PAST, PRESENT TRANAKI & THE FUTURE

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1402, 30 March 1912, Page 13

PAST, PRESENT TRANAKI & THE FUTURE

i" ~~ —— ; ■ — A Thousand Years in Leqend and History

d ® The Story of the Great Oil Industry •

TARANAKI lomus larga in- the history and legend of New Zealand. Kupe, the. Polynesian navigator, who has left his name on various landmarks' of . the North Island, and who amongst other.performed wonders is supposed to have separated the two islands, is said to have first discovered the placo when the history of England had not reached the Heptarchy period, and long before William' the Conqueror landed at Jla-stings. Kupo's visit, in short, is understood, to have been about tho year G50.. He landed, so the story goes, at Whangaroa, on tho East Coast, and' during 'tho ■ courso of his . explorations touched at. Castlepoiut, Palliser Bay, sailed through Cook Strait, and discovered tho. Patea River, :which in- Maori traditional' history he is understood, to havo referred 'to on his return to Hawaiki. Turi,- tho second navigator, came in the Aotea canoe, g'avo the name • to Aotea Harbour, and also named the rivers and mountains on his journey down from Kawhia to the Patca River. ; Other canoes followed the migration of Turi, namely, tho Arawa,, built by Rata and his comrades from a totara tree in Rarotonga; the Tnimii,. the Matatua, Takitumu, Kurahaupo, Tokomaru, and Matawhaorua. Tho Aotea, Tokomaru (captained by Manaia),. and Kurahaupo were the vessels which brought tho majority of the ancestors of tho present Maori race in Taranaki to the province.; some, no doubt, also arrived in tho Tainiii, Matatua, Takitumu, and Arawa, and tho remaining twelve canoes, the last of which, is understood to havo reached these Bhores about 1350. The first six of theso canoes, carried 500 Native pioneers. TURI'S NOMENCLATURE. Turi's naming of the rivers and mountains and bays'stands to this,day. It is interesting reading, and well worth perusal by our own. population, which curiously, enough has only too little knowledge of the history of its own country. The navigator gave Kawhia that Dame- C 3 the awhinga of Turi;' Marokopa, the place where Turi wound round to another place; the river Waitara from tho long or wide steps ho took in fording its mouth; Mokau, or Mockau, from his ileoping there; Matakitaki, from its association with an enchanted garment; Hangihongi, whero ho smelt,-tho. soil;,. Tapuwae, from ; hisjoihil'foatstetysJ<Turiy travels' wero-'iiofc3without -incident'of- r the more homely variety, and one place where ho was nearly choked through eating too fast' ho called Kaoa. He named Kaupokonui, and also Kapuni, the latter because he camped there; Waingongora (well known in later history) because he enored there. Judged from the length of this name, and its difficulty of pronunciation by the averago European, Turi's more was something approaching a tragedy, Tanhahoc was named after his. paddle, and Ohingahapo after tho crooked, toot of ono of his followers. Whitikau, a headland near Patea, received that name, swing to tho time tho explorer took in fording the water. Ho built his pa at Patea on the cliffs near tho present railway station, and cultivated there a farm with eight sweet seed 'potatoes, which were divided into very small sots. As his men dug and worked, they chanted a song in order to encourage themselves, just as our old-timo sailors did in later days, when they were lifting anchor or. hauling in sail:— "Break up, our goddess mother, Break up tho ancient goddess earth; Wo spealc of you, oh, earth, but do not you disturb The plants we have brought hither from Kawaiki, the noble; It was Maui who scraped the earth in heaps round the sides, In Kuratau." The chanting and tho work and the incantations of Turi must have been to some advantage, because- history states that when he gathered his crop he had eight hundred baskets of sweet potatoes. Of such were the deeds of Turi, whose principal wife was Itongo-Tioiigo, and who had several children from whom sprang tho tribes of Ngaganui and Ngatemamui. WILD TIMES. V , The name Tnranaki was first given to the tribe and district south of the Sugar Loaves, while tho country northward to iho White Cliffs was known as Tokomaru. In the courso of years the whole country was gradually occupied by tho Ngatiawa,

