Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2): or Settler and Maori in Northern New ZealandHay, W. Delisle (William Delisle)
History
Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2): or Settler and Maori in Northern New Zealand
Hay, W. Delisle (William Delisle)
Ethnology -- New Zealand; Māori (New Zealand people); New Zealand -- Description and travel
We are on the other side of the stream--so much I discover--but we have
evidently not attained it without a mishap. Not to put too fine a point
upon it, we have experienced a most decided spill. The coach has
overturned just as it crossed the bridge, and passengers and baggage
have been shot forth into the world at large. Fortunately, the ground
was soft with much vegetation, so that no one is much hurt; the
"insides" alone being badly bruised. There is a confused heap of
plunging hoofs, and among them Dandy Jack and Yankee Bill are already
busy, loosening the traces and getting the horses on their feet.
The passengers go one by one to their assistance, and much objurgation
and ornamental rhetoric floats freely through the atmosphere. Presently,
the coach is got on its wheels again by united effort, and it is found
to be none the worse for the accident. In truth, its builder seems to
have had an eye to such casualties as that we have suffered, and has
adapted the construction of the machine to meet them.
But with the horses it is different. Three of them are speedily got on
their legs and rubbed down, being no more than scared. The fourth,
however, cannot rise, and examination shows that one of its legs is
broken, and probably the spine injured as well. It is evident the poor
creature is past all further service. So Dandy Jack sits on its head,
while Yankee Bill pulls out his sheath-knife and puts the animal out of
misery. I overhear our eccentric driver murmuring--
"Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day
That cost thy life, my gallant grey!"--
Adding, in a louder voice--
"Twelve pounds I paid for that critter; but I reckon I've had the profit
out of it, anyhow!"
The horse that Yankee Bill was riding is now unsaddled and hitched up
with the others, in place of the dead one. For baggage and passengers
are being collected again, and it seems we are going on as though
nothing had happened.
It is, perhaps, not strange that no one should express surprise at the
accident; but it is certainly singular that no one shows any resentment
towards our driver, or blames him in any way. The prevailing feeling is
one of simple congratulation that things are no worse. One would think
the accident was quite a usual affair, and had even been expected. A
passenger remarks quite seriously--
"I will say this for Dandy Jack: he always contrives that you shall
pitch into a soft place."
They seem about to offer a vote of thanks to this reckless madman, for
having overturned us without hurt to any one! It occurs to us two
new-chums that our life in this country is likely to be eventful, if
this kind of thing is the ordinary style of coaching. And we begin to
understand what our driver meant, when he alluded to the grave
responsibility of having a lady among his passengers; for his driving is
only comparable to the driving of the son of Nimshi.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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