HER MEMORIES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 467, 27 March 1909, Page 7

HER MEMORIES.

A GLIMPSE OF THE EARLY DAYS. (Ilv ,Iknnv Wiikn.) Every afternoon tho littlo old lady would have her chair drawn up where alio could seo tho changing harbour waters and tho bills beybnd with tho alarmingly perched red-roofed houses clustering nil over them. On warm sunny days she would liavo it brought out on tho wide, shady verandah, where, half-hidden by tho creamy climbing roses and sweet smelling heliotrope, vho would stay for hours, sometimes knitting, sometimes being read to, hut more often just sitting thcro with loosely clasped hands and half closed oyes, adrift in tho world of memories that was all Time had left her. Sometimes sho would talk of them and ol tho men and women who played their part so gallantly in thoso early days in New Zealand—of tho privation, peril, and toil they endured, and then slio would scornfully express her opinion of tho present-day generation. "Vou girls with your parties, your dresses, your theatres, your amusements—what do you know of life? Butterflies only, dancing in tho sunlight—and tho men are no better. Thero is no grit in any of you!"

_ Piece by pieco tho gleanings of thoso days, sixty years or moro ago, have been gathered in and strung together. _ Tho landing at Kaiwarra, whero tho terrified women wcro carried ashoro from tho boata on tho backs of fiercely tattooed Maoris, by whom they momentarily expected to bo tomahawked and caton. on tho spot, then a period of uneasy lifo spent in Wellington, whero danger continually threatened them from tho unfriondly Hiitt Natives. Then, as time went on, and inoro peoplo arrived from Great Britain, thoso settlers who had taken up land for grazing purposes began to find themselves crowded out of cattlo room, so that thoro was nothing left but to go further afield. Tales of a rich pasture land, overflowing with richness and fertility—tho Wairarapa Valley—reached their ears, and many decided to "trek" thero at onco. At that timo, of course, railways wqro not, neither wcro roads nor bridges, and in order to reach that land of promise; tho cattlo had to bo driven round by Kaiwarra, and whero Petono, Day's Bay, and Pcncarrow Lighthouso now aro, following tho coast of Palliser Bay till they reached To Kopo, near tho entranco of the Wairarapa Lako into tho hay. Tho valley then looked a very different thing to what it docs now, wild, swampy, and much of it bush-clad. It was impossible for women and children to travel that way, so had to ho taken in a tiny open cargo boat from Wellington Harbour to IV Kopo. Tho littlo old lady, not much moro than a child, remembers that trip well. Shortly after tho boat had rounded Pcncarrow, a southerly sprang up, lashing tho bay till it became- a white whirl of mountainous waters, tossing tho littlo craft about liko a straw, till it seemed an impossibility that it should remain afloat. Wave wavo would como over till all wcro sitting in tho water, whilo they baled away for thoir lives. Thoso driving tho cattlo along tho shore, her father and brother among them, watched its course nearly bosido thomselves with anxiety, impotent to help. However, land at last was reached, but tho. provisions, enough for six months, were completely ruined, a serious loss to all.

From whero they landed, tho wholo party, ladou with children and packages, had to walk for about 10 miles over hills, through bush, and along rough tracks, to tho nearest place- where- they could get shelter, food, and rest. Some of thoso who took up land at this time, in tho South Wairarapa wero Captain Smith, Messrs. Gillies, Hussell, Drumniond, Morrison, Bidwil], Huino, Valluncc, M'Mastcr, and Kelly, and many, of those namos aro still there in possession; Glenniorven Station, of which Morrison's Hush is still a remnant, tho property of Mr. Hugh Morrison, who died'many'year's'ago,' was ono of tho places where Lord Hugh Cecil, not then Lord Salisbury, and England s lato Primo Minister, and Mr. Tolmncho stayed when travelling through New Zealand long ago. . It was a place known far and wido lor its kindness nnd hospitality to all-comors, no ono every appealing in vain for food,, shelter, or assistance. This fact was fully taken advautago of by deserters from the army, desperato characters many of thorn, who not infrequently added to'the uneasiness felt by tho inhabitants of a country still hostile and sparsely settled by white people. Tho garrotting of modorn days seems a small thing compared to tho alarms, taken so philosophically, of thoso times. Later on, tho road over tho Rimutaka Hills was begun by Mr. Burling, but for a long timo it was only a bridlo track, about two feofc wido, cut through tho bush and winding among tho hills. Pack-horses would bring stores from town into tho vallov, and whenever any of tho settlers pined for city life, they had to face tho perils of this very narrow way, often show-deep in winter and exposed to bitter storms. Frequently they would bo blocked, and h'avo to tako refugo in a hut built for that purpose. Ono woman, not young cither, used to think nothing of walking over tho hills from Wellington with a sack of flour on her shoulders. Greytown then was tho important town of tho volley, but that glory has departed from her long ago.

Somo of tho women who came out to New Zealand with husband, father, or brother woro. women who had never in their lives any of tho things they now turned their hands to. To grind corn, to make odd carpentering contrivances about the house, and do tho sewing for a household, even converting tho wool from tho sheep's back into material for clothing, to make bread, churn butter, and often teach tho children as well, wado vory full days. Many began life in queor little whares roughly built, containing two, thrco, or four rooms, and tho history of their contrivances "tills ono with admiration for their ingenuity and equanimity of temper. Tho greatest'trial of all, though, was tho scarcity of doctors. In cases of illness and accident, where tho saving of lifo depended upon instant and skilful attention, to know that it could not bo obtained for hours, oven days, must havo been agonising. Tho friendly Maoris, owing to their' intense curiosity and love of acquisition, wero a frequent trial. If> a homestead wero near a pa, it was never freo from their visits. They would simply walk inside, a perfect procession of them, solemnly sit upon tho floor, light their pipes, and remain motionless for honrs. . Sometimes tlioy would prowl about and pick up. objects, and if they took a fancy to them, promptly secrete them about their persons, swearing they had not got them. Though always quick to get a bargaiii if possible, they never forgot a kindness though, in those days. •

Thoso days arc over now, and life is faced from a different standpoint. Tlio comforts and labour-saving appliances that mako the wheels run so much smoother for us arc all at hand, and mildly wo sometimes speculate ns to how they managed to get along without them in thoso benighted timos. True, oven as tlioy, wo havo to do without domestic help sometimes, but do not peoplo talk of those golden 'days when tlio daughters of the Maoris, a peoplo most keenly sensitive to what is dun to their ancestry and rank, trained in all household duties, shall fdl tlio breach, smoothing away our crumpled roseleaves? It would olovato them in everyway, and add still further to the debt of gratitude that ov6ry right-minded Maori should feel ho owes the pakohal