On The History Trail

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 136, 11 June 1938, Page 7 (Supplement)

On The History Trail

(Continued from page 322). "We were chased, but the troepi were stopped by the destruction of the bridge behind us, and we got clear away, through the great ewampe and on to the Waikato lakes, and so through to our friends. flow good it wa« to have plenty of food again—bush pigeons, eels, pork, potatoes and kumara." Lure of History Quest. That Fokeno-Miranda linn ran roughly parallel for some distance with the present motor road to thn Hauraki Plain*. 1 suggest it e« a route of history study, pr;ictii.»l Ktiidy in the open. Thrro have been such changes in the face of the country that it may not l>e c;i<\ to discover the Surrey and the Ksk. I must confess that I have never gnno ti, tho trouble of searching for tint «-it<*, though I have been in the Miranda Redoubt «nd have sketchmapped the Koheroa and other (scenes on the Waikato and Pokeno side. Here there i« a little job of holiday exploration for energetic Auckland readers of "Knzcd Junior." Inscriptions and photographs of the old pouts that once sheltered their hundreds of soldier* would, I am nure, be welcomed by all who give a thought io the stirring past. There w an intelligence test here and a real wonting task. During the term holiday* recently two students from the Wellington Teachers' Training College and a voung teacher made a camping expedition to the Tongariro National Park a n<l, at my suggestion, searched for and found and photographed Porere Pa, near the foot of 7'origariro. They had two journey* into the fern before they found the fieldwork, the last redoubt built by Tβ Kooti against the colonial troops. Their photographs show thet thie world forgotten scene of battle, lying unfenced and unmarked near the mountain head stream of the nui, is still in practically the condition that it was when an "Auckland Star" mate end I explored it 38 years ago. The luxuriant vegetation, flax and koroniiko, fern and tupakihi have thrown protective inns about it and saved tho parapets from crumbling into dust. The E*k and Surrey Kedouht* may .similarly be held in the grip of wild irrowtll. tliou<;}i it is more likelx. |>erliajx!.. to he jjui>t, blackberry and iweetbriar.