THE ALBERTLANDERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 25, 30 January 1926, Page 27

THE ALBERTLANDERS.

MAUNGATUROTO , S STORY. DIFFICULTIES OF THE OVERLAND MAIL. "BRYNDERWYN" IN THE 'SIXTIES. DAWN OF THE 'SEVENTIES.

(Edited by HEKEY HOOK) Xatives from the Maori settlement at Kakaria, on the Otamatea, visited Maungaturoto on several occasions shortly after the newcomers' arrival, and settlers occasionally landed at their village on visits to " Masefields," now known as Batley, which was fairly easily reached by boat, a distance of twelve miles or more. There was not, however, the same friendly or business relations between the whites and the natives that obtained at Port Albert. It is not on record that Maungaturoto and Kakaria "rubbed noses." On the settlers' visits to the Maori village the canine guards of the various domiciles did not encourage pleasant relations; but the inability of the natives and the pakehas to understand each other was the main obstacle to friendly intercourse —the settlers had no Maori and the Maoris no English. There also was considerable disaffection among the natives at the time, owing to the two races being at war, and it could hardly be otherwise than that their sympathies were with their own people. That they remained neutral is probably entirely due to the personal influence of the Eev. Mr. Gittos. Their loyalty was, to say the least, very doubtful, owing to the visit of a number of rebel Maoris—escapees from the Kawau, in the year 1866. Mr. Gittos himself was then very much perturbed at the increasing disaffection of the natives, and he and others who were aware o£ the critical state of affairs were greatly relieved when the malcontents left the district. Photographs have earlier appeared of leading chiefs among the Otamatea Maoris at that time—Paikea, then a old man of high rank, but waning influence, and Arama Karaka (Adam Clark),°a man of massive proportions, grave and dignified in manner, and an undoubted autocrat among his fellows. We have explained that before the advent of a store, settlers combined in getting their main supplies from Auckland, but in the interim between the town consignments they would often run short of articles such as tea, coffee, and other small goods, before the time was due to send another general order; the usual course.then was to get the mail man to purchase these at Mr. Faxrand's store, Te Arai, and bring them back on his return journey. In addition, there would be small parcels from town brought up'by the Mangawai boat, and other miscellaneous packages picked up on the way. The striking effect of such a multiplicity of parcels was that the mail man, on his arrival in the settlement, presented the appearance of a Father Christmas on horseback. Turpin, the working partner in this important carrying business, was for many years the most popular and well-known horse in the district, and did long and faithful service in the combined department of commissariat and mails. Eventually he was retired, and spent a peaceful eventide as an old age pensioner. "^ Among the variety of articles entrusted to the mail man, on one occasion was a harmonium, which had come up from Auckland for the church, at Te Arai. A harmonium on horseback may seem like a dip into the romantic, but the accuracy of the story is vouched for. " Daddy " having loaded Prince, a big grey horse, successor to the famous Turpin—with the instrument on one side, balanced by the m&ils or luggage on the other, accomplished the journey safely, and arrived at the church on a fine Sunday morning, when the woi shippers had gathered for service. The pleasure and interest of tha congregation in this novel delivery of their harmonium may be imagined. " Daddy " and Prince justly deserved a special collection, but we have no record to show that the people " did the generous." By a subsequent contract mails were brought by boat to Warkworfh, and thence overland to Te Arai and Mangawai, the bags for Maungaturoto and Paparoa being picked up at Mr. Farrand's store, Te Arai. TWO OLD AND RESPECTED MAUNGATUROTO SETTLERS.