who, following Maori custom, put in their spare linio lighting amongst themselves. With the introduction of firearms amongst ■ the Maoris in the nineteenth century, the warfare became- more and more if a sanguinary nature, and blood flowed like water, followed'often by the cannibalistic banquet on the part of the victors. The names of Hongi. To Kauparahft, Te Whcro Where- are clflsely associated in those early struggles. The warlike Te Whero Whero, aftertmrds thf! Maori King of Wnikato, drove out Te Kauparaha from Kawhia, and later, in 181)2, with an army of 4000 men, came into conflict with the Ngatiawa near Waitara, and still later at the- Sugar Loaves. The pa nt Waitara was captured, and Te Whcro Whero is Eaid to have killed ono hundred and fifty of his prisoners <ui a prcludo to the gigantic cannibal banquet, which followed tho battle. The ohecrful thoroughness irith which To

Whero .iWhcro carried out his policr of assimilative extermination earned for'hiin the htlo of "Tho Napoleon of New Zealand." "DICKY" BARRETT. At the Sugar Loaves, on the site of the present freezing works, and close alongside of the now well-known oil fields, he met with a severe reverse at the hands of somo whalers, commanded bv "Dickv" Barrett and 350 Ngatiavas. " The fight; which is known as the Battle of Ngamotu, lasted several days. Amongst the attack-' ing party Wero Rewi . Maniapoto,. who afterwards earned fame against the British by his defence of Orakau, and -Tolmknkahi, said to have been tho father of To Whiti. Tho besieged made use of three small cannon—No. 1, called Ruakoura; No. 2, Onepoto; and No. 3, l'upoipoi. The two first-named now occupy places of honour on the eminence which lies in.the contro of beautiful I'ulcekura Park, New.Ply-' mouth, and where the following inscription on ono of tho field pieces perpetuates

the name of "Dicky" Barrett to the wondering traveller:— ,- "My name is 'Dicky* Barrett, and it was by my help that tho warlike Wailcatos were defeated when "they attacked the Ngatiawa Pa at Ngamoki in the year 1832." In this fight Barrett, was supported by the following British traders:—John Love, "Billy" Bundy, John Wright, Bosworth, Oliver, Keemiii, Phillips, and Lee. Although Barrett gets most of the glory of the battle, Wright is said to havo been the hero of tho siege. Ho was a great fighter, and first landed at the Sugar Loaves in 1829. It is a fact, however, that but for the stubborn position taken up by Barrett and Love, tho place would have" been surrendered on several occasions. The thr:o guns did great execution; two survive, but the.only memento of No. S, is Hie breech discovered in 1900, when building the freei-.ing works now in the museum at New Plymouth, the besiegers, stubborn to desperation, and attacked and attacked time and again, onlv in each instance to be driven otf with great slaughter. At lasjt they made a' desperate effort to retrieve their losses end carrr tho position, but were finally driven off with the loss of 350 killed and wounded, and then followed a cannibalistic orgy on the part of the victors, whicn even To Whero Whero himself might have envied. Having won on this memorable occasion, the Ngatiawas determined that with the increased numbers which lo Whero Whero would very soon havo at his command, it would bo better for them

to follow-Te Itauparaba. This they did to a considerable extent, and when the pioneers of the first European sett ement arrived from 'Wellington in 1841, led by the heroic "Dicky" Barrett, there was present in the district only a remnant ot the once powerful tribe. 'Dicky barrett married a high caste Maori woman. Ho died middle-aged, and lies buried on a hill not far from the scene of Ins great exploits. His descendants lite, near by, and o, btrcet in New Plymouth bears his name. ~, , , , Before the davs of ..the seltlehiCfit of Taranaki by the' New Zealand Land Company, the only white men known to the Maoris were whalers and traders, there was a good trade in flax and tattooed heads. A Sydney agent was stnhnnetl at Mokau to buy tho flex from the laranaki Natives, the Marine Department in England purchasing it at £ti per ton u early u 1830. The principal white men, now-

