THE "WARRIGAL" AT ALEXANDRA.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2602, 16 March 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE "WARRIGAL" AT ALEXANDRA.

A con rKI i;l"L'ou tu I lie ChriM.chun'h Press, 11 ii.K'!■ tins iiom do plume of " The Warriga.l," recently p:ii<l a visit to t.ho various districts in this province, and puddled his way up the Waipa River in a oiitamar.ui. Kruin a recent, article in the Press, we extract the following;—l watched the eanoo disappear, and then leaving the rivor I pushed through the scrub to the east. Io usy great surprise 1 discovered a road, not half a mile from the river. I had not eeon a road since I left Whatawhata, and I suppose the strangeness of the scene from my camp made me forget such things. I saw the houses of Alexandra about a mile ahead, so I tramped along 1 the hot dusty road uut.il I reached the frontier township. I thought it might look odd for a stranger to march into a town, gun in hand, but there seemed to be 110 our; in Alexandra to notice it. The, town extends from the southern bank of the Manga.piko Creek southwards. Having crossed the Mangapiko you leave the dusty road and enter the shade of pine trees, beneath which grows a rich carpet of grass. Alexandra, has no shape at present; it is simply a collection of houses dotted amidst a huge cluster of trees, a cool looking pretty place, something like an I'Liitrlisli village. There is only one hotel open ; it is kept by Alt Finch, an old 58th man, who, after serving in the war against the Ngapuhi in tho Bay of Islands, inarched with hia regiment against the Waikatos, and saw the Maori driven back step by etep from tho lower Waikato to the Upper Waipa. He witnessed the building of this frontier town, and has been here ever since. He tells lue this as we lunched together, and mourns the decay of the town. After luncheon my host and I strolled through tho town. There are some Maoris lounging about on the grass, and some active young colonials climbing amongst tho upper branches of tho pine trees ; otherwise the town seems deserted. Cows and horses graze iu the main street, and a few fowls are gathered about tho door of the church. Nearly in tho centre of tho town is a low round hill crowned with an earthen fort. We walked towards it. Tho hill is surrounded by a fence, and my companion tells ine that lie rents tho enclosure for his eows. On the top of the bill is a strong carthern wall covered with short green grass ; it forms a square, and iu the centre of this square there are extensive barracks, once garrisoned by Imperial soldiers, and quite lately tho quarters of armed troopers. Now the door.s swing open and tho building is a playground for tho boys. My companion knows who occupied the various rooms ; wo pick up some old orderly books, and ho tells mo stories about the men wboso names are written thero. They wore his comrades iu the old days ; he marched with them, camped with them, and fought with them against Ngapuhis and Waikatos. A soft cool breeze blows over the old fort, and it is a pleasant place iu which to spend a uummcr's afternoon, especially if one has a companion who can tell its history from the time of its construction until now. Looking over the broad topped_ walls one can command a series of delightful views. Just below tho Waipa river, in its deep green valley, curves half round the town, and then creeps in towards tho foot of Mount Pirongia. Across the river to tho south, in a hollow amongst bracken covered downs, is the nativo village Whatiwliatihoe, the King's village and until a few weeks ago tho home of Tawliiao. Ono can see the royal place easily, because it stands iu the front of the numerous whaies which form tho town, and is marked by its large size and the tall flag staff that rises near its entrance door. Whatiwliatihoe Is nearly daserted now, but tho smoke rising from .soma of the whares shows that there are still a few inhabitants left in the King's village. The Rubicon of New Zealand, the l'uuiu, on its way to join the Waipa, seems like a winding path from the south east to tho village; between this path and us are extensive nativo cultivations. BeVond tho Puniu, as far as the eye can reach, stretches the King country, a land of swamps and rounded hills as far as the limestone region, which rises in wooded ranges to a purple horizon. I go to tho north and look down tho Waipa valley, tracing its course for scores of miles by the Hakarimata Ilange, along whose base it runs, hast of the river and the ranges is a broa 1 brown plain, on the eilge of which I hail travelled whilst voyaging up the river, but for a few mil s between this plain an:l me there is a low undulating country dotted with fields and houses towards To Rore. Over the white houses and dark trees which form Alexandra ono can see the Mangapiko Creek winding its way[through a narrow belt of fern country. My companion points with his stick to some spot iu this fern country, and says, "There stood the old Waiari Pa. It used to be a great place for Maori fights years ago. You'll remember reading about the Maoris tiring at a party of soldiers who went down to the Mangapiko to bathe. Well, wiicn the alarm was given 200 of our men turned out and marched to where they heard the shooting ; tliev hunted about amongst the fern, and at last came on the Maoris in the Waiari Pa—it was grown over with rubbish, but the walls were good—and our men did some hard lighting before

they drove the Maoris -ut. '■ hero is Paterangi ?" Why, its over there, almost in a line v.-rii the Waiari. Paterangi w-iS a pa, strongly built iiu l well mt'iined, and there Were tiircu thousand natives in it, all goo:! lighting men. We used to see then, come on the walls to shake their li.4s at us, and challenge us to ' come oil.' I don't think wc should ever have l iken that place lighting ; wc were before it for weeks and never got any nearer. Yet the Maoris loft it of their own accord ; the 3000 of thein cleared out one night, they did from some of the other pas. I suppose they had quarells amongst themselves ; some of them hated one another nearly as much as they hated us. 'i he natives had dug a deep well right iu the middle of Paterangi, and they left lots of potatoes and things behind ; they wanted for neither water not' food. Nobody knows what made them clear out like they did." I found the hours pass away swiftly aud pleasantly on that breezy fort-crowned hill, aud it was late iu the afternoon before I left the plaec and walked through Alexandra to my camp.