TRAVEL AND TROUT.*
WIEEN in a fit of what he amusingly calls "trout-sickness," the author of this volume, who may be known to some of our readers as the "Red-Spinner," of certain serials, determined to undertake a journey of about three thousand miles for the sake .of casting a fly into the waters of Tasmania, his friends pro- phesied that he would find "an intolerable amount of travel to an infinitesimal amount of trout." From the angler's point of view, this may possibly be, nay, undoubtedly was, true; the reader, however, will be of a different opinion, and be heartily glad to find the piscatorial dish so pleasantly garnished with lively descriptions of several parts of Australasia, and brightly coloured pictures of native and colonial life. For Mr. senior, though a most enthusiastic disciple of old Izaak, and holding that in a country possessed neither of trout nor salmon there must exist for ever an aching void, is at the same time susceptible of other impressions, and capable of taking a part in and being thoroughly alive to other interests ; so that, wandering in his company in somewhat erratic fashion, we find ourselves getting glimpses of much that the more sedate traveller and travel-writer, with serene unconsciousness, simply passes by. Indeed, the author frankly owns that angling would never have been his passion, had there not been connected with it the additional attraction of the study of nature. It is an absurd idea that the antipodean, who revels for the most part in a delicious atmosphere, where he may live out of doors for the greater portion of the year, should actually conceive a great respect for the inclement English winter, and imagine that he would relish a blinding snow-storm or a bitter north-easter, but Mr. Senior assures us that it is so ! Another proof, if need be, that "man never is, but always to be blessed." We with our fogs and downpours, even during what we call summer, can hardly realise this frame of mind, yet we have at least the benefit of escaping the terrible tornadoes, and fierce forks of lightning which the author de- scribes so vividly as chasing each other across the Queensland sky; and perhaps we may possess also a few other advantages, to make up for our climatological afflictions.
His departure from Brisbane, the youngest of the Austra- lian capitals, affords an opportunity of giving us a sketch of that primitive yet rapidly growing city, whose middle- aged inhabitants have shot snipe where now stand its public buildings and seen bullock-drays bogged in its principal streets. Mr. Senior describes it as a homely, pleasant, and charmingly-situated place, none the worse for lacking the fashionable pretensions of Sydney and Melbourne. Notwithstanding its handsome Houses of Parliament, and its three-storied stone-carved banks, insurance-offices, and dwell- ings of its magnates, the city consists mostly of wooden houses, with the inevitable verandahs ; and the hitching-post may still be seen at the shop-doors; while in the outskirts, where building allotments are to be had for a mere song, the • Trona and Trout in the Antipodes. By William Senior. London : Chan* and Windui. humble freeholder erects his tiny residence of any material that may come to hand, and if he cannot affort a slab shanty, will put up with a mere sentry-box, made of beaten-out kerosine tins, such erections being dotted about upon tho hills and in the slopes of gullies for a considerable distance, giving a most peculiar aspect to the place. But the view of Brisbane from its higher points is described as extremely beautiful, surrounded as it is by mountains and wooded hills, with lake-like reaches of the winding liver appearing every here and there amongst smiling belts of vivid green, the sea itself glittering in the distance.
Such good work has been done by the various acclimatisa- tion societies of Australasia, that the much longed-for trout- fishing was not very hard to find in rivers bearing the familiar names of Tamar, Esk, Liffey, Mersey, Cam, Trent, Don, Forth, and Severn, and in each place visited the author did not fail to find an individual to reveal to him con- fidentially that to him alone had been entrusted the honour of depositing the first young fish. It would seem, how- ever, that with the exception of an occasional prize, such as a so-called salmon of eight pounds and a brown trout of fifteen, most of the fish captured are very small, but in suffi- cient plenty even now to afford a good deal of sport; while if the country were more cleared and the river banks more open, and if it were forbidden to use unsportsmanlike methods of capture, Tasmania might hereafter afford capital angling-ground ; while New Zealand promises to be, in a few years' time, a magnificent island for the trout-fisher. As to salmon, Mr. Senior appears to consider it extremely doubtful whether any true specimens have as yet been taken ; but controversy on this subject is rife in Australasia, and in certain circles it would be treasonable to suggest that the much vaunted specimens of saltno salar were, after all, but salmo fario. But what has become of the Tasmanian salmon P The brown trout and salmon trout have
undoubtedly, become acclimatised, and since salmon were placed in the Derwent so long ago as 1864, there should by this time
have been very large fish in that river, yet Mr. Senior tells us that not only has no one caught or seen anything over the de- batable border-line of eight, ten, or twelve pounds, but that the voracious little samlet is also never heard of, from which it would appear that the Tasmanian rivers are not favourable to the development of this description of immigrant. Among the large number of sea-fishes of which New Zealand boasts, there is one, the kakawai, which is called the native salmon ; it is, however, dry and tasteless, except when quite young. The hapuku, or New Zealand cod, attains to a great size, and gives capital sport to those who are fond of sea-fishing.
