NOTES FROM WAERANGI.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 853, 4 December 1877, Page 2

NOTES FROM WAERANGI.

[by a. wanderer.] Where's Waeraugi ? I f«ncy I hear mo.it you reader* ask. Wei , I've b^en otiore, aiid will tell nil i kn<tw ahou.; .-lie plac<) and saw aiul lie ipd, Abqai. ■ii ie or ten mil^s m bo the westward jf R tngiriri, and tv th^ north we <t •jf 1/tke Wai k. ire lies the settlement •>f vV r aei-aug', surro mdcl 0.-i neirly •svery side by ranges, qf hills of g;rPiter or less magnitude, some of jhem exce lently wooded, some bare and ble ik, and mm / rough and rugged though pictareosque and orefcty. Here, for s >me years past, nave been living a small band of ■set'ler*, prcssevering and pinery, making homes tor their families and gradually bringing the con itry uuler cultivation. Bm before de-iqrib-iug the place itself I must teli you how to get there. Scarring from .tangiriri on the Gre*t South Rial towards Marcjr, y.m so.m co.na to the Waerangi road which leads round Lake Waikure. Coining to the railway line you find a siding which, however, up to the present does not seem to be much used, thmgh when the new proposed road is finish vd, there wi'l be a fiir a v Mint of cr.ifH; done I h ive v) ;{ j.ib.% F>r nearly tour tales fcha r.tctc lies along ri.ljf-.s w.iich look ;r)jr barren spots, b it down round cno lake are unny nioa patches of js<i.t i lun I, nh > gretteL 1 pot* ii>u of ! viiioh, b.j.onsr to n irivas, m Hfc of I vn .m are now iv th.j Kiu^ country. ; I've kkd is of a dv I .lir.y cilour, ! n:id is siid to b-.j fid n^ u[» eVary ] year, More are ca ig.it plenty ot' .uallofi, aad i»y tui'l liy it is ec•iui3...ed ih.it tuere will onpi.ncyor| ■ i:ii iiDii. I'll! entrance fivjui t ; ia ! vVaikfit) is thfoug.i the Ka giriri .And O ietea crueics, up the lut aioiitiouei of wuich the steamer Ban, t

giriri has been, and crossed the lakeThere is no great beauty about the scenery here, though the lake is backed by hills :='. rugg-ed ; andj'bleak, but m some cases grand looking being from 200 <o 800 fedt high. Here you -have pointed out to you the site of the old diggings to which a small rush took place from • the Thames' m about; 1869, bat where nothing payable was ever obtained. The road then runs through a low'ying- very wet bush aud this is the plaoe that has for so long- prevented ingress and egi'esVto and from Waerangi, exoept on foot, for though when first made, thp track would carry a horse m summer, now it is very risky to try aud lead one chrough. The Gjanfcy Council ar h, 1 understand, ab mt to make a good ro id through the swamp outside the hush, which seems to be an abso 1 ite necessity to the opening ot the listrict. Leaving the bush andcrossing a rid^e of still rather poor land you coma to the < Mill Creek, so called f.-om the fact that the vliori's had a large floir miil here ome time since. The same mill is now erected afc N s 'aruawahia, an>i is known -is Lamb's mill, it having been dismintleu, and brough' across the lake by the, Rangiriri, tor the Waikato Steam Navigation vJompany. The oil site is visible •still, and w is n well chosen one. Lvisiug tbe hill from here you come to i very pretty piui.i bush, f ro n -vhich a larg 5 quantity of timber has oeen taken Kir pists, &c. From the Dop ot these bills you obtain a vie* ■)f the Wierangi valley with a few debtlei-3 homeste ids m the distance, ;he patches of cultivafcien reliving yhe dull raouotoay of the surrouning few fl its and ridges. There is a considerable extent of fi ie lanl abuut nere. a g-^od deal of whu;h is owne I by Messrs Jackson and Russell, Ait \ea, and others, a d which has aever been touched, as it has been •ill but impossible ro get at it, but when the road ts mide it is within seven easy miles of the railway. The settlers here, some twelve or fourteen m number, have nob a very large quantity of land broken up, having principally growing cattle ; but this season, potatoes, wheat, oats, &., are being grown. Down towards the Whanganiainu creek is a lot of good flat go.»d la<id, portions of which belonging to Messrs Johnson and Bruce are under cr>ps, and looking well. Messrs F. Johnson and Bruce are the pioneer^settlers, and certainly leserve success, for the amount of pluck and perse?era nee requ ; red to do as they have done is considerable. Iv order to get oatfclo away hitherto they have had to drive them over rough steep ranges a two days journey to Paparata t) get f.o the urreac South Road. The ranges around are well timber.c I, contaiumg : puriri, totarti, rimu, mati, aud large manuka, and this fact alone should be a great advent ige to the settlers. Some day, and it is h mere question of when good eommuni--0 tdon will be opeue I up, there will be a line flourishing, district there* vithiu easy access of the railway. When I paid my yisit the grea 1 aux : ety of tho s n tiers wis as it • whether the Council would mike the ne<r road or not across the swamo, and the report of the Engineer sent djwn to lay it out was been looked for anxii lusly, as on the opening or o herwise ot this work depends the immediate future of the ? lace. The settlers are a hardworking hospitable lob, and glad to welcome any stranger, such visits being few ami far between.