JOURNAL

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 4, Issue 62, 8 May 1851, Page 3

JOURNAL

Of an Expedition Ocerland from Auckland to Taranaki, by way of Ratorua, Taupo, and the West Coast, undertaken, in the Summer of 1849 —50, by His Excellency the Gover-nor-in-Chief of New Zealand. [Continued from our last ] Erratum.—The following paragraph was inadvertently omitted from the portion of the " Journal of Sir Georuk Grky's overland Expedition," which was published in our issue of the 13th March. Our readers will perceive that it should have been inserted at the end of the leg«nd of Hine Moa, and that it tills up a hiatus inthe Journal, which rendered the commencement of the portion published in the " Karere" of 27ih March unintelligible. Wednesday, 26th Dec. { continued.J —'After being detained on the Island for a considerable time the wind at length' moderated and we crossed to Ohineniutu, on the western shore, the principal settlement on the lake. The chief named Korokai, is a very old man, who|having been unable from his age to join the other principal chiefs in going to Maketu, received us at his own place in the usual Maori manner. Here we also found our friend Haupapa, who had walked round from Te, Ngae ; he at oiice constituted himself the Governor's particular guardian and gentleman usher, his performance of the duties of which oiiices was certainly very amusing. He stood by his Ekcellency's side like a gigantic drill sergeant—(whilst all the natives of the settlement sat in a crowd with a semicircular front,) —saying to him " Noiv, stand up straight and look at them and lei them see you," which seemed to be the principal part of the ceremony, for whenever the Governor turned to address one of us or to look in any direction save straight down the throats of the gaping multitude in front of him, Haupapa would say to him, " didn't I tell you that you must stand up and let them see you." At last, however, the supper was ready, and we hoped for a little seclusion; but alas for the vanity of nil earthly hopes, the crowd arose when we moved only to squat doivn, as it seemed to us in increased numbers, in a circle as close around the entrance pi the hut as they could sit, fur the purpose'of seeing the lious feed, and we enjoyed many a good laugh by occasionally throwing a bone behind us for them to scramble for, which they did, exactly after the fashion of a pack of hungry dogs. We had a visit fiom Pere Rene, a Roman Catholic Clergyman stationed here, this evening, who invited us to breakfast with him in the morning.

Tuesday, Jan. Ist, 1850. —Rose as usual at half-past four, and after scolding our natives pretty soundly for their dilatoriness yesterday,' were en-route by a little after five •. —after walking some distance we passed a boiling spring about half a mile to the right, or westward of us, which seemed from the quantity of streams isssuing from it to be of considerable size, it is caled Te Kohaki. A short dis. tance further on we came upon some sulphurous springs called . Ipukaihiraaraina at a quarter past seven we crossed a small river called Kaingaroa, about six miles from our camping-place of last night, and shortly after* . wards we struck upon the right of the Horotiu • or upper Waikato, along which we proeeedt-d * for some distance, crossing a small river called Te Awa ia Kerewa, the branches of which were in former times the scene of a great battle between the powerful tribes of Tuhourangi arid Ngatlawa, at which some of our natives had, been present, who showed us several remarkable spots, marked in the usual manner bv holes dflg in the grounu, "when the Uhiefs ajjtl principal men had been shot, &c., &c. After crossing this creek we descended to the.tamk of the Horotiu and crossed a considerable/stream waist deep, called Pueto, on the which were a couple • of deserted huts ; we then ascended a iteep bank, which brought us to a table land at a height of about eignty feet from the river, after a walk of abm/a quarter of a mile opposite to a small settlement called Ta-

kapou situated 011 a tongue of land on the left bank of the river, as there was 110 lireivood on our side we hailed the pa, and they presently brought lis a supply, with some potatoes over in a canoe. It was by this time a quarter to nine, :md ive halted for breakfast, when we were visited by the chief of Takapou, who oame over to pay his homage to the Governor and Te lieu lieu ; he was a very rough, savage looking man, dressed in a dirty red blanket, and the style of his conversation was any thing hut civil. He told us that the natives at Taupo, ] belonging to the tribe of Te Herekiekie or Tuhulia, (a powerful Chief living near Te Heu lieu, but between whose tribe and that of the latter chief, there had been a feeling of animosity for a long lime), would not permit the burial of the bones of the late Te Heu Heu, elder brother of the present chief of that name, who perished when his pa (called Te Ilapa) was overwhelmed with boiling mud in May, 18V7, in the crater of Tongariro,and also that they intended to oppose the ascent of the said mountain by the Governor and his party. So determined, said he, was Te Herekiekie 011 this point, that he would use force or even arms if necessary. This intelligence was liy 110 means cheering, but our friend Te lieu Heu told us not to mind it, as he did nut altogether believe all this man said, and besides, even if it were true, he cared but little for Mr. Tuhalia and all his tribe. Breakfast and the korcro over, and our natives soinenhat rested, (for we had had a lough walk), we started again at eleven, leaving the Morotiu behind us, our road leading us in a more south-easterly direction than formerly, and at noon we arrived at a small lake called Rota Knwa, or the bitter lake, situated near the base of the noble mountain of Tautara, which lies south-east from it. This lake derives its name from the strongly aluminous taste of it? waters. There are some boiling springs at the northern end of the lake. Our track then led us round a part of the base of Tautara, of which we had a fine view. Being the only piece of really rich land for some distance, it is covered nearly to the top with patches of cultivation, cleared from amidst the timber with which the mountain is clothed. On this part of the plain there are a good many Kahikatoa shrubs of stunted growth, each one standing by itself apart from the rest, and having the appearance of divarf larches; altogether this is by far the m ist picturesque part of the whole plain, between the place where the traveller loses sight of Koto Mali,ma till he obtains Ills first view of the noble lake, or rather inland sea, of Taupo. After leaving Tauwhara we passed through some more sulphurous springs called Waikore. Here Te Heu Heu overtook U3 (the Kuropean party, who, having nothing to carry, had outstripped our convoy by some distance) ; the old man was running, and in the greatest imaginable delight. lie was now within a few miles of his home—in a few minutes we should be in sight of Taupo, and the poor old fellow, though really somewhat fatigued, quite amused us with his expressions of pleasure, and the activity with which he trotted on leading the way, laughing and chattering away as garrulous as possible. At half-past one we came in sight of the lake, which presented a magnificent appearance, and is so large that the hills 011 the opposite shore look quite blue and indistinct in the distance. All hour after-, wards we reached the margin of the lake, at a spot called Waipaliihi. where a small stream of tepid water runs into the lake, and in which we enjoyed a delightful bathe. Waipahihi is on one side of an arm of the lake, on the opposite side of which is the settlement of Rangatira, recently named lliruharama (Jerusalem), This branch forms the source of the Waikato river, although the natives trace it from the farther extremity of the lake, into which a stream runs Hose to the settlement of Tokanae, which stream rises at the base of Tongariro. This, the natives say, is the real source of the Waikato, which they trace through the lake to i its outlet near Jerusalem. The Waikato is about lifty yards wide at its source. Otir natives did not atrive till four, when we lit; a large (ire as a signal that we wanted canoes sent across from Jerusalem. The canoes ar» rived at six; hut by that time the wind had sprung up, and' it blew so fresh that the natives were afraid to venture on the water, so we were obliged to make up our minds to remain where we were till morning, and immediately set about pitching our tents and making all snug for the night.