NOTES FROM A JOURNAL.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 155, 24 November 1847, Page 2

NOTES FROM A JOURNAL.

Kept during an excursion to the Boiling Springs of Rotorua and Rotomahana, by way of the Waxkato and Waipa countries, in the Summer of Eighteen Hundred and Forty-six, and Seven, (Continued.)

Jan. 7th. The morning Wai lowering tod threatened rain, and the air being saturated with moisture which prevented, it from taking up any of the vapour from the N|awha»* the whole pa was enveloped in a sulphureous steam, causing a very disagreeable, I might almost, say a lufTocnting sensation, and we vrere glad to escape from it, so after breakfast we took leave of our, worthy host and proceeded along the shores of the lake in an easterly direction. The clouds shrouded the summits of all the surrounding mountains and immense volumes of steam were rolling upwards from Wakawerawa, and mingling with them, — the air even ' on the plain was close and stifling, and the whole ■cene wai perfectly stygian. We forded the tepid river we had seen the! previous day, and continued our course over the plain, which was sterile attd only covered with dwarf fern, manuka and other plants, common to mch will, without a veitigo of cultivation oa

its surface. After a walk of two mile* we reached the terrace I hate deicribed at being situated at the bass of tllthe hills and surrounding the lake ; immediately beyond it, we entered a pan bounded by bare hilli f which led to a valley, whoie bed was perfectly dry and covered with the abort irirygrasi called wiwi, a circumstance very unuiual in New Zealand, where the •lighteit depression in the ground is either a swamp or the channel of a stream, but no doubt the water which must run from the steep aides' of the hills,, filter* through the poroui soil m the valley and contribute! ( it< quota to feed tke Ngawha, many of which in the winter, are so cooled by this influx of water that they can be bathed in with impunity. The bounding bills, cf considerable height, are often supported by columnar masses or walls of pumiceous brescia, wh'icai appears to be the most common jock in these region's; and many of the gorges which opened on either bond along its course were very picturesque, offering glimpsea ; of distant wooded hilli, though they themselves. 'were ao bare and rocky. We had been overtaken! by the threatened rain shoi tly after we left the pa, and out tiro guides though. i halt naked, and bareheaded immediately, spread^umbrellas, to our no small amusement, for it was so truly ridiculous, to see two savages employing such a modern refinement, while two English gentlemen were walking nnder the shower without any' other covering than their ordinary dress. It appeared that these were presents received at Mata M«ta, the previous summer on the occasion of a feast given by Terapiplpi commonly known by - hit baptismal name of William Thompson the son of Waharoa, the famous Ngatehbui warrior, at which a peace was cemented between that tribe and those of Rotorua, who had long been at deadly feud. ' In our coune along this valley which is several miles in length, we observed on the side of the path one of those grotesque catved heads, which usually ornaments the pas, rendered still more to, by having a pipe stuck in the mouth and the head ornamented by an old hat and feather, this, so ridiculous to us, is'aa object of veneration to ihe natives, as it marks tha halting place of the body of a great chief, in its transit to the resting place of the bones of his fathers, it was therefore strictly "tapu." At length we reached * wood, through which we descended and came in sight of the lake of Okarika whose form is nearly circular and which is environed by picturesque hills. On a rocky knoJl terminating a long point that projects into tho lake, is situated the pa, to which we were ferried in a canoe. We found a cluster of neat Wares and a good deal of careful cultivation in the rich soil at the base'of the hill, and were loudly welcomed by the inmate swith the usual salutation of "Nau raai Nau mail" and to convince us, that this w«s not " Vox et - prei terea nihil"we were forthwith presented tvitfa « basket of fine potatoes and gorau which latter vrere pwi ticularly palatable. Our hostess was .an Ariki or chieftainesi of the tribe, who rejoice in the lengthy ti* tie of Ngatitubourangi, aid inhabit Okarika, Tarawera, and Rotomahana. She was a handsome interesting looking woman, but stone blind, notwithstanding she seemed to be treated with marked kindness and attention by the tribe. After requiting our hospitable entertainment ' by some tobacco, a precious commodity so far inland, we crossed to the southern end of the lake, & .distance of halfamile/inasirnilar manner, and landing, 'w« traversed a narrow pass bounded by, basaltic rocks, tha ; first I had remarked since leaving Maungat«ntari, ; arid at its extremity came in sight of a part of the m«gaificent lake of Tarawera, its broad expanie,^ounded to j the eaU; by wooded mountains, broken by headland, and to the south by theaemted summits of Tarawera range; as the raiu had cleared away, it lay before us) calm and placid, in all the beauty of a fine summer't afternoon. A walk of half a mile, in which we crossed a ciear mountain stream, brought us to the edge of the lake, whose whole circumference wasjnow displayed, being bounded equally to the west and qorthby mountains of the most picturesque outlines though 4 baie of wood. The scenery was beautiful, but quite unlike i anything I had ever seen in New Zealand, it reminded me of a Swiss lake. The tintiug of Tarawera wtiose furrowed slopes displayed these rich ochry colours, peculiar to mountains of volcanic origin andof the truncated cone of Rua Wahia, which lay behind it,-" Wag* perfectly gorgeous and through a gap which open's between its eastern shoulder and the opposite mountain^ we could see the faint outline of the bone' %{ or Mount Edgecumbe. Through this opening, the' only one in its whole circumference, rushes the stream which descending with a rapid current, reaches the great plain behind Matata and Wakatani, at a spot called the kupenga, where it branches off into twolarge rivers, which winding through the plain, enter the sea at either place. Our path lay sometimes along the smooth gravelly sh res of the lake, at other times over headlands,* from.' some of which poured small cascades, and we often paaeed large masses of obsidian and tilag which / Jia&s' fallen from the face of the impending hills, Who«ejSuca-{> mits were supported bjr walls of lava and rolcanic slag contorted into every variety of shape and studdeaVlth masses of obsidian, whose Vitireous surface glanced' un- J der the evening sun, in fact it appeared as if the 'lake' occupied an immense crater whose sides had Aeen ' formed of tbe surrounding hillt. A farther wall? of four miles brought us to the pa of Ruakareo situated < oa a headland formed of pumice rock andjba-' salt, projecting into the lake. The neck which lion-* .nects it with the mainland was croned by a stout fdsnee wh'ch we entered through agate, and following a tdad»> path, neatly gravelled, reached the residence of ifrr. Spencer by whom and bis amiable wife we were most hogpitably received. In passing along, we were struck with the neatness of the cultivation, of the wares and of the pathtf*' which almost assumed the appearance of streets j therq was none of the filth which renders the -generality op pas so disgusting ; and there was moreover a propriety! in the mauners of the people, very different from ihfj* rude, unceremonious curiosity which is generally 'sW annoying to strangers on their entering such places,--?-It was plain some extraordinary influence hiA been* at work, to create this obvious change, and we found that the unaided efforts of Mr. Spencer, had been the' sole means of metamorphosing a New Zealand pa into al'a 1 ' place much resembling an English village. <- In thW Herculean labour he had to combat the most inveterate > habits and prejudices, but he did not confine himself to precept alone, as is too generally the case, he wise- .. I ly accompanied it by example. It was quite^ evident that thtre could be no 'improvement in the internal arrangements of the pa, until the pigs, were ejected who not only cover it with filth but destroyed all at-., tempts at cultivation within its precincts. 4 This'preV. lincinary step was at last taken ( by the natives,,and ' their quondam aiiociatei were put" beyond the pale," ' that is they weie prevented from entering by the fence 1 have described; and a particular spot was'marked out* for feeding them, to which these sagacious animals 1 regularly repaired at an understood, signal. This being : done, Mr. Spencer next pointed but to them that' a quantity of valuable ground within the pa wasiying* j perfectly useless, covered with weeds,' upon" wh'jch' a portion of their food might be grown at their hand, mV ' stead of going to a distance to raise it. Thii common

