Page:Tales-of-Banks-Peninsula Jacobson 2ed 1893 cropped.pdf/257

ing many a cool pool and miniature waterfall in its fertilising progress. Half way down the valley its course is confined within rather narrow limits by a great barrier of volcanic rock that almost closes the upper flats from those below. Very little labour indeed would make this a stronghold such as Blackmore tells us of in “Lorna Doone,” a place where, in the days gone by, a stately dame could in perfect safety dish up those storied spurs which warned her husband and sons that it was time to proceed on another cattle stealing expedition. From this point the valley rapidly extends in width, and is exceptionally fertile and well grassed.

The floods of a few years ago did considerable damage, bringing down great masses of shingle, and widening the bed of the creek very greatly; but year by year the soil is gathering over the stones, and the grass is creeping over their grey sides, so that before long the emerald carpet will be as wide as ever. The creek is not untenanted: besides the eels, the trout that have been placed there have thriven, and in cool pools at the end of rapids can be seen gliding in the clear water. At the end of one spur that embraces the bay (that on the Purau side) is a magnificent pinnacle of rock. It is fitly denominated Castle Peak, and so strong is the resemblance of ruined towers, that were it on the Rhine it would doubtless furnish many a tale to an imaginative guide. These hill sides show no traces of having ever been entirely clothed with the “forest primeval,” but in nooks of the mountain are many patches of kowhai, ngaio, matapo, and other beautiful native trees that flourish exceedingly in these sheltered recesses. No part of the Peninsula can be more beautiful than Charteris Bay when we saw it last, in an autumn sunset, the great rocks that cast no shadow here in a thirsty land, but hoard their liquid treasures to their summits, frowned in the deep