The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1883.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3837, 2 November 1883, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1883.

The reception accorded His Excellency the Governor by the people of Nelson appeals to have been an unqualified success. Describing tho scene the local paper said '' everybody was well dressed, everybody looked contented and happy, everywhere there were to be seen signs and symptoms of the lot of tho people of Nelson having fallen in pleasant places." The EveningMail improved tho occasion of the high holiday by referring to the early history of Nelson as follows:—The very hill-upon which the Governor, surrounded by a dense throng of well-to-do citizens, received and replied to the loyal addresses presented by tho Corporation and Friendly Societies is intimately associated with tho early days of the settlement. In tho church which now crowns its summit there is a plain marble slab, bearing this simple inscription —" In memory of those who fell at the Wairau on the 17th Juno 1843." Forty years ago—it is not so very long to look back upon-that now tastefully planted hill presented a very different aspect to what it does at present, and the appearance of such

a body of volunteers as marched through Trafalgar-street yesterday would indeed have been a godsend to the terror-stricken people of Nelson. That sturdy littte band of colonists had just received the intelligence of the terrible deed perpetrated by the Maoris on the -spur running down to the entrance of the Tua Marina Valley, and which is now spoken of as tho Wairau Massacre, and thcro was a general apprehension that the next news from that district would come in the form of a raid by the dusky foe, who had laid low so many of the New Zealand Company's most valued servants on the other side of tho ranges. From the spot where the catastrophe which threw back the colonisation of New Zealand so many years took place the telegraph now carries its winged messages into Nelson in less than a minute, and an eight hours' trip in well appointed steamers running at regular intervals, and an hour's run by rail will carry tho traveller to the scene of tho massacre, or he may ride there in a day and a half, but in those days the intervening country was a trackless waste of forest and mountain, while to cover the distance by water would have been to undertake not a trip but a voyago. A terrible time of suspense and uncertainty was that which followed the arrival of the news of what had occurred, and it was deemed necessary to take every precaution against an invasion by the excited natives. In order to protect the inhabitants against such an attack the Church Hill, which yesterday presented so gay, cheerful, and animated a scene, was converted into a fortifi '.ation, and not many yards above where the Governor stood trenches were dug, embankments run up, and eight ship's cannon — tho only artillery available — woro placed in position. Fortunately tho precautions proved to bo unnecessary and the alarm passed over. It does not seem out of place to recall to mind such an incident as this in connection with yesterday's gathering on a spot which may be said to possess an historical interest. Of tho survivors Of tho Wairau massacre there are but two or three loft in Nelson, one of them being the Hon. John Wallis Barnicoat, upon whom was recently conferred tho well-earned honor of a seat in tho Legislative Council. Again, tho present occasion appears a fitting one to record the names of early Nelson settlers who have taken a prominent part in the politics of the country. Dillon Bell, Domett, Fox, Monro, Stafford, Weld —to the older settlers thoir names will be more familiar without tho titles which have since been conferred on five out of the six —were all of them colonists whoso early life in New Zealand was spent in Nelson • Of these, four have at various times been Premiers of the colony, and two have occupied the honorable position of Speaker of tho House of Representatives. Thcro is one other, too, whose name wo may mention in this connection. It is that of Major Richmond, tho father of the New Zealand Parliament, who, though never taking a leading part as a politician, can tell some stirring talcs of his adventures among tho natives, and who, in consideration of the services he had rendered in negotiating with them, often at tho peril of his received the Companionship of tho Order of the Bath. He is still amongst us and failing health alone prevented his taking part in the reception of Her Majesty's representative.