A TRIP TO THE EAST COAST.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume X, Issue 1207, 21 November 1882, Page 2

A TRIP TO THE EAST COAST.

(Continued.) So long a break in our story may only be accounted for by one reason, and that a paramount one, viz., illness ; feeling sure that our readers will recognise the utter impossibility of writing well when one feels unwell, and will, without further apology pardon the inevitable transgression, we here resume the thread of our story last told in our issue of 9th November. Saddling up early the following (Monday) morning we made for Awanui, after passing which place we struck inland along the track used by the Southern Cross Petroleum Company with their bullock drays; we found the track in very good order, and, although some of the pinches were pretty sharp on a loaded dray, the road for a horseman was excellent. About six miles or so from Awanui we come to a Native Public House at the village of Wai-o-matatini, kept by Fred. Fox, a half-caste, and nephew to Major Ropata of the Ngatiporou. At this settlement there is a school, under the supervision of Mr and Mrs Creek, and a large Native settlement. Here, xMajor Ropata, has in the course of construction a a large Runanga house, the ridge pole of which, a magnificent piece of totara, about 84 feet long, triangular in shape and about 2 feet 4 inches through in the thick, was laying on the ground ready to “mount a reevo ” at the proper time. Major Ropata

is putting up this Runanga house, which will be the largest on the East Coast, partly by subscription, but principally with his own money. Wo went inside, and were shown the elaborate carvings for the front; all most beautifully done by hand with an ordinary knife in the most approved Maori fashion, with the usual accompaniment of pot-bellied figures with their tongues protruding and their eyes, made out of pieces of Pawa shell, staring in the most lidiculously frightful manner. The carvings are very massive, standing out in bold relief from heavy slabs of totara, and each weighing about 130 to 20011)8. The House will be about 75 feet long by about 30 feet wide, and when finished will present a very handsome appearance, Major Ropata hopes to have it finished by next J une, when there is to be a great gathering of the Ngatiporou and adjacent tribes to celebrate the occasion, to which end Major Ropata, on the occasion of our visit, had gone down to Wellington to obtain 400 game licenses, and a corresponding number of permits for the purchase of powder and shot, in order that duo provision may be made for the entertainment of his guests. Gaine appears to be very plentiful in this quarter, for the reason, we suppose, that they have been comparatively little disturbed, and the Major evidently intends to lay in a good supply for the coming festive occasion. Fred Fox’s hostelry is worthy of some comment. He made us very comfort* able, and cooked us a very nice lunch, a la European ; in fact everything in the Hotel is done in European style, and the host and his relatives are most civil and obliging. As Robert Cooper had a large Native meeting convened at Whareponga for this evening, we | turned back towards Awatere by a back track j which would bring us out at the back of O’Meara’s homestead. We could not help being forcibly struck with the value of the Awatere as a sheep run, and only sincerely hope that we may be pardoned for envying x Mr O’Meara his possession of it. A clear run, yet having good and valuable timber on it in places, this run, if properly fenced and sub-divided, could be made capable of running ten sheep to the acre without putting a plough into it. The soil is a rich chocolate loam, and goes down to a depth of from six jto eight feet. This run and Mr A. C. Arthur’s at Tokomaru, are certainly the gems of the East Coast. The sheep on Awatere, which are mostly cross-breds, were looking remai kably well, every ewe appearing to have a lamb at her side, and many having two and even three. From all appearances Mr O’Meara should have a good lambing to report; but he is not singular in this respect. Riglit along up the Coast the lambing would appear to have been a good one, and promises good results to breeders. One thing puzzled us, and that is why breeders let their lambs grow so big before cutting and docking ? All our ideas of sheep farming were shocked by this apparent innovation upon the rules and regulations for the guidance of lambs, or rather of breeders. It cannot be a good system, for the younger ijhe lambs are the less hurtful is the operation likely to prove. We reached Awatere about noon ana had lunch there ; Dr. Scott coming up just in time to accompany us we started from Awatere about two o’clock and made Tuparoa about half-past three ; here we found Mr Egerton Ward, Tutu Nihoniho, I and John Jury, who were on the “signature” track. Leaving Tuparoa about 4 p.m. we i reached Whareponga about 5.15, when we tethered our horses and put up for the night at what had formerly been a public house, but the proprietor having died the license has never been renewed, and the present owner, a half-caste named Bates, although making us quite as comfortable as if we were in a hotel, would not accept a penny of remuneration for so doing. Here we found a considerable number of Natives assembled to meet us and “ korero” with Robert Cooper respecting certain blocks of Native lands.

