AN ACCOUNT OF A TRIP TO KAWHIA. [BY OUR RAGLAN CORRESPONDENT.] (Concluded).

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1523, 8 April 1882, Page 2

AN ACCOUNT OF A TRIP TO KAWHIA. [BY OUR RAGLAN CORRESPONDENT.] (Concluded).

We had gone but a short distance when our attention was arrested by the tops # of two handspmerj^qrfolforpjnes, which ; appeared S*ff n mp. T2 T 2i 0n B ' approaching nearer we found that they grew upon the by-MrXreprgeX/hajdeton.-i-H 6^ 6^^ settled in and Doctor_Hochstetter,_who hardy, energetioSnanfiiwKoijSjmed to be distined by nature for the rough work&t - primitive settlement, in New Zealaoar Herwas, bbtfe<W3rownMi£a&l\fhife crossing the Kawhia bar, and a few years afterwards 1 his "widow ;( wi3 l dfiWn from her beautiful home by, T tbe natives. Dr. Hochsfcettef speakVlri' globing terms of the picture which, Replace presented in 1859. Now it 'is nothing but a mere wreck of its former self. -The fine paddocks have all been ploughed over by the Maoris^anft Save not been resown, wjiiie the dwellin»,house ]r[^ichjrW»s a 'good one, is Just about' to .Tumble 'to pieces. Thp^grava of, the former, oc<supjer,ia on" a small hill overlooking the property^ It possesses a hTce/Maastoneifmaafe'l byj Mr Hancock, of Auckland. The railing round the gravels, however, much-outjpf rSpafr, aWd watfls attention, 11 * 3 W& haje now approache'dMneaK /enough to Be oW^W.arefjeleo^.^; hjyv T^ggM (John Wesley). /vvij^h extreme warmth and politeness. (Stt-arige'tbrsay this name man, according to 7 Dr. Hochstetter, also gave him •, a s frjendly -TteMweA™ 1859. King Tawhiao had just arrived from 'inland us. We weje treated by him with much kindness* and respect, andouotlfing^could' 'surpass his efforts ,to minister tOfOur-^mfort., To the gratification ofour palates, the natives pajkl the ()l raostt, unwearied attention. Melons,' apples, &c.,^v,ere offered,^) us.in large quantities, and while satisfying our gastronomic ! !propensities, I ' iTawhi&o afforded us a pleasing account of his trip to Auckland, testifying'in^every manner possible, to the.fiipendlyrespftct which had been everywhere, shown b.im by ,the Europeans. He haa his 'wife Tiara with him. I was much struck by her .appearance, andHbW'inotfTidrp^thniking thUt? 'she, in several respects; raeasZ-fitted to grace the household of; a more exalted .potentate than King Tawhiao. The greatest deference wag at all timep .evidenced by the Maoris towards the king, who conducted himself with a tranquil dignity of demeauouiv T.his ff pogitten. By the number of tattobed natives which we saw around US'/ we' were 'led' to ima'girie that amongst them 1 must' be a great many chiefs, upon whoge, deporation it seemed to be, necessary to most elabbratejpenojlling',', Although convinced in my 6wri ( mind that the./ custom of tattooing has something to flo, with the distinction of persons of different rankj still the connection between it and the superstitions of the people who practice it, is a point upon which I have never been able to gain any reliable or decided information. . , •>-, A' few h'burs of 'daylight still remained, and we determined tp improve the^ occasion by gojng to see the faniecl 1 stone block, which the' Maoris say is a portion' of the canoe Tainui, in which ', the first emigrants came from' Hawaiki to Kawhia harbour. We took the inland .road with the object of proving the character of the' country. ITo say 'that 'we ' we're disappointed would not be strictly true. It, however, did not reach the antidipationswe had formed concerning ' it. The land I will admit is of good quality, but too small in extent to 'be ultimately , of much -service. The encro&fcHment of 'th'e sah'd from tlie beach is doing much damage,' and gives promise of soon covering a much greater extent of' country- than/ it' even now does. Emerging rrohi a small patch of bush, we suddenly came 'upon a Maori cultivation, where we saw the most pr6lific crop of melons which I for my part had ever seen. 'They w6r'e literally strewn orer the ground, ' and ' the day being ' warm afforded , us a welcome treat. Let us, * however, go and' see the Tainui. Dr. Hochstetter in his " New Zealand" gives a very correct engraving of one of the blocks of limestone, which I believe were put here to mark' the prow and stem of the canoe which conveyed a portion of the Maori, race,, from Hawaiki to New Zealand. He has evidently not been' shown the shorter block of the two, .which ia nearest to the beach and which I should say marks the stern. ''The length between the blocks is 87 feet, not an unlikely length for a vessel which would be chosen to ; voyage such a distance over a stormy sea. The height 'of the block shown by iHoelistetter is four! feet, ten inches, that of the other three feet six inches. On enquiry we 'found that several Maoris held views similar to our own on this question. On our return to Piowhi (Charleton's place) wef paid; a .^visit sp thesettlement of the Ngatimautas, which stands on Leichardt's point, and is 1 called Maketu. The finest Maori I'linariffd house which I have ever seen is built here. It is 60 feet in length and 25 feet in' breadth, being beautifully lined .with tpitoi reeds. Time must have 'been'or little consequence to its builder^, fronva-Maori standpoint, it is a,; -.fine ..monument of native skill: Aroiuqdhere. we were sur« prised fc>,find, large , quantities,- of Bathhurst burr, which appears to thrive well, and. which will no doubt be a source of. annoyance to sheep-owners in future years. Getting on v tp the beach ,we noticed 1 that the banks abdve us were chiefly composed of calcareous sandstone, piled full of stiells 1 and fossils'. The scenery here is very pleasing, and the walk alongjthe .beach proved delightful. Overhanging it in some places are several large ;and splendid specimens of i the, Pohutukawa (inetrosiderontomentosa) trees. We again reach Poiwhi, and find the natives exerting themselves* to make our night's lodging comfortably. Tawhiao was again most unremitting in his attention to our comfort. The penalty of the Fall seems 'Ijp'pa&s) DgTjtly ' upon the nativeshere, Jfpr I scarcely noticed any piece •of work &tliai? Had* beeii performed requiring the sweat, to stand upon a' single 'orow. ' Treasured' up -here are some of the warlike implements which belonged, td'TeJiWherd Whert>,i Tawhiao's father. Amongst them is a mere ponamu withiwhichheissaidito have executed three hundred prisoners) taken in Taranaki. Being tired we retired eatly to rest. The morning broke pleasantly, and after a hearty breakfast, jwe started for a ride round the nortli ihead* of Kawhia harbour, with,the_object of ,again_ reaching Aotea,by tha^t route. r ;Thjß 'scarcity, oj^orni^hplpgical^me was ,e£p,ecfally ap-' parent to us during' the day; for^gpth ;the n ex,ceptign.,of a.le^.wild^ditejbyf^we , , saw few other birds. Our nbtieantaft - (jpne, /wiricK jtoas' extremely /pretftr. j\lt ; is, called^he toi;ea, from its note. Ira plumage was blue shaded with red, reminding me of some of the most beaujaful noctarnal-Lepidop-tera. A m»b of 1 cattle were c being crossed by the -Maoris at« the Maika as we passed-, i We* KVd Id Bu2er » defeat in our chief object in taking this track, being unable to£nd.the hot puiq, which^ close toHlie'seti/ l t^ibii the air, is clear the natives siate that" the'sulphur- ' ous steam arising' ix&ik ii'cail r be >l seen' at a considerable distance. The tide has, however, to be well out before it can be

