OLD-TIME KAWAU.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 165, 14 July 1928, Page 1 (Supplement)

OLD-TIME KAWAU.

SIR G. GREY'S ISLAND HOME.

■ distinguished guests.

STORIES OF THE "ZOO."

(No. 2.)

Mr. Thos. Harris, of Livingstone Street, Richmond, recalls that in putting two new wings to the Mansion House George let a contract for £3000 to Avery, builder. The grounds were ;aid out with much taste, there being 1 'between tiO aud 70 beds surrounded by 4 •kplvetv lawns, while in an extensive 4 ■vegetable garden and orchard flourished 4 all manner of exquisite flowers, vege- f tables and fruits. Almonds grew to ] perfection; there were also walnut trees, j Barcelona nuts, oranges, lemons, mandarins and many other exotics. The head gardeners had six to seven men 1 under them, and everything was kept < in apple-pie order; not a weed to be j seen, and all the paths scrupulously neat. There were low glass frames ' where Mr. Harris lias seen pineapples 1 •come to maturity; bananas, ripe, sweet < and juicy; coconuts which grew, but i failed to come to any good; dates which ( also grew, but failed to ripen; and the custard apple. Then in the vegetable 1 garden there were strawberries, aspara- 1 gua, and other things that grew to i * marvel. Noted Visitors. Distinguished visitors to New Zea- ' land always included a call ou Sir I 'George as one of the events of their tour. Mr. Harris mentions the Earl of Pembroke, who, in company with his medical adviser, made a historic tour 1 of the Pacific, which is embalmed in ' "South Sea Bubbles," by "the Earl and ' •t he Doctor." This is still one of the most ' readable books about that interesting 1 ocean. He planted several trees. An- ! other noted visitor was the Duke of 1 Edinburgh, who wa§ there nearly sixty 1 years ago, and agreeable to the habit 1 ■of royalty all over the world, also 1 planted several trees, many of which ! were slaughtered after the guiding and discriminating hand of the noble owner ! \>f the island was removed. Mr. Harris grows very wrath when he talks about 1 the ruthless way in which many grand 1 old trees have been cut down. If he ' were poetic he would write a much more caustic poem than "0, Woodman, Spare That Tree," though that is his senti- : went. 1 At one r *ji.me there used to be a beautiful willow tree grown from a shoot taken from the tree on which the Maoris hanged the Rev. Mr. Volkner at Opotiki, but years afterwards some vandal cut it down for firewood. "Anything historic gets destroyed," say 9 Mr. Harris regretfully. "Some people have no love for these mementoes of old times or for these rare and beautiful trees and shrubs brought from all over the world." Kawau was such a noted place. for horticulture that it used to be freely drawn on for stocking Albert Park in Auckland. ' One day, when Mr. Harris was rowing 1 Sir George and some guests' up Bon ' Accord Harbour, one of them asked Sir George what he intended' doing with such a lovely island. Sir George replied, 1 "Well, my intention "was, or is, to leave it to the city of Auckland as a college j for younjjaneu. frem-the North . and ; South Islands to train for their various 1 occupations, and at the same time to < five them some good sporting country." As aU the literary globe trotters used \ to visit Sir/George, there are countless 1 references to Kawau in the literature of the period. People who have read FroudeV "Oceana" will remember a famous bull he speaks about._ This was a large black animal called "Curley Joe," which had a historic combat with a Shorthorn which was imported. The farm was an important pan of Kawau, comprising, as it did, a number of sheep, cnttle and pigs, all well selected. Birds and Monkeys. Some very beautiful birds were to be found in this strangely varied menagerie. The golden pheasants were really handsome, and Mr. Harris says you could not wish for a finer sight than to see a batch of them grouped together on a hiiktfe, with the rising sun shin'.ng on their glittering coats. Then there were the silver pheasants, which were a«>.o handsome. The cock bird was narticularly fierce when his wife had chicks. There were quail in thousands and hundreds of pea-fowl. In time as the thing? increased visitors were allowed a certain amount of sport. As a general rule Sir George had everything strictly preserved until some kinds became a nuisance; then they were thinned out. Sporting guests were confined to shooting peafowl, pheasants, quail, a stag or two, and later pig-hunting and wild cattle hunting. Not all the importations did well. The zebras, for instance, came to grief. They were beautiful, but tricky animals, and of uncertain temper. After a few years one broke its neck, another its back, and so on, for once they got on the run nothing would stop them.. Several monkeys were liberated, but they stayed round about the house. One day one of them sitting on a tree near the house swung through a window, and was found admiring his own image in a looking-glass in a lady's room. He had hunted all through the boxes on the table, turning over her trinkets and things. The owner of the room was out at the time, and when she came back the monkey sprang upon her. There was a hullabaloo, and orders were given to destroy all the monkeys. After that Sir George was more discriminating in his importations. Wallabies and kangaroos were getting too numerous, and when a man-o'-war came in Mr. Harris would go off'and tell the commander the men could have some shooting. The Jack Tars would be sent ashore fifty at a time, and great fun they had among the game. The sailors used to get a lot of amusement out of rounding up a mob of "roos," gradually closing in on them, and then the animals would make a bolt for liberty, most of them hopping over the men's heads. Mr. Harris has a very cordial regard for the British man-o'-warsmen. "They were good fellows," he says. "Every eailor used to tip me a penny, and the officers a three-penny bit. When I was a boy it was always, after one of our hunts, 'Hold out your hat, lad.' We had a glorious time every day, and the officers and men never forgot the "Guide Tommy.' In those days the ships used to come to Kawau pretty often, as it was a great favourite with the officers and men. Sometimes we would have four or five ships ln the harbour at the one time, staying from one to three weeks. They all Sked the Kawau, every mother's son of/ them. They Were particularly good to the youngsters, and would buy plenty of fruit and sweets for them. /Splendid days-they were; there have been any like them •Sneel" w ' r '''\