Rakiura Home of the Flaming Sunset

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 288, 25 February 1928, Page 24

Rakiura Home of the Flaming Sunset

Charm and Interest of Lovely Stewart Island«.. Its History Started Long Before Foundation of RusselLooßelievers in Southern El Dorado 95)

(Written for THE S UN by

“APARIMA”).

This wcrlc particular interest has centred round Stewart Island owing to the spirited contests lor the Sanders Cup. ■ - , THWART ISLAND Kawau of the South. Situated at its nearest ] vsjfPP|fc!3Ai point some 20 miles from the mainland of I the South Island across the restless Foveaux Strait lies the lotus isle of Rakiura, or to use its more common but less picturesque name, Stewart Island. The Maori title, which means “the land of the led sky,” was given no doubt by the jioetic Ngatimoemoe to connote the beautiful sunsets that are a feature «>E this charming island, for while the tun sinks into the South Pacific behind the volcanic cone of Mount Anglem the prevalent stratus clouds lire tinged with rare and delicate rosecoloured shades. Apart from this, however, Stewart Island has much to attract the pleasure-seeker, lover of nature or tourist interested in romantic retreats. The sheltered bays with horseshoe sand-ribbed beaches, the verdant bush coming down to the very beach, the clematis or, later, the brilliant rata so reminiscent to the Aucklander of his own loved pohutukawa, the bush tracks idly meandering through silent glades from beach to beach, the native birds undisturbed by introduced pests like stoats and weasles (so far kept to the mainland), and above all an air of old-world romance In haunted whare or significant place name—an invitation to the curious. In the early sealing and whaling days, long before Russell was established. sealing gangs from the Seven Seas knew of Rakiura’s havens and sheltered in them on their return from the inhospitable rocky sentinels to the South. Cook, in his first visit, knew South-west Cape and rounded this believing, however, that Rakiura ’.vas part of the mainland, one of the few mistakes of this careful navigator. The insularity was not recorded until 1809, when Captain Stewart sailed through Foveaux Strait; but It is very probable that sealers knew of the strait long before this, though they were so busy taking their valuable cargoes that they had little time to worry over cartographical niceties. What remarkable days these were we New Zealanders will not know untfl some New Zealand Kingston or Henty realises the material available in this great story, and then the “Snares,” the Auckland Islands, the MeQuarries and Antipodes will be known to schoolboys as centres of romantic daring, and Codfish Island, Port Pegasus, , Port William, Cooper’s Island will be ithe well-known features of a new ‘•'Treasure Island.” One of the most interesting parts of Rakiura is the commodious Port Pegasus, one-time rendezvous of sealer and whaler, haven for stormtossed ships making for Valparaiso from the East, and later the centre of a famous tin rush. Gold-mining, which has played such an important part in the opening up of New Zealand, brought prospectors to Stewart Island, and by 1876 some good gold

had been found in the rivers running into Pegasus Harbour from the Remarkables to the north-east. One bold party of miners led by Mr. Swayne, in 1922—he is still a hale and hearty resident of Half-Moon Bay —made a pioneer journey overland from Oban to Pegasus and began prospecting, finding little gold, but always in association with a mineral entirely new to him and his three mates. When they returned to Oban, they showed some samples of the strange mineral to a local miner who had just returned from Tasmania, bringing with him some samples of stream tin. The returned miner at once recognised the Pegasus mineral as tin and while the secret was carefully kept, a sample of the Pegasus tin was sent to Dr. Black, Professor of Chemistry. Otago University, who substantiated the ex-Tasmanian’s opinion. The secret soon leaked out and in no time Port Pegasus had a male population of 500 vigorously at work in the endeavour to locate the reef from which the rich samples came. In spite, however, of the endeavours of this band, the lode was never found, though gold to the value of £2,000 was won and as much as 12 tons of tin obtained from the alluvial beaches. The rush was soon over, men drifted away and again Pegasus was left to one or two enthusiasts like the late Mr. Jas. Thompson, who, along with Dr. Black, continued to believe in the wealth of

Pegasus until they died. There are i many, however, in Stewart Island who believe to this day in this Southern El Dorado, and who look forward to the time when there will be heard at Pegasus once again the clang of hammers and the stir and bustle of the mining camp. Within easy access by track or by launch of Oban, the chief tourist headquarters, is Port William, once the favourite resort of the whalers of Foveaux Strait. Accessible during all weathers, Port William, in the 20’s and 30’s of last century, presented a very busy appearance. Shore stations for repairs and for “trying-out” were established in clearings that can still be traced by overgrown tree-stumps and old try-pots; in fact, some exotic shrubs and fruit trees still mark the spot. To-day, a sawmill works the bush in this area, and soon nothing will remain of the romantic early 19th century industry. The earliest associations of the Europeans and the natives bred a mutual distrust, and some dreadful tragedies stain the pages of Stewart Island’s early history. Shipmasters made the most of the tales of the native ferocity to dissuade their crews from going ashore; a plan which succeeded well until about 1826 when a carpenter from the Wellington, with some native seamen, deserted and joined some other renegade sealers, who took to themselves native wives and established a settlement at Codfish Island in Foveaux Strait. Here in 1827 was born Thomas Brown, the first half-caste in the South. This “Pitcairn” did not, however, survive long as an isolated settlement, and with the development of the mainland, the Codfish Islanders deserted their rather bleak home. On a bold bluff near Ringa-Ringa, a short walk from Half-Moon Bay, is a very interesting link with the early days—a headstone marking the last re&ting-place of the Rev. J. F. H. Wohlers, who, for 40 years, devoted his life to the natives of Ruapuke Island, and to the cosmopolitan popula-

tion of Stewart Island and the settle-1 ments in Foveaux Strait. The j “Little Minister” and his whaleboat I were known in every whaling station I and native or white settlement in the South, and from his arrival in 1844 until his death in 1885 he carried out ■work of surpassing importance for the people of Murihiku, as the southern portion of the South Island is known. For many years without remuneration, he toiled as schoolmaster and pastor amongst the savages of Ruapuke, converting them, ultimately, into civilised and prosperous communities. Thus did a son of Bremen, of the Lutheran Church, labour for his adopted land in the early days of our history. The tourist who walks past Deep Bay to stand beside this lonely monument, feels that here sleeps a true pioneer. Across Paterson’s Inlet lies the charming tiny islet of Ulva, so long the home of Mr. Traill, and now the holiday summer resort of Dr. Hunter, of Invercargill. Surely never was found such a wealth of nature’s art as is to be seen on Ulva. Towering rimu and rata, with clinging lianas of supple-jack and rata-rata; ferns from the huge punga to the dainty maidenhair or kidney variety, mosses and lichens of every hue and the daintiest white orchids, drape the boles of gnarled old ratas. The sunlight penetrates this abundant greenery in long shafts of light, and the tourist loitering through Ulva’s glades feels that here indeed is Fairyland. Deepthroated tuis call to their mates from amid the rata blossoms, while deeper in the glades the bell-bird softly chimes. Near the path the bush robin, the fan-tail and the bold little tomtit make friendly advances to the visitors as they idle away an hour waiting for the launch. Thus does the tourist gain his introduction to the island and learn to love its romantic beauty and its lazy beaches.