The korero commenced at about eight o’clock and went on into the small hours of night, anyhow It was between one and two o’clock in the morning before the last dusky lord of the soil made himself to depart. Next morning (Tuesday) after breakfast we saddled up and returned to Awatere, where during the afternoon Mr A. J. Croll, from Gisborne, turned up, very tired and considerably wet, and who was uncommonly glad to rest his weary bones that night with ourselves under the shelter of Mr O’Meara’s hospitable roof. We arranged that the following day, Wednesday, we should visit the Southern Cross Petroleum Company’s pro* perty at Rotokautuku and return at night to Wai-o-matatini. Wednesday morning dawned, rather showery, but not wet enough to deter us from our journey, so after breAfast we “inspanned and trekked” for the oil springs, making our old short cut across the hills, to Wai-o-matatini, where we were to leave Mr Robert Cooper, who had some Native business to transact there. We reached Fred Fox’s hotel, or rather'Major Ropata’s hotel, kept by Fred Fox, about eight o’clock in the morninig, and leaving R. Cooper there, pushed a-head accompanied by old Niha, for the oil springs. Leaving Wai-o-matatini behind us we pushed on towards the Waiapu River, bringing up for a short time at the Native village on this side of the river called Te Horo, in order to allow Niha, a Native who accompanied us, to go in and do a short tangi with some of his A short distance below Te Horo, we camel on the Waiapu River, luckily for us without a fresh in it, and, cocking our knees on to the saddle in order to keep our feet dry, we plunged “ in medias resj" or rather, in

medias river. This river is reputedly the worst on the East Coast to cross, more people having been known to be drowned in it than in any other on the Coast. The reason of this is that the current runs very swiftly, and the bottom, instead of being, as a decent river should be, sandy and shingly, is full of smooth ronnd boulders, of all sizes, over which your horse, especially if tenderfooted or unaccustomed to river-crossing, is very ant to stumble and fall. Should he fall, unless you have all your presence of mind about you, and can swim on a pinch, you may be considered pretty fairly in a fix, out of which it is considerable odds whether you ever manage to get. One of our company, Mr A. J. Croll, very nearly

got let down on this occasion, the mare he waa riding, a stout useful black, not being used to river-work, put her fore-legs on a large round boulder, and slipping off it with a plunge into a bit of a hole, very nearly sent her rider, who was sitting with his legs cocked up on the saddle to keep his feet dry, over her shoulder. To anyone not used to crossing rapid streams on horseback, the rushing past of the water, especially if you are working up-stream, has an indescribably giddy sort of effect, by no means calculated to give a nervous or timid rider confidence in himself. However, everything ended happily on this occasion, and we got through the Waiapu river without any further mishap, although the water was well up the saddle flaps. Croll’s legs were well wet, but we were all right otherwise. After passing the Waiapu we had, about three-quarters of a mile the other side to cross a smaller stream and the watery business was over. There was one very curious thing which impressed itself very forcibly upon us from the very moment of leaving Gisborne, and which never seemed to create the slightest impression upon any one else and that is, the utterly apathetic ignorance prevailing among all sorts and conditions of men, women, and children regarding distance. If, for instance, you asked one man the question, “ How far is it from Tuparoa to the oil springs ?” you would lx* told, perhaps, “Ohl about seven miles,” not content

