THE WEST COAST DISTRICTS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4956, 9 February 1877, Page 2

THE WEST COAST DISTRICTS.

' (FKOM 'OUR SPBCTAL RfcP9BTER.)" .;.:....■'■:: . T .:.TO-VAVEAi t _ .;-. : .-, ■;,..-; -' "As one rides' north from" Wanganui the shape of,the country is pretty.,uh?foi;m; From where the sandhills',cease, near the sea coast, to the main bush and ranges, runs a mostly. open" tableland^". intersected. at iater^als 1 by. deep and wmdirig' ! gu|[liesj' the sidiss of' which are clothed>ih the matted" bush which covers timber land in New Zealand, whilst; at their bottoms rivers and streams 'flow to the ocean.The further north to,Mount Egmont" the" fur,th'er back the table apparently extends, until at the- Waimate Plain" the hills which bound it on" the inland side disappear,: and the edge of the bush is no longer coincident with the commencement of the ranges, but covers what to the eye looks like a "flat without limit. The_ time is but a few years back since the country" was the scene of fighting ; when Colonel Whitmore (whose name, by the way, is treated with unaccountable irreverence in the district) marched his men up the coast, and, like the king of nursery rhyme celebrity, marched them down again ; when redoubt upon redoubt was built and occupied to the north ; when the hideous mistake of Ngatu-o-te-manu sacrificed so many brave men, when Captain Ross- fell} and Hunter, the'best drill in ■ the country, smarting .under... an imputation 'of cowardice, offered, himself to death .at the first opportunity;, when, in fact, everything was as unlike : what "it is now, as possible, when settlement stretches up to the Wairgoru Kiver, and justbeyond; our old enemy. Titokowaru;;.liv.es; at peace with all mankind. 5 All the ! tablelarid. I have mentioned is of most recent and conglomerate formation, and hasy-JBi.»ijgeological sense, been not long since upheaved' from ( the - sea. ...Where the'road ; descends into and [ascends out of the- steep-gorges by sidings and ' cuttirigs, v the. formation.gf the 'sbil is in'the many .deposits of sea- , shells which are used for metalling the roadway. . •■';-:";.:',-i ; ;'. ■• "i -£ : ''z---'":- j % The first place .worth visiting, on leavingWanganui is that of Mr. Watt, managed: by: Mr. Napier. : The. Restate comprises some" 4700 acr.es; half being the property of MrWatt himself, and half being that of the heirs of his late partner, Captain Taylor. The whole farm has the advantage of having been occupied and brought .under cultivation Mong be-, fore many of the properties adjacent to it, or those which farther up the coast can only date their development from the last cessation of hostilities, and in the later native disturbs arices' the troops and settlers have never retreated beyond its boundaries, consequently it has not been given to fire, and plunder, like the ' property of others, nor like them has it suffered check upon check in' its cultivation. As a result, it is literally a model farm, its large grass paddocks clean and free • from > weeds and thistles, the bush judiciously cleared, leaving patches from which*the undergrowth has been removed, and which impart a park-like appearance -to the scene. The homestead is situated on the edge of the little Lake Wiestmere, which,- as I men-.. tioned in a previous is to be sooa connected with Virginia Water, iu order that the water supply of Wanganui may be without possibility of failure. On Lake Westmere are numerous waterfowl, including black swans, and a solitary white, one. The property carries 8000 head of sheep and 700 cattle, and having ridden over it with the manager, I can testify to its admirable condition in every respect. It is, in fact, essentially like one of the large high-class grazing farms which might be met with in many portions of the old country. In one paddock a fine rick of hay was •being' formed, which, when completed, would contain some seventy tons, and a horse having been, to its top so far as formed, was used for tread-,, ing down the hay, doing the work of twelve men..: . .

