TRE LATE MR. SAMUEL DEIGHTON.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 11011, 8 July 1901, Page 3

TRE LATE MR. SAMUEL DEIGHTON.

ETTEBESTING NOTES ON THE CAREER "OF THE FIRST NEW ZEALAND COLONIST. ("Weekly Press and Referee.") Bt Ota> Sbttlbb. The following short account, imperfect though I fear it must be, of the late Mr Samuel Deighton, with some of his colonial eiperi6E(!es, will, I hope, be- read with interest by those who must often have heard of him, without having had the pleasure, as the writer had, of his personal acquaintance and friendship. As he died recently m Cbristchurch, and his reputation may truly ba said to have been a colonial one, the "Weekly Press" is, perhaps, the best paper ipr such an account to appear in. Mr S. Deighton, from the earliest days of the colony, was well known in the southern parts of the North Island. His loss must have been widely felt and regretted by his many friends, who are still Jiving, though most of his very earliest friends, and those, mere truly his contemporaries, nave passed away before him—mores the pity. Mr S. Deigbton, with his elder brother, Mr Richard—equally well known—arrived in Wellington in the first ship that reached New Zealand with genuine colonists. That ship was the Aurora, which reached Wellington on the 22nd January, 1840.

The Cuba, "with stores, and a staff oi surveyors, for the New Zealand Company, had reached the same port a few days before, and the Tory, with the company's chierf agent, Colonel Wakefield, and his staff, had preceded these two by about three months. The Tory carried eight guns, with plenty of small arms, etc., for all on board. She was under the command of Mr Edmund Mem Chaffers, R.N., and her men, all told, numbered thirty-five. This looks as if there was an uncertain feeling as to the reception that awaited them in the land they had come so far to colonise. Wellington had, up to this, been scarcely visited by Europeans since Captain Cook's time, except by a trader from Sydney, who had named it after aa Australian friend of his. At the time of the Aurora's arrival it was called Britannia, under which Mtojne it was known till the headquarters of the settlers were removed from Petone, at the mouth of the Hutt river, to the site ot the present city.

In order to understand, even in a very moderate degree, ; the troubles and trials which these earliest settlers had to face, to struggle against, and to overcome in the way they did, the then state of the country must be constantly before the reader's mind. It waa not known where tie Aurora would make for, on reaching the colony, for those on board knew not where to look for the pioneers who had preceded them in the Tory, who were to make such limited preparations as lay in their power for the reception of the (genuine colonists, who would follow, in ships despatched, one after the other, in rapid succession. The Aurora was to make for Cook Strait, that was aIL But this strait had many harbours, or spots where a landing might be effected, and the order was a wide one. About the time of her expected arrival, Colonel Wafcefield went over to Porf Hardy, in the 'Middle IsJamd, and there he raised great columns of smoke from the tops of the ■highest hills, looking anxiously for an answering signal from his expected friends, but no reply was.seen. Fearing the emigrants might reach Wellington while he was absent, he returned to that port, first, however, making arrangements with an old whaler, who lived in Cook Strait during the summer, at a place caKed Oterstwa, that he should pilot the expected ships into the, Port Jackson. ■.-....

Mr J.H. Wallace, the future historian of those earliest days, and to whom the writer is indebted for some of the facts ifoere set down, states that he, <with bis youthful fellow passenger, Mr Samuel Deighton, was in the first boat that went ashore, and that Mr Deighton was the first man to leap from the boat to the land— t-be first real colonist to land in New Zealand.

