Early Port Nicholson

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 202, 23 May 1936, Page 19

Early Port Nicholson

In May, 1839, two Wesleyan missionaries, the Rev. Bumby and the Rev. Hobbs, came to Port Nicholson from the East Coast in a tiny ship called the Hokianga. They, had with them a following of about twenty Maoris. The following is Mr. Bumby’s description of their arrival, and of the port as it looked then: —“Upon arriving at Wanganuiatera (Whanganui-a-Tara), or Port Nicholson, we went on shore near a kainga or village, and were met on the beach by a grotesque party of natives. some bedaubed with red ochre and oil, and others disfigured about the cheeks and eyebrows with congealed blood. . . They gave us a hearty welcome. Here some of our lads met their relatives and friends, whom they had not seen for ten or twelve years. . . . We erected our tents and partook of some refreshments —potatoes and Indian corn were the best viands the village afforded. . . . The harbour is extensive, and is surrounded by a chain of beautiful bills, rising gradually from the edge of the water, partly covered with timber, and sending forth numerous streams of fresh water. Thinking the place suitable for a new station, and presuming that . the committee would sanction such a step, we tapued a piece of land off the proprietors, for some blankets and fish hooks.” — D.W. (Christchurch).