Having passed. Mr. Watt's, we come to the properties, amongst others, of Messrs. Peat and Alexander and of Mr. Goodson, and after - nine miles descent into Kai-Iwi Valley, leavjjig on our left,hand the redoubt which formed.the furthest limit of retreat under ColoheJ\ Whitmore, and in front of'us the hill on which the Maoris constructed]-* pa, from which after a time they retreated. - -,'. Emerging from Kii-lwi Valley, an,cl leaving the road at its left-hand side at a point near where a number of Maori whares arts situated, a couple of miles through fera landjtqngues ; of bush and'paddocka bring_ the traveller to the residence of Messrs. Currie and Moore, owners of a large station of leased and freehold land. The dwelling-places which these gentlemen have recently erected for,* themselves,' and where the visitor is sure of a hospitable reception, are noticeable as being the" exact things that such dwelling-places should be. Instead of endeavoring to ;reproducl in wood feeble imitations of the square heavy brick and stone houses of; the old country, Messrs. Currie and Moore have made - theirs suitable to the climate by building them of one storey, roomy, and covering a large space of ground, whilst around each runs a wide and commodious verandah. Sloping lawns; gay with flowerbeds, front them, and largs fruit and vegetable gardens are at their rear. The history of Messrs. Currie and 'Moore's station is, unfortunately for themselves, identified with the history of the country. They had their property leased from the Maoris before the last native disturbances, had it stocked and occupied, and had their woolshed and homestead on that portion of their present property, lying to seaward of the main road, which, as I ought to have mentioned if I have not ddae so, runs north at distances from the sea line varying from five miles to one. When the natives came down the coast, the troops retreating before them, Messrs. Currie and Moore stuck to their statiou, occupying the woolshed with their sta- j tion hands, and having the satisfaction of j

seeing their house at but a short distance burnt down. There was much bitterness of feelingand that between the settlers and troops as to these and similar occurrences. As' we may be pretty confident that such things will never again happen here, it will be better to let the dead past bury'its dead in reference to these matters. ... .; From Messrs. Currie and Moore's we so through Maxwelltown (a hotel >d a house). and on to Nukumaru, another name of "sad remembrance, and topping a slight rise, find tfc<t country mere plain-like, and less Tindufetor for a space; and in front of us Mount Egmont, rising ■ conical and • snow-capped into the clouds. ■ All along the road are farms, We and small, but all bearing evidence of comfort It is noticeable, however, that without one or two exceptions (notably one furhished bv Mia system of tillage which would kee{rwy oneT fifth of the farm under orop each year, and so provide that m no case 6ovH&th&paiitvT&ge be- ' Lcome by age bitter, hard, and tMelew Of course itis urged inmost Easbeea short aMm itffit there >■■& '■ as yettur necessity for this, add?that until the ' thistles, which, replace? the fern Sad succumb" before cattle) h»ve;dls%peare4j"-»nd thfe true JartificialiiasWre has been estabUsaed, the time for cropping a portion of'a farm each year will ' "not h>ye arrived, Bnt,*asjJ;JMivelsald, one i or two settlers are offering practical contradictions;to this.;: cause o£ '■ the want .tillage, which igt but apparent In.almost every directionj4ise,that tor*toro or ■' three-years it profieable, in consequence of the high 'price to buy store .' cattle- and fatten them v this plan having alsb the o£ '■'■) ■gradually working out thethistles.- -gut as- ' latterly' fat cattle have declined itt price, while ; atores,. -in consequence of few itt' a»e district ! iaving gone in for J>reeding,f.lj a ve increased, it is.j»ore,than probable thatthe farmers will be •forced,totoa fresh Jsyster^oV.vx? s . : "."