NOTES FROM THE KINO COUNTY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5118, 31 August 1895, Page 3

NOTES FROM THE KINO COUNTY.

i It is astonishing how little you people about Masterton aud tlio Wairarapa generally,know of tlio progress of settlement on thatbordcrland,Which separates ili(> King Country proper on tlio one ide-and civilisation as represented by .. BRels and Churches—on the other. • How the Pakelia continues steadily his Work of disposing a noble race of their inheritance, and pushes his way slowly, .year by year, through those confines, the loss of which to tlio aboriginal owner Means his total and irredeemable extinction. _ Alas! that it 6hould be so. Itisono oftlto peculiarities of New Zealand that distance possesses a property unknown in the Sister Colonies. An Australian speaks of a place a couple of hundred miles distant, as in his immediate neighbourhood; though happily there maybe no Press or Press representatives to give him any information of the locality, and even if there were, he would not tako his information from such a source 1 No, he would simply rido over by a blazo tree line and get his own impressions of the place in his own way. In New Zealand things arc different, and the Press is in most cases a better medium tor information than a blazo treo lino—when the distance exceeds, say, twenty miles. This is no doubt owing to the density of our forests; the slightly uneven sur- 1 face of our terrafirmtt, and the greater 1 accuracy andlarger powers of observation 1 ( of our—ahem—Press Correspondents. I Mr Editor, it is my purpose and JRcntion to take you—and such of j'our readers as may feel interested—through this borderland of which I have spoken, in order to point out the salient features ■ of the new settlements on the most recently acquired native lands. Tlio subject will be full of interest to many of tlio readers of your widely circulating journal, and especially to those young men who contemplate quitting the parental roof in order to carve out a home for themselves in fresh fields and pastures new

In treating this subject I sliall endeavour to deal with facts alone; the details will necessarily be of a dry nature, but the information will be thoroughly reliable as far as I can make it, The first block of land that claims our attention is tlio much talked of Waimarino Dlock, by far the most important acquisition made by the Colouy from the natives lvithin recent years. This block contains about four million acres, and apart from limestone country, there is no better land in the North Islaud. The nearest centre to the Waimarino is Wanganui; I intend, therefore, taking thai handsome little" city "as my starting point. Tlie traveller leaving Wanganui for tjw Waimarino Country (Laving first the offices of lfatrick & Co., and purchased a ticket for Pipiriki) packs his valise or ties his tilings in a pockethandkerchief—as the case may bu—and proceeds to the wharf, where he boards the Wairiri or the Monawai, two small steam-boats, the property of the aforesaid Hutrick & Co., which trade between Wanganui and Pipiriki. I may state here that Pipiriki is situated some sixty miles up the river, about eight hours journey from Wanganui against the stream, the return journey being accomplished in about half the timo A description of the scenery along the river as viewed from the Wairiri would take about six pages of manuscript, and I know from experience that if I were to let myself out to that extent pi would chop it out without remorse! The fact of the matter is your paper is so crammed with advertisements, that you never giyo a man a show to use his talents at description. However, I will do the'river scenery on some other occasion in a description by itself, suffice it now to say that it is yery beautiful, I would also like to say that _ Hatrick and Co. charge lifteen shillings each way, and two shillings a M while on board. The Pipiriki Set, «went is not of a kind to fire the imagination of the trayeller with airy visions of its future greatness and prosperity. A few wooden shanties, a store (Hatrick's) an accommodation house (Hatrick's), a post office (Hatrick's), and a generally desoluto appearance, I do not know whether this last belongs to Hatrick, but I was informed by a Maori that it did—and I am inclined to believe it. Tlio land around the settlement is of an inferior quality, the bush (where there is bush) is of a light scraggy appearance; indeed, its only justification for being a settlement at all lies in the fact that beyond this point the river ceases to be navigable, and on this account it forms a sort' of intermediate depot for a large scope of country, Stretching away in a north-easterly direction from Pipiriki, and almost at riijht angles from tlio river is the main road to Hunterville, a distance of about one hundred miles, This road passes through some splendid country, mostly level or gently undulating. There aro numerous settlements dotted along at intervals of from ten to twenty miles,all in the incipient stages of development.

