ghters of the
house, and by the regard with which all but we strangers treat him. It
is Dandy Jack, afterwards to become one of our most intimate and
cherished chums. As I shall have more to say about him, perhaps I may
here be allowed to formally introduce him to the reader.

The first glance at him reveals the origin of his sobriquet. Amid the
rawness and roughness of everything in the bush, its primitive society
included, the figure of Dandy Jack stands out in strong relief.
Contrasted with the unkempt, slovenly, ragged, and dirty bushmen with
whom he mostly comes in contact, he is the very essence of foppery. Yet,
as we are afterwards to learn, he is anything but the idle, effeminate
coxcomb, whose appearance he so assiduously cultivates. Here is a
photograph of Dandy Jack.

Five feet six inches; broad and muscular, but spare and clean-limbed.
Curly black hair, and a rosy-complexioned face, clean shaven--contrary
to the ordinary custom of the country--all except a thick drooping
moustache with waxed ends. A grey flannel shirt, with some stitching and
embroidery in front; and a blue silk scarf loosely tied below the
rolling collar. No coat this warm weather, but a little bouquet in the
breast of the shirt. A tasselled sash round the waist; spotless white
breeches, and well-blacked long boots. A Panama straw hat with broad
brim and much puggeree. An expression of affected innocence in the eyes,
and a good deal of fun about the mouth. Such is the figure we now look
upon for the first time.

Dandy Jack is a character; that one sees at once. He is generally
understood to have passed lightly through Eton and Oxford, to have sown
wild oats about Europe at large, to have turned up in Western America
and the Pacific, and to be now endeavouring to steady down in New
Zealand. He has a considerable spice of the devil in him, and is at once
the darling of the ladies and the delight of the men. For to the one he
is gallantry itself; while, to the other, he is the chum who can talk
best on any subject under the sun, with a fluency and power of anecdote
and quotation that is simply enchanting.

Just at present Dandy Jack has charge of the portage, as it is called,
between the Waitemata and the Kaipara rivers.[3] He drives the coach,
carries the mails, and bosses the bullock-drays that convey goods
between Riverhead and Helensville. And he is rapidly becoming the most
horsey man in the whole of the North, being especially active