HARDSHIPS OF HEREKINO LIVING ON FERN-ROOT. HOKIANGA AND ITS NEIGHBOUR

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 238, 21 January 1888, Page 5

HARDSHIPS OF HEREKINO LIVING ON FERN-ROOT. HOKIANGA AND ITS NEIGHBOUR

It is strange that* in holiday times the ssrni-tropical and picturesque country to the far Norton of Auckland should receive ■ but scant attention from pleasure-soekers. And yet it is replete with objects and Bcenes of interest. It was here that the advancing tide of -civilisation first impinged upon the home of the Maori. Hero, in' the dominioh of the powerful Ngapuhi tribe, ( Hongi, Heke, Tamati Waka ISene and other mighty warriors of the past carried on their exploits and fierce campaigns. Here whalers and sawyers traded, lived and intermarried with the native ' owners of the soil, long before New Zealand became an appanage of tho British Crown— long, too, ere the dawn of its authentic history. In these northern' districts the earliest missionaries carrying their lives in their hands first broke ground, and there the Gospel contended with the rum bottle for possession of the aboriginal heart. Topographical names here, both Maori and European, are associated with historical incidents, and on" every hand one is recalled to the memory of that past now almost buried in oblivion. The means of access from Auckland are comfortable and expeditious. ' About once a fottnight the' Oreti, ■ a well-equipped and fully-manned steamer, sails out of the Manukau in charge 1 of Captain Eobertson— a very genial' and affable officer— for Whangape, B6kianga,<>and Kawerua, ~and'rea6hes* her 'most northerly, destination, viz., Whangape, in about 16 hours. The entrance is narrow aM difficult. It is a contracted passage 'between, two bold bluffs, fringed by some rocks just a- wash with the tide, and not many hundred yards up the channel lies the wreck of the paddle steamer Geelong, which came to grief here some eight or nine years ago. The settlement?, situated a f aw, miles up this river, or father tidalcreek/consistsof a rough shed' serving as a store, a few scattered houses, a Komart' (jatholic chapel and a native school. When the tide is out, a long stretch~~of slimy ooze offends the eye, and as the elevated ; range which environs the locality arrests passing clouds, the picture is generally^presentedSvithaverymoistaspecu In fact, the story goes that it is alwaysrairi-. ingat Whangape, and the vivid colouring of its verdure proves, at any rate, that there; is an abundance of moisture. The special settlement-lies spme' five miles .inland, a'n'd' stores have to be pikaued thither. 'But' of the social ' settlers more anon. It . is needless to describe the Hokiahga River— a broad and stately waterwaybordered on jits southern bank with such charming-p laces as the villageof Omapere, with its semi-circular expanse of sandy, beach, Mr Webster's 1 homestead' embosomed amid fruit trees on a low point, and the late Judge Manning's residence' at Onoke still 'higher up. Herd.'s Point, with, its substantial little wharf, its couple of pubs and cluster of shops, lies 15 miles up the river, and some three or four miles higher still stand' Kohukohu and its sawmill,'dlp'sed' through slackness of trade for two years' past Across the river from i the Point stretches < Motukaraka and its special* settlement. As -for ' Kawerua, ! it is merely a gum-diggiap£ station situated j on the coastline, about five miles south ofy Hokianga Heads; where the steamer stops to send aehW stores and take on board kauri gum. The tourist who has time to spare would db well to come up this coast, visit the- various settlements, 'arid then, striking acros3 the country to Whangaroa on the eastern coast, return by-that way to' Auckland. -

The Village Settlers. Mr Ballance's exploitation in land settlement does not appear, to be' trendingto wards success. On. the contrary, the village settlements appear to be m a very bad way, and the settlers, it i 3 said, aTe;being gradually starved ou.t,- Those -at Herekino being in the most inaccessible position -on tho borders of a lntid flat difficult of approach— are far worse off than, their neighbours. The road works by which they have chiefly been sustained hitherto Jiaving given out, and their credit being exhausted, they are now . reported to be living upon fern-root, while \ those who had ■ the means.of clearing out: have not hesitated tos do so." At Whangape and Motukaraka the village settlers have been somewhat better circumstanced, for^the simple reason' that being in the way of steamers they have been enabled to get large supplies of stores on credit. This dependence upon imported stores ,and this recourse . to credit are characteristic of all the village settlements, Taheke included. The Oreti, on her last trip SNorth, landed hardly any thingelse at" Whangape but bran and Dunedin .; flour and potatoes. Inquiry was.made by our. reporter why the" importation of Dun,edin ( potatoes should be necessary, and he was informed that the settlers' crops of that % suedulenfc' vegetable had been destroyed by unseasonable rains. , It, is' also alleged that the chief drawback to the sue* ■ cess of these settlements is; the indifferent quality of '..the, '.soil' upon- which, i some of the settlers ha-ye, been placed* ' .But other causes base also contributed to failure, for while the soil at Taheke, being .of J vdlcariic origin^ is more generous to the cultivator, many of. the: settlers , there have .also got into debt as, far,, as they; can, and "some of them ar« leaving. . - „ . f -. ; ' •->

The, Canterbury Settlers. Quite^"contrast to th*ese } 'experiiiieiits t in village settlement is £he' Canterbury 'special settlement; ' a,t' Waifhamaku'. In, Ihis I'case," the landHvad ' carefully ' selected. t lltl It is the scene of old cultivations^ 'dating* fiVnl that golden' age '• >vheh' the 'Maoris' 'l'eg^uia'r^y raised sticu^^rge-^dps' of '*whejijb > 'an'd' mai2e that considerable, quarij:itsies' were exported to the Sydney market! The So' Canterbury settler's also canre' l to thejdj^trict weil-fiir-' nished 'wifch'agrjicultfai&l 'iijijpleraepts' anjfl appliance^ and { |)68<?essM ljik^wi^S' u %i means. . Tliey'are doing- 'aujTbld fair, ere ldri'g to^aW'tKfeir! ee't'tleniehJb blossom as the' rose.' '-'' Ir ' u u ■' ! ' 4IU ' : ■ "'''.'

