THE FAR NORTH

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2019, 2 March 1907, Page 1

THE FAR NORTH

A special commissioner of the N.Z. Herald has been touring the far north and writing descriptive articles, ono of which is as follows: 1 rode from Victoria A r alloy through Fori a into tho Oruru Valley,and then on to Mangonui. It is pleasant and beautiful country all tho way, but tho curse of Maori ownership is over much of it, for where one sees good land lying idle ono can he sure it is nativo property. It is true that some of tho white settlors do not fully utilise more than a third of their holdings', but one can forgive that wlion one knows tho circumstances. Tho Maori land is not utilised at all, and it acts as a bar to the use of European lands. Thoro is ono stretch of Maori In nil between Taknhuo and A r ictoria Valley 5000 acres in extent, and nearly all lovol. It is growing nothing but fern. If it were open for sale it woidd bo settled to-morrow,and would carry a score of families quite easily. Olio of the features of the Oruru

A’alloy is the vast amount of kauri timber spread over all tho low lands by tho January floods. \ r ou see great logs lying in the middle of grass paddocks, entangled in orchids, scattered by the road side. Bullock teams aro hard at work hauling them to the tidal waters of the Oruru or Taipa river, and it is said that with the clearing away of these logs will almost pass away the kauri industry hero. No doubt timber-working has helped this part of New Zealand through the most difficult period of it 3 settlement, but the real prosperity of this part of the Far North need not depend upon timber, or flax, or gum, as many people soem to think. It is a farming country, and is capable of prdueing great wealth. During my eight days’ ride I had crossed from ono sido of the island to tho other twico, and had, therefore, seen a large amount of the Far North. I must confess that it exceeded my expectations as regards the quality of the soil, and was far beyond what I expected in the matter o ( settlement. It is true that along the eastern side of the island thoro are largo areas of gum country, but I certainly do not look upon this class of soil as unfit for agricultural or pastoral industries. On the contrary l believe that: whenever the gumlands arc ploughablo they will m time to come ho closely settled and extensively cultivated, particularly where they' lie adjacent to such fine harbors as are so common on Auckland’s cast coas *‘ MANGONUI TO KAEO.

Mangonui is a picturesque little township fringing the western shores of the Mangonui harbor, a deep and extensive inlet, situated on the southeast. corner of Doubless Bay, about 150 miles by sea from Auckland. The towpship is undoubtedly the main centre of distribution for the Far North of New Zealand, and already does a considerable amount of inland trade. Some day it will be a place of importance, for it is to be the temp pus of the Northern Main trunk lino, and'must serve as the port tor a very extensive area of highly productive country. Some people believe that when connected with the railway system of New Zealand it will become the calling place for ocean mail steamers, but this, though possible, is not probable. It is already -an important mall centre, and the post office there transacts more business than any other north of AVliangarei. From it radiate telegraph lines, telephone lilies, and mail routes, extending northward to AVaipapakaun,westward to Aliipara, and southward to AVhangaroa, and owing to the absence of banks it has bo do a large amount of money order work. The Mangonui harbor, although not to be compared either in beauty or extent with AVhangaroa, or with the Bay of Islands, has nearly every facility for the making of a good port. It has a depth of 24ft at low water, and could be easily deepened, and it has a good entrance. The name Mangonui, literally interpreted, means big shark, but whether it originated from the fact that it was the haunt of the dreaded sea scavengers, or of some foroctous Maori chieftain, I cannot say.

A FRENCH EXPLORER. M. do Sourville, the famous French navigator, seems to have been the first European to explore Mangonui. He visited the harbor in December, 1769, in the ship Saint ‘Jean Babtiste. De Sourville came to New Zealand from India, tempted by rumors of a new country, abounding m gold, and peopled by Jews. How he got the rumor nobody knows. The great explorer Cook had only left the Far North of New Zealand eight' days before De Sourville sailed into Doubtless Bay, so that news of bis diseoveries could nob have leaked out; besides, Cook saw neither gold nor Like other of the early French navigators, De Sourville was unfortunate in his relations with the Maoris. He was received most kindly by the Mangonui people, and had such confidence in- them that lie sent his sick men ashore to recruit. SVhllst they were ashore a furious gale sprang up, and the Saint Jean Babtiste dragged her anchors, and was nearly wrecked. What a shock it must be to some of our “change of climate” theorists to learn that there could bo stormy weather at Christmas time in North Aucklantl |3B years ago De Sourville s sick men tried to" regain their sliip during the gale, but their boat was driven ashore. The men, liov.ever, found shelter and hospitality in a native village, and when the gale blew itselt out they regained their ship. lhe old story is somewhit vagye and mixed, but De Sourville accused the natives of stealing one of his boats. Whether.this was the boat driven ashore ..during the gale is not mentioned, blit it is certain that De Sourvillo took prisoner the chief who had protected his men, and burned the village which had sheltered them. Such was the beginning ot pakelia justice in the Far NorthTHE FIRST TIMBER TRADER.

It was Mangonui that saw the very beginning of the New Zealand timber trade, for Commander Dell, in the Snow Fancy, came here tor spars in 1794, and though lie may not have actually got a cargo there, lie undoubtedly pjJpn.Cid negotiations for kauri. ' HARBOR LANDS.

