THE RAI VALLEY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 9, 11 January 1871, Page 2

THE RAI VALLEY.

For the following interesting communication we are indebted to his Honor the Superintendent of Marlborough, who has recently made a trip from Nelson into the Pelorus via the Rai Valiey. In fulfilment of my premise I send a | few lines respecting the new* route which connects the two provinces via HappyValley and through the Rai Valley to the Pelorus river. I must however first premise that I have no startling incidents to relate; in fact, I suspect that a succinct account of so common a task as bush travelling in New Zealand would not find favor with the majority of your readers. The advantages, however, of a better mode of communication between the two provinces, together with the opening up and settlement of land on that Hue, will, I trust, be of interest to many. On Tuesduy, the 3rd inst., Mr. A. Collins kindly drove us up to his house, and, the next morning, took us and our "swags" into Happy Valley as far as Mr. Brown's house, where we found outguide, Mr. John Brown, waiting, so we shortly shouldered our packs aud commenced our tramp. My party consisted of. four, Mr. Ralph Richardson, Mr. W. Edwards, our guide, and myself. The course pursued, for there is no continuous I track, lies eutirely through bush, in most places tolerable thick, and but seldom affordiug a glimpse of the surrounding country. Entering the Bluff Rock River, we observed a quantity of grey limestone boulders in its bed, and our guide informed us that the rock from whence they came was to be found a little higher up the stream. The stone has the appearance of being of a superior quality, and would, doubtless, be a valuable acquisition to the farmers in the neighborhood, if the road were made, while there is abundance of timber for supplying the lime kilns. I would suggest that the stone be tested, and, if good, that, the Provincial Government should ascertain the position of the bed rock, and then make a sufficient reserve of it for public use. This stream has high rocky baoks, and we frequently had to cross on trees which had fallen across it, in some cases a somewhat nervous proceeding for tho?e not much accustomed to carrying packs through the hush. We soon turned up a branch of this stream called One Tree Valley, aud, following it up, ascended the saddle of the range dividing the Wangamoa from the Happy Valley. This is the highest point to be overcome, but there is sufficient distance on both sides to enable a dray road to be constructed with a tolerably easy gradient, if carefully laid out iv the first instance. Descending thence, we followed down the Wangamoa River for about six miles, where wo fortunately came upon a slab whare, and decided to camp there, the afternoon being showery, and the bush very wet. The road down this valley could be very easily made, ' and would open up some fair bush land for settlement, the valley gradually widening in places as we descended. We were extremely fortunate in finding the whare, as the night turned out very wet, and next day, Thursday, being no better, we remained there glad of its friendly shelter. Od Friday morning we left eavly and proceeded till we reached the Collins River, up which we ascended to the saddle dividing these waters from the Brown Elver, a tributary of the Rai.

Tin's saddle is low, and a good road could be made through it. The descent o' the Brown River is steep, and the bush very dense, and, as it had been raining heavily, we found travelling tedious and disagreeable. However, we soon reached flat ground, and, pushing on, had the satisfaction shortly of finding ourselves on the banks of the Rai river, a very gently runniug stream, from 30 to 40 yards wide, deep in places, flowing through a heavily timbered flat country of considerable extent, and, as a matter of course, very good soil. We found wild game in profusion, pigeons and ducks in great, abundance, and there are also wild pigs, and apparently, judging by their tracks, a good many wild cattle, so that the first settlers in that valley will have r.o difficulty in providing themselves with a variety of meat. Crossing at a ford, we follower] down the Rai to a spot to which Maoris are in the habit of resorting at certain seasons to catch eel?, and there found some totara bark set up as a sort of shelter, which was dignified by the name of a Maori whare. Here again we camped, and making a huge lire, we succeeded in dryin": our drenched dollies, sittinuc the while Maori fashion, each in his blanket. Next morning for some hours we travelled down the valley through splendid timber, until we approached its junction with the Pylorus ; here the hills ciose in, and the bed in many places is rocky, indeed in one spot, the entire river falls over a ledge of rock about 4 feet high, into a deep wide basin, and forms a very picturesque object, even when the river is low, and in times of flood must be very fine. Thence to the Pelorus was but a short distance, and at Cooper's we were soon comfortably housed, aud supplied with dry clothes. With regard to the extent of land available for settlement in the Rai, I am scarcely hi a position to estimate it yet, but there certainly is a great deal of very fine soil aud timber, but the weather was so unpropitious that I was unable, as I intended, to spend some time iv exploring np the Rai and the Opouri, which join higher up than the Brown liver, indeed, I was informed that the Opouri was the larger branch, and had more fiat land iv it than tbe Rai. I propose, however, shortly to examine this point also, when I will give you the result of my explorations. I cannot conclude without acknowledging the services of my guide, Mr. J. Brown, the accuracy with which he, without the slightest hesitation, led the way for us through so many miles of rough bush being remarkable. Ho lias a thorough knowledge of the country', and auy one desirous of exploriug thereabouts would do well to secure his services as guide.