EARLY TARANAKI.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 November 1916, Page 6

EARLY TARANAKI.

DISCOVERY OF THE COUNTRY. COMING OP FIRST EUROPEANS. TRADING IN TUB EARLY DAYS. ADDRESS BY DR. MeNAB, The story of the coming of the first Europeans to New Zealand was graphically told by the Hon. Dr. R. McNab in a lecture delivered in the Good Templar Hall, New Plymouth, yesterday afternoon to a, large audience. The Mayor (Air. C. H. Burgess) presided. In the course of the lecture, Dr. McNab .'onfined himself to the discovery and survey of the -.oiintry, to the first attempt made to trade at Taranaki, and to the fate of the adventurous spirits vrfo took part in it. Dr. McNab explained how the configuration of the New Zealand coastline was responsible for the number and the nature of the events which had been recorded on its shores. The unbroken Taranaki coastline, unlike the features, of the Bay of Islands, Whangaroa, and Banks Peninsula, lid, not form a centre of romance in the Southern Pacific. There were some treasures, however, to be found in the records, and these would occupy his attention. TARANAKI FIRST SIGHTED. The credit of the discovery of Taranaki, in iommon with the rest of the country, was duo to Abet Tasman, a Dutch navigator, who sailed along as shores from December 13 1042, to January 0, 1043. Tasman first saw the long stretch of land between Cape Egniont and Cook Strait on December 20•22, 1042, and, describing what he saw in his log, he said:—"At noon we .aw cast by north of us a high mountain, which we. at first took to be an island, but afterwards we observed that it formed part of the mainland. This high mountain is in 3S degrees, south latitude." This mountain, explained Dr. McNab, was not M/mnt Egmont, 'but Karioi. It was evident Tasman sailed round Cape Egmont so far jut to sea that, with the bad weather which prevailed on the day he passed, he failed to get a glimpse of the wonderful peak, or of the Cape. Tasman made nc attempt to land in the vicinity of Taranaki. DISCOVERY OF THE MOUNTAIN. . Tile honor of discovering the mountain fell to Coptain Cook, when the latter circumnavigated New Zealand in 17C9 ' and 1770, 127 years after Tasman visited the country. Cook described the mountain as "Of a prodigious height, and its top :overed with* everlasting snow.' Sir Joseph Banks'* referred to the mountnin as the noblest hill he uad ever seen. Cook named the mountain Mount Egmont, after the Earl of Egmont, who held the position of First Lord 'of the Admiralty from 1703 to I7GO. The Cape followed the name of the mountain as a matter of course. Cook also named j>n Sugar Loaves. ' VISIT OF »U FRESNE. T r - Proceeding, Dr. McNab eaid the first land sighted in New Zealand bv •Marion du Frcsne was Mount E"mont which came into view on March 2o! hi 2 Dr McNab stated that his researches Tiad demonstrated to him that dn Fresno did not land at Taranaki, although it .had been mistakenly believed that he did. During Cook's second voyage to New Zealand, in 1773, Mount Egmont was sighted twice, bv Captain I'urncaux, of the Adventure," on April 4, and by Cook, of the Resolution, on October 17. From 1773 until 1810—n period of 37 years—no mention could be found of any visit to Taranaki. This was no doubt attributable to the fact that Taranaki was very uninviting to a small sailing vessel, which could find no harbor of refuge. Ocean whaling vas one of the New Zealand industries of that time, and sealing was also carf:Cd on, but no trace could be found of any vessels concerned in these callings stopping at any point near Taranaki. There was one exception. A Sydney merchant named Robert Campbell called at the Sugar Loaves in ISIO in search ot seals, but he found none, and returned to Sydney. Up to 1810 there was no record of any European having set foot on the shores of Taranaki. F.GMONT'S MAJESTIC SUMMIT. In 1820 fhaddcus Bellingshausen, a Russian admiral, sighted Mount Egnont while on a voyage of exploration, <nd on May 20 noted "its majestic -silvery summit rising above the horizon." From the visit of Bellingshausen onwards, numbers of vessels bound from Sydney, via Cape Horn, to England, sailed through Cook Strait, and used Mount Egmont as a beacon, by means of which ihey negotiated the dangerous waters of the Strait. ARRIVAL OF FIRST TRADER The record af the arrival of the first European to Taranaki had been made by Mr. S. Percy Smith, who had it from (Vatene Taungatara that Love, in his .-esse), the Tohora, one day sailed past Nga-Motu, southward bound, and that war canoes were dispatched ifter him, ■vith an invitation to come and trade *'itli the Maoris. The Tohora. was accordingly put about, and cams to an mchorage . just inside the Sugar Loaves. On the mainland a trading station was established, arid the eontents of the ship, consisting of three cannons and a great quantity of muskets;' ammunition, blankets, and general goods were landed. Wives were supplied to Love ind the mate, Barrett, fend the first settlement A Europeans in Taranaki became an accomplished fact. When the ship, loaded with flax and pigs, set sail foi Sydney, five of the chiefs accompanied her to "see the white man's country." In due time the Tohora returned, hut while riding at anchor off Nga-Motu j gale :ame up nd drove her ashore. One disaster followed another, and after she had been ■ (■floated a cask >f pork fell and broke through, the hold, with the result that the Tohora went to the bottom—the first wreck off the Taranaki coast. From investigations made, Dr. McNab *aid he had found that the Tohora was the Adventure, which, under Captain Barrett, traded between Sydney and v'ew Zealand, and made its first visit to Nga-Motu on February '23, 1828. TRADING STATION ESTABLISHED. The first visit of Europeans to establish a trading station at Taranaki took place after February 23, and before April M), IS2B. The date of the wreck of tlie Adventure was difficult to determine, but it must have been in July or August, 182S Watene Tauagatara told

