A COMPLETE CHAPTER OF COLONIAL HISTORY. (From the Southern Mercury.)

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 302, 18 April 1874, Page 2

A COMPLETE CHAPTER OF COLONIAL HISTORY. (From the Southern Mercury.)

Ix the year 1562 few people had travelled over the coast line of this island extending from the river Grey to Okarita. Major Heaphy and Mr Surrey, or Mr Brnnner, had both done so ; and later Mr Brunner bad managed to reach a» far south as Maitai. It took the latter gentleman one yeur and five months to make the journey from Nelson to Maitai and back again. He lived on what the natives with him could catch — wekas, young Paradise ducks, eels and other fish, and largely on fern-root and ti-tree. Early in the expedition he killed, cooked, and ate his. dog ; by this mean* retaining among the Maoris on the coast the sobriquet of Tamai-kai-kuri to the present day. He succeeded at length, to his great satisfaction in learning to do almost without clothing or civilised food ; content with a dry shrlter by night, and a paunch full of fern root or weka for supper. Two or three sailors had passed up the coast from Maitai since Mr Brunner, but no other Europeans. These men had been shipwrecked somewhrre south, and had been forwarded to the Grey, and on to Kaipoi by the natives. I had just returned from my first trip up the Hokitika river, a month after poor Whitcomb wai drowned at the Teremakau, he having, with one companion and a few pounds of biscuit, crossed the main range at the head of the Rakuia river, traversed the Ilokitika to the beach, and got di owned in crossing the Teremakau in a cockle-shell canoe, built for the purpose of easily capsizing, to learn native children to swim. It was a useless jonrney, ill-advised, but pluckily executed. We nearly got washed to sea ourselves when coming down the river in a whaleboat, which was sent round tothoCanterburyGovernmentandleft atthe Hokitika. At this time there were of course no cattle or horses on the coast. All the provisions required for prospecting or exploration had to be landed at the Grey, and then packed on men's backsinland or along the coast. I was, at the period of which 1 am writing, staying for a few days in the vrhare karakia(native church), on the south side of the river TereicakaiK I had some days previously sent seven or eight white men south with as large a quantity of provisions as they could carry, giving instructions to reach the Waitaki rivor, if possible, and there cache their packs as supplies for the future. I had kept one white man with me as a companion ; the rest had been gone from the previous Tuesday. It nas now Sunday and noon. There is a long lagoon close to the ichare where I was staying; and while I was paddling slowly round its edges, looking for ducks and swamp hens, passing away the time, and seeking a supply of food for the morrow , j saw at tho entrance of the lagoon a native paddling another canoe, with a white man sitting in the bows with his back towards me. I knew it was a white ruau - f a. Maori, would have taken smother paddle. I waited with some cariosity to see who the white man. could be ; all mine with one exception, had gone south, and there were only four others on tho coast (that would bethree) viz., those employed by Mr Charlton Ilowitt in cutting a bridle track from Lake Brunner to the sea. I knew* all the members of Mr Howitt's gang, and found, on our meeting, this to be the sole supposed survivor of the partyA wan, weary, emaciated, half-clad creature he appeared. There was a wistful look in his eyes as though he had gazed on some horrible sight, which could neither be understood nor forgotten. He was & man awakening from a horrible night-mare. He told his story tersely enough. A month previously his employer had taken his canoe and gone with his two other companionsto the mouth of the Arnold River for the purpose of fishing for eels. They had never been seen or heard of since. A. swag was found on the beach, where it probably had been washed ashore, was the only indication of their past trip to the Arnold, save the used up bob* they had used in fishing. For three weeks he had been wandering round the N.W. edge of the lake, lighting fires when, possible, signalling, and at interval* calling for his companions. He had been confined in a store to cache their provisions, for a week by rain, was unable to light a tire cr cook any food, subsisting on flour mixed with cold water. He said he believed he had been mad ; he looked as though he might have been, for his eye was still wandering and uncertain. The man is dead now, so I can write of him with freedom. He appeared to feel as though those who. were not acquainted with him might feel a doubt of his. story, and regard the mysterious disappearance of his thre& companions with suspicion. His weary, woeful-looking, haunting eye will remain before me to my dying day, as heimplied this fact in his conversation. He had come to tell me of the disappearance of Ms companions, and consult as to the best course to pursue. He had made up his mind to go to Christchurch, he said, and report the disappearance to the Government, but he should take the Nelson, and not the Teremakan route, evidently being umnlling to revieit the scene where his companions had been lost, and his sufferings had been so acute. After a little consideration there was however one thing very plain; the canoe in which. Howitt and his companions had gone from their camp must be somewhere in existence aiound the lake, down the rivet,, or swept to sea. The finding of the canoe would be a satisfaction. It was of white pine, and would not tink ; and if it had been washed down the river and out to sea, it would be found again cast upon on the beach. Of this, there could be no doubt. This vas all plain sailing, and nothing now remained but to ascertain where the canoe could have gone. The canoe I determined to find if possiblt. In the evening'after Hnwell, the survivor of Howitt's part^ (the Mr Howitt bei» mentioned was a brother of the one of Burke and Wills notoriety), had narrated his story he was despatched to the Grey. Supper and eeL-catching over, n» were sitting round our fire on the whare floor, smoking our pipes and dozing alternately. The wind for the last day or two had chopped lound to the north-west, flooding the rivers,, and giving me much anxiety as to the safety of the men who had gone southwards. Mr brother was in charge, (he since went down in the Northfleet) aad I was fearful of bis rashness and inexperience. In one of those fitful snatches of sleep in which I fell while sitting by the fire, I dreamed I said, and told my brother, if the river Wanganui was high not to attempt to cross it, but to itore the provisions on th o north side, and I would get them across at a later date. A few days afterwards my brother and his party returned all safe and sound. I found on enquiry they had gone nofurther than tho Wanganui, storing Jhe provisions there, theriver being too high to ford, and that they were unable to. find the canoe. I made no comment, but recollected my dream. Later in the evening while chatting over Howitt'sdisappearance, my brother told me ht had not gone acrosstho Wanganui river, because on the Sundas evening he had dreamed that I had seen him, and told him if the river was. too high not to attempt fording it, but to plant the provisionsand return. The circumstance is at least strange. To bring this short passage of our colonial eiploration history to an end, it may be stated that the lake, river, and> beach were all thoroughly explored, every inlet and swamp adjoining the lako was carefully examined, the banks of tho Arnold and Grey Rivers carefully searched, bufc the canoe>. like tho men, had utterly vanished, leaving no trace behind. Twelve months afterwards I again went round the lake with the same fruitlws rosult, and the canoe and man mystery remained as denso as ever. Howitt's relatives were advised of his death ; his friends came over with the writer to seeHowitt's last camp, and obtain some additional information as to the mystery, but their researches were in vain ; and this is all that is known of the matter up to almost the present time. It is astonishing how light gets thrown on even matters so dense as the foregoing. At Nelson, last Christmas, I learned, I believe, the solution of the canoe mystery. Thiscanoe was peculiarly shaped. It was short, clumsily dug out, and had a broad square stern. In Nelson I met several old mining acquaintances from Westland up to enjoy their holiday- After talking over many subjects the river Arnold became a topic of conversation, and I expressed my wonder at cunoes and boats travelling up and down so rugged a river laden with goods. Some of the people in the room, stated they were among the first of those who had boated or canoed up the stream as they imagined, but on their first or second journey — I forget which — -they had found a canoe driven under a snag by the river side, which had evidently been there some time — a canoe that must have got away from the lake, and one evidently built by white people, as it was short, mad* clumsily of white pine, said had a broad square stern. I immediately came to the conclusion that the canoe these men had found was tho one in which, ten years previous, Charlton Howitt and his ill-fated companions went from their camp to the Arnold to catch eels, and for which sopatient a search had been vainly made. NOATUWA.

