The Story Teller.

Wairoa Bell, Volume V, Issue 195, 28 April 1893, Page 7

The Story Teller.

OUR CHRISTMAS SCARE •

A NEW ZEALAND EXPERIENCE. Many yearte ago my father decided for various reasons to leave our London home and come out to New Zealand. Of course we young people were delighted with the idea, and after reading several books on colonial ;life we longed to throw off ike trammels of civilisation for the novelty of bush life, Already our imaginations carried us to an ideal farm, and we saw a model farm-hou3e nestling in trees, and surrounded by green meadows, in which sleek cows placidly chewed the cud, standing knee-deep in clover, fat hoi’ses drew loads of hay and grain, snow-white lambs frisked around their mothers, and we ourselves fed the calves and looked after the poultry. There were six of us ; three girls and three boys, Dorothy, the eldest, was quite grown up ; Jack and Max came next, tall lads of seventeen and eighteen ; Janie, my especial chum, came next, being sixteen, I, Esther, was the fifth, and lastly, Philip, a boy of thirteen. There were no steamers to New Zealand in those days, so we spent three weary months in a sailing vessel, and were at last landed in the Auckland of those days, where we gathered water cresses out of th e gutter in Queen-street, and found all other streets to be little better than paths through tall fern and tea-tree. Our land was about one hundred miles from Auckland and we were six weeks getting there, living in tents in various places on the way while waiting for conveyances. As the Weather was mostly fine we enjoyed our nomadic life immensely, exploring the country and making ourselves acquainted with the natives, a large number of whom came over from a village to welcome us, and danced a haka in our honour. We were disappointed to find them in European attire—we had expected a Fenimore Cooper type of savage, attired mostly in tomahawks and feathers, and there they were arrayed in all sorts of European finery, even to the civilised luxury of tight bools, for we saw the fat wife of the chief waddling off with hers under her arm when the festivities were over. However, we found it was their holiday attire, and in our after acquaintance with them we found no reason to complain of over-dressing; indeed, we sometimes found it necessary to hint mildly that trousers were considered the correct thing fdr morning calls, and that an old gentleman rolled up in a blanket only, however charming in himself, was scarcely up to our standard of full dress. Our journey ended at last, and very forlorn ws felt as we stood with all our goods around us on our own ground, with no habitation in sight, except the nat.iv/a'village down the river. We had to live in the tent for some weeks, then father paid the Maories to put up a house of plaited nikau leaves, which certainly looked picturesque and was weather proof ; it had an earthern floor, and this gave us much discomfort from dust and uneveness. In this abode our first New Zealand Chr'stmas was spent, with a blue sky and blazing sun above, and a wealth of lovely foliage around in strong contrast to the ice and snow which Christmas brought in our native land. Our Christmas dinner was also a novelty. No beef! no turkey ! no vegetables except a little boiled sorrel which someone had told us was equal to spinach (we should certainly have preferred the spinach) . There was plenty of fish which Phil had caught in the creek, also a pudding, but a very funny one, as we were out of currants and could get no suet. We had a pat of fresh butter, quite three ounces ! which we had made by shaking up some cream in a pickle bottle. Max had tried to bring some oyer from the nearest settler’s where he bad gone to purchase some fowls, It was half-a-crown a pound, which was much to be regretted as it melted on the journey and ran down Max's back, who had strapped it on as a pikau with some other things. And now our farming began in earnest. Alas ! how different from our ideal ; instead of the green meadows we so fondly pictured we found only acres of fern, teatree or heavy bush, which needed a tiresome amount of clearing, stumping, and other prosaic forms of hard work. Our cows lacking those verdant pastures, earned a precarious living in the bush. They were tiresome, ill regulated animals: instead of

ruminating quietly in the noontide heat as we had pictured them doing, they spent the day in getting as far from home as possible to the exasperation of Jack and Max who bad to find them every evening ; they would eat the poisonous tupakibi, which sent them into fits and killed one or two ; they fed down cliffs and broke their necks, or got into water-holes and were drowned, while the remnant of them devoted their leisure hours to trying all the weak places in our fences and nipping off our most cherished vegetables. Their calves when first born delighted us, but we soon found they were troublesome, blairing little animals and always butting or chewing our clothes, We had no sheep as there was no grass to keep them on. Our hens dug up the garden more thoroughly than any gardener while their offspring seemed born with a rooted aversion to the idea ©f ever growing up, to judge by their aptitude for meeting with every form of fatal accident ; the young ducks and turkeys appeared to be equally prejudiced against long life and every feathered thing about the place had apparently determined never to drop an egg into its legitimate resting place. There was an uncertainty also about the crops which gave variety to our life. No doubt the new land and our inexperience were partly to blame for this, while the gardening operations of our numerous live stock did not co operate very well with our own, and we always thought that the wild pigs rooting up at night what we sowed in the day must be prejudicial to the returns. Our household supplies also were as uncertain as our crops, as we had to depend on any chance cutter that happened to be coming our way. ~We had no postal service in those days, so sometimes we were weeks and months without things we needed, which was inconvenient and sometimes serious.

