NOTES OF A JOURNEY ON THE EAST COAST.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume III, Issue 292, 24 July 1875, Page 2

NOTES OF A JOURNEY ON THE EAST COAST.

Continued from, our last. Leaving Maruhuu, and winding round a narrow track cut in the steep face of the cliff, a short distance brings us to Te Awatere, a good sized river on the opposite or left bank of which stands Te Kawakawa, about twenty miles from Waiapu; crossing over we; make for the accommodation house kept by Paratene Ngata. Te Kawakawa is a moderately large settlement, situated at the end of an extensive flat; and consisting of several wooden houses including a school house and school master’s residence ; judging from the remains of old whares and the accounts of the natives, it must have been thickly populated at one time. There is also a line native church here, nicely decorated inside, which a little labour would have preserved formally years, but the natives with their present apathy in these matters, are allowing it to decay. Bising abruptly immediately behind the settlement stands an ancient native fortress —Te Whetu Matarau —a noble feature in the Landscape; it is on an isolated hill about 800 or 900 feet high, and fiat topped, its steep sides covered with bush and scrub ; here the Ngatiporou congregated for safety from all the country round when they were invaded by Ngapuhi under the famous chief Iloiigi Ika, but Ngapuhi being the first native tribe to acquire fire arms had thus an immense advantage over the other tribes who were obliged to rely ou their old Maori weapons to defend themselves with, the Ngatiporou, however, notwithstanding this disadvantage, held out for months, but at last, (their bodies enfeebled and their spirits broken by famine) after a gallant contest the pa was taken by assault; Ngapuhi, exasperated with their stubborn resistance, slaughtered them without mercy, multitudes perished, but great numbers managed to escape. This Maori Troy might furnish the materials for an Epic of as deep and tragic an interest as the

famous Iliad, and more interesting to the majority of colonial readers. It would be a task worthy of a C. O. Davis, to make a complete collection of the beautiful traditions and legends existing in the Maori language, many of them known only to the oldest mtn in the tribes.

Leaving Kawakawa the road winds through an extensive flat overgrown with manuka and other scrub; here and there are patches of very good land, there are also numerous settlements and clearing scattered about. Crossing the Karakatowhero, a small river which empties itself into the bay, a few miles brings us to Punuruku, a small village about five miles from Te Kawakawa situate at the opposite extreme of the flat; there is another road leading to the place from Te Kawakawa which makes a detour round the foot of the hills. Ascending the hill from Punuruku we follow a narrow, zigzag track, very dangerous for a horse in some places, owing to landslips ; descending again to the beach a short canter brings us to the river, on the opposite side of which is VVharekahika, fording the river we reached the settlement at dusk. This was the kainga of the late Iharaira Te Houkamau. the head chief of the Ngatiporou, who died last summer; here also stands the flagstaff, raised by him, to proclaim the authority of the Queen over the tribal territories. The wooden house built for him is only used for the convenience of Pakeha guests. There, as at mast of the other large settlements along the coast, is to be found the grog shop, and, judging from the number of these about there must be a great traffic done in spirits, the evil effects of which are already apparent ; it is a pity that some measure can not be devised to keep its use within proper bounds. Just beyond Wharekahika lies the Matakaoa block, a very nice handy run leased to Messrs Pitt and Porter; there are several good boat harbours very convenient for landing supplies, or shipping wool* After remaining at Matakaoa for some days, we returned to Waiapu, encountering on our way back.a cold, wet, “ souther” which, together with a rising fide, made it rather difficult, and not a little dangerous, to get round some of the head land ; however, we escaped with nothing worse than a wet skin. Toiling up the Kautuku, and sliding down the other side we reached Anaru’s place at Waiapu, soon after dark, wet, cold, and hungry; here we spent several days. Not far from Anaru’s stands the residence of Mr. Campbell, 8.M., of Waiapu, where we received much attention and hospitality. Starting up the Waiapu valley, the first place we visit is Te Hatepe, a good sized settlement, near the mouth of the Waiapu, formerly a large pa, the pallisades of which are now decaying. There is also a school house and a dwelling of the schoolmaster ; crossing the Maraehara, a tributary of the Waiapu, a couple of miles ride along a fine alluvial flat, brings us to Kangitukia, a fighting pah built by the Hauhaus in 1865 ; between it and the base of the hills stands, Pa Kairomiromi, which was shelled by 11.M.5. Eclipse, and afterwards rushed by the Colonial forces during the same year, The flat here is broad and extensive but much overgrown with scrub. Following the track, which leads up through a fine piece of all uvial country, we cross the Poroporo, another tributary of the Waiapu, and find ourselves at Tiki Tiki a large but straggling settlement, with much cultivated ground in the vicinity ; the soil is rich and well adapted for farming purposes. The whole of these flats on the north bank of the river, will ultimately become valuable as agricultural sections ; they are well watered by numerous streams, and there is abundance of timber close at hand. A short distance above Tikitiki is Te Rahui, a small village at the foot of Pukemaire; the latter is an isolated hill on the top of which stood the famous pa besieged by the Colonial forces in 1865 ; itoccupiesacommanding position, the river flowing round its base in front, and a dense forest in the back ground. The inland track to Hick’s Bay strikes in from Pukemaire and leading over the intervening range into the Awatere follows that river down to Te Kawakawa ; it is, I believe, boih shorter and better than the usual one over the Kautuku, but it is only available in summer or when the Awatere is low. Fording the river from Tikitiki, on reaching the flat on the opposite side, our attention is arrested by a conspicuous and rather unique feature in the landscape, namely a church built of corrugated iron, a material, I imagine, not often used in the construction of religious edifices, A short distance farther on and we arrive at Waiomatatini, a nicely situated settlement where Major Ropata spends a good deal of his time, he is having a large wooden house erected of about eight rooms which is in a forward state of completion. There is, I believe, a generally expressed wish amongst Ngatiporou, to have the next sitting of the Native Land’s Court held here ; it certainly possesses many advantages in the eyes of the natives, being aboutthe centre of t he most thickly populated part of the Ngatiporou territory, and is moreover, a capital place for camping out, there being abundance of wood, water, and feed for horses; it is about three miles from Te Awanui. (To bt)