NOTES OF A JOURNEY ON THE EAST COAST.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume III, Issue 294, 31 July 1875, Page 2

NOTES OF A JOURNEY ON THE EAST COAST.

(Concludedfrom our last.) Having gazed our fill of the noble prospect, we proceed to descend the Tokomaru side of the mountain. This I consider the most dangerous part of the road for a horse, owing to several slippery steps of “ papa” rock, on which a norseis unable to keep his feet, consequently, in wet weather, he often comes down “ by the run.” A short time ago Mr. Arthur’s horse broke its leg, and came to an untimely end at this spot. From a cursory examination of the adjacent country it would appear that this hill could have been easily avoided by going a mile or two'inland, indeed, from what 1 have heard on the subject, I should say that a much better line of road from Waiapu to Turanga might be found than the present one along the coast, where one is often put to much inconvenience and delay by having to wait “ for the turn of the tide.” The gentleman who had charge of the roadworks in this district, whose instructions were,l believe,merely toimprove the present coast-track and, moreover, having limited funds at his disposal, deserves creditforthe marked improvement which he has effected. Descending without accident, we pass through the pleasant little village of Ariuru situated on the north side of Toko-, maru Bay, a short ride thence along the beach, brings us to Henare Potae’s accommodation house at Te Puka, where I rejoined my companions. Our worthy hostess, and her female friends, vied with each other in providing for our comfort, they regaled us with fish, flesh, fowl, and other good things, to our hearts’ content; when the day came to an end “ There was a sound of revelry by night,” which astonished the denzens of that quiet locality, and testified to the amiable frame of mind all these good things had produced. On resuming our journey, we cantered along a fine hard beach for about a mile, reaching Mr. Arthur’s homestead to breakfast. Tokomaru Bay is one of many beautiful spots to be found along this coast; regular in form, with grassy, undulating, hills in the back ground, and here and there a picturesque slope, or flat, dotted with rich, umbrageous foliage, enhance the natural beauty of the place. Leaving Mr. Arthur’s hospitable dwelling, we follow the sea shore continuing our journey “ over hill and dale” until we reach Mr. Duncan’s place at Omanuka. Thence a short distance brings us to Mr. Tatham’s homestead. The landing place here is protected by a long narrow island not far from the shore, on beholding which one cannot help thinking that had nature placed its parallel to the beach instead of end on, what a splendid natural breakwater it would make, rendering Anaura a complete harbour of refuge for small vessels. From Anaura the track takes over the high hill Puharakeke, and down again to the shores of a small Bay on the southern extremity of which is the small but prominent Marau peninsular; crossing over the neck of the latter we descend to Kaiaua, as sweet a spot as man could wish to live in, alevel vale surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills, except in front where it is open to the sea. Many of the bays along this part of the coast are very beautiful, with sufficient flat land to cultivate, on a bush gully or scrub covered range for a back ground, with a fine, hard, beach in front, bounded at either extremity by bold headlands and reefs of rocks, Proceeding to Te Kopuni we cross over a low saddle and down to the commencement of the extensive swamps and flats of Tologa Bay. A few miles bring us to Mr. Trimmer’s hotel, which we are not sorry to reach after our ride of 35 miles in the teeth of a “ wet souther.” There is a considerable extent of flat land about this place, though mostly of a swampy nature, the greater part of which could be easily drained into the Uawa or Tologa Bay river, and would then form excellent agricultural sections ; there are, also, several fine sheep runs in the neighbourhood. On the south side of the bay are many peculiar shaped rocks some of them perforated with holes, here is that curious little inlet known as Cook’s Cove where may be seen engraved on a rock the name of that celebrated navigator, said to have been carved by himself. It was late on the following day when we resumed our journey; moving briskly over the fine hard sand a few miles bring us to Puatai, Mr. Priestly s homestead. We then pass through a natural archway of solid rock, which was no doubt scooped out by the action of the waves ; leaving this “ freak of nature” behind us, ere long we reach Waitotara, situated within a short distance of Gable End Foreland; there is au accommodation

house here, for some time kept by Mr. Daniel Munn, but finding that the proprietor was “absent” and nobody at home, we pushed on to Pokotakena, where the natives made us welcome. This kainga is placed on a good sized flat which extends to the base of Gable End Foreland (so called from its resemblance to the gable end of a house.) The natives call this conspicuous headland Parinui-te-ra; there is a whaling party established here, who informed us that a few days before, they had “ fastened” to a species of whale, which they called a “Hawhe Paatarua,” which made straight out to sea towing the boat after it with tremendous velocity, and, finding that the whale was “ sounding” i.e., going deeper, and that they were in danger of being dragged under water they cut adrift, the whale escaping with the harpoon and 80 fathoms of line, no slight loss and one i not easily repaired; in addition to ' this they had a long pull back, the fish having towed them nearly out of sight of land. Some of the rocks along the coast are exceedingly dangerous at times, so much so, that an unshod horse has the, greates.t difficulty to keep his footing. After traversing some distance over these we reach Pakarai, an execrable <• little river to ford, the bottom of which is composed of “ papa” rock ; having heard' from the natives the night before that the river was fordable, I started in at a likely looking place, but my horse getting into one of the slippery holes, came down with me, and to save myself from total immersion I had to leap off the animal into water nearly up to my waist, it being a cold frosty morning this feat did not enhance mv enjoyment of the remainder of the day’s ride. After cooeying for some time, two small boys came down, and by dint of great exertion they at last managed to get the punt into the water, aud crossed us over ; on arriving on the other side we were informed that there was a ford if we had only “ hit” the right place, however, the young urchins took good care not to tell us of it while there was a chance of earning 3s by ferrying us across.

A couple of miles ride along the smooth beach brings us to Whangara, Mr. Wallace’s homestead ; the neighbouring hills low and undulating, appear to be well grassed; the landing place is protected by a small, and nearly isolated headland, near which there is also a good sized native settlement. At Tapuae rocks (foot print) the natives profess to show the foot mark, made by an ancient mythological giant, named Orongokoko, while on his journey round the island, the legend runs that Paoa the remote ancestor of the East Coast tribes (from whom the Waipaoa in Poverty Bay takes its name) hearing that this Cyclops was about to make the tour of the island, determined to waylay him ; with this object in view he constructed an immense Tawhiti (rat trap of a bent sappling, to the end of which is attached a noose) and fixing one end of the pole firmly in Ikurangi, some fifteen miles away, he bent the other end down so as to place the noose on the Tawhiti hill, (between Tokomaru and Waipiro) whence its name Tawhiti-a-Paoa (Paoa’s trap). No sooner was the trap ready than on came Orongokoko springing from the Mahia peninsula at Nukutaurua; with one bound he cleared the intervening space, and alighted on the Tapuae rocks; thence with prodigious strides, advancing from headland to headland, he espied the snare laid to entrap him, and being too knowing a bird to be caught in that manner, he touched the spring with his “ turupou” (walking stick) up flew the trap, the pole, in its rebound, shaking Ikurangi to its very foundation, causing the summit to split into many different peaks, and to assume the rugged appearance that it now presents. The giant continued his flying leaps unmolested, leaving another track behind him at Horoera round the East Cape and ended his career somewhere in the Bay of Plenty.