THROUGH THE UREWERA.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 456, 15 March 1909, Page 6

THROUGH THE UREWERA.

NOTES BY THE WAY. PAKEHA INFLUENCES ON THE MAORI. (by ode special beportek.) From Waikare-moana the Urewera route runs up to the top of tho back-bone range, Huia-rau, and down to Omakoe, thence to ■ ltotorua. But near the top of Huia-rau, another track deviates away to tho right, towards Rua's kainga, Maunga-pohatu, which lies at tho foot of tho great commanding mountain of that name; from this point tho traveller -may bush tracks'eastward round tho base of Maunga-pohatu to Gisbonie, or may descend by tho valleys of tho Waimana' and Whakatano Rivers to tho Bay of Plenty. - Huia-rau, liko all backbono ranges, is the mother of rivers. Near Haopipi 0110 finds himself on tho head waters of the Whakatano, which flows to tho Bay of Plenty, whilo a few miles back, across a low saddle, tho head waters of tributaries of the Wairoa, flowing to Hawke's Bay, aro met with. From tho peaks of Huia-rau-a. magnificent panorama of forest highlands,. is .presented, ridge succec'ding ridgo in* a wave-like..forma-tion of verdant evergreen. From somo points may be seen Hawke's Bay, tho Bay of Plenty, and, looking inland, Tjuipo and , tho.;Hot' Lakes; while. Gisbonie appears to lie almost at tho traveller's foot. Few sights .in. Now Zealand—and this, is a,.very,.largo, order indeed—can comparo with that of Waikaremoana on a summer afternoon,- its blue waters rippling with a thousand-diamond-points of light.- Viewed suddenly frdm somo open- - ing ill--tho forest,'hundreds or even thousands of feet above, tho great lako is: in-spiring-in its beauty and grandeur. 1 ' ' " ' Evolution In the Urewera. . , From the beech-clad .higher slopes of Huiarau tho traveller , descends. into , valleys. of. mixed -bush, with'a largo proportion of rimu and matai, also rata and tawa. Occasional clearings in tho forest, obviously ancient, give evidence of primeval occupation. .Evidonco of another age, comparatively f recent and yet equally, dead and gone, aro provided by the wild strawberries and pansies—now dwarfed through lack of cultivation—also by various wild fruit-trees,' relics . of tho missionaries, whose work was blighted by the .wavo of Hauhauism. <> The' barbaric age, tho incomplete missionary era, and tho- relapso. into savagery, followed 0110 011 : tho other. Tho wars with the pakoha produced a longstanding bitterness, and' tho Urewera then withdrew into itself, sullen against the white man as well'as .the' East Coast Maoris, who; had fought 011 his "side. And now this process of evolution —which, for a young .country, has been rapid enough—promises to develop another stage. Thero are two, forces at work, centrifugal' and contripetal. In the first place, the ,younger natives of the Urewera, not'content with tho baro-neces-saries of lifo won from the soil and tho forest, are going' forth annually to the farms and townships of the pakeha to shear sheep and work"for wages, and are coming back armed with. cheques, also with European mothods and want's—though so far without, it would seem- any marked craving'for alco- ■ hoi. Secondly,' the white man' is trying even harder to get in than tho Maori is willing to get out'. The pakeha wants to come as a storekeeper, (such being an adjunct to the new-found'tastes of tho Maori) or to carry on gold prospecting (somo of which has been done, more or less furtively) or perhaps as a settler. To what extent tho Urewera may becomo a field for whito settlement depends largely, on tho policy of the Government, which-, is now devoting attention to thq mattor. If trio Government 'decides that tho reservation' placed on tho country in tho interests of tho Maori is to bo modified, Rua will apparently bo found to bo a favourable force on tho Maori side, 1 as he proposes that his followers shall sell a large area' of land to tho Government in order to secure capital to themselves develop the balance. ,- ■' ! - 1 ■ Natural Resources.. As to the natural resources of tho country, the gold-finds aro probably fairy-tales. There is no authentic confirmation, and unbiased persons on the spot are sceptical. In some places, where-prospectors', workings are visible, as on the Opuruahine, tho results do not seem:to amount to much. With re-' gard to timber, excluding the : higher beech forests, it may bo said that there is a good proportion of tho marketable pines, ninu, totara is in good quantity aboutlo \\haiti, but is less in evidence as one ■travels eastward. Tho bush is so . mixed in quality thtib the ■ value would be very hard-, to assess without • detailed examinations; 1 still tho Urewera;, if opened to settlement, would no doubt receive a considerable impetus from the profits of its first crop provided, of course, that railway access were provided, .which is a very large stipulation considering. tho nature of the country and tho present stage, ofj. our railway construction .policy. The timber crop disposed of, tho grass prospects of tho land would bo very fair where it is''sufficiently level, but tho proportion of steep slopes that would bo eroded after deforestation is large, T>nd,tho st) il in places is unduly pumiceous. Bpth. the lattor objections apply, however,, with at least equal force,, to many parts of the Waimarino,-on the Main Trunk route. In- process, of time what is now 'occurring in tho Waimarino may occur in the Urewera. Pioneers of the latter.are very-anxious that the proposed East Coast railway .connecting Gisborne with. Auckland should pass 1 6 Urowera instead of skirting tho Bay of Plenty coastal districts in competition with water-carriage.,, Settlers in the Lower Whakataue are equally''positive that theirs is tho district of -progress both present. and prospective,, and thafc.<a Urewera route would be hugely costly anyhow. On tie borders of tho Urewera, on tho Whakatano side, is the successful settlement estab- ' lished by tho cutting up of the Op'uriao Ettate. -A-now cheese, factory-lias opened at Rewarowa, and many of the Ruatoki Natives are supplying it with-niilk, thus gaining the advantago of a steady income "and tho great benefit of regular industry.' Tho lower porti°u of the Bay of ,Plenty,-is prosperous, and Opotiki has tho narao of being a solid and progressive port. ' , ' Health Department and the Maori. ; been previously pointed out that a onlay's; stage brings the traveller from Waikare-moana over Huia-rau to Omakoe, where white -civilisation is represented by Miv Robort Baillio's storo and accommocLi-. tion house, located in, .or rathor on, tho main street —thero being no other. ... The journeyfrom .Huia-rau down to Omakoo is notable for tho number of Native settlements, commencing with Wai-iti, where tho-wahincs aro seen :, working in . the potato, , and melon patches. Several smaller places aro passed, and lower down Matatua (sometimes known as Rutahuna, though tho,-latter is really a general namo for these settlements) arrests the eyo with its huge wharepuni, tho largest in the Urewera. There is a noticeable pa, but it is probablo that more Teal busi- . ness was transacted at some of tho adjacent pas, whoso remains 'havo now almost disappeared..' Near. Omakoo isiUmuroa, a kainga with a really up-to-dato wharepuni, large and lofty, having £ windows for light and ventilation, and being well kept in every way. • From a sanitary point of vieTi* it compares more' than favourably with that at 'Matatua. At neither place, however, was any nuisance observable, and it must be concluded that tho uphill work of the Health Department's sanitary inspectors, operating on behalf of tho Maori Councils, is meeting with some reward. The effort to mako the Maori sanitary is secondary to and dependent cn the effort to mako him work, and whilo tho Health Department may havo powers to enforce cleanliness, it has no means of compelling industry. As Dr. Pomare", Health Officer to the Maoris, has remarked: "Work will do moro for the Maori than all the medicines and beautiful theories that wo know. Get the Maori to work; all tho other reforms will follow." Maunga-pohatu—Maori Hospitality. Let us deviate awhile from , the through route, and follow the side-track which leads to Maunga,-pohatu and Gisborne. The deviation means a day's journey each, way, and therefore a night in Rua's kainga aforementioned. From a commajiding saddle, crowded - by a weeping willow tree, looking picturesque

