight or passengers aboard, her decks remain as dry as a high pressure elector on the eve of a contest; she moves most grace** fully to every ripp e, and any ripp e that she 0- nnot move to w shea over her; but when the waves nse over rix iuches high, with a creamy head, then c mes trouble ; hen coops a* d chicken hatches fl -at round, bpars and 8 sbchions swi l about on deck, and the CO k’s galley has to be lashed to the after tr«> som like a 40-ton gun on a Cast iron waiship The Union Company ougnt to be hao up under the Merchant Shipping Act, for * hen fat passeng rs and their friends go abo id, and their luggage is taken in, the PliuisoU safety mark and board of trade load v filer line rises halfway up the funnel; loadii g her, as is often done, much above this in e, is of course a criminal act as long as tbit beautiful colony is so sparsely populated. I ougnt not to be too hard o> the little craft though, for she is our only hope in Case of these fertile shores being attacked by a hostile fleet; she represents the greater part of the tonnage of the steam shipping hailing from the port of Gisborne ; she can be converted into a torpedo boat in a short time, by laying her abeam to give her rake, and make her willowy and slim ; reverse ths funnel, pare her at the bow and stern, shove a 365 horse power engine into her—one horse for every d»y in the year, and serve it out regular fill her with long spars, import Chinese torpedoes (which are porcelain jars full of eau de cologne) foreign powers wou d think twice a‘ out showing their noses ; anyhow without the precaution of using a clothes peg it won d be c-ear y impossible The •• h mpen ligaments ” which bind us to earth are unloosed and si ent as nightfall, the tidy little craft glides p -st the breakwater, we lift our hats and pass the noole work in deep meditation—the buiial ground of our most cherished hopes, a target for our deadliest invectives, a me ting pot for spare metal, a concrete scratching post for ivchy_ tchnappers and fleabitten dogfish.

‘•Ill Wager a donar that nobody has ever though of bringing a corkscrew,” was the first remark to break the spent rapture that filled each breast. He Was wrong in the turmise, for a shower of corkscrews came hart ing through the ether, from some secure pocket of every individual on board, bar two small boys and a ma< iff dog. The captain Of the Prince of Wa -s Freezing hulk presented us with a bag of snow and a tin of ice, into which tke liquids w--re speedily packed and labelled, * Wanted on the Voyage,’ afraid of being overlooked. Calling at the Waitangi for a passenger, we shape oar course for Whareongaonga. What a waste of vowels there is in this • let me kiss him for his mother ’ sort of name. The day is perfect—very hot, but a breeze i« Springing up from the aor’-east, and a shoal Of porpoises, like cnildren just out for the Christmas holidays, leap and gambol around US—they gave us a Wild West Show sort of exhibition of throwing somersaults in mid gir, extremely pretty; three of them jumped fully five feet in the air, one after the O'htr, fieecending head down after turning completely round. I suppose they have their troubles, but as we saw them they seem to have a B mil holiday. The eye is attracted back to the receding Waitangi, with her graceful outline and

Stately figare ; the men are out on the yaid firms, bending on sails and appearing quiie at home; the to4o makes an interesting backgrouod, aod the blue hills of Whataupoko find Waim «ta, veiled in an atpaoapberic gauze, rise in the extreme distance, Thejuttin cliff of Te Kan, or Young Nick’s Head, is the only objtcl uf interest passed on lb» ««, ; the wive. are threshing round Young Ji lea's Cloren feet as they have beat and biased and recoi'ed for many and many a day. After • run of .bout three hours we dropped Mchor iu tbe .mail bay of Wnareongaouga, Toe place takes it. name from a but which

gneiauily stuod there, thatched with 'he native Ibrno ongaonga, It possesses eouie litt-e interest to tne t e-ideuu of Poverty B>y, it pelag the place where Te Kojti caused him>elf to be lauded ou arrival f<oin tue Qua bams. Il »a» h re hetirsi infmmed bis touow.r., that be wa. tte Maori Mosrs acting Under Urine guidance to lead tb-m out of tbe bouse ot bondage, etc. lh- bill leading up from the southern extremity < f tbe little bay be called Mount Moiiab, aod tbe tab'ets of the niw law"he poured out to bis band as ?wu eheiviug I apa reefs protruding from tbe B'-Samit . f this bill, saying it was decreed that when they had subdued New Zealand be was to t uvb (base rocks wjtfe Aqrgß’l wand dud tbp u,w rwldtion would spring from the earth, Tbe lauding is on a boulder bea?b, and • narrow meek enters between (Iduot Moriah, abd I suppose Pi.gah on the right. One whaiQ and the skeieten of a wool died pre the only viable ereotione. Tue pent ftem where w* .oshcred Is a yery pretty