At this time there were many whalers along tihe coasts, and their ships, which cafJed with stores, were, with an occasional trader from Sydney, the only visitors to this southern part oi the North Island. The missionaries, unless, perhaps, for an occasional visit towards the interior, had not yet got south of Auckland. Around Hokianga and the Bay of Islands there was more trade, in the shape of kauri spars and muka, or cleaned flax, not forgetting the trade in Maori heads, like that which Joe Rowe carried on in 1831—however, he lost his emissary, Andrew Powers, when he sent him to Wanganui, also his boat and belongings, -while his iiead was preserved by the Maoris, whose heads he was seeking—still Maori heads were ordinary articles of trade. There were, also, a good many escaped convicts, beachcombers, and a pretty rascally crew of low South Sea adventurers, runaway sailors, and rig. raff. As to how these suffians 'reached our shores, we find an account given by Mrs Williams, c£ Korirarika, of one of their pleasant little ways, though this had happened several years before the arrival of oar people. She says:—On the sth January, 1827, a brig came into the bay, and (not to quote at length) she looked suspicious, not like a orhaler. She proved to be the Wellington, bound from Sydney to Nbridk. Island, with ■ convicts. Under the leadership of one of these, named Walton, thirty-four of these scoundrels, whose names are all given, rose and seized the ship, nineteen others, not so bad, looking on. How the whalers Sisters and' Harriet were lying in the harbour, how their plucky captains, Duke and Clark, found out tihe true character of this visitor, and hoisted their guns out of the holds by night, engaging the pirate next morning, releasing the soldiers, and passengers, of whom there were several on board, on condition that the convicts should be allowed to land, and take with them a limited supply of provisions. All this, I say, which reads -like a second mutiny tale from Robinson Crusoe, may be found by the seeker in our early histories. There is no room for it here, interesting though it be. This plucky work was not accomplished till both whalers had fired several broadsides into the pirate, who had intended to make both passengers and soldiers walk the plank at sea.

Such were the neighbours around, and in possession of the country was a race of savages, whose bloody, tribal wars, stall going on, were the wonder of the world for their horrors and for the desperate courage of the combatants. When they thought themselves insulted, a bloody massacre, such ac that of die Boyd, might be the result. "Greedy of gain, cruel, bloodthirsty, they bartered tbmr unmarried females for European arms and other objects of desire, and shed the blood of slaves without compunction."

Sudh is the character given of the inhabitants of the country, on the shores of which the Aurora landed her passengers on that morning early in 1840. The forests reached to the shores of the harbour, or, where stony cliffs prevented forest growth, they also prevented passage round the harbour. There -was only one house in Wellington, that is, Petorte, at that time, and that wasn't a house, but a raopo where, in which Colonel Wakefield found a restingplace, amidst a mass of goods of all dcs-

criptions, that "had been landed from the store and survey ship Cuba. .? This Cuba also brought out the frames of wooden buildings, ready for putting together, and the erection of some of these, with the pitching of tents, building of whores, etc., occupied all the attention of tine first-landed parties. Toe Maoris gave ready and most valuable assistance, and instructions in the whare building part of the work.

Amid such surroundings, in an. unknown land, Mr Deigbton, in his early manhood found himself suddenly dropped. There was no time for reflection on a possible future of trial and; hardship; nor were these the style of men to sit down and think, when die work was tiere, cut out before them. They 'had not travelled so far to grumble at unexpected difficulties; no, they all turned to with a will, and made the best of things, as they found them, hoping for easier times in the future.. Both Mr "Sam" —as he was usually, called by his more intimate friends, and, indeed, was so generally spoken of by all Who knew him, and who did not ;know the genial youth, ever ..Teady to oblige and give a hand wherever a hand or head was required ?—he and his equally obliging brother, quickly mastered, the Maori language. In an astonishingly short space of time they became fluent speakers. In a remarkably short time they had learnt the Maori ways and customs ; they soon acquired, -by traveling amongst them, a very thorough knowledge of their history, of the individual chiefs and their peculiarities. They learnt all about tfoe fierce inter-tribal wars which had been raging for generations, and of the real power of "the different chiefs, and their tribes and hapus. I believe no man in the soutii of the colony was better, if anyone was as well, up in these subjects as Mr S. Deighton. From the sea to TaupOj-he knew all the leading chiefs, ail tihe country, and all about everything that might be, and tha€ was, most useful to his more ignorant fellow-colonists. Mr Deighton's know- j ledge was free to all—without price his services were, -wihen called; for, at their disposal. Of Mr Richard I have always heard the same; but, ihoug<b I knew him, it was not with the same intimate friendship as that which existed with his brother. The Deightons were amongst the first set-1 tiers to come to Wanganui, probably in the end of 1840, but, I fancy, they had both visited this district in the earliest days, and before any land was bought by the Company from the Maoris. '

The following short sketch of part of-a journey, made by a' gentleman named Robert Sutton, in March, 1842, shows how early the Deigihtons found their way into the, interior by way of the river, though here Mr R. Deighton alone is referred to.