and pensive amid its alien company of native bush, tho view opens out 011 Maunga-pohatu (Stony Mountain) in all its glory. Longbacked, studded with rock-pillars, standing ovor 4300 ft. abovo sea-level, Maunga-pohatu fairly fills tho landscape. Tho heavy bush on tho lower faces gives placo gradually to light scrub and stoop baro bluffs, relieved, it is said, with caves which liavo been tho burying-placos of tho dead for centuries, and which are, therefore, tapu and things to bo mentioned with awe. At tho foot of tho sacred mountain is tho kainga of Rua, Maungapohatu, whoso clearings are extending farther and farther down a iongish valley. Close by tho saddle whence this rare landscapo is in view thero now manifests itself a fearsome apparition, a Maori hiding in a treo. with a loaded firearm, apparently an ancient shot-gun The lone sentry explains, however, that no is only waiting to'havo a shot at a wild bull, which ho hopes to incapacitate by pouring slugs into it from his blunderbuss. Passing on down tho hill, tho traveller observes tho bull breaking cover, but in the wrong direction. Tho Native attention is diverted from tho bull-hunt tiud settles in the visitor. That night in Maunga-pohatu Maori hospitality provided a well-cooked pigeon, and tho morning meal prior to departure was kaka, accompanied 111 each case with potatoes and quite a surprising array of pakeha utensils and condiments. Tho birds woro, in tho Maori fashion,. cooked whole, without cleaning. Tho late Mr. Seddon, while touring the Urewera, being confronted with such a dish, is reported to have remarked with gruff good litimojr: "A liico sort of thing to put before a blessed Premier." But history adds that ho did ample justice to his host's .victuals, and so ,will anyone elso similarly -situated. The climate mr.kes for appetite, and tho Maori is hospitality itself. . Even a tent was provided by the worthy people at Maunga-pohatu, and at candlelight a number of crouching figures gathered in tho encircling gloom, and the flickering ■liglit fell oil the swarthy faces of the gossips, men and women, girls and boys. After an hours' exchang'o of civilities, punctuated by tho persistent extinguishment of tho candle by large, beautifully-marked moths, bedtime arrived, and Maori and pakeha. alike retired to rest under tho sfyjidow of mighty Maunga-pohatu.