BLAZING THE TRAIL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1898, 5 November 1913, Page 12

BLAZING THE TRAIL.

. THE MM# Tlf NK COUNTRY AS .-r Til- ! FOUND 'IT.

THREATS TO KILL SURVEYORS.

A BRILLIANT PIECE OF EXPLORING WORK.

It }is now nearly eleven hundred years, so far as tradition takes us, sinoe, human eyes first looked, on tho shores of New Zealand. What those long-forgotten pioneers found here one can > only speoulate on, but it is believed that'.'great stretches of country, Biich ns-.tho Kaingaroa Plains, near Taupo, wnicbi the Maoris on'their arrival four hundred years later found open land,' were; then forest-clad. Great fires are supposed to have swept across the lanil at a later period, destroying the bush and .leaving only blackened stumps and charred i wood to tell the tale '.to later ages. Tho story of tho North Island is largely the story of the disappearance of the bush. First came tho Moriori, of whose colonising work hardly ' a trace remains; then the Maori, who, in the space between his supposed data of arrival, about the year 1350, and the coming of the white colonists in 1840, undoubtedly burnt off . .fair-sued slices of bush. Finally thete -arrived the pakeha, and it has since been farewell to the bush in real earnest. Ten years ago the forest between Taihape and Taumarunui was practically untouched/ but it is to-day estimated that almost one-third of the timber has already been cut out of it. Twenty years hence tho great Waimarino ;Forest will probably be little moie than"- % memory. Already the railway ;ruiis like a knifo through its heart, and in stretches along tno line where the traveller, looking aoroßS one forest-clad ridge after another, would say . tho country , is untouched, almost every acre has beeii taken up, and settlers .'are busy hewing out homes for themselves and clearing the lower slopes of the hillsides.

When'tho first white settlers arrived in New-Zealand the forost on the western "sido of th<* North Island ran continuously from within a few miles of Auckland right down to Wellington. The solid block of bush had a length of about 350 miles, and varied from twenty to sixty miles in _ width.- It was; bounded on the east in its lower portions by_ the fern lands of Hawke's Bay 1 , "and higher up by the tussock and puojibo country of tne central volcanic; belt. On^the^Taranaki, coast was a sSrSp of 'reacKing* all'the 'from Waitara to Paekakariki. This was in places less than'a mile across, and had its greatest width at about where Feilding now stands, where it ran"back some fifteen miles from; the beach, but here and there over :it wero patches of bush Hotting thej-plain. Palmerston, North, even, as late'; as 1870, was a in Mr. S. Percy Smith, in his history of the' Taranaki,,-Maoris, expresses the opinion that''this ,'strip .of ierK country represented the fruits of fiv4;lfundred .'years of Maori settlement, and; jbad been gradually burnt off by fire's-'started''by the' Natives. I .:§? '. i ■ !

' '■ Ift Other Days. '-It was along this-opan "belt of coiiiitry," says Mr. Smith, " ... that most''or the .Native inhabitants,:,lived; excepting on, the TVhanganui River, and' in a few other plaoes the country inland was not; occupied permanently, though excursions were constantly madefto obtain birds, eels, and;, .other forest produce. The great forest, but foij'a-jhe £ew%Nativo paths leading lr S,iigh itj," and a few villages here -■ and -there, was practically iminh'abitedi, and, formed'--a to tlier.Jificursions of Hostile parties from outside,- . .. . The forest was a storehouse; of food for the Natives. - In the sea'sbfl expeditions wore made inland by therfwhole of the able-bodied inhabitants of a;iYillaM —men, women, and children —where they gathered the forst fruits, speii'red the birds, such as pigeons, parrots, tuis, parraquets, bell birds, and ethers; or hunted the kiwi and weka witK the old breed of dogs brought by thottt ;'from Hawaiki.

