CANOE TRIP DOWN THE WANGANUL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 2749, 25 February 1890, Page 2

CANOE TRIP DOWN THE WANGANUL.

About the end of last year we had a paragraph alluding to the proposed trip of Messrs J. W. Ellis, H. Rurnand and VV. French, from near the source of the Wanganui river to the sea. Wc quite expected to have been able to afford our readers an exhaustive and graphic account of the trip from the pen of one of the voyagers; it may come to hand yet, but in the meantime the following notes from one of them will not be without interest"Our Christmas trip down the Wanganui river was soul-stirring and most enjoyable ; the Rob Roys acted admirably, the terrible " Paparoa" and Taurapokiore rapids were taken without a smile, or even stopping to look at the former. The Maoris had scared us with a fairy tale of a fearful rip or whirlpool to be met with at Taurapokiore, which sucked the canoes down like a big "dawg"at a bone, when the river is in hdf flood, as it was with lis, but on examining the rapid we were disgusted to find there was no danger to overcome. Six miles above we had to fish one of tho party off a shag roost, which he had endeavoured to 6tßeplo.-shase over, with the result that the canoe got over all right, but left him behind. I had no mishap whatever, but found we had to keep a swift eye on the snags and rocks in the upper reaches, as in some of the rapids we were doing fifteen miles an hour, and at first it was difficult to distinguish between a billow aud a ropk. .