turned out satisfactorily. The worst of my cookery is, that while I
always follow the same directions most carefully, there is great
uncertainty and variety about the result. In the evening we played
round games. But we all went early to bed, as, we had to be up
betimes, and in the saddle by seven o'clock, to catch the 9-30 train
at Rolleston; twenty miles off. We had a beautiful, still morning
for our ride, and reached the station--a shed standing out on the
plain--in time to see our horses safely paddocked before the train
started for Christchurch. The distance by rail was only fifteen
miles, so we were not long about it; and we walked to the hotel from
the railway-station in the town. A bath and breakfast were both
very enjoyable, and then F--- went out to transact his business, and
I employed myself in unpacking and _ironing_ a ball-dress for a
party, to which we were engaged that evening. There was also
another ball the following night. The second was a very late one,
and we had scarcely an hour's sleep before we were obliged to get up
and start by the 6 A.M. train back to Rolleston, where we remounted
our horses and rode to dear little Waireka in time for breakfast.
By the evening I was sufficiently rested to make another cake, which
also, happily, turned out well.

We intended to return home the next day (Friday), but a terrific
"nor'-wester" came on in the night, and it was impossible to stir
out of the house; it was the severest gale since our arrival, and it
is hardly possible to give you a correct idea of the force and fury
of the wind. Not a glimpse of the mountains was to be seen; a haze
of dust, as thick as any fog, shut everything out. The sheep had
all taken refuge under the high banks of the creeks. It is curious
that sheep always feed head to wind in a nor'-west gale, whereas
they will drift for miles before a sou'-wester. The trees bent