HONI HEKIANA.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume I, Issue 30, 3 May 1845, Page 3

HONI HEKIANA.

By the overland mail we have received the following intelligence from Auckland :—: — Honi Heki writes us word, that he is on the best possible terms with the Governor, having acknowledged, that what he had done was merely out of a boyish freak. The Governor is disposed to view his proceedings in the most favourable light, considering that some vent should be given to the waggish disposition of the aborigines, and intends erecting flagstaffs on every accessible hill within ten miles of Auckland, as he believes the exercise of cutting them down will carry off any peccant humours in the natives which might otherwise induce them to commit some serious mischief. Honi further informs us, that he dines with the Governor every day ; and that on one occasion, when they were talking over the debates in the Council respecting the relative merits of the Chief Protector of Aborigines and the Chief Officers of the Government, he (Heki) proposed the following for the Governor's solution :—: — " That, as, before the appointment of the Protector, the Natives and Europeans lired on the most friendly terms (but now were at enmity with each other), what was the value of the services of the Chief Protector ?" Also, " The value of the services of the Protector beina; ascertained, required the estimate of the services of the five Chief Officers of Government, which Fitzroy acknowledged was not equal to. that of the Chief Pi otector ?" As a closer, Heki proposed the following :—": — " Given the time that it took him (Heki) to cut down the flagstaff, to know how long it would take Fitzroy to cut Jtis stick?" The Governor was struck speechless.

In a former_namber we published some extracts from a letter from J. Thomas, Esq., to Col. Wakcfield, referring to a journey made by the former, with Mr. Harrison, along the E^st coast to Table Cape. As these extracts excited a good deal of interest, we have great pleasure in publishing the following account of their journey from Mr. Thomas's journal : — *" JOURNAL OF A WALK ALONG THE EAST COAST, FROM WELLINGTON TO TABLE CAPE, BY MESSRS. THOMAS AND HARRISON. We left Wellington the 9th October 1144, and arrived the next day at the opening of the Wairarapa lake. As we could not cross the river, and did not fall in with any natives, we travelled on the west side of the lake ; but being informed the nexc day that the sheep and cattle stations were on the opposite side, we returned ; and the next day, the wind, which had been very high, having subsided, we crossed the lake to a pa called Pokokirikiri, and proceeded up the valley to procure a guide ; after two hour's walk we found a great number of natives, who had assembled to have a crying-match with some of their friends from Otago ; having procured a guide, we proceeded up the valley, and reached a cattle station, where we stopped for the night ; the valley here is from 6to 7 miles wide, and is much wider than near the sea ; the level land, as well as the adjacent hills, is covered with grass. — 13. — To-day being Sunday, our native, who was a missionary, refused to proceed ; we soon found, however, his disinclination to accompany us arose from having received his payment ; after much delay, we got rid of him by making him return part of the payment ; about a mile further is the cattle station of Messrs. Clifford and Vavasour, where we stopped for the night. — 14. — After leaving this station, our road lay for 8 miles across a beautiful grassy plain, when we reached a small settlement called Wangaroa, situated on a river of the same name at the foot of the hills ; here we were again detained in order to procure a guide over the hills to the sea ; from this place we saw the gorge in the hills through which the road from Wairarapa to the valley of the Huttwill pass ; when this is completed, it will open not only Wairarapa, but all the upper country by a connected series of valleys, with the Manawatu, and on to Houriri, in Hawke's Bay. — 15. — Our road now lay nearly east ; the first four miles the path led along the bank of the Wangaroa river; we then ascended some hills, till we came to an old warre, where the road divides the one going to the sea towards Wairarapa, the other leading across the hills to Pahaua ; we followed the latter into a valley, through which runs a small river called the Wangaihu ; quitting this, we turned off to the S.E., and again ascended the hills, which in this part are very high ; from their summits we had a fine view of the Wairarapa valley, the Tararua range, and to the S.E. the sea; this range, which runs from Cape Palliser northwards, is much broken, but there is a good deal of grass, which would