~"" "t " ' . At the. -inforce,-;and r l ma^^d^idHi^tnela'ttefc' more especially, ' There U ftlarge n^fiveTsettle ß "ment here,; the'inhabitants-of which »t toe'' ' time pf my visit filled th«j ,over. Bowed on to the;, y,erqndah>aod permeated the stable-yard and spface between the front of the building a9d the road. ..As the most part of : '- the Maoris w,ere/pretty f drunk,"aijc? those who were, not were doing, their become so, the scene, though interest'ing astan outcoipe of 'savagedom in contact "with civilisation," was not cheering to the theory that it is the duty of white men ,to .elevate ~t>e social-b'abits of the Maori by teaching and! by; example. - Yet whilstl ard bound to Bay the Maoris wereTdrankj. it is also true that no pakeha'; could ,repwach them with being so. without", feing. remihdeol that the natives.were doiugrio worae, than they had seen : their inyidera ;doi. sAnd. further, I must testify, to the fact'ttujjlie Maoris were in . ttie • best good hSinouredly lintoxioftted. T. h ?re ywas gboA deal of; rather « speechifying and?, some singing, r going on, but thiere was- no bjrayiing oßfighting::;^ l had the Tionor of distfajguished character,Kereopa,- the subjectof frequent.paragraphs®iheWangaiuhpapers; f . It, is - scarcely; necarsiry to men!tion .that the gentleman under notice is not identical with one of .the, Ba;ineitiame:h»aged some years ago, though really. Considering tbe-i extraordinary changes in the attitudes ol some natives who have been bur foes,-1* cannot say that it would astonish'me to hear .that Kereopa, wh,o eat,the Eev.'Mr. "Vfolkner's eyes and was executed, jwais living peacefully somewhere, and had graciously intimated that he would let the pakehas'alone if they would let him alone. However this is not to the purpose. The Kereopa, -whom I met-at JWaitotara stands- about six feet tWo in his stockings," I should say, and was dressed ia a costume forming an effective, combination of that of an Irish stage peasant and a navvy out of luck." Asm war: he had a irather'ferocious habit of tearing out the rhearts of!the slaia and .hastily." dining upon -them, can .safely . say that to me he'appeared to be decidedly the better for- drink,- which ;had an-apparently 5 soothing jand, peaceful effect up.Qn.hui ttoh. His introducer conducted- the necessary . ceremony with a simplicity worthy of the child of - nature whom he. wai exhibiting. He caught Kereopa by- the collar, broughVhim in ■ front of us, 1 turned his face towards us, and said "Look at him." "Kereopa smiled a smile rof" beaming| joyj; sa'd soniethiajr"lhsr*ouhded |like " ['; and, oh shame for the reputation of, so;;famous and bloodthirsty a j sfaifriorj was turned round and dismissed with |a ceremonious- but harmless kick on that part ' of: his' which it is presumed he would j least -expose! to an enemy. .IWiitbtara being in'a valley, the sides-of the valley being covered, with bush, and, there being-no settlement in sight of-its fe,w tousesi, does _ not" look. so. 'prosperous as. other places. Yet it can support a telegraph office, and has a pretty thriving appearance..._;Bllt it.is.when ; Waverley, the next; township, situated on the ( tablelarid midway be'tween Waitotara and ; Patea is got to, that the best and most prosperous settlement In appearance"■'since" leaving Wanganui is reached. Waverley, it may be incidentally remarked, has three hotels and no churches. It may be alse incidentally remarked thathere, as in other places,! found an agent for and subscribers to the. New Zealand Mail, which seems to have extended its .circulation very far from Wellington. Trode off "from the road line at: Waverley went back amongst the numerous farms which-streteh~up~to-the bush It is quite apparent that,'here at leasts and for the most part along the coast, I think, the road has on its' inner r side, the,beeiV land. I passed over the farjn's-of3£ejssrs.lßrHge_and others in the neighborhood, and: in. all cases found evidence of thriving 'settlement, and of land of the highest quality. "Waverley te all appearances has many advantages, in its favor, being the centre of what is here, comparatively speaking a thickly settled district. 'The various farms, though by no means insignificant, do not run into extremes of smaUneea, yet they are all sufficiently small to. ensure that subdivision of the land, which" secures success in settlement. It may further: be noticed in connection with the Waverleyj'. and indeed all of what may be _ called the Patea districts, that whereas the land (which is confiscated. land) was originally assigned to miUtary "Settlers; it is pow in the possession of settlers having almost invariably 1 parted with their land,grants, I ', without 'a single settlement or improvemerifc So much in New Zealand at least is, I am happy to say, an exploded idea, namely, that colonisation '" by military is even practicable, let ad■'yisable. . '..';■ '.'" "-■"""* J ..i'.'.-'.,.