AUCKLAND.

Press, Volume IX, Issue 1095, 12 May 1866, Page 2

AUCKLAND.

THE PBOGEEBB OP EETTLEMEHT. The "Southern Cross," ot the M instant gives the foUomng account of the extent to which, the country is being cleared and settled around Auckland, and especially in the direction of the Waikato, in localities which fill be well remembered in connection With the late war:— The progress of settlement in the out districts is rapid. To those who, like ourselvee, have only casual opportunities of observing the amount of work performed in any given dietricts, the change effected on the face of the country of late appears great indeed. Leaving out of the question altogether the Waikato which has progressed with unusual rapidity* we have substantial marks of steady progress within a day's ride of Auckland. Towards the north, the settlement of the country is proceeding steadily and quietly. Without any help from the Government the settfcn are manfully overcoming every difficulty in the natural sterility of a gireat portion of the soil, and from the want of good roads. Eern and bush disappear ; regular fences and hedegrofj (enclose the cultivations that succeed the natural growth, and homesfceMe are to be seen where only a fewrabntye ago perhaps there was a barren waste. And this process is constantly ing itself both north and south. The whole aspect of the country is r *ptfJ? changing. Order and system succeed the luxuriant but worthless growth of nature; and although, fromapttWyr artistic point of view, the change mw* the natural beauty of the scenerj, it nevertheless adds to the sum 0J human happiness and the wealth «* the colony. In no district, perhaps, are tbe« changes so apparent as on the line 6l the Great South Boad. We rememfier passing along this line when the military eet about forming W» macadamised road to the Waikato from Drury. The road was then onlypM™"? completed, and the metalling extottdea but fora mile or so beyond DW The ten-mile bush was untouched, »«$ for a breadth of a chain, which w« cleared for a bush track; and hereiano there a small patch of clearing, ae«*tne farms of Messrs. Williamson «na Ehodee. At that period, and for long after, the traveller through' the W»a on the the Great South Boad had an opportunity of contempl« ™J grandeur of the virgin bush m Zealand, which he can never agaw realise on the same line, and ww* anyone who did not know w» "** could hardly bring himself to bo«e™ ever existed The imposing eoUW of the bush at the "fifth bridge, «J» in the vaUey between the Baf r W* and Alandeno's hill, «M». °»* "J f dream of the past. There » »°Jf£ alongthewhole line. Hereand thew w° charred trunks of tall trees are standing as monuments of the past fff, forest; but the spurs, and deua, level land on which the large tree*™ recently grew, are in inauy covered by tangled scrub and fenfc» others by cultivation, pasture. In short, the during the war to enable tde ' port een ice to be performea » cow

-rt-tive gafetv, was but the forerunner 5 Hhe wholesale clearing and burning ff that followed. Shepherd's bush S» aisapF are<i or as nearly PoCible; and it would puzzle Sγ on? not familiar with the locality !fpoint out the scene of that sharp tat brilliant engagement with the Stives' in 1563. under the lamented i.Jnr Rinff. Those who saw the dead &alo!gthe road-the wounded, Angled and bleedmg-horses lying S and drars overturned and broken readily forget it. And vet, Shepherd's bush is not; and the would find it impossible now to lay an ambush in force, either in Oat locality or anywhere else along ♦he line through the Ten-mile bush. At Mr Martin's farm, and on adjoining estates, the progress in clearing maiiennce the settlers were enabled to IZL to their lands is especially 23£ l A large breadth of bush W has been got into grass; and what k true of this particular locality is true aleo of the bush farms more JSote from the Great South Boad. Several new houses hare been built, Zα a ereat deal of fencing done. New J£is have also been formed by the themselves, and the country at large will be very much the wter of their labor. Ihe clearing and cultivation at Pokeao »on <l v i te aa extensive a gg-u jf not on even a more exterito scale, than on the Drury ede of the range. At Mr Alexander's β-adally the plough is doing good torice, and a considerable breadth of enun crop will be got in this season. Unfortunately, during the enforced laniehinent of Mr Alexander and his neighbors from their farms, on account of the war, the fern has usurped its place, and many acres of once cultivated land require to be broken up and cleaned. This is a work of time and money, and is only one of the many losses entailed on our settlers by the war. Tie immigrants located at Tuasau have formed a good dray road between the Great South Boad at Pokeno and that settlement. The road is nearly level for the greater part of the distance ; the stumps have been removed, and everything done that is necessary at present. There are two or three ■tin pinches on the road, but these will be improved by cutting, no doubt, when the traffic increases so as to require it Many of the settlers are getting on their ten-acre allotments, and each family has from one to two cows. If they can get over this winter, iheir success in the future is assured. The immigrants st Pokeno settlement are also doing pretty well. Those located on the line of the Great South Boad do not despair of success by any means; and several to whom we spoke the other day, although regretting that the Government work had stopped, were detained to make n push for independence in the future. When men resolve to succeed, no doubt they will be successful. There will be many drawbacks and obstacles in the way of success; but in the end 4bew make it all the more complete. "What we have said of the settlements aaased is likewise true of all the other immigrant villages in the southern districts. At "Waiuku, the change worked on the face of the district since the war is a cheering indication of what a few years of steady industry will accomSliflh. The old settlers are doing their aty well in all the districts we have recently visited. They are evidently intent on pushing on with the improvement of the country; and we sincerely hope that very many of our new arrivals wul be encouraged by their example to settle on the lands of the province, and bang them into cultivation. Speaking generally, we will say that the community at large have reason to be satisfied with the efforts being made to cultivate the soil. THE LATE CHIEF WILLIAM BA.TLOB. [From the "Kew Zealand Herald," May 3.] This well known chief of the Ngatimahanga tribe, whose death we noticed £■ ear issue of yesterday, and of whom oor Eaglan correspondent very properly remarked, " we may truly say *» have lost a good friend," was one of the few Natives who have given us bo trouble during the unhappy war that he so long prevailed. A short accoontof this chief will be interesting to some of our readers.