ever, were whalers. The heads wer«. bought for curio hunters in Europe and America. An incident of these days was tho capture -f Mrs. Guard and her children in tho shipwrecked "Harriet/' near Cape Egmont. They were taken prisoners with some white men, and kept at Moturoa for four or live months, until rescued by Captain Lambert in ILM.S. Alligator. This event is noticeable from the fact nf its being tho first occasion in which llrifish troops wore landed in New Zealand. A detachment of the 50th Regiment, under lieutenant Gunter, having accompanied tho Alligator from Sydney. FIE ST SETTLEMENT. Tho colonisation of Taranaki wa3 first performed under the aegis of the New Zealand Land Company, the first purchase of land from the Natives being on February ;'ls, .1810, when seventy-two Maoris assembled ..by "Dicky" Barrett, and acting'/on behalf of the, alleged • Na-. •ti'ye, owners, signed a; document transferring; to!, the company about 60,000 acres.

of the-best land in the district between Mokau and Patea, for what is understood to havo been a liberal price At the end of the previous year (November, 18:i!l) tho good ship Tory, 400 tons burden, had arrived off Moturoa with a party to inspect the land. This party comprised Captain Chaffers, who was. in command, of the vessel, Colonel Wakefield, and his nephew, Edward .Tdrmnghnm Wakefield. (the only son of Edward Gibbon AVakefield), Dr. Ernest Dielfenbach, of Berlin, and a Fellow of tho Royal Society of England, who was the company's naturalist, anil' Charles Ileaphy, artist, who afterwards distinguished himself in the Maori wars and gained the Victoria Cross. The party were met by Pnrrett, and were well received by the Natives, who doubtless saw in this pioneer movement on the part of the Europeans a means by which they would be ablo to protect themselves against the warlike tribes from tho Waikato. The appearance of the country was pleasing to the explorers. Colonel Wakefield described the area south of Mount L'gmout as appearing to be extremely valuable —an immense tableland extending as far as the eye could reach, no part of which was freo from vegetation. Dr. Dielfenbach reported that the land near the beach was covered in some parts with shrubs, and hero and there with nand. In several places between the sandhills there were lagoons of fresh water, which abounded with wild ducks, and contained largo eels, but no other kind of fish. Round these- lagoons. the vegetation was very rich. Even at this early period, Dr. Dielfenbach remarked on tho petroleum de-

posits at Moturaa. Towards Sugar Loaf Point, he says, a strong smell of sulphuretted hydrogen gas might bo observed about a'mile fiom high water-mark. And he adds that the Maoris had a legend that tho smells arising from the petroleum ground were caused through the decomposition of some great god who had been buried for ti long time. Proceeding northwards, the doctor fomul traces of former cultivation, and of unoccupied Native tillages. In the further course Of his report also, Colonel Wakeheld refers to the quality generally of Taranaki soil—"superior to that of any ianrl in the islands." "Looking to the future," he adds, "and hoping that by the unconquerable energies of the British inhabitants, this country will shortly assumo a different aspect as regards its interior communications, I cannot but bo anxious to obtain this fine territory." Bistort uu ptiTftd, and santinuti t° Pr« T fc

j day by day, that the faith of th« Colonel has not been in vain regarding the energy and enterprise of the British pioneers, whose fine, manly patriotism i 3 evidenced to-day in the spirit of their descendants. THE PLYMOUTH COMPANY. Meanwhile the tide of pioneer immigration was being extended in the Old Country. At a public meeting held in Plvmouth, England, on January 25, 18-10, there was formed the Plymouth Company, for colonising New Zealand from the West of England, with a capital of .£150,000. The official head of the company was the Earl of Devon, after whom Devon Street was named, while the directors were men of wealth and social standing. The company purchased from the New Zealand Company 10,000 acres of its newly-acquired land, and on August 13 dispatched a surveyor, ami,a staff of officers'by the barque London to' Select the site for the settlement, and to commence

