GLEANINGS FROM A JOURNAL OF AN EXCURSION IN SEARCH OF A ROUTE TO THE WAIROO VALLEY.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 82, 12 May 1843, Page 4

GLEANINGS FROM A JOURNAL OF AN EXCURSION IN SEARCH OF A ROUTE TO THE WAIROO VALLEY.

(Concluded from page 228. ) Having refreshed our minds with thfe con-" temptation of the bounties of nature, we next proceeded to refresh our bodies with the Viands contained in our knapsacks, and, the necessity for abstemiousness being removed by oUr determination to return, we surrendered ourselves to an 'unrestrained devouring, - nay, to absolute feasting did it arrive, when a profusion of tongues, legs of mutton and divers preserved meats (goods things at all times, absolute luxuries now) were displayed from the hiding places where they had hitherto lain dormant. Having wound up our repast in true f Indian fashion, with the “ fragrant weed/’ indulged in ! silent abstraction, we set forth on our return; but by a different route to that of'our outward course, descending on the northern side of the mountain range we had last surmounted. At first we encountered large clusters of myrtle trees in full bloom, many of them thirty yards in circumference, which shed showers of scarlet terirs as we struggled through; but. ere long, we were obliged to bore through by far the most impervious thickets we had yet met with-: supplejack, manuka, prickly thorn, briers, anti convolvolus, twisted in the most admirable confusion, presented an almost impassable barrier; indeed, some conception may be formed of the ruggedness of our route, from the fact that, having at last sunk down almost -exhausted in the midst of this jungle, we inquired of one of the party, who had forced his way to the bed of a watercourse, what kind of walking ground he had got to -? when he, bearing in mind the last part of "our journey, seriously replied—- “ Very good : you are not above the middle in water, and must leave the stream now and then on, account of waterfalls: but it is, on the whole, a very good way!” . When we did get down to the stream, which was a.tributary of the most northern branch of the Wairoa, we found his description fully borne out; Indeed, what with stepping from crag to erag, and letting ourselves slide down the face of almost perpendicular masses of rock; our descent}'might most justly be pronounced doubly hazardous'; and many times did I wish for a mirror, in which, having observed the reflection of my countenance, I might be able to detect some, indications of my having been born to be hanged.; any approach to the Batbarossa style would have relieved my feelings much from the dread of a more immediate death, which feelings were reciprocated by the whole party. After a toilsome journey, down this watercourse, almost despairing of being able to procure a piece of ground level enough to lodge us for the night, we at last encamped- on soirid rough boulder at a bend of the stream, where we, in our usual manner, supped, and, coiled in our blankets, betook Ourselves to repose; but some few of the party conceiving, that such extra toil required extra libdtidns, remained to a late hour “ replenishing, the flowing bowl ;”. indeed, one individual; becoming : :very 1 confidential, unfolded' to us'; athongst his: latter pieces of information, divers pages of his dot; .mestic history, of which the untoward death of; his great grandmother,, at the j uvenile age ;of: 921 occasioned by a fall from her bed, notwithstanding the attention of the >la'dy. who, waited on her, was a prominent feature ; and it was only after sundry and oft-reheated re-: coinse to. the tiri pannakin he grasped that , he consoled himself by observing, “ tlfatj even had that aforesaid accident dot occurred, there . was at least a possibility that; iii the cdurSe of events,,she might, ,erd this, have paid the debt of nature.” Betaking, himself to his douch, cheered by the thought which had s fy .newty flashed, upon him, .all things rdlapsfed% into a ‘deep silence, unbroken Srive by the casriathootings of the mophawk, suspiciously regarding from his serie, the unwonted sight df out brightly burning watch-fire. .. ;; 17.—Started at ah early ’hour ‘dewn-. the stream, which became; after a'desceht.of. some three miles, a tolferdbly easy. way.. Encountered numbers of ducks, and . some. Woddbehs : arid kakaS, many of.which fell.victims, to out, guns, according to the approved prinbiplds by