afford much pasturage for cattle. We now descended rapidly to the settlement and river, which lay beneatli us : at this place, called Pahaua, we stopped for the night; there is a large pa and potatoe grounds, but nc natives ; a good fire served to make up for a cold bed on the bank of the river. On the lGth we recommenced our journey; we travelled the whole day along the bed of the liver Pahoua frequently taking us up to the middle ; this was occasionally relieved by some dry walking over the shinglj beach ; the banks of this river on each side are steep tc the water's edge, and is therefore perfectly useless as £ means of communication with the sea ; at three o'clock to our delight, the valley opened out to a flat, and we soon found ourselves on the sea shore, where was a smal settlement and some natives. - The next day we pursued our walk along the sea shore. All the day we found good walking, with plenty of streams and fire-wood, and the district abounding witl fine pasture. In the afternoon we stopped at a settle, ment situated on a small plain called Ko-ouranghi, when we had some potatoes and cray-fish, after which we con tinued our walk till the evening, when we lit our fire and prepared our bivouac on the sea shore. Starting the next day at half-past six, we walked alonj a sandy beach till eight, when the side being high, w< had much difficulty to pass some cliffs against which thi sea beat ; we next arrived at a small river called tin Kaihoto, where we found some natives travelling north wards waiting for the tide ; they were, as usual, verj inquisitive and disagreeable, which indeed is the character of the natives of this district ; after a walk of twenty miles, we.stopped at sunset near the Warreama river. In passing this coast, it will be necessary to travel af low water, when the walking will be good, and the rocks easily passed ; at six the next morning we crossed the Warreama ; the water was very cold, and took us at low water up to our necks }' here is a good valley, and possibly more communication may be found with the upper part of the Wairarapa valley ; there is a small sandy bay into which the river discharges itself, and which is the only place free from rocks we have met with in our walk along the beach : small coasters might enter and load here in the river ; after walking four or five miles along the sand, we were compelled by the tide to ascend some' cliffs , as there was no path, the walking was heavy l,through high fern and grass ; at noon we reached Castle Point ; the land is high and broken in the neighbourhood, and hare of trees ; at Castle Point there is a small harbour, which would afford shelter to two or three coasters ; to the northward of the Point there is also good anchorage in a sandy bay, sheltered fronvtkeN.W., W., and S.E. ; it would make an excellent whaling station and the natives are anxious for white people to go there. There are very few of them, some half dozen living in a small valley called Rangiwakahama, the native name for castle point. In the afternoon of the 20th, the tide answering,- we walked to Muttikoona', a distance of eight or nine miles.* At Castle point we saw the wreck of a small schooner lost some time back ; the coast about Castle point, and three or miles to the northward, it is free from the rocks which line the shore almost the whole way from Pahawa, and which precludes even the launching, of a boat. We resume our journey on the 21st at five a. m. ; we had not gone two miles when we were attacked by some natives, who snatched at our things ; there were some sixteen or seventeen, but many pretended to be our friends ; I gave my package to one of the boys, when a scufie ensued — to put a stop to this, we were obliged to return to the pah and see the chief, by name William , a great missionary ; he pretended to be terribly enraged, and after keeping us till noon, he returned some things taken in the conflict, charging us four shirts and one lb. of tobacco, with which he satisfied the thieves ; and these missionaries call us white people devils f after a walk of eight miles we turned off the beach, an&'passing over some hills, decended into the little valley of the Bahonga, through which a river of the same name passes ; this we crossed in a canoe to the settlement opposite, where we stopped among a rascally ragged looking set ; they were not so bad as their looks though, for they gave us plenty of excellent pork ; this river is large, but has a bad entrance, bar and rocks — liLe the I Warrema, it rises in the Puketoi range Leaving this place the next morning, we walked over rocks for three hours, when we came to a point forming a fine bay and anchorage, with a settlemont and rher called Akiti ; there is a pretty valley here which may communicate with the Manawatu ; small coasters might enter the river, and vessels have formerly anchored in the bay ; but the entrance to the river is very limited, heing confined by a long narrow sand spit. * Mr. Harrison descended this river in April, 1844, on his journey from Manawatu — he says along the rivet no road could be made, as it is similar to the Pahawa. with steep banks to the rivers edge. (To be continued.)