exactly with that, you would, perhaps, ask another man, who had lived equally long about the place, and ought to know the distance equally well, and he would probably say, “Ohl about thirteen miles,’ 7 while a third would enliven the business by adding another mile to the computed distance. It’s all very well, but after you are told that a place is ten miles from another, and you’ve come about three hours at a good pace, its rather annoying to find some horrible wretch of a man who has the cruelty to tell you that you’ve still eight or ten miles further to go. It is an undoubted fact that distance, as a tenn does oot exist on the East Coast—as a fact it undoubtedly does—and I verily believe the people want to remain in blissful ignorance. We can re- i remember in New South Wales on the Old Man Plains riding up to a shepherd who was lying stretched full length xttL fegmine. fagi or rather sub tegmine gum treei, and asking which was the track to Deniliquin. He never moved his head but just raised his leg and pointed his foot to the N.W., and said “Yonder.” How far is it? we asked. “About six pipes,” was the reply, and the gentleman covered his face with his hat and never said another word. That six pipes we afterwards discovered mean’t about fifteen

miles, and good ones at that. Of a verity the East Coast residents count their miles by pipes. Well so far as a fair dead reckoning will go we may fairly count Rotokautuku as being between six and seven miles the other side of the Waiapu River along a good level track through the creme de la creme of New Zealand country. Those Waiapu fiats would support every emigrant farmer that New Zealand can or will bring out for the next ten years to come. The soil is capable of the very richest productions, and is superior in quality to the lands of Leicestershire andNorthamptonshire, which cannot be bought to-day for £l5O per acre. Think of that Messrs Grant and Foster ; think of that Messrs the Agents-general for New Zealand. In the Waiapu Valley alone there is ample room for hundreds of small farmers, who from 200 acres could produce more grain and at a more profitable rate, than the dwellers on the Titieri or the Hutt. More value in one acre in the Waiapu Valley than in twenty of the Te Aroha, and only a few headstrong Natives opposed to the sale or lease of these wonderfully fertile lands. If an English farmer could only see the soil of the Waiapu he would be lost in amazement that such things could be. Messrs Grant and Foster were pleased beyond measure with Te Aroha, the carrying capacities of which soil has been amply tested by Mr J. C. Firth ; but if they were pleased with that they would be simply in ecstasies over Waiapu. On our arrival at Rotokautukn we were most kindly received by the Company’s Manager, Mr G. P. Hilton, and his assistant, Mr Knox ; and among the working men we recognised several well-known Gisborne faces. Steam was not up, as the Manager had stopped the work from want ot curbs, but he very kindly got up steam and lowered us down the shaft. Our visit to this Company’s working has been described at length in a former issue, suffice it, therefore, in order to save needless and wearisome repetition that we were highly pleased with what we saw; and came away thoroughly satisfied that the Southeru Cross Petroleum Company have in their hands on of the most valuable properties in New Zealand. The regularity and order evinced by the state of the workings reflect the highest credit upon the Manager and his assistant, who both speak in the highest terms of the cheerfulness and willingness evinced by the men under their charge even under the most adverse circumstances. After receiving the hospitality of Mr Hilton and Mr Knox we turned our backs upon Rotokautuku, about 6 o’clock, and re-crossing the Waiapu safely, reached Wai-o-matatini at dark, where we unsaddled and camped for the night in the Hotel. Robert Cooper had convened a large meet- . , Ing of Natives in the Ruanga House here to-night, and after supper we all went over. There was a large assembly of Natives and a few white men, notably R. Cooper, Messrs E. ff. Ward, E. Ward, A Brooking, W. O'Meara, G. Smith, A. J. Croll, and one or two others. The meeting lasted until about twelve o’clock, and I verily believe that some of the speakers, especially a few young Natives who had nothing whatever to do with the land under discussion, would have kept on speaking until now if they had been allowed. The most eloquent speaker and the best educated one among the Ngatiporou is undoubtedly Paratene Ngakau. Thoroughly poetical in his language he is practical with it, combuing all the hardheaded business view of the European with the persuasive and flowery eloquence of the aboriginal in a most striking manner. After a long discussion the meeting broke up at about midnight.