This visit to Birmingham has not unnaturally recalled the old scenes to my mind more vividly than usual, and if my pen should not fail me I will essay to put one of them at least upon record. As being most instinct of New Zealand experience, I take "Life in the bush" as my subject for this article, promising to follow it up with others if found suited to the requirements of the "Mag." To one brought up to town life only, with no other knowledge of nature than can be acquired in a trip to the sea-side, or of a day or two at a farm, the charm of finding oneself, as I did the first week I was in Otago, living in tents in the bush, was intense. Well do I remember the thrill of delight I felt as I stepped out of the boat which took me and three or four others from Port Chalmers to the section on the harbour side where my brother (an old Colonial) was engaged in surveying. The scene is photographed upon my memory never to be effaced: a miniature beach, such as was to be found only at long intervals upon the slopes which descended to the water's edge, thickly clothed with luxurious evergreen "bush "--by which latter term is to be understood, as in America, what we at home call "forest." Shouldering our "swags" (or bundles of clothes, &c.), we started up the "line" which had been commenced the previous week, and soon found ourselves in the cool and sombre shade of magnificent timber, which had never before been invaded by other than some stray "Maori" searching for potato roots after a fishing excursion on the waters beneath. Here, in the wildest profusion, grew ferns which would have driven a botanist almost beside himself with joy; for New Zealand is the home of the fern, from the trembling maidenhair to the stately palm fern towering upwards for thirty feet, and then spreading out like a vast umbrella; now we stumbled upon the stump of an "iron-wood" tree, recently felled by the "bush hands," dark in colour, and, as its name betokens, hard almost as the axes which felled it. From this tree the natives make all their war spears, and many of their battle-axes, one of which I had in my possession until lately, with its three gruesome bunches of feathers tied on, indicating, according to size, the number of men, women, and children its owner had killed with it, and also assisted to eat at the Cannibal feasts which succeeded every Maori battle. Again, we pass a stately "black pine," best of fire wood, and the New Zealand substitute for coal, side by side with the "Goi" and lordly "Totara," the bole of one of which latter I measured at the height of my shoulders, and found it to be thirty-six feet in circumference. Most necessary we found it also to keep to the line leading to the camp. Once or twice, tempted by the sight of some beautiful butterfly or brightwinged bird, I essayed to walk to the right or left of the open track, but soon found I must make the acquaintance of the "lawyers," as certain thorny creepers are called, from their habit of laying hold of one. and only parting company after the client having paid fees either in the form of clothing or flesh; and their clerks, the "supple jacks," persistently lie in wait to entangle the unwary foot and precipitate the intruder into the embraces of their masters. And so it occurs that an old hand always carries a small bill-hook with which to sever these unpleasant acquaintanceships, and it is quite astonishing to see the dexterity with which a good bush-hand will clear himself a path and make his way through such dense undergrowth. As we worked our way upwards for some half mile, we passed ever and anon the slender survey-rods cut on the spot, pointed and split, and each holding a small piece of paper in the cleft. These, set with the utmost accuracy, indicated the boundary which, later on, would be fixed more permanently by pegs and trenches, which in their turn would be superseded by fences erected by the landowners. Upon the rods, as we passed them, we generally saw little robins, so tame that one might almost touch them without alarming; and during all my surveying experience in the bush, I found these cheerful little companions following the sound of the axe, their instinct teaching them that where there were fallen trees, there too would be a feast of grubs, their favourite food. Continuing, then, along the charming path so redolent of nature, and teeming with tiny life of insect and bird, we came in half an hour to a small clearing upon the only bit of level ground we had seen, since leaving the beach up which we had hauled our boat. Here I found three tents pitched, a rough table constructed from the trunk of a fallen tree, and near the stump of an old patriarch of the bush long gone to his rest, a smouldering fire. My companions deposited their loads, consisting of rolled meats, tea, sugar, &c., which they had been to the port to fetch for the use of the camp, and we took a short spell of rest upon the softest and springiest of turf, such as I have only seen equalled in some parts of our own Sutton Park, and such as can only flourish in the richest of soils. My curiosity soon prompted me to invade the tents to inspect my night quarters, and although they would appear small to anyone accustomed to an ordinary bedroom, they did not to me who had but lately been sleeping in a cabin six feet by six, which had to accommodate two bunks and all the necessaries for myself and fellow-passenger (The Hon. H. Pery, second son of the late Earl of Limerick). However, the novelty of sleeping. upon a fern bed, with nothing but a sheet of canvas between one and the sky, was in its way as fascinating as having only a plank between oneself and the ocean, whose lap-lapping for many a night had been my lullaby. It was the latter end of November, and consequently here, nearly Midsummer, and except for the grateful shadow of the trees, very hot, so that towards sundown we gladly hailed the cool breeze which in Otago comes almost without fail each night; indeed, no matter what the day may have been, a fire is always welcome in these parts as soon as the sun is down. One of the "hands" who acted in the capacity of cook and tentkeeper, now stirred up the fire and fed it from a "stack" close by, and soon I was enjoying my first camp fire, with its aromatic smoke from the pine sticks, and its lively crackling and spluttering as the smaller feeders attacked the logs which were to serve for the night. Upon three or four hooks suspended to a green wood cross-bar several "billies" or tin cans were hung and filled with water for tea, and potatoes for a side dish. Another hour and we heard the "cooee," or native call, adopted as a signal by all colonists. A practised hand, or rather mouth, can give this call with a most astonishing