THE NORTHERN LIGHTS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1702, 19 March 1913, Page 5

THE NORTHERN LIGHTS.

. TRIP IN THE HINEMOA. LIGHTHOUSES AND THE THREE KINGS. Even as the beautiful Maori maiden Hinemoa brought joy to her lover, Tjtanekai, by swimming across tho lake t.> him, so docs tlio Government steimer Hiuemoa swim over the coastal waters to tho great joy of tlip lighthouse-keep ;rs, Life at a lighthouso is not lived by tho almanac, but everything's dated from the visits of tho Ilinemoa, and the more remote the lighthouse' is from civil'sation tho moro is this so. as in somo of those cases tho Government steamer - is ;the only meons of communication with tho outside world. The Hiuemoa. has ' list returned from a visit to the Nortnern lighthouses. Among her passengers Mas Mr. P. -AV. Haybittle, who relates his experiences and impressions interestiug-y. Tho Hiiiemoa left Auckland at (i a.m. on February 22, and foiir hours !at*r worked the lighthouse,in the l J onui Channel a quaint place built on piles in the sea, with tho living quarters 011 the top floor. Wo arrived at Tiri Tiri at 11 a.m., landed, and wont up to the lighthouse about a mile from Uie beach. The stores are couvoyed by a sledge drawn by an old horse. ITrom tie summit a- fine view is obtained of Miuut'hpu and the Eangitoto Channel. It 1 p.m. we shaped a course for Omaka Biy. past Sir George Grey's island of Kaw.iu. Omaha is five miles from Pakiri and about 14 from Warkworth. Next r-.'iy (Sunday) we went ashore for a picuio among hills studded.with puriri and po'.utakawas. Mesdames Strauchon and Clapham, Misses Gay, ..Frances Clapham nd Nola (Haybittle) Mr. Clapham and '.ho writer formed the party. Wo had a splendid day. The next morning the .srew rowed to the beach to get two cows for. the custodian of the Little Barrier. We got to Barrier at 1 p.m., and landed amidst great excitement. The wind was blowing inshore, and a big swell was running, and the boat got broadsido on and filled. Some jumped, and others were lifted out, but all got pretty well wet through. It was a hot day, and we soon got dry. The custodian and his wife (Mr. and Mrs. Nelson) were on the beach; and took us up to their residence. '

The Little Barrier. "Tho Little Barrier is now a sanctuary for New Zealand birds, and is a delightfully interesting island. It is clothed with bush to the water's edge—kauri, puriri, liohutakawa, aud giant manuka being the prevailing varieties. Other than the Nelsons, there is pip one on the island, in a rather nice fruit and flower garden were' a number of peach trees' in full bearing. We were soon busy, aud carried away with us several cases to augment the sliip's stores. Before leaving, 1 happened to remark tp.Mrs. Nelson that in the island (as Shakespearo -would say) one. could have contentment with— 'Tongues in trees, _ Books ill the running brooks, ' Sermons, in : stones, And good in everything.' . "She replied: 'I don't know much about him, for he left as soon as lye had come, but he -seemed a very nice man.' I afterwards fouud that tho previous custodian bore the same name as the Immortal Bard. -

"At 3.30 p.m. -WO tripped anchor and made for Jloko-Hinou Island, where a lighthouse is erected. On. the way v.c passed Miner's Head, tho extreme/ point of the-Great'Harrier, where the s.s. Wairarapa was wrecked. ' We went ashore the next morning—ten minutes up-hill walk brings you to the/lighthouse. The light w of the first-class revolving order, and is kept by three keepers, Messrs. Arthur, Liviugstone, and Ti'aynor. After signing the visitors' boiur. vTb went in tho boat to visit somo caves and weird blowholes -in the rocks. The same evening we headed for one of the Chickens (Hen and where is to be erected a small automatic acetone light, fixed at an altitude of nearly 500 feet. It is a feat to reach .tlie flat-topped summit, the grade of the road beingabout 1' in 3 or i: Tliero have been landslips on . the path, and these will 1 have'to be removed before the gear can be hauled up. So wo "cached" the material at the bottom of the hill, and all. returned to the Hinemoa tired, sunburnt and hungry. At 5 1 ,15 p.m. the anchor was weighed, and we steamed for "Whangmumu Bay, where in-smooth water wo anchored for the night. In embarking from Moko : Hinou the steer-oaf gear gave way, and Captain Bollons did an acrobatic performance, landing neatly overboard. , Ho Avas fished out none the worse for his ducking.

At a Whaling Station. "At G a.m. on Wednesday, February 2G, we went ashore to inspect a iveilequipped whaliug station. There - were hundreds of barrels of oil and a complete trying-out plant, costing, I should say; a good many thousands. It belongs to Cook and Co., of Auckland. The steam : whaler HunanUi II was in the harbour. She was about to leave for the Campbell Islands, as the northern whale fishing does not begin -until June. We next visited Cape Brett. The landing here is very precipitous, having a tramway, with a grade of about 1 in' 6 for nearly SOOfi. Tho light is of tho first-class revolving order (with three keepers, Messrs. Thwaites, Page and Cremer). After two hours' fishing, and a visit to a fine ocean cave, with, a lofty cathedral-like rcof, wo steamed for the Bay of Islands. "At Eussell we started, the morning by walking up to the -celebrated flagstaff at where in 1813 Hone Helce cut down no fewer than three official staffs as a defianco to British authority, but in the fifties as a harbinger of peaco tho Natives themselves provided another start, which has stood for 50 years, and was burnt down as the result of a bush fire on February 20. We stood on the site of the block-house erected by the British soldiers for tho protection of tho older ilagstaffs. At about 9 o'clock wo started with Captain Stephenson, harbourmaster, in the Government launch, for aHhreo hours' cruise to the Ken Keri oyster beds. We had a magnificent scenic trip, and visited en route the spot where the llev. Samuel ilarsden preached his first sermon to thousands of Maoris in February, 18U. A celebration of this event is being ar-' 1 ranged to bo held in connection with the Auckland Exhibition, in February nest.