seen, and herein, p^qbab^ly, ,lay our t want of success The i appearance of the country during the "next two hours' ride was oif the' most miserable description. The sand had encroached a' long way inland, giving to the laiid'a barren and useless aspect. Close to the Aotea heads we sAWihuls of quicksand of a, considerable height, and here And there along the bank were projecting thin bed 3 of lignite. From the appearance of the entrance to Aotea^Harbour, it t js easily seen that it wilt not allow " admittance to , large vessels, owing to the sand-banks .which lie across ! iii,- wMreas-at Kawtiia, the depth of water is sufficient to admit vessels of almost any size/ After passing jffl!jtiier~Mttori- r "settleweHt'we~ reach* one (in the prettiest spots we have yet seen. In former years Mr R. Nazer, now of CorotnSiidel," lived here, .'and there still remfi^i Evidences of taste which he displ if 1 * ne decoration and improvelnent'of'his ( property. His house lias, how«S rerj ''long since ' being completely destroyed^ $y, the natives. - While my comp4njioiis; were partaking of Maori hospitality, b£ r wit, Wieloiiß^ &e } I paid a short visit to toe settlement of Te Ngakau. Elevatea considerably above the feumJuridmg country 'this < portion:^ the Kakawha plateau is extremely fertile:' Uathurst burr is, hotverer, very plentiful, whicll sadly mars the otherwise pleasant prospect. I -have never seen so ntuch of it before 'in one place. I noticed some i very ! old and decrepit men and women' here. At Poiwhi the evening previous I had seen a woman named Parihaka, who the natives said, had seen more than a hundred summers. It was pleasing to see the tenderness which was shown to these aged persons by their younger brethurn. Thfcy appeared to deal in the most kind aiid humane manner to wards them, and from their behaviour in this respect, many could reap a lesson who study essays' on yirtue and benevolence, and icpeat regularly that beautiful prayer breathed first by the lips of our gentle and divine Redeemer. I again join my companions and a short ride brings, us back to Kay>apaka where we were the.'day previous^ sftid.from which in another hour — riding briskly— we reach MrElhVs. , - • In conclusion' let me say, that although during our two days' ride we had seen much to interest us, I still hold the same opinion I had before I started, that the country of Kawhia, possessing as it does land of good quality, is' still far from being what it is represented to be by many. <Thq country is" extremely broken, and the patches of serviceable land by far too limited in extent to prove ultimately of much value. I speak of the north side ; the south side of Kawhia I have not yet seen, but unless it is up the rivers of Awaroa, or Rakaunui, ,its appearance viewed from the north side of the harbour would betoken a like result. The harbour is undoubtedly an excellent one, and this feature of itself must afford full compensation for many other disadvantages. As for as my knowledge serves me, I should predict that the country of Kawhia will in future years be far more used for pastoral than agricultural purposes.