Mr Sutton left Auckland as above, intending to journey to Wellington overland by way of Waikato and Kawhia, then inland to Teupo, down the Wanganui, amd so round by the coast to Wellington. ' A terrible journey in those days, and I do not wonder that the Waikato natives expressed astonishment at his daring and presumption in undertaking such a trip.

After crossing Manukau harDo-ur, and meeting with hospitable entertainment from a trader, known as Waiwai-rakau (Woodenleg), Mr Sutton reached Kawhia.

Here he found two schooners loading up with the usual cargoes in those days—rpigs and potatoes. Mr MoFarlarie, a trader, residing at Kawhia, ■ owned one, the other was the property of Mr Levin, of Wellington. One was bound for the latter port, the other for the then newly-formed settlement of Taranaki. Mr McFarlane was loading both. In those days the meat supply of Taranaki depended sometimes almost entirely on pigs, procured in this manner from Mokau and Kawhia. The • head obief of Kawhia. refused to supply. Mr Button with guides to Taupo, though he offered to do so to Taranaki. Mr Sutton did. not seem to see, as tk? writer does, that blankets, clay pipes, Jew's harps, and tobacco might be forthcoming from the white man's settlement, whjle none could be hoped for from his own countrymen in the interior. A present for himself, a, payment for the slaves or "tutuas"—that he would send as guides, it would be all one, the chief would get it all. After a wearisome journey, the traveller reached Taupo, visited Pehi, the great chief, and crossed the lake in a small canoe. He describes what he saw and felt, what he thought and suffered, until, finally, he reached the Wanganui river. But, here let the gentleman speak for himself, and give an idea of the journey, as it then was, that the reader may understand the change those old colonists have made from foot and canoe to steamer and coach, from the tfny tent or hastily-constructed V hut to the comfortable hotel.

He says: —"I felt quite elated at the idea of reaching my destination, and walked on with renewed vigour. I could not reach the river that night, but kndwing it was. not far off, gave myself no uneasiness, and slept soundly, dreaming of turtle soup, venison, Burgundy, and champagne punch, with no end of petit fruits d'amour, omelettes soufflees, etc The following morning-I reached the river, and saw several canoes coming down. They proved to be some belonging to Mr Richard Deighton, who had been up to PukiMka. On hailing him, he immediately came to the bank, exceedingly surprised at, and not a little suspicious of, my appearance, which certainly was not prepossessing. I had not shaved for three months, and the part of my face not covered with hair presented a most haggard and ghastly appearance. My clothes were dirty and torn, and I had altogether the aspect of a man escaped from the galleys. On nearing his canoe, I stated I had been four days wiChout food, and was immediately supplied with some excellent coffee and cold pork. I cannot state bow much I demolished, but it was no small quantity. We reached W&nganui the following day. The rest of rty journey to Port Nicholson needs no description ; but I cannot conclude without offering the expression of my gratitude to the inhabitants of Wanganui for the hospitality and kind treatment I received from their bands. The Rev. Mr Mason (first Church of Engiand clergyman stationed in Wanganui—O.S.)* sent a native to the place wßere I had hidden the things. The nest was there, but the birds had flown, which was accounted for by the circumstance of a party of Maoris having gone from Wanganui to Taupo by that road a few days after my arrival. The most serious loss I sustained was the loss of my journal; and the circumstance of the present account being written entirely from memory, will, I for the many inacanracies and discrepancies which may be found to exist in it."

This story has little to do with Mr Deighton—no, but it is a true story of the day and district in which that gentleman lived; and of Mr Deighton's travels and adventures, many and interesting as they were, no record hae, to my knowledge, been kept, though the writer has often had the pleasure of hearing him tell the tales of days, even then, long passed.

