CHATHAM ISLAND.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9223, 22 June 1909, Page 3

CHATHAM ISLAND.

(From Our Own Correspondent). TE ONE, May 19. We are again in the thick ot the shooting season, and ducks and swans j are a3 plentiful as t!:o proveroial blackberries. One ge's rather tired of so much game long before .the season is over. However, from what I can bear, ducks are not so plentiful this year as in previous years. Still, there are more than enough to go round. I note your paragraphs about the swans here some days since. There are really countless numbers of them, arid a close season for them is really a mistake. You see they have tne immense To Whanga lagoon to roam over, and they are yearly increasing. Parties of Maoris and pakehas go out for days a t a time and bring back beat-loads- The birds are very shy and the best methods appears to be to go out on to .the end Of some projecting point of land and lie flat till a irmb of swans fly over, and then shoot. One objection to this process J3 the fact that the shores are swarming with rats, ana they are apt to run over you as you lie "there. But then some people do not mind that, I have heard that on occasion a good fat rat.is seized and put into the bag with the rest of the game. Dances and other amusements have been far more frequent here of late. Visitors from the mainland have been responsible for this to a great extent, and lately the weather has been much more favourable than in the early "part of the summer. One concert and dance at Te One, in aid of the funds to build a new grandstand on the racecourse, was very successful, and put a fair amount to the credit of the fund. More dances are promised during the winter, and, given fine weather, things should be a bit more sociable than has been the case for some time. that most of the settlers have to come makes it hard to depend on getting a reasonable number together, and now the "long trip season has begun there is no attraction in the shape of "steamer day." Just fancy! we shall only have three more mails between this and Christmas, unlesa of course some stray vessel gives us a call. We all hope for that, at any rate. The senior pupil teacher at Te One school, Miss Ada Seymour, left the island for New Zealand by the steamer Ripple a month ago. She has been teaching for six years, ar.d before she went the other teachers and [ the scholars presented her with a I gold amethyst bangle as a token of i their appreciation of her work, Mr Guest, the headmaster, made the presentation and on behalf of all connected with the school wi«hed Miss Seymour every success wherever she might go. Miss beymour thanked the scholars and those present for their kind wishes and said she should always have pleasant recollections of tne time she had been l teaching among them. The Chairman lof Committee gave the children a | half-holiday to go to Waitangi to see their teacher eft by the steamer. We ' have since learned that Miss Seymour j has commenced work in Canterbury ■as relieving teacher. Previous to this, Miss Seymour hod been pre- ' sented by a few of the settlers wi'.'n a ! gold brooch as a token of esteem, j This took place &t a social that was ' got up for the purpose at Waitaing. It is really strange the fascination, or whatever yon like to call it, these islands have for these who were born, or have spent many years, here. To ■ the casual visitor the place seems the : mostinhospitable region that can be imagined, f.nd the bare thought of ' having to spend any lengthy period on ! the island frightens them. A Maori, j who had never been en the island un- | til manhood, recently went to Christchurch. A week was enough lor nim. He is back, and expresses his intention of. staying here. "Too many people, too. much noise," is his verdict on what he saw while away, and it will take a great deal of persuasion to get him to go up again. Nor is this sentiment confined to the Natives, for some well-known white settlers some time since left here intending to settle in New Zealand. They had been here thirty or forty years. They are back already, and building again on a fresh farm, seem to be more happy than they were before. The place must grow on people the longer they;stay here, for the majority of the settlers have unbounded confidence in the islands.

This should be a grand place for Chinese. It is overrun with fungus, and bales upon bales go up from here every year. One settler says he makes more from fungus than he does from hi 3 sheep, especially as the former is at a very high price now. Twenty bale 3 a year he generally sends up, and the price runs to about £0 per bale. It most frequently grows on the lcopi tress (karaka is the New Zealand name), of which there are thousands here of enormous size. In warm showery weather the fungus grows vary fasi-, and after stripping a tree youcan get a second crop before very long. and cattle eat it, of course, so at times the particular paddock where it grows is cleared of stock for two or three weeks, which is sufficient time to allow it to grow and be gathered in. Ths Maoris do not seem to bother about colloctirg it, but many of the whites make quite large cheques. In many parts where it is hard to get at, and where it would be difficult to fetch it out, there are said to be immense quantities going to waste. Expeditions will probably set out before long to gather some of it in. The annual shooting match that takes place on Empire Day, May 24th, came off on it 3 appointed date. The weather was very line and culm, bo there was a great improvement in . the shooting, The match was won )by T. Lanauze, who broke the record for the island. Ihe distances 1 were 200. 300 and 400 yards, u shots I at each, possible 75. Laranze's score ] was 24 at the 200, 24 at the 300, \ and 23 at the 400, total 71. When the range, the weapons, and other matters are taken into consideration, this is excellent work, for the fancy implements and contrivances generally used at shooting matches in New Zealand are by their 1 absence on this range. Several different kinds of rifle are used, and the Martini seems tne nvsfc popular. The competitors are most enthusiastic and come long distances to the matches. There are several Maoris among them, and the second place in this match was filled by one named Tiwai. VV. Cox was third. The club do-

serves a little move encouragement by the Govei'nment. It costs the members, at present, about double the money for rifles and ammunition that it costs New Zealand riflemen. I believe there is n movement to have the club registered, but the members find it difficult to comply with same of the necessary regulations. A point or two might, with justice, be stretched by the authorities. At present all expenses fall on the shoulders of the 25 or 30 members. Mr Alec. Shand, the secretary and treasurer, is a most capable manager, and to his efforts the present satisfactory position of the club is mainly due. The range is on the property of Messrs Shand and Cox, and is close to Waitangi.

We had a sharp frost here the other night. Frosts are few and far between on these islands, as can be seen by the flourishing condition and large size of the kopi (karaka) trees. These grow to a tremendous size. Those who like the berries of these trees could find plenty to satisfy them in the season. This year there has been a very large crop In New Zealand, I believe, you only find them near the sea-shore, where the frosts are not frequent. Here they are scattered all over the islands.