However, in spite of hardships and discouragements, we young people at least managed to enjoy ourselves, and got.plenty of amusement out of everything. We had a boat in which we made excursions up and down the river, the scenery 0:1 which was lovely ; it was dotted all over with pretty mangrove islands, and the banks on either side were 'covered with beautiful foliage. We went fishing with the boys, rode on horseback, and made many expeditions into the bush in seai-ch of wild flowers and ferns, etc. As we had plenty of books, pictures, and drawing materials, our evenings passed very pleasantly. The Maoris paid us frequent visits, bringing canoe loads of lioney, maize, kumeras, and other produce which they let us have in exchange Ibr various European goods. They were very fond of our food, especially of bread, but when we had given it to them a few times, they got troublesome, always corning at meal times, and when at last in se’f defence we left off feeding them they would walk in and sit by the five during dinner with a piteous look of hunger and resignation that was very trying to the diners. One of our neighbours in after years, told us that when pestered in the same way himself, he dug up a large stone from a certain place which had been the scene of a great tribal battle long ago, and taking it home put it down as a hearthstone in his kitchen ; soon after an old maori came in and sitting down by tlie fire picked up a coal to light his pipe. Catch ing sight of the stone he paused, and an expression of amazed horror spread over his countenance, the rich brown of his skin changed to an ashy pallor, as dropping the tongs he hastily fled. He had evidently recognised the stone on which some of his ancestors had been roasted. Our friend assured us that no Maori had since set foot on his place. But at this time we knew nothing of the all prevailing power of the dread “ Tapu,” so we had to put up with their peculiarities, and liked them very well on the whole, They showed a childish curiosity and pleasure in our possessions, which appeared truly wonderful to them. It was amusing to see two or three strapping young fellows all striving to get hold of the bellows that they might have the delight of blowing the fire ; or an old man whose face was a perfect work of art in tattoo, sitting lost in admiring delight over a wax doll. They always wanted to buy anything that took their fancy, “ How much te utu ” was sure to follow their notes of approval. Father was even asked how much *• utu ” would lie consider a fair equivalent for one of his daughters. Mother was very good to them, and lectured and doctored them to the best of her

a bility. In return they showed great affections for her, and some of their children bear her name to this day. Ono old lady brought a little white pig in her arms as a present to motner.- she kissed and cried over it at parting. Some of the old dames were rather trying in their affections as they would try to rub noses with mother, though she strongly objected Sometimes we went down the river to the settlement, and were always received with much hospitality ; they used to cook perk, fish,' kumeras, and potatoes, very nicely for us, and made us welcome to the melons, figs, and peaches which grow in great abundance. Their houses or whares were low thatched places generally without window or chimney, with a fire in the middle of the earthen floor. As they are mostly over-crowded with not very clean natives, who all, women included, smoke, and as they are often hung with strings of dried fish and shark, to say nothing of two or three pans oil maize which lias been soaked till half decayed and is being pounded by the women for porridge ; it may be imagined they are not very enticing places from a European point of view. Once we all went down to a “ tangi ” or Native wake ; a chief’s wife had died, and being a person of importance all the neighbouring tribes were invited to attend. When we got down the deceased was lying in State on the hill under a canopy of boughs. Two women were on guard, keeping off the flies with branches of trees. Crowds of natives were all around, they had on mourning caps of green leaves or black feathers ; nearly all were sitting wrapped in blankets, some talking, some smoking, leaving off at intervals to rock backwards and forwards apparently in the abandonment of grief, shaking their heads and crying with a dirge-like wail. It was rather amusing to watch them—at every fresh arrival they would le ave off talking, run to embrace the new-comer, rub noses, cry bitterly, while tears ran down their faces ; then, the greeting over, drop back into their non chalanb attitude and careless talk. While we were there they opened a great under-ground oven of hot stones ; it was full of cobs of maize which smelt very nice ; after a tremendous amount of “ korero ’’ or speech-making, it was portioned out, each chief taking what was allotted to his tribe, which lie then subdivided. At night they had a great haka or war dance. The whole affair lasted three days. (~To be concluded in next issue. J