Native Schools [and Teachers A notgblfe^pfecifrfftrifcy ofihe'ftSkia'h^' distrfctfis'to be l fdWn& ! itf the'^a'tivrsc'hqols' which have* Wn^fcabliShed 'there "ISyHli^ Oovertttii^hbih kr^eTiS'iiin'berg." '.They.^eem 11 to bß<of-far^i*Kter-;b > 6'riefioH6 I tlre Maori' race thftHPOtfe 1 f be"gtJ£ '^ifeiaMne/for, they vftrt«ot^|^tld&al l "ito&(i\iaifettfi»/1& ;bsense'Jm#olii i Worfe t c6\^freHbnsiv§- thaft J< tlfe*' Europe #foiMhstJLQmmxiffl i% td' y &\kdh' to thft i e-tetffii.« l^t6Hly (r ao > eB^tKfe -teabHm ;<< train^h'e<^d«€liM^Mate mifid Kbw'WbhoW by imparting instruction in English up to^ and hiclu&e' (tPm&frdtfrVH &s?ndaMf\M he. is the guide, i&ilo^hWantt^frfd^ the adults oO^Ke f Haptii H l Tn^aibfnes% WM resort to him foT'ad^ePan'd^He^ifo't^oiilv* prescribed M*, dujSgndttl- 3 medicine vrhiok- tfbtfim WWIhBSMmkVH&WWe civmß^^dW4km\idmk^m^^'ii^ instructs them in habits pWettnf W» impregß«^i^rf fe th%ii%rM^l^MinWi J of sanitary science." -W 3 o^^>r*'

isoriie time past, typhoid and'KindrejHorms:' •of fever are existent among the nattfe** fctia (the -knowledge that' these" outbreaks litre .traceable to the dirty habits and unho«lth> sites fat their 'dwellings is having -tße' effect of (causing them? to < pay greater attention to hygiene.v^ln this connection- itr may be imeiitioheds that Mr *J. H. Popete\exbellent Jittle compilation,^" Health for the MaojV'is a texfrbdofc : in alt'the native 1 ' schbolp, and that -copies in their; own* vorriaciuar have been forwarded to all the chiefs.' » . But the 'school-teacher's' functions do-not stop at Inculcating »the three R's 1 and- doctoring. Ho is constituted by a parental Government a, kind of J^aori. Acclimatisation Spciety,, and padke^s pjc exbttp seeds and#)ljints come to'hun? in] order- tHat he. may, distribute them among the Maoris and show them how they are to be cultivated. In this wwavy v the loquat, the olive*' the wattle and other articles congenial to the soilTiave found entrance to the district. As. a general rule the teacher succeeds admirably in his own experiments, but the Maoris, from lack of. care or indiiFerence,"do not achieve any satisfactory results., tßevertingi'to t Revertingi'to the school work proper, the Maori children # are declared to 6e 4 apt pupils, quite as'bright and intelligent Vs European boys and girls of the same age. They are particularly quick at figures, and seem to prefer arithmetic tb any other branch of study, is not taught, the, authorities considering it unnecessary. ' Children who pass beyond^ the Fouf fch Standard and who promise'especially well are picked out and sent 1 on either to St. Stephen's , Native. School, » Parnell, or, to the i( sister institution. at .Napier, for more advanced instruction. These native schools are tthrmeslionably doing V good work, and Mr r Bow.'at iWharigape, Mr 1 - Spencer at , ,_ Mr J)anaher ; at , Motukaraka, .Mr Mun,tzat- >Yaimamaku, ( , and Messrs' Cockroft an'd Hill in other parts of the 'di&trietf are "making fcheir influence felt very, sensibly in furthering* the best in«" terests .of, the, Maori; „, . s> s "'••

A Settlers' 01ow:O»t ; Monday; the 2hd of January,' lBBB, was a' day of great with 1 , the good jaeople* of Hokianga. \ A monster, picnic was projected bytheresidentsof Raweni, or Herd's Point, and! Was so cordially taken- 1 tip that the, entire European population turnedout to participate- in it The' settlers of Motu- | karaka and other districts also joined, and fully 150'souls,'vproceeded. u]s tfc'a river to the; Hate Judged Manning's place at Onoke, where aya v •> regular • fete. cHmpetw of an . early New Zealand character was held: An immense hatyi, or copper-Maori, ' was constructed, >and fillw with all. sorts of good thingd in the>shape of ! viands ,and* vegetables; ! While ithese were i-sfceaming to a turn and impregnating- the soil with a > luscious < aroma, - -the picknickers nwere • enjoying themselves 1 - 'at cricket, football, and other games. f sTh© feaat itself<( baffles description. Suffice itto say that everyone waa gratified, and that I the picnic was a huge success.* Visitors'fon some time to s come will be regaled with its 1 nraltifarious details. The ( arrangements were carried. outm ost successfully 'under the supervision of the Rev. T. Joughitt (Wesleyan minister) and' Measra^Bryers, Blair, Flood, Menzies and McLeod. •• ? ' ■ I ! , -^Auckland Star," January 42J