THE EXPEDITION INTO THE INTERIOR.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1047, 11 May 1869, Page 3

THE EXPEDITION INTO THE INTERIOR.

Vis connection with die expedition into the Urewera country, now being conducted uni der Colonel Whitmore, we append a few extracts from a ivporfc furnished' the Govern ment by Mr. Hunter Brown in 1862, and whicli appeal's ih the appendix to the journal ofthe House of Representatives for 0 that year. The extracts will serve to show the exceedingly difficult country in which those operations are about to be carried on. # # # * The Wbirinaki branch ofthe Rangitaiki flows chiefly through forest ; but there is a large patch of open country above Ahikercru, whore a succession of thinlygrassed terraces skirting tbe right bauk of the river for eight or ten miles, might afford feed for v few thousand sheep. **, * „ # 2. The Valley of tho Whakatane. I entered this valley at Oputao by crossing the block of very high forest-covered hills, some fifteen miles in breadth, which divide tlio Wbirinaki afc Ahikereru, from tbe Whakatano at Oputao. These hills are of the most severe description, and the track very badly cleared, so that it is impossible to ride, although Maoris do sometimes drag horses through. The descent into the Whakatane valley is down an almost precipitous hill-side, falling, I should think, 1500 feet to the little river, here "about 20 yards broad and barely kneedeep. The timber oil these hills is of moderate size, chiefly taua atid rimu. From Oputao down to" Tunanui, a distance of 35" miles according to the Bishop of New Zealand's pedometer, the valley of the Whakatano preserves the general cha- . raoter of a mere mountain gorge ; a deep, narrow, forest valley, in- which the river for tbe most part flows out of sight in a deep trench or cleft, It receives two or threo tributaries of similar character, of which tho principal is the Waikare. From tbe head of the river clown to tbe confluence of the Waikare, the country is called by tbe Natives Ruatahuna. Sometimes strips of terrace intervene between tbe edge of tbo river cleft and tbe great bills ; these are mostly covered with a growth of very fine koromiko, marking old 'clearings, but for the most part the valley is entirely choked up with immenso steep, wooded hills. In tbe forest taua and rimu prevail, and afc considerable heights black birch. The prevailing character of soil is a brown loam of fair quality ; no pumice. From Tunanui to Ruatoki, about 12 miles by the Bishop of New Zealand's pedometer, the valley changes in character irom a mountain-gorge to a hill-gorge, and tho river bed expands from a mere cleft into a wide shinglo-bed, nearly filling tbe bottom of tbo valley. The hills arc covered with wood. At Tunanui canoe navigation is supposed to begin, bufc from the frequent shallowness and extreme rapidity of the current, ifc must be very ticklish work. Tbe canoes can only be poled up. Afc Ruatoki tho river emerges into a pleasant vale several miles in breadth, and of fair average quality of soil; growth, fern mixed witb grass. The river then enters a short gorge between hills of moderate height, still preserving its broad •^Mnde-bed ; and then for several miles, before "tHJ-tering the sea, skirts on the left bank tho vast- -swamps extending from Whakatane to Mai--.ua, on the right bank a narrow alluvial flat exfona!i_rg**£o the foot of the hills, . ""S^ Five or six miles below Ruatoki, tllB"Whakatano receives 'it principal tributary the Waimana, a small stream which- a liltlo abovo the confluence traverses a pretty little open vale, two or throe miles broad and (lvo or six miles long, and of fair average quality of soil. The country of the Urewera extends no lower down the Whakatane than the mouth of the Waimana. This little valley and the valley of tbe Whakatano up to Ruatoki, would be va- ' luablo acquisitions for English settlers ; farther up the valley would bo almost useless, except to lumberers. Another district belonging to the Urewera, is thafc of Waikarp-nioana. This lake lies ab tbo S.E. side of tbe higb, rugged, forest-covered range, which closes in the valley of tho Whakatane above Oputao. I did nofc visit ib, as the S.E. wind prevailing at tbe time of my journey rendered it impossible to cross tho lake to the inhabited shore ; and the Maoris say that tbo cliflrf and bush, tbe depth of tbo bays, and the absence of nil track, make ifc impossible to walk round tbe lako. According to tbe account of the Maories, tlie central sheet of this lake is not large ; bufc large, long bays diverge from ifc, and penetrate deep into tbe mountains. The track over tbo mountain from Oputao is of the most severe description, even for men on foot, and brings tbo traveller down to a deserted kainga on tho shoro ofthe lake. , He must bave with him a " tangata-whe-nua " (nativo of tbe district), who scrambles along over a bluff or two till he roaches a point whence a signal-fire is visible to tho Natives at a kainga on tbe opposite shore. If there are Natives afc this kainga, and they see tbe fire, and think that tbe lake is not too rough, they bring over* a canoe to the travellers. Bufc as tho lake is very subject to squalls, which quickly knock up a sea dangerous to canoes, the Natives aro very cautious ; about crossing. In a S. Easter tbey all : say that a canoe cannot cross. Tbe Whakatane men say tbat if they want to visit '■ Waikare-niounaj they generally wait till a party comes thence, and return with : them ! The lake population is very small (Native estimate 80 men) ; their natural ■ outlet for trado is down the valley of the ' Wairoa to Hawke's Bay. The Natives report a dreadful winter climate, and so '< much snow and ice thafc tbe lake people ; sond away their horses down the Wairoa ■ valley to winter. - To return to the Whakatane. Tho • canoo navigation from Ruatoki. downwards is reckoned fair. Ifc involves, however, a good deal of poling ; and good - paddling navigation can only exist for a I very Lew miles up from the mouth of the - river at Whakatane. 1 There would bo no difficulty and small - expense in making a practicable dray-track - from Whakatane up to Ruatoki, or even • up to Tunanui. But, above tbat point, < tbe great; height, steepness, jumbled-up ' character of the hills, and tbe continuous < forest, would make it very difficult to get i even a good bridle-track. Tbe Maoris do I drag horses along tho present track, but i it is impossible to ride ; indeed, the tract 1 is villanously bad, even for tbo North i Island of New Zealand — even in tbe esti- i in ation of the Maoris themselves, who of- 1 ten amused themselves witb giving ani- < mated descriptions of its badness. Tbey < bavo a local proverb, " Ruatahuna piki- « piki maunga," signifying, " Ruatahuna, < for ever climbing mountains," as we might ( my. The traveller does, indeed, encounter < every variety of badness, as ho toils over i thoso tremendous hills ; where a net work 1 of slippery roots seldom allows bis foet i fairly Lo touch the ground, and where from t tune to time be must provokingly check ] his ascent to cross yawning gully. Often 1 with back bent low, he must thread tho 1 dirfcy overgrown bed of _ a steep little t water course ; or, still with back bent, 1 sidle along the muddy slopei of a hill, j