.Tlic first of these to claim our attention is Eaetihi, and this brings mo to flhfcJYnimarino Block. liaetihi is situffced koventeen miles from I'ipiriki on the Huuterville road, and it is one of those places with an undoubted future, an embryo,in fact. The buildings which constitute the township of liaetihi arc for the most part of a most primitiveand make shift character. Tliero are three stores, a smithy, a boot and shoo factory, a saddler's shop, an accommodation house, a post office, and a public hall. The nomiual proprietors of these establishments—except, of course, the board-ing-house—sleep behind their business premises in tents. I said the nominal proprietors because in reality the firm of Hatrick & Co. owns the bulk of the town. There are neither Churches, hotels, nor schools in liaetihi; there are no police nearer than Wanganui, but there is a fair amount of drinking and rascality carried on notwithstanding Doctors are also conspicuous by their absence, and there is no cemetery, liaetihi occupies a position on the verge of the Waimarino Block, and the township is girdled round with special settlements, tho largest of these is the Wanganui United Association, which covers an area of eight thousand acre 3., Tho Wanganui United took possession of this largo block some three years since; Each member has from two hundred to two hundred and twenty ages, and during that period the Wan®ui United havo felled some two juandred acres in all, or twenty-five acres out of every thousand. In point of fact only four settlers out of tho wliole boiling have done anythingatall to their sections, and during the coming year the Wanganui United will and must forfeit (1)0 \yholo of this land, with the few, exceptions I have mentioned, How it will be re-disposed of is a matter of conjecture, hut the opinion prevails that it will bo disposed of by ballot or for oash, whjehis a consummation devoutly to be wished. What I havo said of the Wanganui United maybe said, with some' slight qualifications, of all tho other Special Settlement Associations around Eaetihi. Thero is "failure" written large on every one of them. The Gov- 1 eminent, with the most laudable intentions, have endeavoured to establish a thriving Crown tenantry on this land by tho aid of co-operative works on a most magnificent scale, and now these works arc exhausted for the present, and there is no tenantry to spoak of. • As a labour market, at tho present time Eaetihi is not in it. The co-operative works havo all but.ceased for the season; thoreis naCluslifclling, except in a few isolated ifHttand those on land held with a purchasing clause; but the number of those homesteads are few and far between, There aro several drawbacks to settlement here which time alone will overcome ; tho principal of which is diUjcuityofaccess. Therearc threoways of reaching this locality, from lower civilization,the cheapest of which'is by tho Wanganui 'river, Then thero is a bridle track from Wanganui, tfhich is called " I'icld's track," a distance' of eighty- ' five nilet .over very rough, country,

■ nnd lastly via Huntefville, which is a good summer road, though the wnv is long, But let we remark here, that there is a road called the I'arajmra rond,whichisbeing construetud i ou the co-operative plan, direct to Wingauui which will, bring that country ' within sixty-live miles of the Waimariuo. When this road is completed the work o( settlement will really begin, and when it docs begin the field for labour will bo simply illimitable. Along this Parapara lioad there are thousands of acres of nativo lands which will shortly be added to the public estate; the finest land in the country! As a necessary eoiisoquoncc of bad access, the .cost of living is high i Hour is twenty shillings per hundred! sugar, fifteen shilliifgs per forty-pound bag, and everything elso in proportion. The Wnimarino is eighteen hundred feet above sea level, which makes the winter season slightly longer and more severe than in the Wairarapa. Twenty miles in a northerly direction from liaetihi, out of an almost level plain, liuapehu rises its enormous bulk ! into tho clouds, a distanco of uiuo i thousand feet. Winter and summer, the : snow never leaves the summit of this ' noble-bolting hill. For some time past, | the tires of liuapehu have been silent, ] but occasionally, I have been told, it < raises a pother,which makes tho deuizens ] of Jiaetilii wish tlicy had a Church near | enough to go to for a few minutes' ; prayer and meditation. At this stage I mil reminded that the mail closes, so ' that I wilt have to defer further com- 1 muuieatiou for the present, but will write | you again auon. ' ;