„ " The notable point between Waverley and Patea is the crossing place of River ; and here I may point out A laudable prevailine up.and down the coast,'from : Manawatu to Patea and back "again. The settlers at or in the, neighborhood of each river are confident that theirs'is the best and most accessible from seawards, and alfogfiiner. most navigable on" the whole coast line between the points I have named. ThUßf'at Foxton it waapointed out to me that in reality the only suitable place, to which the whole trade in wards and outwards of the,West Coast should "converge, was the Manawatu. At Rangttikei an old settler, §cott, jderided the pretensiogs of any other river except that; upon.;whose bank he had lived so long. The people of Wanganui merely laughed to scorn the bare idea that a vessel could get in with safety anywhere else than over their bar. At Waitotara some doubt was expressed as to whether a ship of the line could not get a certain distance up at, high water. There was not quite so much confidence in respect to Kai-Iwi and Whenuakura ; but at Pat-ea, under the auspices of, a newlyformed Harbor Board, facilities for shipping, which will quite put Waaganui in • the shade, are soon to be afforded. Ido not write this] [ ridicule of the- facts stated. The spirit 6i rivalry shown is not likely to be altogether an unhealthy one," nor do I deprecate the existence of a' similar spirit shown by the inhabitants of each district or township as to the quality.of the land on which they depend for support, and as to the resources of their.. re« spective districts. Patea is some forty miles from Wanganui, The county of the same name commences at the Waitotara Kiver, where that of Wanganui ends, and extends, roughly speaking, to the Taungatuatara River, on this side of Opuaske*

I have used the word Patea to name a town-, •bro, because the same is used every where. up and down the coast. In reality the name ot the town is Carlyle, but is as little applied to it as Milton is to Tokomairiro, Sandhurst to Bendigo, or Maldon to Tarrengower. Carlyle lies on the northern bank of the Patea River, from its bank up the steep declivity it has cut in the plain, and runs a Bhort distance overthe plain itself. It is quite close to the river mouth, the bar at which is .navigable at high water for vessels drawing 6ft. On the south of the river mouth is what has been termed .- indifferently" a Bpit or boulder bank, and a reef, ©a the utilisation of which by means of protective works raised along it a good many people depend for considerably deepening the channel over the bar. There have been elected to the Harbor Board Messrs. Kells, Shenyood, Williams, and J*ilroy, and Government have yet the appointment of three members. JA"« area bf the township may be: taken, at, /ou acres, including a shallow lake on the coast. '• side of twelve acres, which can never be usea 'lor a water-supply. , There is a torge lmmigrationdepot at Patea, erected at a cost of Aouu. -It is now used as a County CouncU office. ,The membex& .ot I'thei County>CouncUiare 5 ■ Messrs." Kells (chairman); Sherwood, Dale, Uvingstoae;,;Howard,. Bridge, rand Kennah... The townslilphas on. its jrate-roll 170 house;. Ibldersjaidtts population is estimated at i 60. As many of the householders, a* indeed of the 'settlers throughout these newly' settled dis-. ' : are young married'" people, and as -, tbey are affording-. .ample ; evidences: of being blessed in tfys future by havrogtheir'■'quivers fnll of them," a rapid inciease in' population, by the most natural and purely .. DBascdsted' Scheme of iirimigrati'n, ma y " e reasonably, .expected. The Local Board of 'Carlyle has for members Messrs. Sherwood . (chairman),: Milroy, McCarthy, Taplin, William's, Rhodes, and .Hirst. There are town ■ endowments,' which it is computed will very , , soon bring in a revenue of £7OO a-year, and ' with the rates and ordinary town resources the !;total : revenue," "exclusive of subsidies, will be ■upwards of .£IOOO a-year.; The places of wor--'ship are the Church of* England, Wesleyan, -r and Roman CathoUcfwitli Dasent, Law, and P.ertina as minister* respectively. •Pateais the port of what, id now a very im- " pbrtant district, and one which will; become' " much more so as. settlement,.extends! This .