It is possible, and indeed probable, that Mr-Sutton had heard of Mr S. Deighton'e fame as a cook. His reflections and expectations regarding the fare'to be obtained at Wanganui seem to indicate it. Mr S. Deighton's repritatkm stood aa high in the south of this island in those days as did the reputation, in the same line, of Bishop Selwyn in the north. Both were well known all over the colony. The fact was that if one wanted sack a dinner as those gemtJemen had always been accustomed to

in. their native land, they had to cook it I themselves. Many a time, in my., youth, have I heard ifc said:—This hapuka head jsoup is prepared from Mr S. Deighton's recipe, :ind it is just as we used to' have it at the whare. Wikitoria. in 1842. Or, these lampreys are stewed in port wine, just as Mr Deighton used to stew them, etc., etc. The. verdict was always the same, that nothing could be better. Need I mention what has often been .told before? that the whare WiMtoxia (Victoria) was the residence of Mr E. J. Wftkefield, a son of Mr E. G. Wakefield's, and consequently a nephew of Colonel W. Wakefield's, the chief agent of the New Zealand Company in the colony. Colonel Wftl*efield had appointed Mr E. J. Wakefield as a sub*-agent for Wanganui, ; to purchase the land, look after the surveying, and of the eale after survey, etc. Mr S. Deighton was a great friend of Mr Wakefield's, and his house was, I believe, Mr Deighton's headquarters, if not his home, when he was in town.

Mr Deighton's knowledge of the Maoris and their ways and wishes must have been almost invaluable to Mr Wakefield in those days. Always ready to enjoy the present, no matter how rough the surroundings, and to make the best of it,' with never a .growl .:—that was Mr Deighton's way, that was his well-known character. In the surveyor's tent, smoking his pipe and drinking his tea without miik; in the native whare,.eating his potatoes out of a Maori kit and drinking water from a calabash—always genial and happy. Then, in ■ the private residence of one of his many friends, or on occasion at a larger, gathering, in a public room, witli what hearty good-will all would join in the chorus when he favoured them with "Vive le Roi," or with Bold Robin Hood," with not a shadow of affectation, but just quietly and only oecause he was asked to sing.

Amongst the many useful things which, these brothers did for the young colony, perhaps none stands out more clearly, than the. terribly risky journey which Mr Richard volunteered to take for the purpose of carrying the news of the outbreak of Hostilities between the troops and Maoris in the first war here.

The country between Wanganui and Wellington was then full of 'hostile.Maoris, and all land communication had been stopped for some time; yet, through this country and past these tribes, Mr Richard Deighton successfully carried this most important despatch, carrying also'his life in his nands, for a certain death and a cruel one awaited him if caught by his e vigil«int and savage foes. . He walked at night, hiding his tracks, as well as possible, by marching close to the rising. tide, or. over the heavy sandhills when the tide was receding. A more risky journey, or one more quickly and pluckily executed, was never undertaken in this colony.

Mr Samuel was for several years clerk and interpreter to the R.M. Court iv Wanganui. At tie end of 1853, or early •in 1854, I remember being in Messrs Wylor /.and Watt's general store, on Taupo quay, when Mr S. Deighton came in, with a party of Maoris. At the request of his friend, Captain (afterwards Major). Trafford—wiho had then lately sold out of the 65th Regiment—Mr Deighton had engaged this band of natives to saw the timber for the captain's future dwelling, at Koreromaiwa—his estate, at Rangitikei—a beautiful place, with the clear Tutainui flowing on its stony ,bed close past the back of the house, and the yellow flowering kowaas fringing its banks.. The natives named had come to the store for the tools they required on this job. Mr■, Edwin Woon, an elder brother of Mr J. G. Woon, now of Wanganui, was at that time.serving in this shop. Mr E. Woon, like aU his brothers, was an excellent Maori linguist., but here he was puzzled. The spokesman of tihe party, having got all he required in the shape of pitsaws, cross-cuts, axes, wedges, mall rings, dogs, and all the rest, now turned to Mr Woon, and asked for a "tubakitajri," and when be found himself, to Mr Deighton's evident amusement, not comprehended, he began working and twisting has fingers about to illustrate his requirement, repeating, "Ugh! Tutakitaki— tu-ta-ki-ta-ki. Mr Deighton now laughed, and said, turning to Mr Woon, "Don't you know what he wants?" Then, to mc, "Don't you know?" Upon our replying in the negative, "Why," said.he, "it's a saw set, he wants." "Of course it is," said Mr Woon; "I might have guessed it, though I never heard'the name before to my knowledge." Nor had the writer. , - . . Mr Deighton amused his leisure hours with !his lathe, for he waa a* skilled turner, and many an article for use or ornament he presentedto his friends. ' A good rider and stockman, fond of horses and of racing, I do.not think Mr Deighton ever trained a horse or rode at the races. He, ibowever, waa often, generally I believe, appointed clerk of the course, and then, with long stockwhip in shand, he kept in place the crowds of soldiers, settlers, sawyers, and Maoris.

