THROUGH THE FORTY-MILE BUSH.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3827, 4 June 1891, Page 2

THROUGH THE FORTY-MILE BUSH.

v [By Rambles.] 0 A party of three horsemen started . from Masterton en route for muddy r Makuri in the Puketoi district, Forty r Mile Bush. Aftor a good ride of five B hours we arrive at Ekctahuna and have y lunch. People read so muck about j tha towns on the main road that I ! will not comment on them. After lunch we proceed towards Pahiatua, passing Newman, Hiwera, and Tutakara on the way, and arrive at Pahiatua after three hours' ride. I i (your correspondent) did not see any 3 improvements on my lasttrip through, except a new hotel at Hawera, at ; the junction of the Mangaone and i district roads. But in Pahiatua • there are several buildings in course | of erection, The following day we start for Makuri. After passing over alow hill, we descend into the Mahgaramarama valley, cross over j the stream and proceed towards b Kaitawa. An hours' ride across undulating country, partly cleared oc 1 either side, and we cross the Tirau. r meabridgeandarrivat the townshij ; of Kaitawa. The township of Kaitaws i is situated nn a wet manuka flat, ant is between four and five miles distan from Pahiatua, The soil is generall J second class, although, no doubl ; will greatly improve as the bus surrounding it gets felled and a fa . good drains are dug. After passin Kaitawa about halt a mile we turn t the left and ascend a hill and the travel about; two miles along a rea overshadowed by forest, and knee dee in stiff mud. Presently we begin t decend into the Makuri valley. A we descend the road into the valley (i it may be called a road) the mud grows deeper and deeper until oui horses sink info the sofc mm up to their bellies. We pusl on, our horses stumbling an< floundering over roots and stump gets, and th 9 more our horses stumble plunge, and splash in the soft slough which is about the thickness of cream, We proceed in this manner nntil we come to a track that crosses the Makuri river and leads us past a saw pit into tke Makuri bridle track. We are now on the highroad to the Makuri gorge and townships reserve. Instead of improving, this track gets worse. In places gangs of men are working at their contracts widening the sid« cuttfcgs,and on the flats crowning up heaps of mud in the centre of the road, These tnudbanks are so soft that, had we attempted to ride on them w< should have got hopelessly bogged. So we scramble through the fallen bush and logs on either side of the mud banks, still belly deep in mud. We push on in this manner until we come to the Makuri gorge. In places the track is cut through solid lime | stone, and of course we escaped the , mud there. Then again, the soil is so , deep that the limestone had rot been i touched and we are over our boot tops again. We have also to risk breaking : our necks with our horses plunging ' through the mud and falling over the i gorge into the rocky river below, a > distance of 200 feet. The Makuri ' gorge «s the finest I have seen yet, not /only foritspicturesquenessand length, ; ;'cut for its danger, and the height the ■ road is above the rapid river, In my

opinion it quite surpasses the Maawatu gorge. After passing through the gorge the valley opens out again, and the river Aowb gently towards the gorge. At the commencement of the gorge the land improves, and on either bide as far as the eye can reach the country iB fine limestone formation. We had not cit the gorge more than a mile behind us when we arrived at the thriving to wn-| ship of Makuri. This township boasts 1 of a survey office, a store and aooom-| modation "bouse and a number of tents. We do not stop there, as we are amply provided with blankets, a tent, and provisions. The Makuri township reserve is now being cut up into quarter and half acre sections, and judging from the appearance of tin place and the neat plan of it I saw saw before leaving, it will no doubt | sell well. It is situated on the cross roads leading from Pahiatua t( Danevirke and from Woodville t( Aohonga. The road leading fron Makuri to Aohonga has beet formed for about three miles, anc when it is finished will be one of tin most useful roads leading into the bush district. It will be the mail road lino leading from the East Coasl to Pahiatua or Palmerston, aml-ww"

be a-great saving for thosa who wist to_go_into-Mak«« from Whareama and will be invaluable for stock driving. An eccentric individual in the bush has christened it "The road to nowhere." He evidently understands as much about the country the' coastal side of the Puketoi range as he understands about the processes of the sidereal system. We proceed about two miles higher up the river and arrive at a clearing, where there is some grass for our horses, and here we pitch our tent. We spend two days looking at the Crown Lands in that neighborhood, and the third day two of che party, (your correspondent and friend), start across the country to Tiraumea, while the third party return through the gorge with the horses, perfectly satisfied that he has seen " Darkest Makuri." To cross the Puketoi range out to the open country in Upper Tiraumea is no small undertaking. We start from the Makuri township reserve at 10 o'clock a.n)r and after pwo hours smart walking arrivp on. top pf Mount] Butters, a point 2600 feet above level of the sea. Here a magnificent panorama lies before us. On the eastern side of the Puketois can be' seen the whole of the Whareama district from Akiteo to Flat Point, together with the greater part of the Wairarapa. The prominent hills can be plainly distinguished. Barton's Moun tain, the Ma'ongaraki Range, Rewa: Rewa, and the Three Kings are visible in the distance, while directly below us lies that vast track of bush known as the Mt. Cerberus Block, through which we have to pass. To cross this belt of bush would make a new chum's hair stand on end, and I question whether one out of every hundred. 1 i Jin il "i H

Jjjj4£rnside we can see the townships fcf Eketahuna, Pahiatua, and Woodville, and the Tararua and Ruahine Ranges, and in the distance the snowcapped top of Ruapehu looming above the Ruahine Range. The Waewaepa Range hides our view upHawke'sßay way. After stopping here about half an hour we follow the range along about a mile towards Puketoi trig, and when we come to survey peg No, 26, we strike down a blaze tpsCß towards Tiraumea, Alter foui-hours' hard walking down a leadjug spur, wa come out into a bullet* track that leads us into the 01-atf country on Mr H. Here we camp as the day to a close, and next morning'' Meer for Tinui, which is reached after seven hours' tramp. From nere we return to our respective homes,