the surveys. ' On August 31 tho company purchased a further 50,000 acres from the. Pioneer Corporation, thus taking over tho whole area. Mr. F. A. CarringC-on, tho Plymouth- Company's representative, and Messrs. Park, lfcaphy, and Williams Deans (afterwards a pioneer settler in Canterbury); and six men' made-,an overland trip from Wellington to the Sugar Loaves—a fatiguing trip,; occupying a month—and from the report of,their investigations, 'preparations Were made for the dispatch of a pioneer vessel to tho new settlement. This vessel proved to bo the William Bryan, 312 tons, Captain M'Lean, and it left Plymouth Sound on November 19, 1810, bound for New Zealand. Amongst the passengers were Messrs. R. Cliihnaa, T. King, A. Aubrey, Weeks,'forty-two married and twenty-two single adults, and seventy children. Tho ship arrived at the Sugar Loaves on the evening of March 30, IS4l—exactly sev-enty-one years ago to-day. Some months after (his. owing to pecuniary difficulties, the Plymouth Company became merged in the New Zealand Company, but directors of both organisations continued to act together, under the title of the West of England Board. CLEARING THE LAND. The next boat to arrive was the Amelia Thompson, -ISO tons, which landed 187 settlers on September 30, IS-11. Wharves and huts had been erected for the newcomers, and a scale of wages fixed—ss. a day for unskilled labourers, and 7s. per

day for mechanics, Then followed the store ship ftegina, 174 tons, which' unfortunately was wrecked outside the roadstead. " The Oriental, MIO tons, brought another ninety-one immigrants on November l'J, just about which time the survey of the new town had been finished, and the pioneers had proceeded to take up their new quarters. Early in 1.112 u lunlier (shipment of 21'J immigrants «i----viveil by the Tuiumdra. ;tS2 tons commanded" by Captain skinner.. The work of clearing the land was one of great diliiclilty, but, as may be easily imagined, was tackled with the manliest courage and fortitude. The whole country was covered with vegetation, high fern, and scrub. A bridge had to be built over the Hua'oki River, and for this all the timber had to bo carried two miles. The colonists *t this .stape njin iioiber dray, two JiAnd-oMii, and si* wlt«»l----bwto.ni. Xk.»M mm Rsithw: fcorw» Mi

bullocks, and Shanks's pony, with handtraction, was an important adjunct in tho way of locomotion. Many of these settlers, in fact, nearly all, were quito unused to this sort of life, and it may bo easily' understood that their first years of pioneer work were years of sweat and sorrow. They persevered, however, and in the course of a very short period they had succeeded in a measure in transforming the wilderness to something approaching a civilised aspect. A PICTURE OF 1812. Here is a picture of the new icttlement in'beptcmbcr, 1842;— Several wooden and cob houses lined the banks of tho Huatoki River, which itself was spanned by a new bridge. A lock-up had been provided mostly for the accommodation of the :whaling fraternity. , There had been erected two public houses, and four large wholesale stores, the latter, kept by Captain D'-ivy, and Messrs: Dorset, 1 Baine, and R. Brown respectively. In the centre

of the town were 120 raupo mid col] huts. A cluster of hmiiijrra.its' houses, of all shapes and sizes, might have been seen at JJovonport. A bridge had been thrown over the llenui stream, and houses also dotted its banks. On the eastern side a cutting had been made, ami a road ran to the Waiuakaiho Kivcr,'which was crossodby a furry boat. Per about six miles from the town clearings had-made their appearance, and houses erected by those who intended to follow farming pursuits. Messrs. Flight, Pierce, Dovcjiish, Paynter, Fdgecuinbe, the Bayly Bros., (Joodall, and others worked early and lato and they succeeded in making a good show. To the south of the town, Captain King and Mr". Cutfield between them had cleared- fully seventy acres, and built a substantial house and farm buildings. . A Mr. Norice had built a thatched house and hid cleared a threeaerc patch, while Mr. Chilman had partly cleared and fenced a fifty-aero taction. Mr. Dislon had a house and clearing close by. Across the "Waiwakaiho Uivor. Captaiu Davy and another settler had cleared the land and v;ero sowing their crops, and added to oil these clearings the settlers had nearly forty acres of garden, j and had established a. - Horticultural Society: Not a bad beginning. The first hotel in New Plymouth was a raupo wharc built on the sito of the present Terminus Hotel. The hostelry was called "Tho Seven Stars Inn," a favourite old Devonshire sign. It was kept by John Vi'ilkinspn, who afterwards sold out to "William George ■ the Younger," who later, built a more pretentious building on the present site of the Bank of New Zealand, but he kept the old.name of The Seven Stars." ,