''Having no animals'but the dog, and no vehicles, the Maori roads, were all footp&ths. It must be remembered thalj .the -Maoris in .former times wero possessed of no sharp-edged -tools with whioh to clear tracks through, the dense 'undergrowth that everywhere characterises the New Zealand forests, but formed their tracks merely by walking over the ground and breaking by hand th-o 'shrubs and trees that obstructed' them.' Tho method was as follows: — One/man who know the direction of the objective point—:ind in- respect, to oriontation all were highly endowed by Nature—proceeded in advance, 'selecting the'parts wheTO the vegetation offered the',least resistance, and breaking with liis:,handa the smaller shrubs, always bending their heads in the direction ho was'going; others followed in his track* continuing tho same operation. Tho general direction of a track was fairly straight, but with many minor bends and-turns in it, due to obstructions which had to bo avoided. The top of a ridgo was generally preferred, for a track, and whenever it came out on any part where a view could bo obtained the''bushes were'broken down to allow of seeing over the country; for few people admire an extensivo view' more than the Maori. These places generally bear the namo of Taumata to this day, meaning a. brow of a hill; and such place-names aro very common. As party after party followed in singlo file along these; rudo tracks, breaking away each veiir's growth,' in coutso of time they, Wamo well-worn by tho repeated pressure 6f baro feet. . . . All Maori tracks, oxccpt in tho vicinity of villages, were thus only suited to marching in single file, and that was tho order in which" all tauas travelled. A war party thus often, covered a great 'length of aroad- as it progressed; At tho first alarm of danger, given by tho scouts in advance, the'party gathered together round; the chiefs, to await the arrival of the rearguard of warriors, who marched behind the largo body of slaves canning provisions, and who , themselves m times of scarcity often served their masters for that particular purposei" \ | ' - Native Highways. Tho, principal Native tracks through the;, Main Trunk country aro described by Air. Smith in his book. Ono of the most important tracks ran from Uronui 'River, near Waitara, through Pohofcura, to Whangamomona Stream, near its junction with tho Wanganui River, and from this point tho Maoris went up the.river to Taumarunui or Karioi, tho iwo' chief inland villages south of Taupo. Another track wont in from the coast, at Tongapaporutu and across country almost due west to tho TiVanganui River, whioh it skirted up to Taumarunui. ■ , ... i ' , l'Vom Taumarunui traoks wont north to Te Kuiti,- west to Totora, on the Mokau Rivor, and oust to Tokaanu aud Taupo. , - • . , I Tho river was, of course,, an imports eut highway into the interior, and most of tho tracks began on its banks. Karioi was reached by a track starting from" Makirikin, on the. lower VVanganui, and Tunning up the Mangawhoro Kivcr. From Karioi this track ran up past Waiouru to lokaanu, ]unctioning-.;- -with- another' traok up the llaiigitikei-:f rom'tho village' ':of •' Otairi,-

near the present Hunterville. Another track left thd Wanganui near its confluence with the Manganui-a-te-Ao, and followed up tho latter stream for some distance, afterwards skirting the base of th i mountains in a north-easterly direction to Rota Aira, and finally ending at Tckaanu.

Tbcso, with two other tracks, on© up the Patea River to Pohokura, and another up tho Waitotara to Pipiriki, were the chief Native high roads through the Main Trunk country. It was by tho TJrenui and Tongaporutu tracks that the Taranaki Maoris called down the aid of their allies from the Upper Wanganui during the days of tho war. The Uronui track was traversed for the first time by a white man in the early fifties, when Mr. (afterwards Sir) Donala M'Lean was permitted to pass up it. Both were strongly fortified. Such, then, was the Main Trunk country when New Zealand was first colonised—a wilderness of forest, with a Native village near where Hunterville stands, another at Karioi, and a third, and easily the largest, at Taumarunui. At Taumarunui and northwards to Te Kuiti one began ito get into the country of the Waikato Maoris,' and villages were to be found in fair number throughout the district. The Wanganui had also a number of pas along its banks. An Early Visitor. One of the early travellers through what afterwards became known as tho King Country was Dr. von Hochstetter, tbo famous Austrian geologist, who in the autumn of 1859 made a journey from the Waikato to Kawhia, and then down into the Ohura Valley and across to Tokaanu. At Kawhia, Dr. von ITochstetter and his party found some fix families settled even at that early day, but thereafter they left civilisation behind, and made their way along tho fild Maori tracks to the south. After an examination of tho coal outcrop at tho Mokau, the doctor turned eastward, making his way from one Maori village to another. Ho was received with open arms by the Natives, and some idea of thi feeling between the two races at the time may bo gained from the following account of the exploring party's arrival at the village of Katiaho, in the Ohura: ''The dogs hailed our arrival with a perfect jackal's howl; the pigs, roused from their repose, were running to and fio, but human voices also became audible, and at last some persons came up to ua in tho dark, who conducted us to a large house, of which only the roof soeined to protrude ;from the ground.

