e. Such luxuries as eggs, butter, or milk are
unknown. Perhaps once a month he may have occasion to visit the home
station, or somebody passing may call at his hut, or he may occasionally
meet a neighbouring shepherd on his round. With these exceptions he has
no intercourse with his fellow-beings, and all his affection is bestowed
on his dog and horse; he would be badly off, indeed, without them.

One of these young men, by name Wren, became a great friend of mine, and
many a time I visited him or spent a night in his lonely little hut,
which was located in a small clearing surrounded by dense bush and
immediately over a small and turbulent stream, which he used to say was
always good company and prevented his feeling so lonely during the long
dark nights as he otherwise would. It is strange how in the course of
time a person will get accustomed to such a lonely life, and many like
it, but it cannot be good for a young man to have too much of it, and
fortunately for Wren a few years would see him located at headquarters.
To take charge of a boundary was part of his education as a cadet.

It was different with the other. He was an unfortunate of that class so
frequently met with in the Colonies, a "ne'er-do-well" who had while at
home contracted habits of dissipation, and he was sent out to New
Zealand under the then very mistaken supposition that he would thereby
be cured. But there is no permanent cure for such a man; his life may be
prolonged a little by enforced abstinence, but he will never, or rarely
ever, recover his power of will so far as to avoid temptation if it
comes in his way. If it be possible to do such a man any real good,
there may be some chance for him at home, where he would have the care
and influence of his friends to support him, but there is no chance for
him in the Colonies. Such a man will under pressure abstain for months,
but the moment that pressure is removed he will make for the nearest
place where his propensity can be indulged, and give himself up to the
devil body and soul, so long as he has the means to do so, or can obtain
what he desires by fair means or foul. He knows no shame; all
honourable and manly feeling has become callous within him; and it is a
happy release indeed for all connected with him when his pitiable life
is ended.

It was a custom of Mr. Lee's to send yearly to Christchurch a flock of
fat wethers for sale, and as I wished to proceed there on the business I
referr