In later years, when the overland mail service from Devonport to Matakohe was instituted, Mr. Eowsell held the contract from Wellsfcrd to Matakohe; he also ran the services toWaipu and Point Curtis, where Maungaturoto mails were landed by steamer from Helensville. During this time he was the first to put a wheeled vehicle on the road, a strong spring trap, specially built for the purpose. " Daddy " now drove resplendent in a red coat, and carrying a postman's whistle to announce his coming to deliver the mails and wayside parcels for the settlers. The district was then given a duplicate mail service, the overland route from Devonport alternating with the mail forwarded by train to Helensville, thence by Eteamer to Point Curtis, the last-named contract commencing in the 'eighties. When, during the course of " postal" history, the office opened at Messrs. H. and J. Cullen's store was designated " Maungaturoto." Mr. S. B. Biss, then Chief Postmaster at Auckland, re-opened the first office as " Eowsell's," and when only a few years ago, after all Mr. Eowsell's family had left the district, it was removed to Mr. T. Healey's, the postal headquarters in Wellington directed that it must retain the name "BowsellV in recognition of Mr. and Mrs. Eowsell's early and long service to the people and the Department. In the early isolated life of the community, and later, Mrs. Eowsell gave valuable service in the district as a nnrse. Possessed of the elocutionary eift, she is also remembered as a willing helper at church social gatherings, while her forty years' record m the postal service is a memorial of steadfastness. Local records show a census and statistical return taken in December, 1567, by Mr. Kobert Mair, of Whangarei. Judging from the fionre's for population and stock, this must have covered a wider area than Maungaturoto itself, as these totals are in excess of what the district alone would be likely to show. However, as an indication of the progress of Maungaturoto and neighbourhood, we quote them:— Population • *2f Cattle • - I * Horses •"• - Acreage in grass > ■»•'•> . Acreage in maize ■•. Acreage in wheat - —-..-•-. ~* Acreage in oats -...*. K Brvnderwm " (translated by a Welshman as "The hill.of

