THE NORTH ISLAND RAILWAY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XX, Issue 58, 10 March 1886, Page 2

THE NORTH ISLAND RAILWAY.

Until recently a large area of country iv the centre of tbe North Island, comprising perhaps ono-sixbh of the whole, was held exclusively by the natives and rigidly closed to Europeans, the last white man rMoffitt) who attempted to go through previously to the year 1880 having been shct. Thero were many reasons for this state of tilings. Too natives felt that they were decaying before the advance of Europeans, that their lands pasfei from them leaving uoiilnng in their place, for tho ruinous expenses of the Land Courts, the templa-ions to which they were exposed while attending them, and the exaciions of agents often, resulted in their returning to what hud been their homes minus both laud an) money. These aud other evils rrnde them feel that they could do nothing to preserve the remnants of their rights but; close the country. About 1882 tho Government found it ueoessary to attempt explorations through the heart of the Island with a view "to obtaining the consent of the natives to the construction of a railway connecting Wellington and Auckland, to which, ufter confiiderublo opposition they agreed. Having recently had opportunities of obtaining information on the subject, wa now purpose giving our readers a general idea of the country which will be thereby opened. Smarting from the present terminus ah Marton and following the general courso of tfie line the traveller ascends, the Porewa and Rangitikei rivers to the junction of the latcer with the Hautapu, which is followed up to tbe Murimotu Plain, some 2000 feet iibovo tbe Fea level. With the exception of conic twenty miles at Murimoiu, the country through which the line will pass n all bush, alternately hilly and fkt ; the timber and land being both good The Murimotu Plain is poor land covered* wish tut-sock grass. Thence the line skirts the west side of liuapehu, ono of the grandest of Now Z-al md mountains, some SJOOB feet high and rises on to a table land another 600 feet, which it traverses sraight lor eight or nine miles emerging from the bush at Waimarino after piercing some 26 miles of fore3t country. There are in this neighbourhood about 100,000 acres of good flat bush country. Along the Waimarino Plains some beautiful views Of Ruapohu and Ngaruhoe, (the active volcnno mountain cf the district} are obtained. Although, as a rule, nothing but Bteuni can be seen rising from the latter, a gentleman who recently ascended ifc saw at j night the light of the^fire in the crater. So far as js known he is the only man who ever spent a night on the summit of the mountain. There will be a station at Waimarino, and a road is now being made from Taupo past Tokaanu, Rota Aira, and Ngaruhoe, providing an easy and pleasant means of transit to Taupo and ica medicinal springs. It runt through open grass country (which is poor) and both the mountains mentioned ein bo Bdon from many points. Ob the spur of Tongoriro, aud fifteen miles from the railway, are tbe Katetahi Springs, prized by the natives above all others for their healing qualities. Tlie principal feature here is a hot cieek, rather muddy in appearance, and strongly impregnated with sulphur, whiob. might perhaps be refined by tome artificial means. The natives have such faith in this spring- that they imagine it will cure anything, and ifc is a fact that; one poor frllow who was felling- timber at Rota Aira ami got his hand badly crushed by a falling tree, went to Katetahi and stayed there three days bathing the maimed limb most of the time, with tbe result that all his hand healed except one finger which would not close for proud flash, and for this only he had to have the Doctor's help. Tokaanu, at the south end of lake Taupo, about forty miles from Waimarino, is a beautiful place. A grassy flat on which are numerous Maori cultivations faces the lake, backed by fern hilts, and with a deep rivulet as clear as crystal running through it. Boiliug springs are found both on the flat and in the creek, bo that in the latter, one may swim from cold water into hot, but care is requisite to avoid dangerous places, About fifty acres around are covered wioh hot springs, including one or two Geyaers ' which eject boiling water sometimes to the height of forty feeb. The spring generally ( Continvea on, Third Page.)

(Continued from Second Page) used for bathing is a natural stone bai about thirty feet; acroes, quire round, a deep enough for diving. This bath generally tepid, but its temperature vari and it» is never safe to bathe without testi it. _ On one eide of it v another simi' basin always boiling, and closo by these ii basin containing water, som°time3 very bi andsotdetimesoDly moderately bo. Adjoini: the firat ia yet another which is cold. 1 theße are separated only by tbin walls ov the top of which they communica'.e, tl boiling spring trickling' into the one nexb heat, ani that into the tepid one. B^sid varying ia temperature they riss and fa sometimes being shallow and sometimes fn to overflowing. There are many othi spriDgp, several of which aro safe to b^tt in. On the hills, some SOO or 900 feet aho\ these baths, numerous jets of steam issu constantly. On a calm clear day ie rises i columns from all these springs, but in clos muggy weatber the whole place is envelope in fog. From Waimarino to Tauniaiuuui, about 3 miles, the country is all forest, the soil am limber both being goo'i, and near the latte place are soma fine forests of Totara. Hen the proposed line crosses the Waoganu: river, 127 miles above the town of tha same, and there is a cou&idcrable nativ< settlement and some very fair laud. This is the point which it was .intended should be reached by the little steamer Tuhua, bub hei power is insufficient to overcome the rapids The Wanganui river is probably the mes! picturesque in New Zealand. Above llauana (London) for some six y miles it ruus between high banks and clffs, the land on each side consisting of low wooded hills, with here and there flats of from 20 to 40 acres abutting on the river; as the soil is generally goad this country will probably soon be taken up for grazing purposes, the flats being used for homesteads. Numbers of Maori settlements exist along the river, Banana and Hiruharama (Jerusalem) being two of the principal ones. They ore within three miles of each other, and some sixty miles above the town of Wanganui. Each of these places has lt-rge clearings, aud ihe Maoris have between four and fiva thousand sheep running there, besides many horses and a few catile. The others are now but thinly pc pled, and it is melancholy to see the evidences of -the contrast between their past and present condition. The Rev Mr Taylor (one of tha early missionaries) g..ve the natives fruit trees of all sorts, which are now quite uncared for, and therfm.iss of numerous whares tell of how much more thickly populated this country waa in tbe ; yearsi>gone by. All along the river the Datives are very hospitable, inviting fcravulleHJ. to stay at their kaingas, where they ".-Always give them the best of everything theyliave. Most of the native settlements are. on terraces 50 to 100 feec above the river, with very steep tracks or ladders leading up to them. The stream is i heir road way, and numbers of canoes may be met in a day's travel. It also provides them with food, and there may be seen many most ingenzouely constructed weirs for citching eels! and lampreys. A large field of browa coal exists in a tributary of the Wanganui south of Tauninrunui, which will doubtless be worked and the coal taken to market by the river steamers. From Pipiriki, some tea miles above Banana, a road is being made to connect with the railway near Ruipehu, and thereby encourage the opening up o f the river. From Taumarunui to the present terminus of the Auckland railway (77 miles) ihe country is generally open fern land, and £ome of it of very good quality. A'coub 30 miles from Te AwamutuisTe Kuili, a pretty native settlement formed by Tawhiao, near which there is an interesting limestone cave containing some splendid stalactites. Ah the entrance there is a red mark some ten feet above the ground, which the natives point to with pride aa hnving been made by JVlaniapoto, the founder of their tribe, with his fingers, he being aa unusually tall man. Throughout, excepting Murimotu, this country is occupied solely by Maoris. Their real work of cultivating potatoes and maize occupies but & few weeks in the year, und is generally done by the womra, the greatest honor to which the men aspire being zo be considered orators, the mischief being that they are all speakers and no workers. If the natives could ever be induced to forsake their present communistic style of life and to live in families, each cultivating their own land, there would be a reasonable hope of their elevating themselves from their present debased condition.