In the Land of the Long White Cloud

But you ain’t going to get rich thataway. Listen up, we’re going up the Buller to find some gold. Don’t you want to come? Try to strike it rich too?”
    David, who had just been equipping the mules Norman had rented with saddles and saddlebags, looked at the old man with glowing eyes. “Have you done it before? I mean, panning for gold?” he inquired excitedly.
    Norman shook his head. “Not me. But Joe here did somewhere over in Australia. He can show us. Shouldn’t be too hard. Hold the pan in the water, and the nuggets swim on in.” He laughed.
    Lucas, for his part, sighed. He could already guess what was coming his way.
    “You see, Luke; everyone says it’s easy,” David remarked predictably. “Let’s try it,
please
.”
    Norman saw the earnest look in the boy’s eyes and laughed equally at Lucas’s and David’s expressions. “Well, the boy’s got fire! Won’t be able to hold on to him much longer, Luke. So what do you think, you two going to come with us, or do you still need to think about it?”
    If there was something Lucas had not been counting on, it was a gold-seeking expedition with the whole group. On the one hand, it was certainly attractive to pass off the organization to others, or at least to share them among the group. A few of the men might even have experience as foresters. But they doubtless had no knowledge of mineralogy. If they found gold, it would be by pure chance, and then infighting was guaranteed. Lucas declined.
    “We can’t just leave here whenever we want,” he explained. “But sooner or later…I’ll be seeing you, Norm!”
    Norman laughed and parted with a handshake that made Lucas’s fingers ache afterward for several minutes.
    “I’ll be seeing you, Luke. And who knows but maybe we’ll both be rich by then!”

    They set out before first light. Mr. Miller, the owner of the rental stables, had lent David a horse, but since there had been only one available, he just tossed the saddlebags over its bare back and mounted behind Lucas. Although it slowed them down a bit, the horse was strong, and the forest of ferns was so thick that trotting or galloping was out of the question. Lucas, who had been so reluctant at first, soon began to enjoy the ride. It had rained over the last few days, but now the sun was shining. Banks of fog descended over the jungle, hiding the mountaintops and wrapping the land in a strange, surreal light. The horse was sure-footed and calm, and Lucas enjoyed feeling David’s body behind him. Forced to sit tightly pressed against him, the boy had put his arm around Lucas’s waist. Lucas could feel the movement of the boy’s muscles, and his breath on the back of Lucas’sneck gave him pleasant goose bumps. The boy eventually dozed off, his head sinking onto Lucas’s shoulder. When the fog cleared, the river shimmered in the sunlight, sometimes reflecting on the stone walls that now rose up close to the riverbanks. Ultimately, the rocks narrowed so that it was no longer possible to continue alongside it, and Lucas had to ride back a ways to find a way up and over. Finally he discovered a sort of mule path—which may have been trampled down by Maori, or by earlier gold panners—along which he could follow the river’s course from above the cliffs. Thus they slowly made their way inland. Earlier expeditions had discovered gold and coal deposits in the area. Where and by what means, however, remained a riddle to Lucas. It all looked the same to him: a mountainous landscape, consisting mostly of hills overgrown with ferns. Here and there, rock walls led up to a high plateau, and they were frequently interrupted by streams, which occasionally emptied out into the Buller River as charming waterfalls, big and small. They occasionally came upon small strands of sand along the riverbanks, which invited them to dally. Lucas wondered whether the excursion would not have been better carried out with a canoe than on a horse. It was possible that even the sand in the strands held gold, but Lucas had to admit that he had no knowledge of these matters to fall back on. If only he had taken an interest in geology or mineralogy instead of plants and insects. No doubt the earth formations, the soil, and the types of rock could have indicated where they might find gold deposits. But
no
, he had simply had to draw wetas. Lucas gradually came to the conclusion that the people around him—Gwyneira most of all—had not been entirely wrong.