IN THE EARLY DAYS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10725, 24 October 1928, Page 9

IN THE EARLY DAYS

—' ■ MJSX OF IVIAXY-XkTiON^LITIES. ■ ASSISTED. ' - '* *• .. COLONISATION OF , NEW ZEALANDa mb.it' .instructive; "End' interesting lecture closed the 1928 sdason ol'°the Canterbury branch* of-*!'the Historical Association'; of Jand: The speaker was Or. R: ; 0. Eldftr,' Professor of History" at .the Otago University, arid;'" his -.subject ; ■was ‘‘The Early Explofationijof’fcNeW Zealand.” . , ' A ' In introducing the speaker JJr. Hight, "'ho presided over the gathering, said that ', although Hr. Elder ■was a Scofetnan. and had'spent only seven years in. New. Zealand, he had made a special, study of vhis su./jett, and wasffhlly qualified to spehk thereon. “In:dealing with this subject,’’ be-. gan, Dr. Elder, “mention _ nuist toe*; made''of the first missibnariesYMafsden, ,-Williams, and Colenso, who did so ranch to make the country known. GERMAN OPENS TIP INTERIOR. .“Strange as it may Iseem,” A ‘.lie, continued, “the first navigator; to 1 explore the coast ,of Now Zealand was' a- while; the..,interior was iirsi.vexpldrodi-by' a'^dhrithii^-iDr;; Ditfenbach.. The, German did•'valuable. Work in the Chatham Islands tihd on tho northern''peifihsMa.-; His r most outstanding feat was -the , climbing of ■■ Mi'. Egmont on :Jpbl.- % Hi *’ “Another German,’ Frederic /'• vnp Mdchstfettor,. also 'did hfuch .valuabl'p exploratory wdrk;especially vins-tKe Auckland iuld Nelson districts. As-fiodihted-’W'itH vote' Hdchstertter was won tiaast, who spent, much time among ' the dhotthtahtisand ; glahillp of the lslapde’..- : ~ -i” ..' , TKb shcfikei?..'explained’ that yob Hdohstetter 'hind/Eaasty were assisted* , by-?;the Maoris;- who were used for . , cieiifihg ffacKshFiit everii so' thei dangers from swamp, hoed and hoktile Aativ»cs:' : Uvof&:^;ihhiSyi , ' /thpujghb that the work of . the early,Gpveriiment surveyors had .never' been fully refcogpised. . .' ■' •' OANTIERBIIitY .-TO ' WEST COAST t ' : '?C / V;■ toto ,?■' h'4 ; w-.. About 1851 •: the settlers ' began/ to try and crdss;/ffom "C arl t^ r h u ry to • the West Coast'; .’and' frdm -Nclsontb. the West €bg.st /also'. The West' Coast, .possessed ' interest ofthe greenstone obtained from' most of -its rifbbbd'dS': 'Thte' first -white. riian 'to irikke tho crossing' was Harper, who crossed • from -Rake -Sumner: y wid ? must-. 1 r<jri?ember£d jxx this', work'-wdre, • Cbatles‘sHe^phy^iapdfWilh&m3:Eoxy V.’ V'‘ v;y# -..' : y~ ■

The speaker described in detail the hardships and difficulties of these explorers;, stating that their rate Of travel was about three miles a day; on one expedition 'it actually took two hours to travel one-thitd_ of ■ a nlile. Tlie methods adopt eft" were to follow * the river-beds, and. often the men would have to live for weeks on fern-i-bote. ; ' / ■' " In 1860 'came the Maori war and tlib surveyors gavd'iiidst-‘.valuable asy sistance in guiding the military.- < ,TRACKS ACROSS THE ALPS.; ' The discovery *of gold on ' the; West - Coast, made it.hecesiSary .to have betiter tracks across the mountams, and .pl ominent in this work were the Dob.son family and Dr... Jamfes Hectoy. The- tragic crossing of the Alps 'by 'Whitcpnibe, and, i ;Edgar-'. ' Dobson s iourncy- iip the Hurunui riverhed and i the return from khe. Coast .Were desclf; 'with in detail.. . , ' , ' ~,21 ' . -The mote hourageous of the settlers 'about this tirtie. pushed into the interior, and the names ofyTripp ahd/Ap’latnd ’are "now .well-known for the part plavod by' these pioneers m the establishment of ’back-country sheep stations in .Canterbury. ■ , ,• -I ' The speaker concluded his remarks with a- brief outline of early, suryeyihg arid- exploration in Otago,, mentioning . J.. Turnbull, J- /Thomson, Dihiald Sutherland,' and Quentin McKimion as the’ host, remembored or, ths Otago pioneers,'/