Ono after another wo slipped in through a low square hole, and found ourselves in a spacious apartment lit by two blazing fires, and heated to an almost tropical heat (85 deg. F.), in which wo were most cordially received by the chief of the place, Taonui, with tho surnames Tekohue and Hcpaliapa, and by the whole people gathered about him, all expressing their unfeigned surprise at being honoured yet so late at night, and in such weather, with a visit from pakehas. There might havo been twenty or thirty persons in the hut, which number was almost doubled by the addition of our party. The hut in which wo found ourselves was a so-called wharepuni, a conversation and sleeping-room, such as existed in former times in every Maori village; which, however, have fallen more and more into disuse, owing to the influence of tho missionaries, who opposed'the sleeping together of old and young, of boys and girls. This wharepuni was quite now; it had been but recently erected on tho occasion of a visit from a neighbourii\g tribe. It was a real palaco in comparison with tho miserable raupo huts in other kaingas. Tho side-walls woro artificially wrought of reeds and rushes; the ground-floor was covered with real mats, and a tow of carved columns supporting tho roof divided tho largo room in two halves. Tho right side, according to Maori custom, was assigned to the guests j and all of us strangers having arrived in a most deplorable plight, t wot to tho skin, and tired to death, we could well congratulate ourselves on having found so excellent a shelter. Wo diverted ourselves of our dripping and wrapped ourselves after Mnori fashion in woollen blankots. Outsido 111 tho cookhouse tho meal was prepared, and after supper w© chatted together till late in the night. Our Maoris would never tiro of relating nor tho inhabitants of Katiaho of asking questions. On recalling thoso scenes to my mind now, I can hardly comprehend that thoso snmo •men, with whom I sat there in 1859, so-perfectly unconcerned in social conversation, would already in 18CI) and 1861 havo participated in the bloody wars against tfio pakehas." The First Survey. For many years aftor tho war the King Country, becarno almost a terra

incognita, and even when in 1884 Mr. John Rochfort explored tho central route for the Main Trunk railway ho had considerable tronblo with tho Natives, and long stops occurred in tho work from timo to time while matters wero straightened out in interminable koreros. Tho Maoris seemed generally to desire that a railway should run through their .country, but when tho surveyors appeared with their chains and pegs they became afraid that the pakchas intended also to steal their lands away from them. After leaving Melton tho first Natives met with by Mr. Rochfort wero at Turangarero, near Waiouru. At Karioi ho was informed by tho Natives that if ho proceeded he would bo shot. Finding that Major Kemp was the head of the Natives in the district Mr. Rochfort went across tho TJpolcongara and saw him. Major Kemp promised to support the and gave letters co the principal chiefs. In his

report of the subsequent events, Mr, Rochfort said:—

"From the Mangawhero (Ohakune) my course lay through Waimarino,' near the Hahungatahi, and tho country was said to bo flat, with but some twenty miles of bush to get through, but there was a Native track which led to Raukaka, a Nativo village some twelve miles below Hahungatahi, on the Manganui-a-te-Ao. To save swagging I took tho horses through this track to Ruakaka, intending to follow up tho River Ma-nganui-a-te-Ao to Waimarino, and cut back, to Ohakune. On arriving at Ruakaka I was compelled to pitch my camp within the Native village, and found that the Native, Paora Patapu, K'liom Kemp had promised to send up befor© me, had not arrived, and the Natives received my letters from Kemp and Woon with suspicion, alleging after threo days' korero, that if Kemp desired their concurrence he should have sent word up to them before now. I had arrived among them without any notice, and they should take me bach to Kemp. Accordingly I was marched

baok to Papatupu, some two miles above fhs confluence of the Manganui-a-te-Ao with the Wanganui, and there found about eighty Natives assembled. I was kept there another two or three days. The principal men present were: Taumata, Te Kuru Kaanga, To Peehi, Winiata to Kakai, Manurewa, Turehu, Raukaua, Rangihuatau, Te Aurere, Hiriwaka, Te Whaiti, Eniko, Kaiatua. A Big Korcro. "Rangihuatua. spoke in a very vacillating way, but said ho was a Government man; Taumata was decidedly averso to the railway, and also to any Europeans coming on their land, and said if I had come on his land he. should have cut up all my belongings in small pieces and made slaves of myself and party; To ICuni spoke against any violence, but was decidedly in favour of

