Locomotives put out to pasture
Southland’s earliest locomotives ended their days as stationary engines, although the first of them, Lady Barkly, was used as a bush loco for a time when its passenger service was over.
One of the locomotives, much too heavy for the wooden rails, was called The Elephant.
The Otago Witness of 1904 says, ‘‘The Elephant supplied the necessary power in a flourmill in Esk street, the Puffing Billy took its place as a sawmill engine in Seaward Bush, and the Lady Barkly, as a sawmill locomotive, was used on a tramway to haul logs.’’
In 1870, one of the locos, perhaps the twin of The Elephant, was driving Fraser’s flax mill in Otatara, in the vicinity of present day Bryson Rd.
The photograph above shows one of the locos being removed from the tracks on its way to a new life as a stationary engine.
The word for lizard
The origin of the name Mokomoko Inlet is problematic, as are many placenames.
Mokomoko is the word for lizard.
It was also used casually for scrubby vegetation, as an alternative to mingimingi.
Makomako is the native wineberry and mokomoko was an alternative name for korimako, the bellbird.
There were plenty of lizards and no shortage of scrub or wineberry. Another spelling is Mokemoke meaning lonely.
Mokomoko was sometimes written as two words or as Mokomok. The inlet is often called ‘‘The Moke’’.
A moke is a mule – as in Moke Lake – but the name for the inlet pre-dates the first mule.
A Mokomoko was one of the Ma¯ori signatories to the Otago Purchase from Ngaitahu in 1844.
According to Sherwood Roberts who was acquainted with Invercargill in 1856, ‘‘The Ma¯ ori believed that the Mokomoko lizard was the incarnation of the god Te Hukita. All lizards were regarded with awe and dread by the Ma¯ori. There was a large number of reptile or lizard gods, apart from the lesser malignant spirits, which could assume the lizard form, causing sickness and death by gnawing the human vitals.’’
Geordie the 25 pounder
Southland’s heaviest cat, OK, not quite a Southlander, was Geordie, a 25 pounder from Papatowai. That’s 11.3kg of lard.
The oldest cat was possibly 23-year-old Moggy, still living in Invercargill in 1999.
The world record for longevity is 38, and the heaviest domestic cat weighed 21.3kg.
There is concern about large hybrid cats going wild in Southland. Bengal cats, for example, are a cross between the Asian Leopard cat and the domestic cat, typically up to 9kg, excellent climbers and swimmers. They would pose an even greater threat to wildlife than ordinary feral cats.
Even larger cats have appeared in Southland.
In 1900, Fitzgerald’s circus visited Invercargill with several even larger cats – a panther, lion and tiger.
‘‘Besides other features, too numerous to particularise, there is in connection with the show an interesting menagerie, which includes some performing animals from Carl Hagenbeck’s Zoological Circus.
‘‘Among these is an elephant named Lizzie, who, in company with a Russian pony, goes through a number of feats, the elephant walking on top of a barrel besides performing a number of other remarkable tricks.
‘‘A tiger also rides on the back of a horse, and performs several other feats; while a large lion rides an elephant round an enclosed arena, the act concluding with the elephant mounting a tricycle, and, with the lion still on his back, pedalling around the enclosure.
‘‘Altogether the show is an excellent one, and the enterprise of the Fitzgerald Bros, will no doubt, meet its reward by large audiences attending.’’