The first'anniversary of the arrival of the settlers by the Amelia Thompson was celebrated en Saturday, September 3, 1542. when the day was observed as a public holiday. Sports were improvised, and the day was spent in boat races, font rr.ees. and v;rcst!ing matches. In the evening the first hall ever he'd in Now Plym-jutlt took place in a sreail imported buikiin.r which stend near the bench close to the Kawhau I'a. and when required wis also used as a hospital. The hill on which this pa stood has since been levelled, am! the Ir-nd on the beach reclaimed. The day's festivities hi connection with the celebration of the anniversary concluded with a display of fivworlc. which astonished as well ?a amused tho Maoris. BAD DAYS. In IS 1.1 the Ess.-?;. 332 tons (Captain Oakley) arrived v.ith 111 immigrants. This was the last vessel tho Plymouth Land Company dispatched. There was immediate retrenchment, and the chief surveyor, Mr. F. A. Carringtcn, was informed that his services would not bo required after March, ISJ-I. Meanwhile events were hastening on towards the Maori war, a trouble first caused through some IJuropcansnot keeping to t'ho strict letter of their first agreement with tho Natives, and later through tho inefficiency of Governor Fizroy in allowing himself to be bluffed by Wirema Kingi and other Ngatiawa chiefs respecting tho ownership of tho land which up till now \ms being peacefully cultivated by the pioneers. Tho result of Governor Filzroy's decision was that tho whole of tho land was practically forfeit. A contributing cause, of the war was the injudicious tone adopted by the newspaper press of the day, advocating extremo measures in dealing with the- Natives. Such advio-v was misleading to the authorities, in that it stated that demonstrations with arms usually ended in he entire submission of the Natives. The reverse, of course, was ihe ease, for the Maori in those days and even now had a Hiberian love lor excitement. The demonstration? would no (1-Mtbt have h"en sueoo+.fnl liail I hey been hacked tip by proper tactics, lmt' in several in.-tances the Europeans in charge welv found wanting in all that constitutes leadership, and the failures ;it, AVairau, the Ifntl, Cook's Strait, and at Hokianga were practically responsible for the war which in Tarnnaki retarded the progress of the province, almost twenty years. Governor Fitzroy became bo unpopultir eve.r Uin decision roßnrdinu the Timnolsi l«ad tit!«<, and hiit method of

he wan recalled, and Sir George Grey was appointed Governor in his stead. GOOD PROGRESS. The littlo settlement had progressed in these few years. By ISifl, the population was set down at 10S8 (SSG males, 502 females). Laud had been sold and selected to pioneers up to-11,000 acres. There were in cultivation:—Wheat, 8331 acres; barley, 132J acres; rye, 3 acres; oats, Ik\ acres; potatoes, 1321 acres; turnips, 57 acres; maize, 1 acre; grass, 153 acres; flax, J acre; fallow, 122 i acres; or a total of 1515} acres. The live- stock figured as follow:—Horses,- 22; mules, 2; horned cattle, 383; sheep, 571; pigs, 702; goats; 96; total, IG9G. The tow.n then included a f:ranite-built Anglican Church, handsomey fitted up and still standing, several other churches belonging to the Methodists and Primitive Methodists, two hotels, a gaol, and a police barracks, while a Native hospital was in course of erection. There were also three mills, two small breweries, and a tannery. At Moturoa