The following is from the Gippts Lmnd TTime:—As :— A few clays ago a worthy Scotch farmer, wlio resides not far from Sale, entered one of the banks, and after carefully extracting a florin from many wraps of brown paper, placed it before the teller, when the following conrersation occurred between, them :— Farmer : ' Man, but am glad ye're tae the fore j o've been wantin' ta see ye for twa or three months back ; d'yo mm' o1o 1 gie'n me that ?' Teller : • Ho, ah ! well, really you 6ee there'i so much money passes through my hands daily that I cannot recollect whether I gave it to you or not.' Farmer : ' Oh, ay, yell maybe no mm' o't, seeing it's sac lang back ; but a tell ye it's a fac' that ye gied it me for hauf-a-croon ; a didna find oot the mistake till a got hame,. but a keepit till a cam' in again, thinkin' ye would make it gmd ; laxpcnce it saipence, ma man.' Teller: 'There's no doubt of that, but I am afraid that I cannot make up the difference ; but if I did so, I would havo to pay it out of my own pocket. Had you returned the same day the mistake would perhaps have been rectified.' Farmer : ' Weel, it's a sair thing to hae a loss like that ; a doot all hae to speak to the manager aboot the saxpence, an' if he'll no make it up to me all just hae to writo tae the boord. Guid day t'ye/ With these words he picked up his florin and depaited, much to the relief of the teller , whose agony of mind, leit he ■hould be called upon to disburse the amount in dispute was risibly portrayed in his countenance. Farmers tint year, in Otago, are laying down a good deal of their land under grais. They complain th« low prices ruling for grain as the etuis of this