M bf :, civiKzati6n” (?) areiiw jreiju!e<i \ r forests~ban|g' I, 1 'bang/!/ 1 atijending!Jtlie' r footfeteps;of ;the foremost-of - the /party/without/ intei'iiiisßioni iv ' Butwlib is that; who* Jwith-firm*’ rdgulrit, •• )ifl«^w-lik6 ! ' s ste]iW/‘ ‘‘his* -way) re* /or/ Cvef em,oy|ng*;r sfienif, *,withi.a r figiire spare abut! sinewy witlfaVriron-joifited,/ the. report: of h the object ; aimeH’ at;‘mßrb°c l ertriiii ns tMii 1 ' t Ar^i!e^’’ijger}? 1 .,..1s Leritherstbcking 1• * Or/ yrlthhie, black it not " the ffar-dreaded* widely-bruited Jibbe---tianofisy itself• In' alLcastes;A regular denizen of tbe woods is -hb, sneering <■ at the y su|ierflubus' juries borne byS'th'e/party! ‘ Ard not:.wild' iducics* woodhens, pigeons, kakas( and wild pigs sufficient for; food, , and the furs and skins of anirrialsy in theiri undressed state 1 , suitable- cloth- > :mgi and. handfotae withal ? Fo’r his' parti/ he 1 seeth/riot' the,'necessity of man's Lidding' himself down in.these smoky..towns; Faugh! He cannot sleep, within miles 1 ofthe > din and turmoil 'of them. Truly*' it is-hard to gainsay him* aitfioifgh wd' artificial/ hot-hoh^ei ! plants/ tli ougfi a reason for buf unbelief, still febl un-' perbuaded, and keep on pluming ourselves upon oiiri superior wisdom and happiness—happiness forsootn! Thus* live wb, this overweening/ hea|ven-t6uchirig fabric of J society, apparently’ increasing in strength and beauty, till, ever and ancin, with a sudden whirr, whirr—crash, crash —jumble, tumble, down falls the edifice, and, divested of its gilding<arid tinsel; discloses the rottenfiess, the candle-ends, and cheese-parings, in the innbrmost recesses. Staggering disclosure this, at first sight; but shortly built up again with 1 high-sounding ceremonies and reverential formulas, deemed imperishable at the present time, hut--we shall see. To return to ouf subject/ After a journey of sixteen miles down , this stream, now widened to a considerable‘magnitude, we stopped for the night, in the 'most commodious/ sleep-inviting; spot we had yet bivouacked 1 in.

18.—Rusumed our Course along the river, through* a country much the same as that we had traversed on the previous day, frequently wading’to/the'waist through deep pools of water. Camped at night within two or three miles *of the range of hills bounding the Waimiea valley on- the 1 east, rejoicing at' the near prospect'’ of'tH r e l<t domus” (and I would I could say) “placens uxors;” but this latter only applied to/one' arid supremely blessed individual of the party. Distance travelled this day fifteen miles.

19.—After’having followed the course ‘of the river fdr about a mile, the majority of the party ascended. the before-mentioned range of hills, and bent their course in a direct line for Nelson, whilst -Messrs. Tytler, Cautley, and myself continued our way along the river, which conducted us to the house of the former by four o’clock in thb afternoon, prepared to enjoy, after our toils the (to us) pleasures of a well-regulated, comfortable establishiri'ent, and the luxury of gbod beds, blit bearing no trophies or insignia Beyond those of torn clothes and shoes; which possessed however, the decidedly good quality of allowing the water to escape as fast as it entered. .*. With regard to the’geological phenomena of the. country, the following is the result of the scanty observations I was enabled to make without diverging- from the route. The basis of all the higher ranges, and the beds 1 of most of the rivers and watercourses, consisted of grauwack, generally of a very finely laminated texture, with a superstratum, in many places, of sandstone and fine silt, and in some few places of limestone. The beds of many of the streams contained large masses of conglomerate, consisting of the debris of various i'Ock, cemented together by tlie agency of-water impregnated with lime. In two places I observed trap, but nowhere, granite, although it is frequently found in the vicinity of Nelson. The tops of most of the lower ranges were covered with a- quantity of triturated, water-worn storiCS, rbeSfigf of rocks not at present in tlie rieighoGurhqod of the places where those stones : but on■ .the, higher and ihqre abrupt ranges; tlie fragments- found were metefly thC debris of the sriperjacent rodks. On the sidCs of one or two hills ovef which' passed, ,the taste and apipearance of, many of the springs, the sterile nature of the surface of the.soil, arid the tremiilous arid unsteady motion of the' cbtripass/ appeared to ifidiC&te the: nerghbdrit^oqfl^'ttfirott. ' Tfie oniy fruit wd, found were the fusia. globosa and a white, pearrshaped berry, of a delicious whiptCream; flavour, found on. a smrill shrub, preserit--ihjpn ihariy a ffeSeriiblatice td a variety ibfithe/frifiiily of thb but Which lam ihbiiiiiedi It has .rip/ affinity, t have already mentioned the : specimens we discovered of fldweriiig creepers, corivolvdluses* &c.> mhiiy df Which are'Well kridwfi ; btit prife father raid felfUbi fdfihd/tdWafds the fop of the hillS, Wris a bush, about four feet ,'liigh, with!, glossy, dark green leaves* nearly circular in shape and about one inch , in' length* bearing a profusion <Jf white fibwCrs' much thq'SC df, the ba’tnilia iti iriiriiatlii*b, afad . about ah inch ih'diameter.! / . , ; Edward W. Stafforb.