-district, running to the furthest verge of set- ..; tleJQttent towards the break which occurs ;be- - .tween it and Taranaki; draws all its'supplies V from Patea, to which'in the case of goods they are brought from Wanganui by the little 'steamer Tongariro, and _ in the case of timber . mostly from Pelorus Sound. , There' is hot much done in the latter respect however out- ■ side the'immediate neighborhood of the town, 'as there is a sawmill at Ketemarea, eight miles 'from Hawera, which is only worked on half - time'though,- the local demand for its product /•barely 1 needing that. ■'" . ; ' ■ '■•',i lieaVirig Patea in* the af terrioori, -and getting ' to found that a sale of stock - - had been-just held; —jlt - was ft large one' in the -'-sense of the number of sent in for sale; but a small one lai regarded results,. showing '. ttlai-my remarks' above as to the error ofeveryone * n t^ie district rushing; into the fattening of ; store'cattle'for sale, were quite correct ;. arid with acessation to demand, for these this ' error hfe left the market glutted with a class every settler has rejiejcf. At tße.Manutahi, half r way between Patea and Hawera; which I/reached at eight ' < '6'Clo'ck in the svenirig,^Xw'wcompelled to defer ' the neighborhood, and to miss a'niail .UtoWelliDgtonbytbefoUowingcircnmstances f-^-' It seems that a change of proprietary was about .to tokVp&e. in the hotel-the following morningr Wh'ethe'r this had: anything to "do with the fact that a bed-or even the merest shake- . "down was refused me, I. do not know'; but anyway 1 -was refused, and had to push on to ■Hawera, ten miles, in the dark, with a tired - J horse ; and a'-tongue desirous of uttering imprecations. . As Xhad planned to write at Manutahi'so asf tdcateh themail going to Wellington

thSfbUQwing- morning, and as I did not arrive ij*t HawjsKi until late at night, having stopped Tat.Mairaiahi f° r te*! I waa unable to forward a letter the next morning, for which I_enter- : "taiii indescribable feelings, towards somebody. " '~ A't'Hawera". the outline of the .country "■ .changes. Yon notice that to the north the in■larid ranges disappear and all around you the ' "c'ountryia very level, whilst where the ranges disappear a plain intervenes between them and Mount "Egmont. ' The country here is fertile in the extreme, the cattle literally standing up z : '. to their kij seein clover,which springs-up-aou'dst ">the ? fern everywhere. Hawera ii, next to" '''-'patesi) the largest township in £he district, and ;i ia the meeting place of the coaches from Wan- -.- ganni and Taranaki. Though supposed to be : ap Appanage of New, Plymouth, it is connected '' 'TBj natore arid business with Wanganui, with 1 ■ which it has- tri-weekly, communication by '■"■ ioach. Five miles beyond it, at "the "edge of ' thebtish which stretches froin thers to Ingle,w.ood on the-Taranaki side of Mount Egmorit, .' is JvTornianby, and from here the mountain rbai has been cut "and has been traversed by horsemen and cattle. When made available ' for coach traffic it wi!l become a great highway. Around Hawera are now, in every direction, well-stocked farms. "There are also around it r tie relics of war, active and inactive. At Waihi is a stockade and station of the Armed Constabulary, .under''Captain Kenny; The stockade was built under the superintendence of Captain. Blake*: and so far as the walls go ' •was and is intended for the protection of settlers by their assemblage "within. ■' Ita defences are strong block-hduseß, so'placed ' at'twb of- the- corners as to defend it . against attack.from' any quarter. At its northern corner-and outside the stockade is a watch-tower' forty feet in height; It is loopv' holed for'defence at its ground and first storey,. and can only be/entered by a covered way ' from within the stockade. From its top, owing "to the flatness of 'the country, a very exten- " give 'view is obtainable. To.the southward '- ' can be seen the site of the Taru Taru Mokai "which was: attacked, it will be remembered, by the Maoris at the hour before )£laV6!awri, when Captain Ross, who lived out- - ."sicfe the redoubt, and other brave fellows were :. killed; iltwa'sin reference to this affair, that poor Hunter was so unjustly accused. There are twenty-two men all told at the; Waihi stockade,'; and the. barrack-room is kept in admirable "Order. There is a good rezding-room ';"■'. weß.'srfppUed'. with, newspapers'"for the men, 'and one of thei 'block-houses, has been devoted to the peaceful'uses of a theatre, and seats, '■ scenes, and paintpots replace rifles, belts, and : bayonets. Let us hope that there will never 'befurther practical use for the Waihi stockade. It: does;not seem likely that any such use' will ever come for it. There is peace now - in the-landV'and no symptom of its being otherwise: again. '■■ Perhaps that this is so will be best shown in my next letter. I purpose ■ visiting the Waimate'Plains, lying jiist beyond ' here, arid also in all likelihood Titokowaru, our old foe,-and I trust to be able to write'some-' thing of'interest, not only in regard to the plains, which 1 are now the subject of very con- '. BSdetable public 'attention, but in connection with the'present attitude of the natives in the district.:":; •-..■•■ '■