Ancient Dwellings. "We also visited at Kori Keri the oldest wooden house in .New Zealand erected in 1817), and also a storehouse built in 1833, both erected by the Church Mission Society. AVe lunched under a spreading kohutakawa tree at one of the numerous oyster bays. The beds arc showing splendid prospects for the coming season, and arc rigorously protected, the Government undertaking the distribution. There are beds all round the Hauraki Gulf, and the Government employ pickers at 6s. Gd. per day, and will not allow a man to pick moro than three sacks per day, in order that the work may be done fully. The oysters arc delivered at the nearest shipping port for 13s. per sack. "We called at the spot where the Treaty of Wuitiuigi was signed, and saw the Kesidcut's (Mr. Busby's) house still standing. That evening wo were entertained at a dance at "The Gables," a very good modern boardinghouse. There I had the' pleasure of meeting a former resident of Wellington,. Mr. J. C. Martin, who has a very nice house and many intellectual hobbies lo keep:the time cmployed. On Friday (February 28) we jauuclied.io Rawhiti a one anil a half hour's run, mid there conversed with i a Maori woman of between 95 and 100 years of age, who had actually been present at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. At 1.30 p.m. the Hinemoa left llussell, and at 5 p.m. arrived afWhaiigaroa Harbour. In the narrow channel leading into tho harbour thcro is just enough room, for two boats to pass comfortably, but inside is a splendid" sheet of water protected from the sea by numerous picturesque islands. Altogether, it presented a magnificent vista, and one that will not readily be forgotten.

Old Massacre Recalled. . "We anchored close to the spot where the remains of the Boyd lay in live feet of water. The crew of this vessel, in 1809 was surprised by tho Natives, and every soul, save one, was slaughtered, the "vessel was looted, and then burnt. We visited Mr. T/ine, who once hud a thriving shipbuilding yard there, but Ihc days of schooner-building are over, and

Iho yards aro now used for a kauri timber mill. After luncheon a start was made for tho North Cape, and a. run of 00 lmlcs over summer seas brought us to Tom Bowling Bay, just round North Cape. Landing tho next day wo found oil the North Capo end of tho bay a bluff headland on the top' of which was an old Maori s'tronghold, with branches, escarpments, and old defeneo works, telling of a former existence of a great fortified pa (Jluriinotu) of prc-pakcha times. Wo spent tho whole day ashore f< and sailed at midnight for tho Three Kings.

At the Three Kings, "At 5 o'clock on a grey morning wo approached the big King, a largo island with a good boulder landing. The highest point is about 800 feet up. The southwestern end, 350 feet high, offers a magnificent sito for a lighthouse. Tho distance between tho Big King and Western King is about five miles, and between theso lies tho Middle King. Later, we steered for the Western King, the first ono sighted by tho Sydney-Auckland steamers. Arriving off the island we embarked in tho motor launch for a close inspection of the coast-line. As wo drew near we appreciated 'tho enormous difficulties which would be encountered in the establishment of a lighthouse or even a fog-signal station there. The dark, bleak rocks rise almost perpendicularly from ths sea. ' There aro no rocky ledges ' or beaches of a.ny description, but the beetling cliffs descend sheer into the ocean, so that right alongside thein a boat'would be in anything from 10 to 20 fathoms. To give one an idea of the- depth a lead was thrown at a cable's length from the cliffs, and gave iiO fathoms. A landing of a very hazardous character might be blasted ont of the rock at the south-east end, but it would be at tremendous cost. Then the island possesses no wool or water, and

it would bo the most' dreary spot on earth for man to live upon. The landing might only be accessible on rare occasions owing to bad weather, and in winter tho keepers stood a chanco of finding themselves hungry prisoners."

No Place for a Lighthouse. "I consider the idea, of a light on i the Western King absolutely absurd 1 , and dangerous to tho lives of those, connected therewith. At the extreme western end of this island wo. came to the place whew the Elingamite was wrecked. A few. yards and she would have missed disaster. It is a desolato and terrible-looking spot, with 110 chance of landing on the rock. Wo then went back to the Big King;' tho provision depot was sighted, and a goodmany blasts.of the siren were sounded to rouse up any possible castaways. On this island a good lighthouse site ■is available, and moreover there is plenty of running water and firewood (giant manuka). The island is about two miles long, with abundanco of . bush, grassy plains, and hundreds of goats. Visits ivero subsequently paid to tho Capo Maria van Diemen lighthouse, Hokianga Heads, and on March' 6 tlievHinemoa arrived in the Kaipara. HarbouiL was working , the Manukau lighthouses--on ■March 7, and left for Wellington,* via The Brothers, on.'Monday last." / Mr. Haybittle expresses his thanks to Mr. G. Allport (Secretary for Marine), and Captain Bollons for the courtesy and kindness extended to everyone on board, and eulogises the northern lighthouse trip as most interesting and unique.