there were two whaling'establishments. The minimum price of suburban land was .£2 ss. per acre, town sections .£l2 10s. per acre, but all hard to soil. Pork was 3d. a, lb., mutton Gd., beef Gd. to Bd., iaranaki beer, 2s. per gallon; potatoes, Is. .(id., perewt; fowls, Is. Gd. per pair; working ;buliock brought .1:35; cows, .£ll to .C2O each; pigs sold by tho Natives, Id. to 1-Jd. per lb. The price for clearing fern land was at tho rate of £3 per acre; bush land, £8 to .£l2 per aero. Sawn boards wero sold at 12s. per 100 feet super., .whilo limestone was brought around from Golden Bay at £1 per ton. THE GREAT COLONIAL STATESMEN! Amongst tho men who wero associated with Sir George Grey in 18-t" in the task of attempting to undo the evil which had been done before, and which even then was working its insidious inlluence wero: Mr., afterward Sir, Donald M'Lean and Mr., afterwards Sir, Donald M'Lean and To Mr. M'Lean was delegated tho duty of attempting to acquire the'land which'had first been awarded to the New Zealand Company, leaving always tho reserves for the Natives. Tho price in no instance was to exceed Is. Gd. per acre. Mr. M'Lean was just the class of man lo be entrusted with the task of intricate dealings with the Natives. His patience was superhuman, ho never forgot a promise, and ho possessed a thorough know-

ledge of the Maori raeo and their traditions. So successful was lie, that by the end of-1849 tho Natives had surrendered in all 30,770 acre? of land. These areas included the J'itjrov, Tataramaika, Oir.ata, Grey, and Bell Ijlooks. The Grey block, which was heavily bushed, was bought for about Old. per aero; Tataramaika for ild. per acre exactly; and Omnia for Sd. per acre. The Bell block was named after Mr. Francis Dillon Bell, of whom Gisborne, in his book on New Zealand rulers and statesmen, writes:-" "He has a mind remarkable for its perceptive faculties, mid for its analytical nower. His industry is indefatigable., his fondness for work grows by what it feeds on; in fact, he often makes work for hi«s own onjoymont. Patient, pain»t*kiu«, and exacting in hid investdeaUozu U dolij&U ia waiinj blgm irto U

dark', % and in making.' simple what *is' complicated." In the year 1850 settlement further progressed by the arrival of immigrants on the ship 'J'ekiu,' and tho barques Berkshire, Kelso, Mariner, Eden, and Pcobe Dunbar. In 1851 tho Taranaki "Herald" was started, and in 1852 tho Taranaki Agricultural and Pastoral Society was formed. In the snmo year, tho town was visited by Lord Robert Cecil, afterwards Mavquis of Salisbury. By the end of 1852 fully 90,000 acres were in possession of the Europeans. The town of Now Plymouth "snugly planted on tho margin of the beach, embosomed amidst gently rising hills," was a picture- of nlacid content. Its district was famed throughout for its "troops of happy, rosy-chocked children, ' pretty women, honey, fino mutton, and dairies of Devonshire cream." The appoaranco of tho settlement from tho sea was varied and beautiful. The taste for sylvan scenery"! and quiet. rustic beauty, was gratified, by the combination of stream and forest, glade and valley, whilo in tho

background stood the 6now-covered, majestic mountain showing up from the sea of forest, 8000 feet into the brilliant sky. Such was New Plymouth just before Hie war.

veyor, in which ho has left a most notable old-Hinu map of New Zealand, and later ai a. provincial superintendent, has always been described as n just, man, In the Kito fifties .the position of, (ho Europeans was undoubtedly made more precarious bv the well-mean iur hut misguided actions of certain clergymen, who declared that thousands of Maoris were being wrongfully dispo_sses*d of-their hinds, "within n space'of lime, in which no honest conveyancer would to draw a, marriußo settlement upon an encumbered estate." Mr. Cnrringlon puts the position in n much fairer light. 110 shows in his correspondence on the subject that when ho first came to Mew Plymouth there wore not mort than 50 or GO Natives in the whole country. These Natives, he d»Importuned him to bring whit*

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over many bmyinn; grounds in different pails of iho province. DESULTORY FIG HTIXG. Thj» flghtins genorally was of n dcsultory ehar.i««iy and apparently vorv badly nianas-od. 'Ihc Government wns'vocilatins and un some occasions (he Xalivos net Will partw successes, .which stimulated them to timber a'copses. Once New I'lymonth was practically invested Hill and AVairelra, and seWnR the principal roads The actions of General Pratt at Mnheelahi, at Mafarihoriho, i i n V,' "'""W prnctienllv restored British preside, ami peace was declared till May, ISG3, when the rclv-l. lion broke out again in Taranaki and aJton in ttwkato, In thij latter disturb-