Until measures were adopted by the wedeyan. Missionary Society in the yew 1834 to establish a mission in e*'W&ikatodistrict, Naylor, who was w known by the name of Te Awai- «*•»»»■• one of the greatest warriors *2* ttt w perhaps in any other part of w» country. In connexion with the "wPotatau or Te Wherowhero, the •jrowgoent Maori King, who always ***wered Awaitaia's presence to be •■H**! to success in every expedite* against any tribe he wished to ««JTe or destroy, the lately deceased taai » was invariably among the leading ** of the Waikato armies, which ■*«afc time numbered half as ***T thousand men as there ■*» **wbeds now to be found. «• people against whom the army of tribes were principally rj«ea,were those who occupied the J*™! between Wnitara and Tarar**jf?P», including the tribes now at IV J™ 0 European settlers j. « agatmuuHiL It was on one of expeditions of slaughter, and| Jj**2P°P|»gy as trttt for some of his rr*V»ho had fallen in a former Tβ Awaitaia. was met idea X- who disfrom his purpose by telling wae a God in heaven so the afikirg of this world jiiotice *" the wrongs which men J"2* « each other's hands, and that exf ? ( **j! approaching when, in the jfc*JJr. or a power which none would ■we to raaet, he would reward and man according to hie fcg*^*wthat then Aβ utu tika would *• ■£ V ,l NatiTes con cerned in %t was takin g him t0 pj£e*T f Soon after this the first wabftSL* WM erected at • «*3aV ** tnbe, became tf thew-I? 611 *' and was one »«t attentive hearers of

the gospel. After a few months' instruction he expressed a desire to become a member of the church, but as he had been living in a state of polygamy, and had not as yet made a public declaration of his purpose of separating himself from eight of his nine wives, he was, of course, required to do so. On the occasion of his marriage to the woman of his choice, he also consented to allow the separated women to become the wives of other men, a requisition on the part of the missionaries in which some of the chiefs do not very willingly acquiesce. After undergoing the usual examination as to fitness for church membership, he received the ordinance of baptism, and was henceforward known by the name of "William Naylor. No sooner had he become a member of the Christian church, than he felt it to be his duty to use his influence to prevent other tribes as well as his own from going to war. In this he was greatly successful, the Waikato tribes not having paid any hostile visit to Taranaki since a few years before the commencement of the colony. Potatau used to say that the karakia of the pakeha had deprived him of his right arm, it having taken away his general Te Awaitaia. Ever since the establishment of the colony, Naylor has proved himself a sincere friend to the Europeans, and whenever his influence has been sought by hie old associates against what they considered to be the intrusion of foreigners, he has persistently refused his aid in furtherance of their wishes, and invariably advised them to a better course. To the gentleman under whose religious instructions he lived during a period of twentyseven years, he frequently expressed his disapprobation of the policy adopted towards the rebel tribes, affirming that had they been firmly dealt with from the first appearance of disaffection, the evil would have been nipped in its bud, and the war have been prevented. In conclusion, we may justly repeat the words of our correspondent —" We have lost a good friend."