through a little tunnel in the ,koromiko I copse ; or, straightening his back with a sigh of relief as he emerges on the open shingle-bed, find that he lias to ford and ford again and again the cold rapid stream, slipping and splashing over weed-covered stones. The indolent endurance of sucb atrocious tracks by tho Natives of the district is a continual source of astonisb;J menfc to tbe traveller, especially as they , own a good many horses now, and many of the most annoying and dangerous placesj might be made good by a few hours' work wifch axe or tomahawk or spade, as tbe case may be. * # #-#-#' In speaking of tbe people, their social condibion and political temper, ifc will be more convenient; to keep to tbe divisions of the tribes. The Urewera claim the .Upper. Rangitaiki valley, nearly tbe whole of the Whakatane valley, the Waikarcnioana basin, and part of JCaingaroa. Starting from tbe confluence of the Waimana and Whakatane, tbeir boundaiy runs along the w T ooded range bounding- tbe Waimana valley to. its junction with-a high range at tbe back of Poverty Bay over - -the Tauhou mountain, includes Papune and Waikare lakes, and joins the boundary ofthe Taupo Natives on tbe ICaingaroa piain. Starting again from the Whakatane river, westerly, it strikes off to Waiobau on the Rangitaiki, up that river to Taoroa, and out on to Eaingaroa. Speaking of the boundary on this side, Mokonui-a-rangi of Tapahoro, Tarawera Lake, Chief ;pf the Ngatirangitihi, observed .that there would*" be some difficulty in fixing the boundary between, Ngatirangitihi and the Ngatima-r nawa hapu of the Urewera, because the two tribes were so closely '■_ connected ; illustrating his remark by dovetailing together the fingers of his two hands. - The above description may appear vague, but failing a map, or a visit to every part of the boundary, and in the present suspicious frame of mind of the natives, ifc is as much as I thought it well to ask for. The Maori estimates of the population of this Urewera country are as follows. Tbo estimate in each division is that of the local chief. Te Wbaiti (bead of Rangitaiki .-. . 100 men Waikaremoana ' 80 Ruatahuna 400 Ruatoki (90 men and women) say 50 Waimana 90 - ■ 720 men