Hokianga News.

Auckland Star, Volume VI, Issue 1664, 18 June 1875, Page 3

Hokianga News.

(FfiOM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT ) The sensation up this way lately has been the downpour of last week, which .has produced floods pronounced to be the heaviest known here for many years. The Taheke, the MaiTDgomuku, and the Waihou districts have all been under water, and only now is the country beginning to assume its wonted appearance, though the rivers are still overflowing their banks. The inundation was at its height on Saturday last,' when affairs looked very serious indeed. So far as I can learn there has been no loss of human life, but horses, pigs, and even -cattle have been washed away in no small numbers. I saw several carcases rotting on the bank of the river the day before yesterday. A great deal of g |timber has also come down : the force of the currents has been so great that in many of the; creeks the logs have been driven out to sea. The pakehas have taken better care of their property than the Maoris, who are by far the heaviest losers by the damage done by the waters. A report is current that a settler some miles up the river has lost a whole team of bullocks. The story has not been confirmed, but I think it is quite likely. The Native Land Court sitting is nearly concluded. Everything has passed off very quietly, and although quite GOO natives have been hanging about the Court during its session, no disturbance has taken place. Almost all the blocks have been passed through.

A chief, known here as old Taipare, died in a very shocking manner a few days ago. He has been long suffering from the effects of hard drinking, and has at times had touches of delirium • tremens. He was sitting, on the morning of his death, on the counter of one of the grog stores, when he fell off, and it is said hurt his spine : he was taken up and looked after, but he died shortly afterwards. The natives made a great fues over his obsequies, and there was a magnificent tcmgi and war-dance.

I wish you would advocate the making of a rough road over the Mongonui Bluff. At present we have a good beach road between Hokianga and the Kaipara, with the exception of three miles.or bo, which goes over this ridge, which is about 2000 ft high. It is all dense bush and there is nothing but a Maori bridle track through it. The sun never gets-to the soil, which is consequently all in a, state of quagmire and nuid up to your horses knees. It is utterly impossible to drive cattle through it, and consequently they all have to bo taken across to the Bay of Islands. If we could only get the bush felled over the range for about a chain wide throughout the distance, it would do the settlers here an immense amount of good. They could get their cattle across, and reach a good market at the Kaipara; whereas now, owing to the impossibility of finding a market, many of the cattle are allowed to go off into the bush, because what they v.ill fetch after paying expenses of getting them to the Bay will not repay the trouble of looking after them. •