WAITOA. Progress of Settlement.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1296, 19 October 1880, Page 2

WAITOA. Progress of Settlement.

To an occasional visitor, the great progress being made throughout the Piako, Wiiitoa and Waihou districts is very perceptible, and the whole face of the country is gradually altering in appearance — fern ,'ti- tree and flax giving way to English grasses, ao that the hills may be truly said to be "with verdure clad." Larkworthy's estate on the eastern bank of the Waitoa has been pushed ahe.ul very fast, and brcaking-up fresh ground is still going on, whilst at Smith a and Moon's active operations arc also the order of the day. Mr Chudleigh, too, has started on a 3000 acre block, draining, etc., and has some 200 acres down in grass, with much more to follow at onoe. A pretty site for a homestead has been selected, facing 1 Mount Aroha, than which a more magnificent view would be hard to find, though if the anticipated goldfield comes off I am sadly afraid that the face of the now beautiful ranges will present a very dilapidated and scrubby appearance in a short space of time. I well remember how fast the forest -clad hill* on the dear old Thames field were cleared off in the wild ru^h after gold, leaving nothing behind but burned stumps and unsightly mounds of clay to mark the progress of the diggers. Touching this supposed new troldficld, I found that all those who might be supposed to know about it were most mysterious, and positively no information was to be gleaned at all. One thing I found out was that the Government Surveyor had been ordered to at once proceed with the delineation of the boundary of the n?tive reserve on the western face of the mountain, which might look as if the find (if there has been one) was somewhere in that neighborhood. For my own part, however, I should favor the ranges a littl" higher up towards the Wairere as gold-bearers, though past experience shows me that on the Thames and Coromandel Peninsula the most likely-looking has not been the richest portion of the field, and Dr Hector, "the learned," told us that gold did not exist at all where tons have since been found. A more favorable locality for a goldfield could not be well met with. With freight from Auckland at 25s a ton oh the one hand, and a land "flowing with cattle and sheep" on the other, there would be no fabulous prices to pay for tucker, etc., and pro-pecting would be a comparatively easy and inexpensive task. lam very sceptic-al as to the exisI tence of "known gold" at present, although I myself have got a nice specimen which I have every reason to feel certain did come from a creek on the mountain side, and the Maoris have always called the mountain " The Father of Gold." We used in old Thames days to look up at its head towering above the surrounding hills and say, " Ah ! if we could only get up to Te Aroha then we should be right." Yet here are we with Te Aroha open to all for some years and nothing yet. I met an old Thames hand who had been iv the district some nine years ago, and who has only jlist returned after a long absence. He looked like prospecting, but said nothing, as he started away up the ranges from the snug little hostlery known as the Hot Springs hotel, which nestles under the protecting shelter of the mountain. These hot springs are really the "genuine thing," and are second only to those found in the "Lake district." Originally a few streamlets of the hot bubbling waters oozed outthrough swampy mud, &c, but the present proprietor of the hotel has put a very different face on matters in general. He has made three nice baths in any one of which a most comfortable bathe can be had, and water may be brought to any temperature desired by means of letting on or turning off a stream of pure cold water which runs down alongside of the warm ones. Over one bath a neat whare has been built, nicely floored, and with seats round it, in which ladies could bathe with comfort and extreme privacy, and other improvements are now being carried on for the increasing demand. Withiu a few yards of the baths bubbles up a pure sodawater, perfectly cold and palatable, which I see mentioned in the " Visitor's book " as mixing well with ''the exoellent 'P.B. provided by Host O'Halloran. " I did not try the mixture myself, but intend to do so when I have another chance, as I feel sure from the signature to the above in the book, that it is correct, the writer being a good judge and an old Thames friend. Neatness and order

