THE ROHE POTAE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 9, 21 December 1906, Page 3

THE ROHE POTAE.

Some of Its Attractions,

[By " Kahikatea."] No. n. Last summer, when I saw the Rohe Potae for the first time, I stopped at one of the oldest townships in Waikato. From there I explored the surrounding country, taking rides far away across the old Aukati line, and the more I saw of this land the more I became impressed with its possibilities. Not altogether from a pastoral point of view in the direction I had then travelled, for I think that section will require working on similiar lines to the Waikato lands. No doubt turnip crops will be grown there, also clovers, etc., but the distance to cart manure is too great, and the cost of carriage will be much against it. Manure is dear enough to start with, but when it has to be carted long distances over indifferent roads, it makes its use, in the quantities necessary —an expensive matter. It will therefore be a question for those who come after us to solve, unless roads and other means of communication advance much more rapidly than they have in the past twenty years. I was particularly struck with one block of land that I saw for the first time.' It has now a farm or two around, and stands out clear in the middle of a fairly good strip of land. About twenty-one years ago, when residing in Hawke's Bay, a Native from the King Country came down paying a visit to some of the people of that district. This Native's ancestors had been of the rangitira who had gone down with the war party that had beaten and enslaved the Maori men of Ngatikahunga, and brought them back to Waikato, and who, after keeping them for some considerable time, finally told them to return to the land of their ancestors and reside in peace. Now, he, as I have said, was on a visit to the land of Ngatikahunga, and visited Te Hauke, the pah of Te Hapuku, who by the way, was one who escaped from Waikato. When this Waikato man came to Te Hauke the Hapuku people were about to start shearing for me, and as the pah would be deserted during that busy time they told me they had a Manuhiri of great standing staying with them and asked would I allow them to bring him to the station for a week or so. One day, after a short spell of wet weather, I rode out on the run to assist in a muster, and asked this man if he would like to come and he gladly assented. We conversed on the way about various matters and gradually he told me his story, also the story of his ancestors ; how they came down over the very lands we were then on. Then, turning to me, he said : " Ehoa, if you are tired of these parts and you would wish for a change, why not go to Waikato ? There is plenty of land there, and my people have plenty. There is one place beside a large swamp, and in'the centre of the block there rises a long hill, and it is clothed in fern and tutu. It would, I think, make good land for the hipi and the kau. If you would like to go there I would get all the parts brought together and we will lease it to you. Sell it we cannot, for the Kawanatanga has the herehere over it; but we can lease it, so go with me to Waikato, ehoa, and to the King Country, and you will, I am sure, prosper." I agreed to look into it, and I saw one of the Ministers, who said he'd make inquiries about restrictions. I also wrote to the late Mr Wilkinson, at Otorohanga, about the same matter. I received a reply from both, and it was : " No, the Natives could not sell nor could they lease, as the land was within the restricted area." The " Taihoa " business was on them, and has remained on, and will remain on whilst an acre of Maori land is left or one Maori is alive. When I saw the land last summer for the first time, after so many years, I found the Native had given me a most faithful description of it. Not one part out of joint; he had drawn a plan showing how the small mount lay, and how the land came in on each side, and at each end. When I saw the hill in the distance, I said to the man who was guiding me, " That is , " and replied "Yes." We rode round it and examined some of it that was for sale, and beyond one small patch, the whole country was in the same condition that it was so many years ago, when my would-be Maori friend asked me to go up and live there and raise sheep and cattle. I say it was in the same condition. No, I am wrong, it is now in a worse condition, for fire after fire has passed over it, killing its first life out, and it now grows an annual crop of sour fern and is coming fast into manuka, with a skin of hard moss covering it all. Rabbit ridden, and burrowed from end to end. A failure, and why? Because of the blighting curse that overshadows the Native lands, " Taihoa, Taihoa." Peace be to the ashes of my Maori friend. I met him on a train from Auckland some five years ago. He recognised me and made himself known, and was delighted to meet me again. We chatted to each other until we reached Frankton, and I said I would go and see him when I caine again; but alas, death, who makes no distinction and waits for none, called him away suddenly. He, too, has gone to that land of " wairua," from where he can, no doubt, look down and contemplate the intricacies of the Maori land laws and the fast decrease of his people. To .him I say R.I.P. To me he was williYfg to be a friend, and said he would now redeem his promise, as the Maori Council was about to be formed, ay>d he would tell Grace (the kaiwhaka Maori) to write to me apd tell me what land he could procure for me. " For did I not feed him long ago, and keep when he him had no other place to go." Yes, to him I saj', " Sleep in peace,"