one, but what concerns us most is the wind is freshening and the sea grows so lumpy that our skipper is afraid we shall not he able to go ashore. The powerful whaleb >at in tow is, however, loaded with coils of wire and corrugated iron, and safely negotiates a landing through the surf. Our host was mortified to find that there was nobody ashore to receive the wire staples, etc., and he broke the news very gently to us by seizing a heavy coil of wire and starting up the slippy rocks with it on his back. The old copy book used to say * Example must prevail when arguments do fail. ’ Lightening our attire we ran up the first ooat load, then rolled the ba'es of wool up the skids and ah >ve l <-fi the boat, driv-ng through au f and breaker to he Snark. From eieven till four we pursued tins pastime, varied by the entertainment provided for us uy some of the n&ti’-s, and the novelty of the scene. Four or five men and as many women sat on (he rocks and greeted us with Maori witticism*; some of the young women trea ed ue with kus of cnerriea, and displays 1 their figures in graceful attitudes as th*-y skipped about the slippery boulders, Au o<d lady sat like an automaton, and looked like a very old saddle in color. She told us amongst other things that she had received Kooti whsu he lauded, chat he had afternoon tea With her, and that hi was a perfect gentleman and wore a ma*her suit and patent, leather boot?. We gave the old girl the broken food after lunch, which she took in an automatic fashion, immediately concealing each item under her shawl. We tried her with meat tins, bottles, old boots, etc, all of which she took and sonctaled u > ii she sat blown out all round like a circus tent. The poor old creature will live in luxury for weeks, and, I bjlieve firmly, will consume bottles, tins, boo's, and all.

We formed a Lumpers’ Union, and were about to pais resolutions, limiting the working hours to a maximum ot four per diem, wneu the genial agent produced a bottle of magic fluid which complete y disorganised the app ecart and leit us at the mercy of the ruth-ess employer. If any free laborers had dured to show themse ves on the ground we wuu d have struck, a a Led the men out, and a arved ere wn humped another coil of wire or stowed a ba>e of wool. R-oiickiug over the rocks, babas ted with a hundred weight of wine, is the grandest plan to renew one’s youth that I know of. I tiled to point out to the party that all work and no play wasn't qm e the thing ; proposed a game of French tig, or kiss iu the iiug, to wnich the old damsel said. Aye ra, and the other ladies of the party (constating of one wi h a broken back, oue very lumpy Muld gar heifer, one o-d dame prouubly twin sister of Methuselah, and one cjmeiy Uss with white teeth) o.shfuly consented.—The genial agent and the gallant captain informed the rest of us that as a point of etiquette it was necessary for us to mad off with the Mis Methuselah, the lumpy and the MuJigur heifer, whi 6' they wouid put up with the tricks and follies of that dreadful coquette Agnes of tbe white teeih. They saiu they were responsible for the proprieties, so we caved in.

The little place is pic : ure-q le ; there is a plantation ha f a mne away, a wild tijicke of o ackberry bushew, a gany paimed wnaieboat and crayfish basaet on the beach, tbe tinark Dubbing about outt-i le, tne C-asi Ims northward and plenty of sunlight to gi d aud adorn, four lanky kuris snap at flies and scratch in the foreground, aud the odour ui dtied shark prevails.

I am anxious to know how the skipper gets on. ‘ First rate, my boy,’ said he, ‘ I don’t understand a syllable of Maori and the old girl is as deaf as a post; so we keep up an animated conversa'.ion of great spirit and interest. Oh ’ if I could only talk Maori, how jolly it would be—rf quite envy you old hands.’ Our whole vocabulary consists of— Tenakoe; homai the negating; Tishu; Yakay make a shut of the gate, etc., etc, The work is finished at las 1 -, and the boat hauls alongside the Hnark; the anchor is heaved qp. and we wave a last farewell to our friends ashore. We are now ready to fish, but alas ! it takes two for every contract: the fish are not ready for us, and the stupid brutes do not seem to care one doit how foolish they will make us look having to come away without them. Can it be that the rolling of the Snark frightens them? She certainly rods with such force and regularity us to be quite sufficient to nianufaciu e sheet iron ; no flih would consi-ter i< self safe under such a rickety structure, and our lines do not seem to be long enough to reach in the safe distance to which they have retired. Noi a solitary bite, not a nibble, not even tbe fouling of a Hue!—dejected and almost bioken-hearted we received orders to ham in our tackle, up stick and shape for home.

The day couldn’t be beaten for variety*, incident, fine healthy exercise, fresh air and novel y ; tbe pany returned tanned by the sun, and as jolly as sanuboys, ready at any moment to obey the summons of the geuiai host to a repetition of tne trip.-**Yours, Tbix. Dec. 16, 1890.