Page:Tales-of-Banks-Peninsula Jacobson 2ed 1893 cropped.pdf/200

Among the more remarkable men who from time to time have led isolated lives on the Peninsula, one called Harry Head may be mentioned, who, some fifteen years ago, took up his residence in Waikerakikari. Previous to his arrival this Bay had been quite untenanted, as it was covered by dense bush, and almost inaccessible both from land and sea. It appears that it was for these very reasons that Head selected it for his abiding place. He chose a Government section in the valley near the beach, and put up a shanty, which he roofed with tree ferns. Here he lived all by himself, and friends who visited him on rare occasions used to find him industriously occupied in the bush or his garden, in a very primitive garment, consisting of a sack in which holes had been cut for his head and arms. At certain intervals he used to tire of this Robinson Crusoe kind of existence, and visit the residents of the neighbouring Bays in very scanty clothing. In his habits he was almost a wild man, and it is said he had lived long amongst the North American Indians. Instead of riding with an ordinary bridle, he preferred the Indian fashion of a string turned round the horse’s lower jaw. This string used to be composed of coloured strands, Indian fashion. He was credited with the power of long abstinence from food. He has been known several times to start to walk from Akaroa to Christchurch with nothing but a little sugar in his pockets, his only clothing being some home-made trousers and a blanket, which on grand occasions he used to encircle at the waist with a gaudy parti-coloured cord and tassels.

Harry Head was a great lover of music, and used to play simple melodies by ear on the piano, when occasion offered. Strange to say, however, the instrument he loved most was the drum, which he