evidently jfceign sttpreftfe in the hotel presided over by Mr and Mrs O'Hallovan, and all. the visitors seem unanimous in their praise of the comfort and pleasure attached to a visit to this sanitorium. Sanitorium it may well be called, as many rheumatic subjects testify to the benefits derived from the use of the springs. In bidding them good-bye for the present, I predict a great future for these baths. By-the-bye, I might mention that I met the Engineer of the Waitoa Highway Board, -Mr-T. G. Sandes, engaged in laying out a good road to thp river opposite the springs, so that buggies or waggons can be driven right to the river bank opposite to the Hotel, where Mr O'Halloran has provided a fine punt and wire rope for crossing. The land just purchased by Captain Steele for the Lincolnshire lnen lies opposite to the mountain and consists, ■ for the most part, of swamp of excellent character, which only requires draining to become first-class land, as the grass growing in patches now shows. Next to this block Messrs Pall <fe Mellon have a fine stretch of land of some 1200 acres, which they are rapidly bringing in, about half of it being now in order, and the young grass is looking remarkably well. I fancy their lines are set in a happy land Messrs McLean and Co are about starting extensive operations on their 20,000 acre block, and have already laid down some some jafood sized patches of grass. They are going te work properly and are starting to drain systematically, getting all their levels taken before commencing, and layiner out the estate in square blocks. The 9,000 acre estate of Messrs J. and C. Gpuld is looking splendid : their swamp is coining in fast and the many thousand acres of grass laid down, look a 9 fresh and green as an early and kindly spring can make it. Their cattle, of which the estate carries close on 2,000 speak well as to the quality of the land, and I noticed that they sro in for well-bred stock ;iU round, their bull* being all picked judiciously and they are nt the pi*esent time in excellent order. Higher up the Messrs Nurighave clone a lot of good work and the place looks well and healthy. On the Richmond block, Messrs Hunt, AY right, and the Messrs Burnett have done a lot of work in a remarkably short space cf time, and having good ground to work on have made a first rate show. Mr MoGlashan to has been pushing a head and some 30 or 40 acres of oats are looking remarkably well. I found that Mr Sandes the Boa.d Engineer had been all round biyins? »out new works and the Boai'J seem determined to keep up thei 1 " name for making 1 good their ways and enable ratepayers to got on to and off their lands. Considering the immense H-se of their district, win h ext jtkls from the Piako Land Associations' boundary on the west, to Te Aroha mountain on the east, and from Matamata on the south to Paeroa on the north, they have done a very great deal of heavy road work in the few years they have been at it, and every thing" seems to have been c irried out in a permanent manner, creditable alike to the Board and the district as a whole. There will not be such a great area of turnips put down this year as last, although most of them, to a greater or less extent, and many of them are doing well. The country round Kur ( uwi, the head quarters of Lockerby estate, shows up given and high, and so right up through Bells, and Mr McDonalds, to what is called the Gorge. Here Messrs Gubbiu's and Chspmell are evidently not behind the times,and grass is taking the place of the everlastfng- fern. Mr Stead's estate lies still a* oi yore, and does not yet know the meaning of grass. " Seotchmaus Valley" has perhaps gone ahead faster tlvm any other portion of the district, and here we have a sample of what may be done by holders of large blocks, cutting up and encouraging settlers to take up land on deferred payments. There are now fine homesteads in the valley, and all have made a good start, even tho latest arrival, Mr Tillotson, only nine months from home, having hi 3 house up and pasture showing up green at the foot of the hills. From tho above few notes it will be seen that this part of the country has progressed with rapid strides, as less than two years ago there was hardly a decent road in the district, and very little grass, and what, with tho advent of tho Lincolnshire men and the developement. of farming generally, it certainly promises to become one of the mo-t important, portions of the Province of Auckland. When the railway runs through te the Waihou river, a very groat impetus will bo given to work and biwnr»>> of all kinds, anrl whon some of the large estates sire subdivided (as they are bound to be), and population increases, then, indeed, I look for gre.it, things from this district. Ihi vo almost forgotten Mr W. A. Murray's estate ; but as I purpose saving 1 .something about the swamps in this part of the country shortly, I will think of bun next time. — [Correspondent. "]