When, the Waitofcara block was being surveyed, his intim&te knowledge of the Maoris again, as often before, was called upon, and he was appointed interpreter to the surveyors. Great patience and care ■was required for such -work. It was not a mere settlement of boundary lines, but all the reserves for eel and lamprey fishing, ■with the landing-places for canoes that fished at eea;. all the lands sacred to the dead, and all intended/or future cultivation or leasing, had to be carefully defined, and ■tie interests of the native owners as earefuEy guarded. Tnia was a work of time, but it was performed to the satisfaction of all concerned.

When war Vrpke out in Taranaki, in 1860, and volunteers were started in Wanganud, Mr S. IMghton had the honour of beiiK; elected captain of the first company enrolled. T&is, alone, would prove the high estimation in which he was held, for many memoirs of his company had known him in the/earliest war of 1847, and could form a jusjf opinion of his coolness in danger, and of his courage in the hour of need. ,- After/this, Mr Deighton was sent to the

east coast of thde island, as R.M. at or near "Gisbome. I have forgotten the exact locality, never having been in that part of the colony. Then, he was transferred to the ; Chatham Islands, wltere, -though called an S.M., I believe his duties combined pretty will all the Government work that was required in the islands.

Hβ must have been selected as a "speci'aJist" for this work, and I have no ctoubt the lifii suited bfe tastes, -while his long experience made him, I should thiiik, one of the best men in tiha colony for the About 'thb year 1858, Mr S. Belghton -was joined), in Wangairai, by a younger brother, Frank, who soon found hte way to Rangitikei, where, amongst the earliest friends of ibds elder brothers, I believe, he still resides, as Glerk of the Court at Marton. I have not had the pleasure of "seeing tihis younger brother for many yeans, and what I write of- him is more from hearsay than from personal knowledge. I hope this short, and very imperfect, sketdb., wili give, the readers of I the "Weekly Press" some idea of the man and his life's work. Mr Samuel Deighton, after all ibie early adventures, lived to a green old age, and iwently departed" this life in the City of the Plains, where ike retired, on his pension, when he resigned hie last-named office. His was, indeed, a life of no small use and interest to New Zealand. Hβ left a widow aawi family to mourn his loss in Christchurch.

* I mentoned in. a..sketch, published recently in the "Weekly Press," that Mr Mason was the first Churoh of England clergymaa etationed in Wanganui, and th»t I thought tiiat fact would come aa a hitherto" unknown, piece of history to even, very many of the old reainotice that Mr H. C. Field, QB., has questioned, or denied, the rev. gentleman's Hying in that position here, and that Bishop HadfieiS, in the "Church. Chronicle,", has replied to him- I have not seen Mr Field's statement, but the Bishop quotes from a dooument in his possession, to the effect thai Mr Mason, who was, he cays, Church of England pastor here, as stated,: lived, in 1842, in the Maori pa, at Putiki, while his assistant, catechist, or schoolmaeter, whose name the Bishop gives, though it hae escaped mc, Kved on. the opposite aide of the river, that ie,on. tlie town side. Mr Field has been greatly interested in Church matters ever since he came to the colony, and has been a lay reader and member of the Churoh -, Synod, more than - once, I think. Hβ is generally very correct in his statements on things he has seen, I am aware, but, in this case, he has written of a gentleman who had loft the district about ten years before he (Mr Field) came to it, or to the colony. If -Mr Field desires further proof of an historical iact, he finds it above, in Mr Sutton's narrative. There wag no other Rev. Mr Maeon here at any time.—"Old Settler."