JOURNAL

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 4, Issue 64, 5 June 1851, Page 3

JOURNAL

Of an Expedition UNKNOWN from Auckland to Taranaki, by way of UNKNOWN Taupo, and the West Coast, undertaken, in the Summer of 1849—50, by His Excellency the Gover-Nor-in-Chief of New Zealand. [l'ont!n<yii f"i"> °" r lnsl ) Thursday. Jaui/ry 1850—Mr. Spencer liaving sonicwhe/ heard that the of true liospi:ali'y is to " welcome tile coming and speed 11/ parting guest"—and having ; yesler. ay fulfilled the lirst part of his duty as i our host a/ Jerusalem, was determined that this niorni/g the second portion should not be I KPi.l.Tii'il isi) he roused all hands al tito a m.j J to ojir intense disgust, as we Were olTTged 10 lu in hi e up and diess hy candle light. Wreak- , fast was ready hy a little after three, but after all we were delayed until six, hy the difficulty of getting the canocs and their crews in readiness. At last, however, we started fairly for Pukawa, the pa of Te Hen lieu, situated at the further (south-western) extremity of the lake —a distance of upwards of twenty-tivel miles in a straight line, hut which for us wasl was much lurlln r, as we had to coast roundl the shores of the lake, the natives being afraid to venture out into the centre, on account of a terrible taniwha, called Horomatangi, who upsets every canoe that comes within his dominions, and eats up their crews, never having been known to leave a single person, who fell into his clutches, alive to tell the tale. I low it happens, therefore, that this is known so well to all the natives on the lake appears somewhat strange ; but the lohuiigas (priest-) bave mysterious ivays of discovering such things, which are perfectly unfathomable to the uninitiated. As we started from the north-east end of the lake, the shores we had to travel round were the eastern and southern ones. The first part of the eastern shore which we passed is low, and covered with a rank vegetation of fern. It then becomes hold, with lofty white clilTs, at the top of which the ground is broken into innumerable little hillocks, which look as if the whole of the surface had been in commotion, and as it were boiling, then suddenly arrested, or cooled, leaving it in its present shape. As, however, there was still higher land at the back of these hillocks, the probability is, that they have been formed by a succession of small landslip*, which must bave occurred a very long time ago, as they are now covered with a luxuriant growth of fern, with a quantity of karaka trees interspersed amongst them. Opposite I his side is a small island, (the only one on the lake,) held very sacred by the natives, as the site of a terrible carnage in former times. The southern shore is low, and in some places very pretty, being broken by several picturesque bays, and on the low land and sheltered spots are a great many well grown karaka trees—the beautiful native laurel —which much enhances the beauty of any place in which they chance to grow. On a promontory running out from the shore is the settlement of Motu-tere, a very old pa, containing now but few inhabitants. Here we arrived at half-past nine, having been pent up in an uncomfortable and over-manned canoe for three hours and three-quarters. As the natives of Motutere belong to le lieu Hen s patty, there was of course a tremendous fuss on our lauding, not forgetting the usual dismal ceremony of the tangi. Preparations for a great feast for the naiives were immediately commenced, whilst we partook of a lunch of preserved salmon, eaten with boiled rice off tin plates with steel forks anil iron spoons. We were, however, very hungry, and by no means inclined to be nice about our food; and really it was not so bad after all. Preserved salmon and rice should he carried by every travellertile lirst is portable, requires no cooking, and at times (in spite of tin plate and steel fork with three prongs) forms a very agreeable variety in the bill of fare, llice is also very poitable, is not spoilt by being wet, and is sometimes absolutely necessary as a corrective to the effects of new potatoes and other ibiugs which travellers cat in the bush, and which often occasion illness on the road. We were delayed at Motutere until twelve, in consequence of one of the Jerusalem canoes having discharged her freight on the shore of the lake, ' the crew being disgusted at the heathenish \ songs to which Mr. Pirikawau insisted on ' treating them, under the very nose of their new Missionary ; our people had, therefore, to walk round the margin of the lake for a distance of about fifteen miles, carrying heavy loads on their backs, so of course they did not arrive until more than an hour after lis, who had come in canoes. livery thing in this world has, however, a termination —even a Maori feast; so we escaped from Motutere at a little after noon, the liuropean puty in a line canoe, which had just arrived from I'll - kawa. 1 his canoe is called Victoria, and is Tc lieu lien's favourite barque. v he was manned by strong active young lads from

l'ukawa; and being a fast canoe wc got over the latter portion of our journey much faster than we had traversed the lirst part. As, however, the distance from Motutere to l'ukawa is greater than that from Jerusalem to Motulere, we weie, notwithstanding the improvement in our progress, nearly as long in the canoe the second time as wo had been at the lirst, so that it was half past three when we landed on the beach below the pa. \Ve obtained a good view of the mountain of Tongariro, Ruapahu and l'ihanga from the lake this afternoon. This, by the way, was the only clear view we had an opportunity of getting, as llie top of both mountains was clouded at all other times. The crater of Tongariro was emitting unusually dense masses of steam, which the natives said was a very bad omen. ! l'ukawa is situated on a promontory on the ' south-west shore of the lake *, on the right or i north of the pa as you approach it by water, is a small bay with while pumice-stone beach (the whole coast of the lake is beached with pumice)— this is the only landing place. On the left of the pa the shore is bold and rocky ; at the extremity of the promontory is the burial ground or wahi-tapu, grown over with karaka, kohai, and other evergreen trees and shrubs which reach down to the lake.