THE CONQUEST OF THE BUSH.

Shannon News, 4 September 1928, Page 2

THE CONQUEST OF THE BUSH.

MEMORIES OF AN OLD SURVEYOR DAYS WHEN LEVIN WAS NOT. It is left to few people now to be able to recall the site of the present flourishing town of Levin when it-Svas a wilderness of bush and flax. One of those so privileged is Mr Oliver •Caldwell, a pioneer surveyor, who now resides at Roslyn Road. Although 82 years of age, he is keenly interested in the .welfare of the tramping movement, and has conveyed his wishes :for the continued success of the LevinWaiopehu Club, in a letter to,the president, Mr E. S. Lancaster.' Both in this communication in a subsequent chat with the pr- siclout » ifr Caldwell" _. gave some interesting reniiliiseences. Early in the eighties he was employed bv Messrs Paimerson and Scott, of Palmerston North, who had a contract : to survey the country on the western : side of the Tararua Ranges between | Palmerston and Wellington. Mr Caldwell carried out surveys at Fitzherbert, Linton and Tokomaru, and laid out the townships of Tokomaru and Shannon. Continuing south, he surveyed portions of Levin, and thereafter cut the boundary line of the forest reserve from the* Ohau River to the Otaki River, via Mt. Waiopehu. Subsequently he was working for Mr Carkeek, and took the road down the Akatarawa and joined it to the Upper Hutt. At one time he made the trip up the Manawatu River by Maori canoe to Tokomaru, where the swamp was surveyed to ascertain its suitability for. taking the railway. A little over forty years ago Mr Caldwell was camped in the gully between Waiopehu and Peak, and one night he experienced a thunderstorm of such severity that the trig, which stood about 15 feet high, was cut off six-feet from the ground as clean as if it had been sawn through. From the Ohau to the Upper Hutt he found the going very rough, and the country was the wettest he ever worked over, being subject to continual fog. Even in those days of strenuous effort and hard living, the forest worked its spell on the surveyor, to whom its charm is still a living thing although he- is no longer able to indulge in mountain-climbing. The bird life was extremely varied before settlement had extended towards the ranges. Huias were frequently seen, and on one occasion Mr Caldwell caught five of them—a matter of no great difficulty, for in their undisturb- « ed surroundings they knew no fear of man. There were kiwis on Waiopehu, besides native thrushes, mountain canaries, and the mako mako, or bellbird, which still inhabits the back country. Mr Caldwell advises those who go tramping to be well equipped, and, if their journey is a long one, to carry a compass, but he points out that they must first learn how to use the instrument.

Having come from the Old Country with his parents when he was three years old, Mr Caldwell spent his' 1 youth' in the Collingwood district, and lie well remembers the troubles connected with the Maori War and the Hau Hau rebellion. To join in this later outbreak many young natives left the Collingwood district for Taranaki, sailing across the Bight in the Maoris' own schooners. His father was advised to leave his farm by a Maori chief, who said, "I will send a canoe for you," which he did. This turned out to be one of the old war canoes, about 10(1 feet in length, beautifully fitted out, ornamented with a figurehead and decorated with feathers. After the trouble was over the family "returned and obtained a grant of land from the Government as compensation. Mr Caldwell was on the Collingwood diggings for about 15 years, and eame to Feilding in 1875, when the settlement was opened there. After his surveying career, he settled at Apiti, when, it was a very remote place indeed, and he spent 30 years there successively as a dairy farmer. About five years ago he removed to Shannon, and for the. past eighteen months has been residing in Levin. His enthusiasm for the attractions of outdoor life is undiminished and he is hale and hearty—an outstanding example of the class of people who practically hewed a civilised state out of the primeval domain of nature.