TARANAKI—THE WONDERFUL.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1657, 25 January 1913, Page 11

TARANAKI—THE WONDERFUL.

[By Imogen,!

"Whore, where are now the houses Where all tho twinkling stars were rondo? Tlio houses callcd the 'Sparkling Flash. . of Night,' , And the''Sparkling Flash of Day'; The house of Rangi, from whence were

brought' ... . The multitude of stars now sparkling in

. tfie sky, . To givo thee light. 0 man, upon, thy ■ voyage through life." . ' Ancient Maori Legend. It is not such a far cry from 1841, the year in whioh tho first settlement of Tnraliaki was begun, to ; our present year of 1913, and yet tremendous are the changes that havo taken place in, that province. We read of it as a country of swamps, and hills and impenetrable foreflts, . inhospitable and almost inaccessible, even though the aspect of it around New -Plymouth. was so very; beautiful and so full of promise that it 'was given the soubriquet of "Tho Garden of New Zealand. Now it has .been .brought under, the dominion of the hard-working pakeha, c&astened, . tamed and stricken to .its heart by his .merciless odergy, and • has died to reappear ■in - the transfigured garmonts of a conquered country. . : The settlers had , much to ; contend against in those early days, both against the Maoris and against tho character stics of the country, but'in tho latter case they have Seen leaping, or at least their descendants '-'have,'been reaping the. reward. of "the courage,, determination, and resourco which' was shown in making it, respond to their labours. _ As to the Maori troubles, no one 1 denies now but that it: was the; result of wanton transgression.on the pait l of the Government of the. day, •of Maori rights, and customs. A Sea of Hill-tops. Large tracts of the province are nothing but hills and broken ranges interjected by winding, valleys that seem to pierce, their':way■!. into>-the heart 1 _of\iuimysterious regions. Bound about Mo .there are nothing but lulls and to, scale one of the highest , points there is to have revealed to one-pea-c .af-er, peak, •anee .after range, stretching away, as far is the eye can follow them, tn?, alue' haze .that in the end softly, clouds ;hem from the Wight,'leaving .one to rondcr at this quiescent; though stranger v enoutrh' insurgent-looking sea; °r.onowy '.liill-tops. "Par away,, .exquisitely leautiful. risfes Egmont.; ; The spirit of. desolation seems to, brood imong their silonces. Instead of forest-

A Province with a Great Future. Tho stranger is not to think, though, from what lias teen, written here, that Taranaki is' a province that consists of nothing tut hills, forests of skeleton trees, and hinterlands. On Uio contrary, there, aro beautiful fertile plains, flourishing townships, and great extents of acres that have not oven the remains of a treo stump, as well as areas that still preserve their natural beauty in being elad vith bush. Nor aro all tho agricultural people given ovor to dairying^ It is a province, yet in the making, of which a great future is predicted. One is inclined to_ womler sometimes, if anywhere else in New Zealand there are to be found'such rebellious birds as tho thrushes. Even when tho sun has set and the countryside is veiled with darkness, .{hoy sing so' defiantly from tile liigli. branches of somo, gaiint black and white relic of tho bush',. Day is not nearly long enough for them. Gradually tho. notes get softer and slfepier, with, long intervals" between them, and then,, with one last protesting note, thsro. is silence—such a silence us the* dweller in cities cannot conceive.' Hills everywhere, a silence that holds ull life in its stillness, and above; tho stars. It is like eternity itself, and almost as full of mystery.