A Century Passes By

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 139, 7 March 1936, Page 25

A Century Passes By

About the year 1836 Te Awe Awe, chief of the Rangitane tribe, brought his people to the Manawatu district, whicn, was at that time an isolated part of the North Island. He found tbe land fertile and the great river that flowed from a gorge a very good means of travel to and fro to his’scattered community. Te Awe Awe was a fine chief of high standing, and, although a tine organiser of fighting, he was more of a peace-loving chief. .Some years had elapsed before a new band of rovers appeared ou the scene. They were members of the Ngati-toa tribe, led by the famous fighting chief, Te Rauparaha. He and his tribe bad been travelling for nearly two years when they passed through the Manawatu. They had left their old home in tne far north and were making lor Otaki and thence to Kapiti Island. Many of the tribes north of the Manawatu had either

fled before the Ngati-toa or else signed treaties with Te Rauparaha. . But Te .Awe Awe did not, and, gathering most of his scattered tribe, fought stubbornly to retin his fertile lands. The odds were against him. His warriors had been allowed to live too easy a life and they- had. settled in little bapds. Slowly the Rangitanes were killed, and Te Rauparaha, who was lingered at being held up. made a sudden slaughter of the whole Rangitane tribe, and many were the baskets of flesh that were taken to feed the savage Ngati-toa.

The Manawatu was after that inhabited by very few Maoris. From the river, which was over half a mile wide, nothing could be seen but a never-ending dense bush with great p.nes or knhikatea towering many feet above all other trees. This was how missionaries saw it as they passed by. It was not until about thirty years later that pakehag found their way to the Manawatu, and at first the settlement was very slow. The land was heavily bushed, and it was no easy task to clear it. Those who came soon came in contact with the few surviving Rangitanes, and found them quite friendly. Occasionally a band of Maoris from tlie Hawke’s Bay fell on the new pakeLa settlements and slaughtered many. Even to-day on a road from Bunnythorpe, in a grove of towering pines, lies, overgrown with weeds, a grave of one of our early settlers killed in a skirmish with a raiding party of Maoris. Several years ago a gun stock was dug up in a gaiden—perfect in condition, with the old-fashioned hammers and flintlock, and undoubtedly one that had been used many, many years ago. I myself one day when exploring a creek found a small harpoon fasnioned from steel and with a carved knot on the end of the handle. The handle crumbled to pieces* when I pulled it from the bed of the creek, but the head of the harpoon, with a new handle, has given me much service in spearing fish.

A century has passed ! There lie before me green fields and stately rows of trees. A fine tar-sealed road between, with numberless beautiful cars flowing to and fro. The hills beyond that were once bush-clad are now green, and here and there can be seen homesteads nestling in the furrows of the hills. One can hardly imagine that such a vast transfomation could take place—the wild : bush, now sunny fields; the wild battle I cries, now the songs of birds. All is peace I and harmony. | A century has passed and another begins. Forgotten are the disputes “between Maori and Pakeha, and now they dwell in peace, tilling the soil side by side. — “Te Rauparaha," Bunnythorpe.