I am now going to put up a V hut on the country that I took up on the
Rangitata, meaning to hibernate there in order to see what the place is
like. I shall also build a more permanent hut there, for I must have
someone with me, and we may as well be doing something as nothing. I
have hopes of being able to purchase some good country in the immediate
vicinity. There is a piece on which I have my eye, and which adjoins
that I have already. There can be, I imagine, no doubt that this is
excellent sheep country; still, I should like to see it in winter.
* * *
June, 1860.--The V hut is a fait accompli, if so small an undertaking
can be spoken of in so dignified a manner. It consists of a small roof
set upon the ground; it is a hut, all roof and no walls. I was very
clumsy, and so, in good truth, was my man. Still, at last, by dint of
perseverance, we have made it wind and water tight. It was a job that
should have taken us about a couple of days to have done in first-rate
style; as it was, I am not going to tell you how long it DID take. I
must certainly send the man to the right-about, but the difficulty is to
get another, for the aforesaid hut is five-and-twenty miles (at the very
least) from any human habitation, so that you may imagine men do not
abound.
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