keeping Europeans away. All spoko, but Winiata and To Auroro (who were at heart in favour of the railway) wero afraid to speak out, and eventually letters wero written to Kemp, and Mr. Woon, and myself, saying that if I returned a second timo I should bo turned back, and any Maoris who were with mo would bo killed, and if I returned a third time I should bo killed. Taumata would agreo to nothing, and strongly advised keeping us prisoners here; but several others (including To Aurero, Te Peehi, Te Kuru, Turehu, and Taurere) were moro moderate, and said if I could bring letters from Wahanui and Tawhiao thoy would not obstruct me. Taumata then camo over to me and asked if I understood their ultimatum, at the same timo observing: 'If you come again, remember you will go to tho ground.' Then he asked mo what I thought of his letter to Mr, Woon. I replied that I had not thought anything about it, but I should tako ear" j]i a t

a copy of it found its way to the Gov* crnment, and they could think what they liked! about it. After this seven chiefs were appointed to paddjo us down to Wanganui. The following men wero fixed on bo tliat they might have inSuenco to talk to Major Kemp: Winiata to Kakai, Te Kuru Kaanga, Potatau, Te Aurere, To Peehi, Iko, Patena. Going down the river wo called at Pipiriki, Horurarema, Koriniti, Parikino, and ICaiwliaiki, at all of wliicli places the usual speeches were made, and most of the lower river Natives wero in favour of the railway. We wero two and a half days coming down. Some of the Native villages on the Wanganui River are thickly peopled ; for instance, at Herurarema and Koriniti there are about 130 to 150 at each place. At Horuranema there is a Catholic mission, consisting of the Rev. Fathers Soulas and Marot, two nuns, and a lay sister, Maria Joseph, long known in Napier by the old residents: they very hospitably entertained mo. There is a school here with sixty-four scholars, the avcrago attendance fifty-nine. The Na»

tives possess 2500 sheep, horses, and cattle, besides ploughs, etc. At Ranana, the site of tho celebrated fight at Moufoa, tTiero js also a large flock of sheep, and a fine wharepuni, 83ft. by 37ft.; this is called Huriwhenua, and is the areua of tho labours of Kemp's Council."

More delay followed the meeting between the 6oven chiefs and Major Kemp, and finally tho Nativo Minister ana Major Kemp had a meeting. It was decided to permit Mr. Rochfort to return, and three months later he set out up the river with an escort of six canoes, provided by tho Maoris. Moro Obstruction. "On arriving at Pnpatupu," continues Mr. Rochfort, "we were received by about eighty Natives, with anything but a friendly demonstration, Taumata,

To Kuru, and To Geo being tho most determinedly obstructive. The korero lasted several days, and at last ended with tho up-river Natives leaving tho whare in a body and refusing to Bay or hear any more, and they next rooming left I'apatnpu and went up tho river seven miles to their principal place—To Pana. On tho following day we followed tliem up, and, on arriving within a couple of miles, sent our messenger (Raukawa) to them. This man, Raukawa, being an up-river Native, was considered a seceder and a spy; so they decided to shoot him then and there. A. considerable time, howover, elapsed before a man could bo found to undertake tho deed: at last one volunteered, who seized a gun and went towards the door to effect his ptirpoßQ; but enough time had elapsed for reflection, and several stopped him, Our messenger returned early noxt morning, and said ho had come on our opponents busy making cartridges, but after a night's talk they had agreed to meet lis. Wo accordingly went to To Papa, found a whito flag flying, and sAmo twenty-five Natives arrived, who fired over our heads twico; and after two or throe days' endeavouring to come to terras, they almost (to use my Native companion's words) forced us back at the muzzle of the gun, and I eventually returned to Wanganui and put myself in communication with the Native Minister and asked for a fow troopers. Mr. Bryco thought, it unwise to forco. our way. and directed mo to go round to, tile north end of their district and on>deavour to secure the friendship of Peehi Turoa; but,, on returning to Ranana, I learned that the obstructionists had dispersed and gone to their planting, so I went on with my work and completed to Waimarino without any further stoppage." The Maoris Alarmed. Between Waimarino and Taumarunui more trouble was in store for Mr. Rochfort, and .two Maoris came down saying -that two powerful Aukatis were waiting to stop further progress, and a dozen mounted Hauhaus were patrolling and waiting for tho survey party, saying that they wore sure to be hanged for Moffatt's murder, whic/k had taken place previously, and one or two moro would not alter the case. This nowß greatly alarmed the Natives' accompanying the survey party, and it was with tho greatest difficulty that any of them could be prevailed upon to proceed.

