ABOUT WESTLAND.

Hokitika Guardian, 27 March 1922, Page 4

ABOUT WESTLAND.

(By Kanui Korero)

The concluding part of our last article dealt with the various expeditions to Westland from Nelson. \\'e are now continuing the reports of the Nelson expedition, and afterwards give extracts from various sources, including tlie expeditions from Canterbury. These events will not be in chronological order and may in some instances be conflicting, but the extracts from the early reports and newspaper articles about the youthful days of the Province will he of interest to our younger readers and of necessity he subject to criticisms by the old pioneers, who remember some of the events that we now record.

Gold bad been found in parts of Massacre Hay as early as 1853. On 17th Aprijj, 1858, the Nielson Examiner announced the discovery of gold at the Hullcr. A West Coast chief named Tarapulii and his brother Tainui returned from Canterbury with Air Lee who had taken up the first run on the West Coast. The existence of gold had been known to the Maoris for many years prior to this date, but they were then ignorant of its value. Mr Rocliford’s report on the goldbearing sands of the Bullet; got abroad and in 1860 parties of miners began to arrive in search of gold. The Lye 11 goldfield was opened in 1862. Nuggets up to 90ozs were found, and the big rush to Hokitika and Grey took place in 1864-1865. Mr Blackett was warden tit the Grey and ho was succeeded by T. Sue, yd Kynnersley. The town of Cobden at the mouth of the Grey was laid out and a wharf erected 250 feet long. By April 1860 the Nelson Government had opened 115 miles of tracks in the Grey goldfields, 61 of which were available for horses and it was calculated that Nelson was receives £4,000 a. year in revenue from the West Coast. The Aluungulapu murders took place in 1806. Four men, Alatliicu, Ivempthorne, Dudley, and 1 outris were murdered by the Sullivan gang (Burgess, levy, Kelly ami Sullivan). The above notes were extracted from the history ol the Nelson Province.

l'erdiiiaiid lloelisletler, in his geological work on New Zealand, written in 1867, pays a tribute to the early explorers, surveyors and eivil engineers, and mentions Brunner, J. T. Thomson E. Dobson, CL Dobson, A. Dobson, II Whitcoinbe, Doyne, Charlton, Mowitt. Robert Park, J. S. Browning, J. Roclilord, J. and A. Alackny, and J. Burnett.

Brunner received the Royal Geographical Society’s mode I and settled as Chief Surveyor of Nelson. He died there at the age of, 50. Thve West Coast Times of March 18, 1868, gives an account of the completion of the monument that formerly stood at the junction of Sewell and Weld Streets, where the present clock tower now stands. This . was shifted by the Borough Council to its present position in the cemetery on the grounds that it was an obstruction to traffic. This was then the first and only stone monument in Westland. Tlu:> base was 8 feet square, and consisted of three pieces, each one foot high. The column was 18 feet 6 inches high and two feet square at the base. It was in three pieces, of Sydney freestone, and the contractor was James Meynolds. The inscriptions on the four sides of the monument are as follows: “ George Dobson, road engineer, murdered on the Crey-Arnold road, May 28th, 1866. Hlenrv Whitcombe, road surveyor, drowned in the Taramakau, May 6th, 1866. Charles Townsend, Government Agent, drowned at Greymouth, October 9th, 1863. Charlton Howitt, explorer, drowned in Lake Brunnler, 1863.” The last named was only 25 years old, and was sent over by the Canterbury Government to explore pack horse roads between Canterbury and the West Coast.

It seems a great pity that this artistic monument, erected in the early days of the history of Hokitika, was ever shifted from where it was erected. It showed that the citizens of those days had public spirit enough to erect a last- ! ing memorial to the men who lost their j lives in opening up Westland. At the ; present date, there is a memorial being erected by the citizens of to-dav in memory of the brave men who laid down their lives in defence of the land we live in. Westland’s war memorial is being erected in Cass Square, and it would lie only fitting that the old explorers’ memorial should he transferred to the same locality. Further reference to these early explorers will lie made later. In writing about the early history ol Westland it is a singular coincidence that in the last issue of tli|e New Zealand Alpine Journal Mr A. P. Harper gives an account of a journey made by his father, Mr Leonard Harper, front Canterbury to Westland in 1857. Air Leonard Harper, who was only 20 at thfe time, accompanied by Air Locke and three Maoris came up the Hurunui over Harper’s Pass and down the Taramakau to the sea. The trip took them 23 days. They then went north to Greymouth, and found a small pah there with a dozen or so Maoris, all old people. Accompanied by Tarapulii, the brother of Tainui (grandfather of the recently deceased John Tainui of Arahura), Mr Harper travelled to the Wnitaha. Tlicy were there joined by some more Maoris, and they went down to Jackson’s Bay,and on to Big Bay. Ru era Te Naihi (known as Bill the Maori) who was drowned some years ago in the Waitoto river remembered seeing Harper and Tarapulii passing when lie was a lad. Tie party returned to Taramakau and poled canoes up that river for some miles, and returned to Canterbury, taking eight days on the return trip. (To he continued.)