"PAKEHA" MOUNTAIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 234, 4 October 1927, Page 8

"PAKEHA" MOUNTAIN.

MAORI VIEW OF MT. EDEN.

HOT IN ITS HATVRAX. STATE. ADVOCATE OF FERNS SPEAKS. "I would have fought to the last ditch for ferns," declared Mr. G. L. Taylor at a meeting of the Mount Eden Borough Council last evening, in referring to a decision of the council to remove the ferns planted in the crater of Mount Eden. He added that when the decision was made he was, unfortunately, not in Auckland.

Mr. Taylor said that the mountain i was not in its natural state, as many! people asserted. Most of the growth was English grasses. A few intelligent natives were left who knew the legends of the mountain, and they agreed that if natural conditions were wanted ferns were just the thing. They stated that now it was a pakeha mountain. Early History. Mr. Taylor said that history showed that between the years 1400 and 1700 the isthmus of Tamaki was the most loved place in New Zealand because the plains were so fertile, and the inland waterways provided so much shellfish. Originally the crater was used to store food. v Tribal warfare followed, and when the Europeans came the mountain was covered with fern and scrub, and the 'small shrubby-tree called maungawhau. Ferns in the crater would be a long way nearer the natural state of the mountain, and there was no finer view than tree-ferns seen from above. The

opposition appeared to. have emanated from people who had not studied native history.

Mr. D. C. Fraser said that ferns in the crater would have been an improvement. A lot of piffle had. been talked about desecration, but if the mountain were left to its natural state it would be covered with blackberry and gorse.

Policy of Tree Planting. The Mayor (Mr. E. H. Potter) referred to the steps that were being taken to preserve the natural features of the mountain. He said that the volcanic hills were a feature of the Auckland landscape, but .the hand of the destroyer had been busy, and little fforts had been made to save the cones iSnll/pj ll ' In connection with encmi i^ #B S'eat difficulty was experifc permanent disfigure--5? by of XL £» °ld quarry at children's 5 pWoJSJ w Ut i fied ' » of the council was to n k>» *iT P o "** replace the. puie plantations: