WEEKS ON FOOT

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 16, 19 January 1940, Page 6

WEEKS ON FOOT

KAIPARA TO PETONE

MISSIONARY'S LONG JOURNEY

THE FIRST SERVICE

The story of how the Rev. Jamet Buller came to be in Port Nicholson in January, 1940, and was thus in a position to conduct the first religious service in the presence of the original pioneer settlers, is the story of a remarkable journey on foot through a greater part of the length of the North Island.

The Rev. James Buller and his" wife left England -in 1835 to join the staff [of the Wesley an Mission to' the Maori i people. Arriving in April, 1836,' he spent three years at the headquarter* of the mission on the Hokianga River, where he acquired a sound knowledge '. of Maori customs and of the Maori ' language. In 1839 he took charge of a • station in the Kaipara district, but he had not been there a year before he was required to make an ■ overland journey to Port Nicholson 'to welcome the settlers who were expected to arrive from England. , ', „ . He set out on his journey on November 27, 1839; having the Rev. John • ' Whiteley as a fellow-traveller as far as Kawhia. On the way they passed . "over the site of the city of Auckland, then a waste. After leaving \ th« Manukau, they headed for the Waikato, halted for a night at an Anglican station there,- and went on to the station of the Rev. James Wallis, .who was at Waingaroa, near Raglan. - A halt was made here for several days, and then the two missionaries went on to' Kawhia. Here they parted company, but it was twelve days'". before". -Mr. Buller could resume his journey southward, owing to the difficulty of procuring Native guides. After leaving Kawhia.,. Mr. Buller did not sleep in a bed again "until he returned, north.in the following year. ' "-~r ~* r PRIMITIVE SCENERY. From Kawhia,- lie prwieeded in the direction of Lake Taupo/ He saw \ Tongariro, from the crater oi which volumes of smoke were pouring, ''a?&- . l there was snow on Ruapehu. Two days " - were spent in "crossing-a.scene, of desolation, and then three in-penetrating a - thick and continuous forest through which the sun's rays hardly'penetrated. ' Pipiriki, on the-Wanganui River, was" reached on January lh- and an eager " ' welcome was acocrded to the traveller. L'y \'->e -Natives there. A week or so'•• later Otafci, was readied. It was then ■ """ a fortified' pd, and had recently been the scene of a bloody battle. At Waikanae Mr. Buller dined "in truly primi- ,■ tive style,'' as he says In-his records, with Mr. Hadfield, then a young man in delicate health living _in a- tojit while a rush house was being built for him. Mr. Hadfield lent Mr. 8u11er.... ' _ his boat in1 order to visit Kapiti Island. / A. visit to Te Rauparaha on Mana Island followed, and a service was held r there. The' boat was nearly swamped ' oh the. t return/journey, but finally '/ Porirua was safely reached. ' ~* IN SIGHT OF PORT NICHOLSON. A five hours' walk from Porirua through .'thick woods..-,- brought Mr.Buller in sight of Port Nicholson, which to his eyes had the appearance of a . large lake. A descent was made to Pito-one, where Wharepouri and other '. chiefs were met. This was on January .- -21, and on the following day Mr. Buller walked" to Te Aro "over ,a. .rugged, rocky road,'or rather cliff." On that., day the Aurora made port, so - Mr. Buller had timed his arrival very nice- • ly. ■On the following Sunday he bJeld ;. • a service on board—the first service, f : for the new settlers. He was able to i. tell the settlers much about the new country and- what was in store, for them, and he predicted trouble owing ,■ to the lax way in which the land had been acquired. ' . A COLOURFUL' PARAGRAPH.. Mr. Buller finally returned to the Bay of Islands on a whaling boat. He had been away nearly three months,' two of which had been spent, to use his own words, "climbing mountains, .descending precipices, wading rivers, and penetrating forests, sometimes drenched with rain, then broiling in the sun, and at night sleeping on the ground. My ■ travelling companions told thrilling •" tales of blood- and battle —what heca- ' /•• tombs of human bodies had .; been cooked and eaten in days gone by. But withal the journey had its bright side. I.found in most places, a 'people pre- v pared for the Lord' and 'fields whitf unto harvest.'" ' ; '