Caught ( South Canterbury )
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Park and Grab
This cache is by the Memorial to the capture John Mackenzie.
In 1855 James Mackenzie, also known as 'Jock' and 'Mac' to his mates, became one of New Zealand's most enduring folk heroes. According to legend, he was a cross between Robin Hood and a superhuman sheepdrover; as cunning as a fox and as strong as an ox. Together with his loyal dog, Friday, he captured the hearts and mind of small would be farmers, all over Canterbury who were fed up of being exploited by the wealthy Canterbury landowners and were inspired by Mackenzies go-getting attitude and rebellious spirit.
However, on the 4th of March Mackenzies' luck ran out. He was caught in an inland pass in the basin of the upper Waitaki River with 1000 sheep that had gone missing from the Levels station, north of Timaru. However, it is important to note that while Mackenzie was caught in possession of the sheep there were tracks belonging to several other men. He denied the theft, claiming that he had been hired by John Mossman to drive the sheep to Otago. Mackenzie escaped from the authorities' clutches and walked (at superhuman/sheep drover speed) 100 miles to Lyttelton. Yet again, lady luck was not smiling on Mackenzie and he was re-captured on 15 March.
He was arrested by Police who found him resting in a bunk in the loft. The loft was lit by a candle which gave enough light for the Sergeant to observe that Mackenzie had the *most remarkable eyes I have ever seen. They were ferret-like, and so keen and piercing as to give a character of cunning to the whole face. The man had red hair and uncommonly high cheek bones, and from his size seemed an ugly customer to tackle. I raised my pistol, and shouting, *You are the man. I arrest you on a charge of stealing sheep from the Levels Station*. The case attracted wide interest.
A pioneer reporter wrote:
*I fell right into the Mackenzie trial. It was a peepshow for the province: the tiny Lyttelton Courthouse was like a sardine tin. In front was Jock Mackenzie, stolid as a brick and dumb as an oyster. The judge called on him to plead and the case proceeded. One by one the witnesses rounded off the whole story of the stolen mob and Mackenzie's flight.
*bring in the dog,* called out the judge. I saw Mackenzie start and gnaw his fingers a moment, as the crowd stared at the slim timid little black beast, that had outwitted grey old shepherds, with the dumb crambo tricks Mac had taught her. She slipped her chain coming in, and in another minute the slim, sad-eyed thing was scratching and whining at the woodwork, trying to get to Jock. And Jock - the dog's eyes had made a baby of him, six-footer that he was. The tears ran down and lost themselves in his red beard as he said over and over, *Eh, lassie! Poor lassie. They've got you too!*. Well, I felt smaller that matchwood that minute. There, on the one hand, was all civilization with it's thumb turned down; on the other, this Neolithic survival of a man and his soft-eyed dog bearing it all!
*That is enough; remove the dog,* said the judge. *Leave the dog to me; she was mine, bought with my own money; she was doing no harm to nobody, and she was a good friend to me that has no other. Leave me the poor beastie! I'll make your roads; I'll break your stone; I'll call myself thief; but let her stay. She'll work for me, will never lift sheep more, only let me keep her*.The judge's words dropped like frost. The keeping of the dog did not rest with him, he said, nor did Mackenzie deserve mercy after his attempt to deceive the Court.
In April he was found guilty by a Lyttelton Supreme Court jury and sentenced to five years' hard labour.
Mackenzie escaped from his road gang in both May and June 1855, but neither escape lasted more than three days. He was placed in irons and carefully watched. In September 1855 a new resident magistrate at Christchurch investigated Mackenzie's case and found flaws in both the police inquiry and the trial. As a result Mackenzie was pardoned in January 1856. He probably returned to Australia, but nothing certain is known of his later life. He left his mark on the South Island high country, though. The significance of the pass where he was discovered with the sheep, and of the pastoral country it led to, were quickly appreciated by other pastoralists. The region was subsequently named Mackenzie Country.
The cache is a 160ml container. - Bring own pen
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Haqre gur sbegl svir