STRAY JOTTINGS OF A TRIP IN THE WONGA WONGA.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XIV, Issue 996, 13 January 1857, Page 2

STRAY JOTTINGS OF A TRIP IN THE WONGA WONGA.

That universal favourite, the Wonga Wongn., returned on Friday evaning from a very pleasant trip to Russell and uiteimediate ports— all the pleasanter, perhaps, from the probability of its being one of the last she will be pprmitted to make, at least for some time. She was originally advertised to sail on Tuesday at 9, but, obtaining an engagement to bring the detachment of the 58th ashore from the Chapman, the time of sailing was altered to 2, at which hour, or shortly afterwards, she started — calling, a little after six, at Mahurangi, and arriving, about 2 next morning, at Wangarei heads. On leaving Mahurangi, she skirted the island of Kawau, on which were seen the tall engine house left by the Company, and, in GarJick Bay, the two remaining houses. The island, with the cattle funning upon it, many of which were seen, is now advertised for lease ; but how much it is to be regretted that the machinery, as well as the live stock, bhould not have been left, so that some adventurous spirit might have had the opportunity of accomplishing what the Company abortively attempted. It is generally believed that good management would ultimately have made those mines a source of great wealth, but the Company, by precipitately abandoning the shaft, and removing the michintry to Sydney, have rendered the work one of too great magnitude even for the most enterprising. pioceeding to the mouth of Wangarei river, there is something grand in the lofty and fantastically shaped peaks of Bream Head and the Manaia range, on the north side, rearing their castellated pinnacles^some 15 or 18,00 feetabovt the level of the sta ; while, «u if to relieve the

eye, spots of cultivation— the homeitead* of 'Mr. McLeod; Mr! McGregor, and Mi 1 . Aubrey-tt* t* b« seeo A the base of the ra»ge, pleasjngty- ipin^ling Jhe tjeautifnl with the romantic. On the opposite ■ side is a long sandy flat, bearing evidence of having, 'at no remot* perioftT been Wnder water, and now known as the township of, Marideo-- ■ selected as such, we presume, from 'the sitelrting a convel nient one for boats to call at, certainly not from its natural beauty. The only dwellingaipon it is a neat building in the occupation- of Mr. 'Henry.' As the traveller ascends the river, spots of great beauty reveal themselves, as well as large tracts of apparently excellent lafnd, 'partly occupied, but generally in a state of nature- About 16 miles from the mouth of the river, where the steamer anchored prior to returning with the ebb tide, the country is very fine, and is interspersed with numerous homesteads-^those of Sir Osborne Gibbes, Mr. Mair, Mr. Rust, and Mr. Petingale, among the number. For a large extent the land here forms a rich flat, well sheltered by surrounding hills, and convening the idea of an amphitheatreon a stupendous scale. On thii flat, a few yards above where the steamer stops, and close to the river, ore the store of Mr. Caffler and the dwelling house and orchard of Mr. Petingale — the latter, whether as regards situation, soil, or culutre, certainly the beau ideal of a fruit gafden. Sheltered, us 'we have stated, by the high land, thetreeft are completely protected from the rude winds of heaven, while the soil has the peculiarity of possessing a substratum of s nd, which obviates all necessity for the expensive process of trenching, and probably conduces to the health of the plants. At all events, whatever the cause, blight and all the ills that fruit trees are frequently heir to, are as yet strangers in the orchard of Mr. Petingale. It covers an extent of seven and a half acres, and contains, we forget how many, hundred* of trees. Of the apple alone there are 30 kinds, and of the pear 20 — the plum, damson, cherry, mulberry, and, we may safely say, scores of" others, in corresponding variety. The orchard is highly creditable to the enterprise and industry of the owner, and, we may add, it is one of which the Province — we mean figuratively — may well be proud. The upper part of the voyage, to and from, having been performed after nightfall, we saw nothing of the coast or of the Bay of Island*, save the magnificent panorama which the harbour of Kororareka presented to the view on the morning of Thursday. The land-locked basin before us, and the pleasing alternations of hill and dale by which it is enclosed, far more than realized our conception of this highly favoured locality. The township of Russell, usually, we believe, infected with an epidemic peculiar to Colonial towns— that of duli ness — was, on Thursday, so crowded with people and so full of business, that one could scarcely traverse the beach without being jostled at every step. The Bay has many beauties and many associations which would have made a longer visit a source of much pleasure ; but time and tide wait for no one, and the gun of the steamer had imperatively to be obeyed. We were surprised to see a large brick dwelling finished within the last few weeks.and to observe a fine cricket ground in course of being formed. We also learned that, not improbably, the Kororareka races will succeed, at a proper interval, the Kororareka regatta. We were much' pleased with the manner the Wonga did her work. Rigged as she now is, she lies within three points of the wind, and her immense spread of canvas tells materially on her rate of sailing ; while, her bottom having been scraped before starting, there were no barnacles or other excrescences to check her speed. The sleeping Apartments are immensely superior to what they have been, and, although her passengers were more numerous than they usually are, all succeeded in obtaining either a sofa or a bunk. She left Russell at 10 p.m. on Thursday, entered Wangarei Heads on Friday morning, called at Mahurangi about 5 p.m., and reached Auckland at 9, most of the distance having been performed with the wind dead on end. Everywhere, in course of the trip, we had evidence of what the Wonga has done, and what she is likely to do, should she remain on the berth. The opening of the Keri keri, and the immense amount of produce she has already brought to Auckland from that locality, is but a prelude to the good she is calculated to effect. Indeed, we may safely say that many of the thinly settled portions of the northern coast, now connected with Auckland by a few hours' sail, would, but for the services of this invaluable means of communication, be virtually a terra incognito during a great portion of the year.