But perhaps the most interesting part of Mr. Senior's book is that which relates to the great New Zealand s anitaria, the mineral waters and hot springs of Waiwera and the boiling- lake district, which he fairly characterises as Wonderland. At the former place, it appears that patients suffering from rheuma- tism, scrofula, gout, sciatica, and skin-diseases are perfectly cured ; people are, we are told, carried from the steamers help- less and groaning with pain, and return, frequently in the course of a month or two, "hale, lively, and impudent." The writter says :—" I met, returning from these springs, a Victorian digger, who looked fit for anything; yet he told me that two months previously he had come over to the colony, his limbs gnarled and knotted like a crabbed oak, and despairing of ever getting rid of the unasked-for legacies of many years of rough life in the diggings." Waiwera seems to be a charming place, having a large hotel, with every English comfort and plenty of amusement and society ; but in point of natural features it must be tame indeed in comparison with the strange regions of Ohinemuto and Rotomahana, which are only reached by passing through that glorious tract of forest called the Eighteen-mile Bush. The pleasantest way of making the journey is to ride from Tauranga to Napier, taking a guide and pack-horse, with a tent and camp furniture ; but there is also coach communication, and buggies can be hired. A drawback to the pleasure of such a journey consists in the fact that it is said to rain five days out of six in the Eighteen-mile Bush ; but there are occa- sional exceptions, and the traveller may be fortunate enough to light upon one, and if he does so he can scarcely fail to perceive the charm of the dense and singular vegetation through which he passes, and which brings him to the Mongrawa river, where the scenery is very grand. Massive rocks tower over-head, and in the fissures and gorges grow tree-ferns, shrubs, and mosses ;
after which you come upon a tract of moorland, 'with a glimpse of a blue lake embosomed by hills ; and as you approach nearer you perceive clouds of ascending steam, Maori huts dotted about, and presently the white houses of Ohinemuto, standing on a peninsula jutting into Rotoma, a pear-shaped lake, some twelve miles long by nine broad, which, though cold itself, is on all sides sur- rounded by boiling, geyser-like springs, some of which dis- charge into it, so that it is necessary to use great precaution in bathing there. Even in the hotel garden, among luxurious fruits and flowers, which flourish on this natural hot-bed, you have to be careful not to step into a pool of hot mud, and it seems that the native town is built on a thin crust, and might disappear bodily at any moment. Meantime, the Maoris cook their fish and potatoes in these natural caldrons, and the sick con- gregate round them, to be healed by their miraculous powers. But singular as are the sights at Ohinemuto, the traveller will not stop there, for, as Mr. Senior remarks, the Mecca of the pilgrim is Rotomahana with its magical terraces, to reach which he must cross the picturesque lake of Tarawera, under the guidance of the half-caste Kato and her posse of boatmen. From the sides of the lake rise in a semicircle the
wonderful alabaster-like steps, their dazzling brilliancy being thrown out by the verdant underwood on each side of them. "The steps vary," says Mr. Senior, "in height and width, being sometimes inches and sometimes feet. Many of the floors
were hollowed out like shells, and at the time of our visit were filled with water of exquisite blue tints." The effect of the delicacy and purity of the scene was, he says, to make the party walk with hushed tread, as they examined the fretwork, and carvings, and the thousand stalactitic designs so wondrously fashioned by the dripping water. At the summit of the steps are large basins of hot water, and in certain winds it is impos- sible to see through the curtains of steam that rise from them ; when, however, you can look down, it is into a gulf of cerulean blue :—
" The caldron.in-chief is," the writer tell us, "a terrible affair. At first, the yawning pit (it is about forty yards across) was filled with fiercely-moving steam, which buffeted the sides and escaped with a rush. Then, with a diabolical roar, which made us draw back in haste from the coralline edging, the veil was rent, and for a few moments the fury of this demon's kettle's boiling was visible. The waters surged upwards in appalling volume, madly charging right and left, suddenly with vicious foam and thunder upheaving, as if to overwhelm us, and then as suddenly sinking out of sight, and filling the passages and caverns with dying shrieks."
At the opposite side of the lake, where are the pink terraces, the scene is of a milder character. The steps are broader, the hollows deeper, and a soft, rosy hue is the prevailing tint; and at the top, instead of the raging caldron of the white terraces, there is apparently a placid reservoir, although woe betide the being who should plunge into its seething depths ! "When the steam was wafted away," says
the author, "the revelation was of a marvellous sapphire set in pearl. Lovelier blue, pearl, and amber mortal eye never saw. It must have been some such vision of colour that the exile on the Isle of Patmos beheld, when he looked upon the founda- tion-walls of the New Jerusalem." After seeing as much as he was able, though by no means so much as he would have wished, of this marvellous country, Mr. Senior returned, con- tented and invigorated, to his Queensland home. For our- selves, we can but wish that he may take many a holiday ramble, if each of them is to be followed by as pleasant a record as is that of Travel and Trout.
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