"We reached Taumarumii without obstruction," added Mr. Bryco, in concluding his report, " but wero received sullenly without a word of welcome. So, as it was raining, we pitched our tents in the pa, and waited several hours, after which Ngatai and some, others arrived and welcomed us, saying he would protect us here, but we could got no furthor as tho country was stopped. After a couple of days, iu reply to my letters, about a dozen men of the Aulcatis came down, but after a long talk refused permission to go further, or oven send a messenger through _ their country. They said Wahanui had stopped the country for a long time; some of these had been waiting watching the district for tho last six months/ So I had no choice but to return to Tokaanu, and go round tho west side of Tnupo to KiJiikihi, some 150 miles. This I did. and saw Rewi and Wahanui, who informed mo that Mr. Bryco was coming in a week's time, when it would be settled satisfactorily. This I did, and in the meantime Wahanui sent and brought all the men who had stopped me out to Kihikilii, including the principal in Moffat's murder. _ The meeting which took place was satisfactory in its result, and I have since completed the exploration; and the last words of Rewi (Manga) Were: ' Tell Mr. Bryce to hasten on the railway: I am an old man now, and I should like to ride in tiho railway before I die.'" A • Remarkabla Survoy. The survey made by Mr. Rochfost under suph difficulties, and almost entirely through, rugged and tractive forest oountry, is one of tlie most brilliant pieces of work done is Now Zealand. Tho line runs to-day almost exactly aa he laid it down on his original map of 1884. Tho engineen) who succeeded him when the construction of tho line began in earnest made innumerable trial surveys. but almost invariably found that the original route was the best to be obtained. It is, of course, very seldom that a trial lino through now country ciannot subsequently be greatly improved on further exploration, and it is remarkable to be able to-day to turn up the old Parliamentary reports of 1881, and among all the chimerical railway Schemes of the past to find the Main Irunk line of to-' day laid down on the map at the first shot.

At tho same time reports wore drawn< ap on two alternative routes for the Wellington-Auckland railway, ono from Te Awamutu, then the terminus of the 'Waikato lino to Stratford, and tho other from Te Awamutu to Napior. The Parliamentary Committee aet up to inq\iire into tho merits of tho three routes Unanimously decided in favour of the central line. Auckland and Taranaki were both, however, strongly of opinion that the lino should go from To Awamutu through the Ohura to Stratford. The agitation for this route was continued for many years, and was one of the oauses contributing to tho long delay in constructing the Main Trunk. The first sod of the line was turned by Sir Robert Stout at Marton a year after Mr. _ Rochfort's survey, and it was at that time expected that the line would be promptly pushed through. Mr. Roehfort, in fact, built cart bridges over the streams tlirough the bush in readiness for the service road that was destined to come only after years of delay. It in stated that two of these bridges stand to-day stranded in the bush, one across' the Makatote, a mile and a half below the viaduct, and the other down below the Hapawhenua viaduct. The former is four' chains long , and about 100 feet high,' and has never yet had a dray across it, while tho other bridgo is about two chains long and eighty feot high. The story of the long delays in tho construction of tho line is well known, and has been told in The Dominion on former occasions. The progress of the work may be briefly set out as follows; North End. South End. 1884 ... Te Awamutu Marton 1889 ... Mokau Rangatira 1809 ... Onganie — 1902 ... — Mangaweka 1903 ... Taumarunui — 1904 ... — Taihapo 1907 —First train runs though in August. There were many curious features about tho building of tho Main Trunk. Tho two big obstacles in the early stages of the lino were at the north end, the Pofo-o-tarao ridge, dividing the watersheds of tho Mokau and tho Wanganui Rivers, and, at the south end, tho deep ravino of the Maltohino Stream in tho Lower Rangitikoi. At the north end a contract for the construction of tho Poro-o-tarno tunnel was lot to All-. O'Brien in 1885. Tho tunnel was then fifty miles beyond the rail-head at To Awamutu; there was no formation work whatever m between, and tho contractor had to get in his plant as best ho could. Tho tunnel ,which was threequarters of a mile long, was not completed for many years. Tenders wero called for the Mnkohino viaduct in 1896, and the lowest tender, of under £48,000, the work to be completed within two and a half years, was refused by tho Government. Tho work was eventually curried out liy tlio State on day labour. It took ion vears, and the bill ran into over £110,000.