effect, and I have heard it under favourable circumstances reverberate amongst the hills much as the report from a rifle would do. This announced the approach of the survey party, consisting of my brother and four men, which had been on the lines since morning, and woe be to the cook if they were kept long without their supper; only those who have been out all day employed in active work, with but a "snack" at mid-day, can appreciate the kind of appetite with which a survey party returns to camp. No need of "Lea and Perrins" to entice the mutton and "damper" down, or cream to flavour the tea; but surrounding the bush table, and seated on the ground pic-nic fashion, amidst a fire of jokes and puns, the most important meal of the day assumes, as to amounts consumed, gigantic proportions. And now it is becoming dusk, for although the sun has but just dipped below the horizon, and it is still quite light in the open, the denseness of the foliage and the height of the trees bring on darkness much sooner here. It is at this moment that the weirdness and solemnity of a night in the bush steals upon one: the fire brightens and leaps upwards to the darkening air, the gently waving boughs quiver and sway with fantastic. effect, the night beetles hum as they glance between the open spaces, and the "maw pawk" begins his melancholy hooting. The little camp is a dome of light, with every object in clear relief, forming a picture such as Rembrandt would have revelled in. "Early to bed" is the order of the camp, and beyond the one hour's smoke and chat there is nothing to induce the tired company to remain in the open; so with the simple process of divesting oneself of the outermost garments, and turning in, sometimes under a "possum rug," but generally into a blanket bag, we are soon, three to a tent, snug for the night, care having been taken to smoke out the mosquitos, and carefully close the entrances to the sleeping apartments. There is to be sure a most unsentimental side to the experience of a night in a tent in the bush, to which spiders and mosquitos contribute in no small degree; but on this one, filled with the impressions of the day, and reflecting upon the new life commenced, I had thoughts only for the romantic aspect. Excitement kept me awake later than my companions; in every sound there was something new to my senses, and my thoughts went back to the home I had left in England, to the long, long voyage upon the mighty ocean, and as the recollection of all the scenes through which I had been preserved came over me, I breathed a prayer of thankfulness to the Giver of all good gifts, and slept. W. M. A SKETCH. SULTRY heat, with yellow glare; Tree-tops motionless, as if in wonder! Dull grey clouds with eyes of greenish blue, The air refreshed-birds sing and skies are clear ! ARTHUR BERINGTON'S LESSONS IN LIFE. J. B. I. "AND now, my dear fellow, what will you have? Put a name to it. Still or sparkling? hock or Madeira? or what do you say to a glass of Sauterne or Chablis, eh?" And the speaker, a tall young fellow, a few months older than one and twenty, gave his companion a hearty slap on the back in a rollicking sort of way. That slap on the back meant a good deal. It might be paraphrased, "I, Arthur Berington, am a fellow of pluck and of inches, and with no nonsense about him. Í am a man of the world, I am. I think I am pretty equal to anybody I may chance to meet, and I can hold my own in conversation, as well, perhaps, as here and there one, and I like friendship and jollity, and I like to see people happy about me. And I aint so mean as to stick at a sovereign when my friends are to be entertained. What a thing it is to be young, and to have health, and the bounding life in one's veins !" A good deal more might be paraphrased out of that slap, did time permit ! "Well, upon my word, Berington," said the person addressed-the only other occupant of the snug bachelor sitting-room on this summer evening-" you do the thing handsome, deucedly handsome, you do, and I respect you for it, my boy." Young Berington gave a gratified bow. "Suppose we try a glass of your still hock; I'll warrant it's something knowing; why, confound you, you luxurious young dog, you, it isn't often I'm given the run of such a cellar as yours-generally B. and S., or, for the matter of that, half-and-half." "Well, it's small, but I trust the quality may be relied upon," said Berington, with a strange assumption of the seasoned wine-fancier on his young face. It was an innocent young face-frank, handsome, amiable without being silly; bearing the marks of careful bringing up, and the impress of gracious home-life; a face, which in effigy a proud mother looked at every day with glad admiration, kneeling beside her bed and laying his portrait before her eyes till they were often dim with tears, as she prayed for him miles and miles away in the great city. Nay, did his mother and sisters need to look at mere dead portraits-was he not engraved on their hearts? "Well, Berington," said the other, "I'll tell you what it is, this is A 1-there's no two ways about it, my boy. It does you credit, Berington; I shouldn't have thought you knew so much about wine. Thank you, not more than half a glass; now, my dear fellow, hold hard there. I'll declare, you're filling it to the brim, as the song says. Well, here's fortune to you, my lad." "Just a glass before tea, you know, old fellow, to square us up after our walk, and pass the time away till the old woman brings up the provender." How jolly it was to have Hayter, the head clerk, to tea with one, when one had only been in the House three months, and to call him "old fellow." Why, nine out of ten of the other fellows would not have taken such a liberty with him for the world. But Arthur Berington felt that he was a “gentleman;" after all, connections and the habits of good society will tell, go where you will-he was in the habit of saying to himself. "Old woman' you call her! I wonder what she'd say to you, if you ventured to ask her how she spent her thirty-fourth birthday? Why, with regard to your landlady, as everything else, Berington, you are in clover." "Well, they are jolly diggings," said Berington, using the word of strange etymology, which young men use to designate their hired abodes. He glanced round the room with a gratified smile-one sees more in familiar surroundings when they are admired by a friend. A few choice water-colours, sent him by his sister Maud, a statuette or two he had bought himself, a vase full of flowers, sent up to him that day from the far-away garden at home, whose scent, when they came, had taken him back to the days of his childhood; these things brightened up this apartment of a London suburb with a radiance unwonted in |