One could find quite a lot to write about in tlie history of Mangonui, but after all its real history lies in the future, and. some of our young moil might take up a much worse occupation than in helping to make history there. It is one of the places where great apple orchards for an export trade might be established, whore vinoyards for the coming wine trade may be planted. The groat biilk of the land around Mangonui harbor consists of low lulls and broad slopes which are easily ploughable- If can ho purchased at from 5s to I.os per aero, and undoubtedly much of it will yield more than twice that amount in gum when ploughed. The cultivation of the gum lands about Henderson and Swanson, where the fields have been dug and re-dug for the last 40 years, reveals the fact that even wh?n gum country has apparently been completely worked out, it will yield from £2 to £5 per acre, even at t|io first ploughing, and will continue to yield a. fair amount after every fresh cultivation. How much gum the land about Mangonui and other districts in the Far North, which certainly has not been dug half so thoroughly as that' about Henderson and Swanson, contains, is difficult to estimate, but it would certainly pay for the land and a considerable ' amount of improvements.

I have pointe 1 out on various occasions that this gum corn try, which is found on the eastern seaboard of the Far North, and ill many other parts of the Auckland province, can be turned into fair sheep country at very little expense. Burning off the scrub surface, sowing with hardy grasses and legumes, is quite sufficient to produce rough pasture on which sheep would thrive very well. Then the better portions of the country can be jiloughed and put into root crops, so as to top off the stock, and it is quite certain that where root crops have been grown and eaten off by sheep, a better class of grass can lie grown than that obtained merely by surface sowing. Of course, whilst New Zealanders can obtain pastures by felling hush and sowing grass seed after the burn, they are not- much tempted to go.in for improving poor lands with the plough, but it will be done some day, and those who dare to do it now will have their pick of vast stretches of country, THE ROAD TO WHANG AROA. I journeyed overland from Mangonui to Whangaroa via Kaeo. in the

mail coach. The distance is 24 miles, and the country passed through quite uninteresting. For tho greater part of tho way tho road passes through gum lands, which appear to have been very littlo dug, and then there appoars rising above tho horizon the edge of that wonderful volcanic belt which stretches apparently right across to tho West Coast. Enormous forces have been at work here. The igneous rocks forced under pressure in a molten, or somi-molton, condition through the overlying strata have assumed fantastic shapes. Peaks and domes, spires, pinnacles, pyramids, gigantic walls, tower in awful confusion. Ono lingo rock seen from a particular place looks like an inflated balloon.

Tho road descends from tho gumlands, and quite unexpectedly o n o outers a region of groat mangrove swamps which occupy tho upper roaches of the AVhangaroa harbor. The engineer, instead of taking tho road round the edge'of these swamps, :is is done in many other parts of New Zealand, lias pushed it straight across thorn, saving many miles-in distance, and giving a level smooth road instead of one subject to all the inequalities of hill foot country, and avoiding landslips and washouts and all that makes a hill foot road disagreeable and expensive. I consider that whoever designed these roads through tho mangrove swamps is worthy of praise. It required boldness to try so new an idea, insight to realise that the mud from the swamps would set nearly as hard ns cement, and that the immense deposits of shells to he found beneath tho mud would supply a surface-dressing equal to ,tho best metal in tho Ntfrtli Island. " The roads are somewhat narrow, but that fault can bo always rectified, for there is abundance of material to build with, and, after all, ive managed to pass several vehicles, somewhat erratically driven by Maoris quite safely. It is rather novel to drive through these mangrove thickets when the tide is full, for the water reaches within a few inches fiom the edge of the road, and tho n ullet! and herring and kaliawai and ether fish which haunt shallow sea waters feed unconcernedly as the coach rolls past them. T suppose that some day someone will enclose the. higher parts of these swamps with banks, and will keep ont. the tide and form fattening pastures. KAEO TOWNSHIP.

Kaeo is a small township set ill a narrow valley between high barrenlooking hills at the head of the Wliangaroa harbor. The flats which border the fine clear river are not extensive, hub they seem of good character, and indifferently farmed, ft was late on Saturday afternoon when I arrived at this quaint little place, and a drizzling rain was falling, but the rain had not the slightest effect apparently on the people, who are evidently in the habit of celebrating Saturday evening in this centre. They rode up in twos and threes, and tied their horses to the handiest fence, until there was a line of saddled steeds reaching all the length of the main street. The visitors were mostly Maoris, and they seemed determined to spend as much of their money as possible in amusement, which consisted of playing very noisy games of billiards, and in drinking long beers. There were several Maori women about, and they seemed chiefly engaged in trying to prevent their men from making fools of themselves. There was one slim young girl in a black dress several sizes too large and too long for her. She was shepherding a silly youth, and made quite a pathetic sight. AA hen alone she held up her black dress well above her brown ankles, but when the youth made a break for the bar the skirt was dropped, and she hung on to his coat-tails, and pleaded with him most eloquently. Her eloquence was wasted, and her long skirts dragged so frequently in t-lio nuid were a sight to see. . The Maoris kept the game going ior hours, and I was not sorry when, m the darkness, a coach rolled up and carried me by star-spangled waters to AVhangaroa,,