On the evening
of the third day we reached the Waitaki river, which separates
Canterbury from Otago, and is the largest in the South Island. The
Waitaki was never fordable at this point, and passengers were ferried
across in a small boat behind which the horses were swum. This latter is
a somewhat dangerous operation unless expertly carried out; a horse
which may be a powerful swimmer being able to work a swift stream so
much faster than a boat can be rowed, there is danger that he may strike
and overturn the latter, and so he must not be allowed to get above or
ahead of the boat, but be kept in his place immediately behind.
The boat on being started from one bank or shingle spit must have fair
room to work obliquely to a lower landing place on the opposite side,
without running foul of shoals or sandspits, and as the current runs
with great rapidity the voyage across is usually three or four times as
long as the stream is wide.
At this river we found an accommodation house. I forget the name of the
occupier, but I well recollect the appearance of the wretched structure,
and of its landlord and landlady. What a pair of outcasts they looked,
and how they existed on that wild bed of shingle! Their tastes must have
been simplicity itself, and little satisfied them here below.
Pages:
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113