NOTES

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 641, 5 June 1852, Page 3

NOTES

Of a short Tour into the Interior of the Northern Colony of Nfw Zealand, in March and Apiil, 1852. (Continued.) Soon after sunrise, on the morning of the 30th, we were moving up the river ; and, in passing a canoe moored to the river bank, we observed a number of native women assembled round a fire on shore, who, like ourselves, appeared to have been encamped for the night in their journey Tip the river. We ascended some four or five miles before nine o'clock, and breakfasted on a pleasant spot, adjoining some native huts, whore a few Maories appeared to have taken up their temporary residence, and who presented us with a quantity of fruit of the kohutuhutu, which is edible, and hi taste and flavour resembles the juniper ; the flowers of tins tree are different in colour, being purple and green. The river is very fine for some distance above this place, being broad and deep, with low banks, which are open, with patches of wood. At a place called by the natives the " Pukatea," we observed a canoe, full of pebplo, swooping down the river towards us ; and our natives, with their usual sharp-sightedness, immediately announced them to bePakchas; and, on its nearer approach, we discovered it to be Brigade-Major Greenwood and Lieutenant Gladwin Wynyard, 58th llegt., with their party of natives, who had travelled overland from Wellington to Wanganui, and by arduous and persevering labour had ascended, the Wanganui river, in a canoe, near to its source, and crossing the country to the west of the Taupo lake, had reached the Waipa, and, embarking in a canoe, came down that river into the Waikato; and, after five weeks travelling from Wellington, had arrived hero on their journey to Auckland. It appears that the current of the Wanganui river is strong and rapid, which render its navigation both tedious and laborious ; and, in ascending it, the canoes are propelled with setting poles,.and sometimes dragged by towing lines : besides which, strength and manual dexterity are necessary in order to conquer the force of the wayward stream. Above the " Pukatea" the country is level, and we u,<.tended i'or many miles without seeing a tree;

there are, however, numerous native vill gos, with their patches of cultivation, to he soon, which in some measure break the monotony and enliven the scene ; but though very uninteresting in appearance, there is a great extent of country available, and of the greatest fertility. Towards the evening, Aye arrived at one of the long reaches in the river, which is upwards of five hundred yards broad, and resembles a lake. At this place the channel of the river^ appears to have only been lately extended to its present size, as in some parts numerous stumps of trees are existing, and apparently still remaining where they grew. A short distance to the left there is a large lake, five or six miles long-, called Waikiri, which is connected with the Waikato by a small stream, navigable for canoes. The natives assert that there are numbers of fish in this lake : besides the eel (which is everywhere to be found) there is a flat fish like a flounder, and another described as resembling the kawai. Wo encamped this evening at a place called Randall's, where a person of that name resided, and whom the natives denominated a "Pakeha Maori." The Pakeha Maori is a specimen of a class which, at one period, were numerous in New Zca- ] land, and in the early days of the Settlement frequently to be found in the district of the Waikato, I but now almost extinct. They were usually sailors, probably deserters from whaling ship", or some of them may have found their way to the colony under still more questionable circumstances, and a few porb ips may hava been respectable, but had become so accustomed to the native mode of living and idleness of a bush life, that they had lost all relish for any regular occup ition, and preferred the pleasures, freedom, and novelty of savage life, to industry and civilization. This class of persons usually lived under I the protection of some chief, in native fashion, ' having a wahiue for a wife, and a troop of halfcaste children, who were all birnighfcup as Maorics. The Pakeha Maori invariably sunk to the level of the native character, if not below it, and would occasional^ join them in a tavj, or foray upon a neighbouring chief. Before New Zealand became a'Britisli colony they were people of great importance and treated as Rangatiras, being emj ployed in negotiating all transactions between the natives and Europeans, and particularly active in obtaining' supplies of muskets c mrl otliei mxuiitions of war, which were at that time in gnat i demand ; but since the foundation of the colony the natives have become acquainted with a diffeient class of people, and the Pakeha Maori has gradualty sunk in their estimation, and has now not only ceased to be appreciated, but treated with contempt. They arc, however, almost extinct — and at the present time there is not more than one specimen of the class remaining in the whole of the Waikato district. On the following day, at noon, we arrived at Kaitotihe, where there is a Mission Station an.l Native Pah, and which is about five or six miles below the junction of the Waipa. Kaitotih* is a pretty place, and the mission-house, a comfortable looking building, is pleasantly sitmtcd on a level spot at the base of a range of hills, a few hundred yards from the river : the hoxiso is fronting the Waikato, and immediately on the opposite side there is a beautiful cone-shaped hill, called Taupiri, of considerable height, and covered from top to bottom with masses of foliage, which is a fine and peculiar looking object, and seen from a great distance. The native pah is situated near to the mission-house, and enclosed and fortified in the usual style, with a considerable extent of cultivated land adjoining it. We proceeded up the river in the af'e 'noon, which was more pleasant than travelling under the rays of a noonday sun. A short distance above Kaitotihe, the scenery on the right side of the river is of the finest description. There is a chain of hills of considerable height, densely wooded, and highly picturesque, ranging regularly within a lew hundred yards of the river for two or three miles, and extending to the junction of the Waipa, which are extremely beautiful, and is the finest specimen of river scenery we had seen on the Waikato. At the junction of the Waipa, the river is broad and deep ; and, although the current is someAvhat rapid, there is not a ripple to be seen, and the surface of the uniting sir jams appear as smooth as if oil had been poured over the face of the mingling waters. The delta at the junction is the extremity of an extensive block of table land, and terminating in a point or cliff, about twenty feet above the level of the rivet 1 , apparently of a permanent description, and must have stood in its present state for some length of time, as it bears no marks of having been worn away by the action of the two streams. This point commands the river, and a couple of field-pieces placed in this spot could sweep the stream below, and sink everything that approached it. The natives kept our cunop close to the opposite shore, and ascending a little way above the junction, put about, and shooting downwards across the stream, aided by the current, entered the Waipa, and, waving their paddles in the air bade " good-bye " to the Waikato. (To be continued.)