PIONEERS ON A RIVER

New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 488, 29 October 1948, Page 17

PIONEERS ON A RIVER

NO ROLL OF DRUMS. By Lieut.-Colonel Cypriari Bridge Brereton. A. H. and A. W. Reed, Wellington. 7 ‘THIS little book tells the story of pioneering in Motueka, west of Nelson, a chapter of our early history known to few outsiders. Colonel Brereton was born in 1876, a generation after settlers on the Motueka river began to cope with its bush and floods, but he was_ brought up among the trdil-blazers, and at the age of 14 his father’s death made him responsible for carrying on the farm. (continued on next page) i lL

BOOK REVIEWS (Cont'd)

(continued from previous page) Simply and rather discursively he describes the vary arduous breaking in of backblock land, with the swift and treacherous river, worked for many years in canoes and taking its toll of life, running like a thread through the narrative. Behind these people were Mt. Arthur and the Tableland, and we read here of the first man to go into this country. Much of the book is about life in the depression of the ‘seventies and eighties. The impression is strengthened’that country people were not so hard hit as in the depression of the ‘thirties, partly because they had fewer wants. This is another'picture of a poor and isolated but happy society, where families were large (Colonel Brereton says ten children were considered "about the proper number"), men and women workéd astonishingly hard, and all had to make their own amusements, which they did cheerfully and successfully. As in other books of the kind, the pioneers are somewhat idealised. Personal domestic shortcomings are seldom permitted to intrude into such records. But though they marched to no drum, these Motueka folk were fine soldiers in colonial development, and Colonel Brereton has done well to write the history of this corner of the campaign. Because the subjects are exceptional, we may single out for mention the description of cattle-mustering ‘on the Tableland, which should delight the boy looking for cowboy stories, and the chapter (all too short) on the long droving of sheep from Motueka by way of Tophouse and the high country in the middle of the island to Hanmer on to the Christchurch market. It is curious how little has been written about New Zealand droving, and this little contribution is welcome, There are good illustrations and a locality map.

A.

M.