JOURNAL

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 613, 18 June 1851, Page 4

JOURNAL

Of an Expedition Overland from Auckland to Taranaki, by way of Rotorua, Taupo, and the West Coast, undertaken, in the Summer of 1549-50, by His Excellency the Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand.

(Continued from No. 605.)

To return, however, to the incidents of the journey after this long digression. Having seen all that was to be seen at Te Awa Hou we made the best of our way back to Puhirua, where, on our arrival, we found the tents struck and everything in readiness for a start, so we set out at once in canoes for Ngahuapiri, the largest settlement on the north siae of the lake, where the Governor had promised to meet the chiefs of Ngatikereru to have a conference with them about a boundary in dispute between them and Ngatipikiao, a powerful tribe inhabiting the adjoining lake of Roto Iti, On arriving at Ngahuapiri we were met by a chief named Moses, a consequential little man, who seemed to have a great deal to say to make up for his deficiency in size. He told us that the people were all away and could not be collected before evening, so we must needs encamp outside the village and remain there till Monday. Mr. Moses’ arrangements would, however, by no means suit our party, for besides the inconvenience and waste of time that it would entail, his Excellency had sent word to Mrs Chapman (in reply to a very kind invitation that morning received from her) that we should oe at Te Ngae (Mission Station) this evening Moses was terribly disappointed at this, and said it was treating him very unfairly, as we had remained a niaht at Puhirna.

ernor, however, was inflexible, so he kept us in talk for half an hour longer while he sent messengers for the people. Presently a lons procession appeared m sight, inarching in single file and preceded by a solemn looking old gentleman gravely bearing a red ensign stuck on the end of a long pole. The assemblage on the whole had an extremely ludicrous appearance ; a few were dressed in their proper and very becoming costume as native chiefs, with their kaitaka, dogskin and other mats usually worn by those of high degree; but by far the greater number were decorated by at least one or two articles ol European clothing, amongst which were soldiers condemned schakos, hats of all kinds ancient black coats evidently cast off by the missionaries, antique waistcoats exhibiting every colour of the rainbow, boots and shoes of every description, whilst trowsers, shirts, blouses, &c., of every conceivable hue and pattern were plentifully dispersed among them One olu gentleman with a grey hea°d and grizzly beard and moustaches excited so much amusement amongst us that I cannot resist giving a description of his dress which consisted simply of a long grey worsted stocking on one leg, counterbalanced by a worn out Wellington boot on the other, and a striped shirt tied round the waist by a string of harakeke, the whole being surmounted by the So)dier ’ s worn out bearskin schako. This man seemed to be of some consequence, and could mo doubt have dressed nimseit very handsomely in the appropriate maon costume, but the opportunity of ex

ti,„ , -.Mv -a Ullco seaiea tnemselves in a semicircle in front of our position, and the speechifying began. At first it was between the people of the place and Te Heu Heu> aftw Zbon? th 6 ’ 7 a k ° rer ° With the Governor about their dispute with Ngatipikiao. When this was ended Moses got up and began maing a speech, though what it was all about no one could tell, as before he had ten minutes the whole party was fast aL/p He hammered away for about three-quarters of an hour and at last came to a conclusion was cooked7wh S ereup™n tL an was^aVonce 011 which w : a x d t ate,y started whikt tho t j niende(l t 0 keep us occupied should start 'rf -T cooke(I . '“‘ WB and “.X 2“ h X;. he "“7“ -s an .good. ; ted der that they might show their resnec* r--,’ affection for Ink Pr,.„iu re-peCi, ami r • ~ -Excellency the Governor " is fricnds - T P fdays U P° Q the best of g be country could produce Whiktib

particular notice, excepting , Having seen all that was worth ; and the natives having emptied calabashes, we set out for Te 'M B M arrived after a drear, pull ot of hours, obtaining, > n. ( |, the Island of Mokoia which ’*»* the centre of the lake, and which L?‘">» former days as a place of r»f u „ war. Here the, could always L. “ nn »ot their enemies, however powerful all their canoes with them, until', tati Dg the famous Hongi, under whose» Ngapuhi dragged their canoes Maketu by way of Roto Elm and ft r °°> and stormed the stronghold of the ? Ili « people, committing a slaughter whinh l ° r ° a day is alluded to with horror bv all tOtlli ’ of the district. ‘ the “Stives On our arrival at Te Ngae we w ved at the landing place by a «a r . We . r two hundred native's ‘who welched the old maori chaunt which mav ,i. U 8 Wllll dered ybß ren. “ Welcome Oh stranger from beyond th o , My darling child hath brought thee thence °h"e P * rt Welcome, Oh welcome!”

This welcome is sung by the whole p ar(Vat with one voice, accompanied by dancin? waving of white red and blue blankets, st? andkerchiefs, &c., and has amostexhiPrad ’ Pleasing effect as they seem to & who e heart and soul into the song and <l a n Cf and have all the appearance of giving a up? come to the new comer as free and hearty « it is unanimous and vociferous. 3 Mr Chapman was absent atMaketu where he had expected to meet us, but Mrs Ch-n man gave us a most cordial reception Z we soon forgot all the hardships we had uo? dergone whilst enjoying the excellent fare and kind treatment which we received under her hospitable roof. We had the pleasure o 5 meeting Mrs. Smith and her son from Auckland, Mr. Smith being on a visit to the hot springs for the benefit of his health. Sunday, December 23.—We attended Di. vine service in the chapel this morning. The -rv lC - v .n luc uauve Janguage j WBg well conducted by a young man named Pole'. ne , Or , ?° lton ’ tlle P”ncipal chief of Te Ngae and Mr. Chapman’s head native teacher’ Ibe chapel, the appearance of which is any. thing but imposing from the outside, is neatly fitted up within, with tastefully made pulpit, and communion railings, and is kept scrupulously clean. The congregation were for the most part well dressed and clean, and went through the service, as the natives always ao, with reverence and accuracy, The girls of Mrs. Chapman’s school, in number about twelve or fourteen, looked extremely well, being all more or less good looking and uniformly dressed in clothes made of the same material and of exactly siruar P attern - The y were marched into Church by their matron, a respectable lookmg elderly dame, and took their seats on the steps of the altar in regular order according to their ages, which vary from eight to fourteen or fifteen. After service, the weather eing remarkably fine, we strolled about the p ace, which is prettily situated on the southern side of the lake, nearly opposite to the Island of Mokoia, of which, and of the high timbered land on the north shore with the

intervening lake, there is a fine view from the front of the house. The house itself is built of raupo, very neatly lined with battens o wool ’instead of the usual materia! of ree s fastened on in the native mode, and painted blue, red, and black, in a manner perfectly novel and unique and which has a very pleasing effect. The grounds are tasteu y laid out, though now somewhat out of or er, the trees having grown so fast as I® have almost choked one another. There is “ oplenuid orchard of nearly an acre in extent, and stocked with apples, peaches, nectarines, plums, cherries, and raspberries, all in full bearing, and the latter two just ripening, the quality of which we took care to test and found them excellent and most refreshing in the hot weather. The land hereabouts oes not seem to ba very good, being covered to the average depth of about a foot with a fine pumice sand in which grasses, &c. f not flourish, and which it is necessary to remove altogether for the purpose of making a garden or planting trees.

(To be continued.)