whare, in ■which he lived for a time, but otherwise made no improvements on this fine property. Brynderwyn Estate in the "sixties was a block of land on which the speculator might cast an envious eye. Clad with dense bush, sweeping right back to the ranges—on its broad acres abounded heavy timber in kahikatea, rimu, totara and rata. crowned as it were with kauris rising in majesty on the distant , hill slopes. In the year 1868, men from all parts of the country were flocking to the Thames Goldfields, and among those who resolved to " try their luck " were several of these pioneer settlers, hoping to find a way more speedily to even moderate success than had hitherto been their reward. However, what they found and how they fared is not essentially Albertland history. The party spent three years at the Thames; but prosperity did not smile on them. There was not much alluvial gold, and it was before the days of the cyanide process, which has rendered co much more profitable the working o£ the great mining industry. Sadder but wiser men, they retraced their steps to their North Auckland homes. It may have been some consolation that they had not as much to lose as others who have risked money on mining booms, and the opportunity then afforded of mixing and exchanging ideas with men from nearly all English-speaking countries after the restricted self-centred life of a small bush community was perhaps some compensation for the refusal of Dame Fortune to confer any marked favour on their adventures. While a number of the settlers were making this excursion into the realm of romance in the pursuit of a shining El Dorado which eluded their grasp, the remainder stood to their farms and " kept on keeping on." The iron hand of circumstance was heavy on the people, and there ,was little variation from the daily routine of milking the cows, feeding the pigs, working the garden plots or the small area under field cultivation, 'or away to the bush to push on with the clearing for the next burn, cultivating at the same time the firm conviction that there was a good time coming, which there certainly was, but not so near at hand as was thought. During the year 1869-70 there were quite a number of additions to the population/ Bright, happy children came to bless the settlers' humble homes and inspire their toil. The parents' pride and affection were linked with hope for better opportunities in the brighter days yet to be. There were also two weddings, while, on the other hand, the district suffered a serious loss in the death of Mr. John Cullen, who passed away, after a painful illness, on June 4, 1870, at the,age of 57. The small community, during the first ten years of its life, did not comprise more than about a dozen households. Some time earlier there had passed away Mrs. Sarah Flower, a lady of over sixty years of,age, the mother of Mr. W. M. Flower. How little Home people realised the actual facts of backwoods life, with its hardships and deprivations, is evinced by a person of such advanced age taking part in such a venture. She was a most practical-miudod woman, who took a very lively interest in all that was going on in the district, and was keen to know of all that was being done, or proposed, on the farms or in the settlement, but she was too frail to adapt herself to the crude conditions of life on the land in those days. The old lady had interesting stories to tell of her girlhood, being the daughter of an officer stationed in different parts of the British Dominions, and spending some time in Gibraltar, Malta, and Corfu. Among these were ghost Etories, representing the superstitious ideas of the early years of last century, weird tales of her father's regiment, and of the natives in various parts where he had been stationed, sprinkled with mysterious happenings and awe-inspiring complications, and told often in the semi-darkness of the flickering fire, which left a lasting impression on some of her hearers. It is an illustration of life's change and vicissitude that her last resting place should be in a land of which in her youth she had probably never heard: and the reader will pardon this diversion from the order of history to briefly characterise the oldest lady in our pioneer band. In the year 18,70 access was given to the neighbouring Is'ova Scotian settlement of Waipu by the opening of a bridle track over " Bunkers' Hill," the contract being let by Dutch auction. During 1869 and the 'seventies the population was strengthened by the arrival of several new settlers, among whom was Mr. William Morrow, who, a few days after his landing in Auckland, underwent a severe test of endurance. Fresh from shipboard, the task was laid on him of walking from Mangawai to the far end of the Maungaturoto block, about seventeen miles—most of the way through deep mud—on a mere track. He was very much a " walking pedestrian " that day, and reached his destination thoroughly exhausted. Mr. Morrow, who lived many years with Mr. G. Griffin, won general respect in the district. Others arriving about this time were Messrs. C. Davies, F. Hemmings, A. Gloyn, and J. Curtis, with their wives and families, all direct from the Thames Goldfields. Mr. Curtis moved a short time later to " The Point" (the site of the wharf later described), where he combined farming —such as it was in those days—with hotelkeeping. Mr. Gloyn, one of the strong men of the settlement, died a few years later, said to have been from injuries received in a wrestling match at the Thames. Mr. and Mrs. Davies played a conspicuous part in local business life for many j^ears. During the " 'seventies " also, Mr. W. Walker and family came to the settlement, taking up land in what was then the far back country, also Mr. J. Walker, who had previously resided at Te Arai, and with his wife and family belonged to the Albertland party, being Tyburnia passengers. To many of our readers this may be but a list of names, but those who know the district, and the narrative of its first years of progress, find circling round them fragrant memories of over fifty years ago. The enthusiasm of these later recruits in -their new adventure, and their plans for the future!—how this portion of land was to be cleared and fenced, an orchard planted here and a garden there, and how they worked from daylight till dark to bring about the much-desired improvements, which, accomplished, led to other and wider fields of endeavour, as is the way with men -if progressive and possessed of vision. During the first ten years in Maungaturoto, social life was practically a minus quantity. Men would meet occasionally on the roads—better described as road lines—or in the bush, each as a rule looking up stray stock of some kind, but, even in the small community then existing, a woman might not see any of her neighbours or friends for months together, and some not from one year's end to another. There was then no common meeting-place, no hall or church, and no house with a room large enough for a social gathering. From the very early days, a Sunday service was held in one or other of the settlers* dwellings, but, owing to the limited space, and the difficulty in getting about over newly cut roads, the congregation was limited to the families of one or two of the nearest neighbours. Very rarely did any travellers pass through. Notwithstanding that the Paparoa people were the nearest neighbour community, there was very little intercourse between the two settlements for the first few years, nor indeed, much at any time, for, owing to the nature of the intervening country, the travelling was exceedingly difficult. Tie tidal waters being accessible to each district, and giving means of communication with Helensville and other places on the harbour, there was no business attraction from either direction, and, as a further reason, the people in each settlement, however much they may have wished to fraternise, were much too busy to do any more travelling over impossible roads than was absolutely necessary. In the brief church history which will follow is recorded the death of the Eev. T. Booker, who was killed in 1872 by a falling tree. Some time after, Mr. J. Gummer, who was one of the original settlers, passed away. Mr. Gummer resided far from the centre of Maungaturoto, on the main road which now runs westward through Paparoa to the Northern Wairoa, and near to the Paparoa boundary, hence he did not take any very active part in the affairs of the district. The next to fall out of the ranks was Mr. Richard Hives, who was killed early in the 'seventies while bushfelling on his own property. Mr. Hives was an elderly man, a Tyburnia passenger. He is described as always buoyant and cheerful, even under circumstances which to most men would have been unendurable. He had no relatives in the country, no friends except the neighbouring settlers, and obviously no means other than the returns for his work on the district roads, on which he was almost constantly employed up till the time of his death. The owner of about the roughest and most impracticable section of land in the whole area, his first attempt to clear it resulted in the accident which ended his life. Of the Olft Country sporting type—all else forgotten if only he had his gun and something to shoot at—he was nevertheless a good fellow, though certainly much out of place in a backwoods settlement. This attempt at characterisation serves to illustrate the interesting variety in the men. who faced the battle in the bush at the time of our narrative. (To be continued next Saturday.)