Mr. Percy Smith that the Ameriki Whaii was another early trader between Sydney and Nga-Motu. The vessel referred to had been identified as the Admiral Gilford, which arrived in Sydney from New Zealand on January 10, 1529, with pork and flax, and with Mr. Love, of the wrecked Tohora, or Adventure. The latter vessel had been owned by Thomas Hyndes, a merchant, of Darling Harbor, .Sydney, and he secured the Admiral Giffofd and despatched her to Xew Zealand to relieve the traders. SALE OF TARANAKI PRODUCE. All this time, the Doctor resumed, the party remained ashore to trade with the Maoris for the cargoes which were <;o be taken back to Sydney. Guns and ummunition were the chief means of barter. The Admiral Gifford sailed for her second voyage to New Zealand on February 2, 1829, and returned* o-» March "23 with a cargo of potatoes and flax. The consignee and jwner advertised it for sale in the Sydney Gazette In the following terms:—"Just arrived from New Zealand, and on sale at the premises of the undersigned, a few tons of new potatoes, for vash only.— Thomas Hyndes. March 23, 1829." Here, added the lecturer, you have the first advertised sale of Taranaki produce, and it was not butter, cheese, or oil (animal, vegetable, or mineral)., but dimply "spuds." WHALING NOT FIRST INDUSTRY. Dr. McXian' proceeded to recount the experiences of the first traders. The visitors to Taranaki of those days ,vere not whalers, but traders. Whaiing did not commence in the vicinity of Cook Strait until 1830, or two years after Love settled at Moturoa. In 1830 Joseph Barrow Montefiorc, a member of a prominent London family, decided to establish trading stations in New Zealand. His ship, the Argo, visited Taranaki, but met with misfortune, and Montefiore's description of the place was: "A most beautiful mountain, but a very bad harbor." CONFLICT WITH THE MAORIS. "The European settlers in Taranaki have lived through some terrible experiences in warfare," said Dr. McNab, "but all others fade into insignificance before the first encounter with the Maoris." Late in the year 1831 the Waikato-Maniapoto and then allies invaded Taranaki. Love's party of eleven Europeans set to work to defend NgaMotu. Here the Doctor gave a vivid description of the warfare which followed. The slaughter, he said, was awful. The fort was on the beach, on the site of the present freezing works, and a siege of 24 days took place. The attacking forces suffered severely, and finally drew off and left the heioic defenders in possession of the field. During the siege a Sydney trading vessel arrived off the besieged pa, but, owing to the fighting, was unable to larfd. An effort was afterwards made %> patch up a peace, but the invading Maoris were not to lie trusted, and nothing came of the interviews. Curious customs of warfare observed by the Maoris in those days were described. The methods of the Waikato Maoris were like those of the Germans in Belgium; the humanity of the Taranaki defenders in theiv hour of triumph resembled that of the Turks in Armenia. The H.M.S. Zebra, which called at Nga-Motu after ilk fighting was over, was the first man-o'-wai to visit this port, and the date of that interesting event was Monday, March 12, 1532. Of the three jueees of artillery used in the defence of Nga-Motu, Dr. McNab said he understood two were now in the park of the town. The breech of another gun was discovered in 1000, and was in the Museum. The names of tei. of the eleven European? wno took part in the siege were: John Love, Daniel Henry Sheridan, Richard B;r----rett, William Keenan, William Bundy, John Wright, Bosivorth, Lee (the negro cook), John Oliver, and George Ashdown. MIGRATION OF MAORIS. After the defeat of the Waikatoi Maninpoto Maoris, the Taranaki natives gathered near Sentry Hill in June '■ of the year of the conflict, and, with ■ the object of protecting the remnants of their tribes, they left their ancestral • homes for new homes further south. • Of the European defenders, three went i with the Maoris, one stayed behind, ' and Sheridan, "the big man, wno con- ! trolled the guns," went to Sydney, and ' .lever .returned. Dr. McNab concluded by stating that the operations of the New Zealand Land Company followed afterwards. Settlers were sent out to build a capital on the shores of Port Nicholson.