THE FIRST PIONEERS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 984, 26 November 1910, Page 17

THE FIRST PIONEERS.

OPENINC THE WAIRARAPA. . AN UNPUBLISHED NARRATIVE. ; Two hitherto unpublished letters dealing with the first settlement of tho AVairarapa are in : tho. possession' of' Mr. W.

E. Bidwill, of Rototowai. One is' from Sir Frederick Weld, who, as stated elsewhere, actually ,got the first stock into , tho district. Ho was then a young man of ( twenty-one and plain Mr. Weld. > The other and longer letter, is from Mr. William Swainson, who accompanied Mr. 0. R. Bidwill when he first settled at Pihautea. Both lettors wcro written in 1885. They throw much (interesting, light on tho conditions pre|vailing at the time, and will he invaluable to any future historian of tho district. .' ■'■'.■''■ Mr. Swainson writes particularly with reference to his recollection of Mr. C. R. Bidwill, whom he. states he first met at the Hutt,in 1843.; Mr."Bidwill was then staying with Mr. Alfred. Ludlam -—afterwards.to figure in Now Zealand pastoral history by his importations of Romney Marsh sheen—and had his stock, which he had just brought from Sydney, running at,the Waiwetu.

The letter, in a slightly abridged form, and with a. few necessary alterations, runs as follows ;— '. Spying out the Land. Grazing country being required for tho stock which was freing imported from New South Wales and their increase, and it having been reported that tho Wairarnpa was the most accessible, and best adapted district near Wellington for that purpose, people's attention had already .been turned to it, and ono if not more exploring, partics had visited it. Of these- ono consisted of Mr. Kettle, and, maybe, others. Their route was up the valley, of tho Hutt, following survey lines to tho Pakuratahi and foot of tho llinvutaka, and then ascending the ranges and descending to the Tauheriiiikau plain, by an old Native track anil warpath almost untraceablo except by marked trees and broken branches of scrub. Arriving on tho, plain thero were do tracks either across or up tho valley, and in making our way through a flax swamp the party became separated. In one-party wero Vavasour and the men with tho blankets and no provisions, excepting sugar, whilo the others had provisions and no blankets.Tho blanket division found themselves on tho banks of ,tho lake, and following tho west sido of the coast arrived at 'Wellington. They were very hungry, as they had had to depend for food' on what Vavasour could shoot and any potatoes they could find at a few deserted Nativo fishing pas' on the ■ coast. Tho provision- party, succeeded in crossing tho valley! and reached the coast by tho east sido of tho Ruama--hanga. They also returned to ; Wellington by the coast, and found that tho blankets had arrived before them. The few 'Natives who theii : inhabited tho Wairarapa lived on tho coast' at the mouth of tho lako and at To Kope, having then been only' a short timo before been permitted to rcoccupy the district by the Wellington Natives, who had formerly dispossessed them of it. They wero anxious for Europeans to settle among them, both from tho advantages they wero sure tho Wellington Natives had derived, as also on .account of tho security it would givo them froni being again dispossessed of the district. They were most urgent on Clifford and others that they should occupy lands at a small rental for the purposes of grazing. • Manihera and one or two other chiefs came to .Wellington and became guests at Clifford's : and Vavasour's house. Native (.oases. Thinking favourably- of. the district and tho proposition' made by; the Natives, a party.was formed: composed of Clifford, Vavasour,. Henry Peter, your father and myself, 1 being asked to accompany them as I had sbmo knowledge of the Maori. Manihera and the other Natives who had been staying, with Clifford wero of tho party, and .thero wero also men to carry our blankets and provisions. Our journey was ■of course mado onjoot. Wo followed

the beach from.-the mouth of the Huttto l?ort-Nicholson, and-tlien along Palliser Bay to a settlement on'the 'ensfc end of the sand spit which .diyidcsV the .lake from the sea. .' The .only 'diDlculty which'wo experienced on the coast was thb passing of the Muka ■ Muka rocks. Until the coast was raised somo years afterwards by an earthquake, these rocks could only he passed at half and low tide, and during ,i south-east gale sometimes not for days together. I ■remember wo sat for somo hours perched on top of one of the rocky points watching the. ebb of tho tide. On our arrival at the mouth of the lake, which was then closed, the Natives took our party by caiioe to where tho Ruamahanga River enters the lake". We followed tiio river as far as tho Wharekaka plain, wJiich cither Clifford had cast his eye on during his former visit or which the Natives wished him to occupy. Mauihera, who had tho