CORRESPONDENCE

Hokitika Guardian, 26 October 1921, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE

RAUREKA THE 1A i til 1(1,1 1 (To t..e Editor). .'sir. The concluding section ot the must interesting series dealing with Sir Julius Von IlaasL’s early explorations 1 in Westland must have been perused b\ I the readers of yesterday’s “Guardian I with feelings of regret that Hi* ro- ! muutic reprints had so seen lin.shed However, while fresh on th* subject , the early path-tinders it may not be tin. 1 seasonable to recapitulate the story ol a I ~- earlier path-lihder, who more than one hundred and fifty years prior to the advent of Sir Julius came to he in i rather a curious way, the lust s Ouster, and almost it might he said the first Hokitikian, to .-toss the for- ' uiidahle barrier of the Southern Alps. \wiiv mj) in the Alpine regions dose to Aorattgi, or Mount Cook there is nil ice-peak which th,. surveyors or the map-makers of the Lands Office have named Mount Raureka to perpetuate the memory of the old-time explorer. How few I lokitikians know that they ! are indirectly indebted to that long- ; In ,lv for Raureka was the daughter of a thief fur the name of their town. About the year 1700 the native settlers of the West. Coast were ot the X«'ati-u tribe. uiul included m i their several Kainga. was a village at the month of the Arnhurn River and a I somewhat larger one, which was their hctul-'piaiters in the vicinity ot the present site of Westland’s capital. One fine summer’s day. it was the "aim season, because the flowering ot tbe rata is mentionotl in the legend tlint has conic down to us there arose a ser. ious tribal rumpus, for such outbreaks would occur even !n the best regulated pahs, and the chioftainoss Raureka, ns the result of the <|Uarrel, (fuietly (lew away from her ancestral home at the mouth of the wide river that now is

called “The Hokitika.” Imt. was know n by another name in those far-ofl days, and following up its course, she and one companion, a slave, slowly made their way past The Forks along the Kokatahi branch, and hv way of the Styx into the mountainous country at the head of Lake Kanieri. Here the fugitives suffered severe hardships, which resulted in Raureka becoming * *po-rn iilt i* * or slisi’btly ui t-bo brain.” Wandering about the snowy mowntains that overlooked the head waters of the anciently named Arahiua, the ■desertinc pair u.it<• accidentally disijovered a pttss between the frozen heights, and toiling slowly and painfully. uit. shod lightly with sandals of finx leaves and suffering severely from the continued cold and paucity of food, fhey crossed the great dividing ranee, descended eventually into the valley of the Rak-aia and so into Canterbury. Travellimr now was easier and they mere oitiekly traversed the gently sloping plains a "rent and lovely land of 11 .sy.vk and cabbage-tree. Patiently plodding their weary way but grentlv exhausted and nearly starved the fugitives reached a place near where the

town of Geraldine now stands. Here they were found by a party of’ Ngattalin men or East Coast Maoris, who were out on the war pfith, Ihe much travelled pair were fed, au<l the camp-fire Baureka told the head-, man the tale of flier adventures and So -made known to the plain-dwellers the existence of that wild and mysterious land which faced the setting sun, and of the greenstone treasure it contained confirming her story by the exhibition or a little mere pounaimr or greenstone axe which she had carefully carried across the mountains. While the chieftainoss was tolling her romantic story a mart named Pillion lay quietly taking in every word, hut pretending to be asleep. He made up his mind to slvly slip, away next day afid explore this wonderful land of grennstono across the ranges, and secure for himself some of the riches to he obtained there. Xoxt day the war party resumed its northward march towards Kaiapoi and on .the way Puho'u, the schemer, cunningly contrived to secure charge of the eantivos. He and his immediate followers gently foil behind <iu* main body, and quietly dropped out. striking inland towards the west. After titev had proceeded a fair cli .- tame lTaureka was induced to pilot them a. ress the pass which had _ excited the ettvv of the roaming warriors, and s lm he-'ll mo the wife -of Pillion before thev reached the -reenstone coast Elion IT a uroka’s advice the adventurous narty ~f treasure seekers made sandals of (lax for the rough crossing of the rocks and the snow, and fording and swimming the many swift streams and Struggling through the dense forests they reached at- last the Pontini Villa- on on the sea const.

Thus were the Ngai-talm from Canterbury originally introduced into the greenstone lands -of the West Coast Ivv the fyst Alpine trail maker in our AVestlnnd.

Puliou and his followers tarried on the Const, until such time as they had «vii rod n plentiful supply of the coveted stone, then they returned to their friends at Kainpohia. where their precious bundles were em-erly welcomed. From this time the solitude of thn Ngati-AVairangi was frequently hrokeft, and gradunlly there grew up at practice on the part- of the Ngni-tahu of making regular tries across the Southern Alps to tin* “land of Pontini” as the West (Mast, was then known, to trade- in the m mb-wan ted greenstone.

They crossed the dividing range by’ Tc-kopi-io-kni-talngntn, or Cannibal Gorge, (and thereby hangs a tale), Harper’s Saddle, Arthur’s Pass, Browning; Pass, of AVhitconihe Pass, hut always returned by tin- Upper course of the Hokitika, and via Browning Pass, as that: route was shorter and there was less hard work in the nature of swimming tin* large pools and the heavy loads carried “piknti” nr pick-a-back, necessitated a speedy journey. So because of the foregoing, th(*- defile discovered hy lianreka and which we call Browning’s Pass, became known to the natives as the Noti-ITol<i-tikn. or “pies of the direct return.” which name became extended to the river. In tlio fullness of time there sprang into lipin r a pakehn port where once Ngati-wai-r.ingi held their headquarters, and it was called “Okitika ITiver” until about the time of the Birth of the Borough in I Still, when the present name and form: of spelling the same was adopted. From ITaureka's children there tvere many descendants and from one of the latter was gathered the account of the journey made by (heir ancestress. How Arahura, became the centre of the greenstone trade, and its working, and how for many years the tribes of both coasts profited greatly thereby until mutual jealousies kindled alight the fire# of war between thorn to he kepi, burning for very many years, how subsequently great chiefs fought valiantly and died l hard on the several fields of battle, on the river flats Of Tvokatahi. the shores of Mahinaptia, at O-tukii-whaka-oka (Lake Bruntief) and on tlu* slopes of Pnparoha, form a stirring story which befits a different setting. AY. P. PAYNE.