VISIT TO KAIPARA. (CONTRIBUTED.)

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIII, Issue 3039, 23 April 1867, Page 3

VISIT TO KAIPARA. (CONTRIBUTED.)

We started at 11 a.m. from the Queen-street Pier on the 11th inst. in the steamer * Gemini,' and arrived at Eiverhead between the hourß of 1 and 2 ; the passengers, four in number, discussing, during the whole trip, upon the use and abuse of the two great national poisons— tobacco and alcohol. At Mr. Deacon's we separated, one party moving on to Kaukapakapa, and ourselves 'to Helensville, Kaipara, where we were kindly received by Mr. Eogan, the Eesident Magistrate, and hospitably entertained by him, and by Mr.' Giles, the Clerk of the Magistrate's Court, both of whom are entitled to our warmest thanks. The land on which the court-house and other public buildings stand was, we were informed, the gift of the natives to the Government, and is in extent about Den acres. The grounds are in a state of perfect desolation, not even fenced in ; and as to the wooden tenements occupied as court-house, stables, &c, no paint brush, apparently, has been used on these for years ; they are allowed to frown upon the passers.-by in all their ungainliness, as though they were unacknowledged by any other owners except the angry winter storms. This state of things is called civilisation, and the Kaipara natives are invited to imitate this bright example of order, cleanliness, and good taste, From Helensville we proceeded at early dawn by canoe on the serpentine river of Saipara to the settlement of Takapoe, the natives paddling and. chatting with their accustomed cheerfulness; and thence on horse to the village of Wharepapa, where we were cordially welcomed by the inhabitants— the tribe of the late faithful friend of the pakeha— Ehikeara te Ara te Tinana, of Orakei. After mutual greetings and kindly assurances from those warm-hearted people, and partaking of their hospitality, we mounted our horses, and, traversing the sand-hills on the west coast, catching an occasional glance of the sea, whose waters were as placid as those of the river we had left, we arrived at the native village of Kopironui, where the venerable Apihai te Kawau, Paul of Orakei, and other notable personages received us with that enthusiasm which led us to feel that we were encircled by longtried affectionate friends. The scene before us was enchanting. The undulating fern lands, excellent for pasturage or crops, reaching for many miles ; the waters of the magnificent Kaipara estuary in the distance ; the splendid fields of maize, kumeras, and other native plantations, evidencing the extreme fertility of the soil ; the sand-hills blending their light and shade, and threatening, seemingly, to engulph the rustic homes of these happy people — these and many other objects of nature and art lent an impressiveness to the country here not easily forgotten ; and the one. great lesson which penetrated the mind in relation to the peace and plenty visible at, every side was this — the black demon of war j has not been here. We were invited to seat ourselves in Wxremu Eewiti's large house, which in honour of our ' visit was carefully overspread with v clean native mats, called by the natives tepau or takapau. In accordance with native custom, after the ceremonies of greeting, huge piles of melons were placed before us, and abundance of potatoes, kumeras, fowls, excellent bread, and tea, served up. . . I Having completed the particular business which induced us to undertake this visit, the transfer of certain landed property, the ques- j tion of the Superintendenoy was mooted, and a i respectful address forwarded to Mr. Williamso n; | and a subscription list was opened towards defraying the expense for a bridge proposed to be built across the Kaipara stream, a work which the runholders in the Kaipara will say is a step in the right direction. # In the evening we called again at Te Wharepouri's settlement, and were regaled with bread and tea, kumeras, fowls, potatoes, melons, peaches, and other good things. A few hours after we reached Helensville, pleased with our excursion and the respect and prince-like hospitality shown to us by all the natives resident in these parts. On Sunday, the 14th, a messenger arrived from Auckland with important despatohes to j the Magistrate, who at once started for Apihai's settlement, returning the same evening; and on the following day a deputation waited on the Magistrate to assure him of continued fidelity on their part, and proffering assistance, if needed. It would seem that these sudden movements, on the part of the officials and the native ohiefs, are caused by the flying visit of a Waikato native, named Te Eetimana, to Mahurangi and Kaipara, for the purpose of enlisting, if possible, the sympathies of the Eaipara natives on behalf of the Waikatos, who, it was averred, intended to retake, at all hazards, the lands from which they had been driven by the fortunes of war. Another native, named Enoka, made his appearance at Waitakerei, his object, like that of Te Eetimana, being to induce the disaffected, if such there were, to join the standard of the war party, whose cry is said j to be " Eecovery of the Waikato, or death." Here are the sentiments of the deputation of chiefs :— " Do not suppose that we have encouraged the visits of the Hauhaus; no, we should be thefirstto capture and deliverthem over to the authorities. Now, listen : — The dark cloud is on that side of the sky, and the bright cloud is on this side. Here we are cultivating the soil and eating in peace fruits of the earth ; but on that side [i.e. the Waikato country] the land is weeping for the people, and the people are weeping for the land [i.e., here at Kaipara we have no quarrel with our pakeha friends ; but the Waikato have, for they—as do all the ' Maoris —ignore the principle of confiscation, the principle being simply that of might over ! right]. Go you back to Auckland and tell the Government that we should consider ourselves :, insulted if they suspect us of treachery. WW e f countenance in no way the doings of the Waikatos. The waters are still here ; but yonder the waters are troubled. Never mimd us here, ■living in still waters, but look you well to the troubled side of the stream. There ismischief 'brewing on that side ; see you to that." Te Otene Kikokiko said to the Bauhau missionaries, "Go back from whence you icame. What do you see here P Why you see 'abundance of kumeras, and you know that peace reigns here. If you fight, that is your ;work, but we are intent upon no other fight than the cultivation of kumeras. Do you look this way ; see me ; I have a halter about my neck, and the end thereof is held by Mr. Eogan [i.e., Mr. Eogan, the Magistrate, and my people are bound by inseparable bonds of union]. Now, this is the end of my speech: I am living under the Governor's verandah' fi.e., my interests are so bound up with those of the Government that I and my people have been incorporated into it]. To say that there is any feeling but that oi extreme friendliness to the pakeha in the E.aipara is to libel the character of that people ; but this good feeling, be it remarked, is attributable to the fact that the black trail of, the Anglo-Saxon warrior has not yet maddened vth'e Kaipara tribes, nor blighted their, fine country. - ■ . On Monday, the loth, we bid- adieu to the kind friends at Helensville, and, meeting the ' Gemini ' at Eiverhead, we were landed at the pier, fully persuaded that kind thoughts and words and actions are a thousand times more potent in binding the heart of man to man than any victorious achievement of arms, or any military display, however powerful or grand.