was therefore equally apportioned among Jhemselves cleared and cultivated, which operation he not only luperintended, but spade ia hand, was at the head of the labourer*. The next improvement wai a similar clearance of the little fenced compartments which each family poiseis, and which in this place were universally surrounded with planted flax generally Tehori, \rhich they vied for making their mats, ncti, and for Other economical purpoies ; he convinced them that by temoving the weedi that choked the plants and diging the ground about them, that the leaf would grow more luxuriantly and the fibre be of finer quality, this **ai accordingly done ; then followed the improvement of tbe thoroughfares. While this was going on, Mrs. Spencer on her part was not idle in endeavouring to improve tbe babitt of her tez. It bad been previously customary with them to beg needlei and thread for the repair of their garments, if they ever did take the trouble to do 10, but the always refused to give the former .unless they brought something in payment, and she inlisted upon making the latter themselves from the Tehori flax. Soap also, she insisted must be paid for, and indeed every other article which they were in the babbit of procuring gratuitously from he Missionaries.— By these means, however, they began to value and take care of things for which they had to pay. It sometimes happened that the men complained that tbe women did not mtnd their clothes, she explained to them that it was unreasonable to expect the women to be lempfltreises while they made them " hewers of wood and drawers of water.' Muny of the men saw the, force of this reasoning and henceforward carried in the wood and water. > ' . But the most interesting labour in which Mr.* jSpencer was engaged/ was'/'inducihg the Natives to rebuild their Chapel, which had been burned ,|o the ground, by the bad habit they have of .carrying lighted pipes, even to prayers, and one of them having been stuck into tbe raupo of which the Chapel was built, it ignited that inflammable material, and caused tbe catastrophe. The only spot where the Natives could procure •uitable timber for the frame-work, was in a ravine which opened on the lake, some distance from the pa, and to have done tbat, they must have cut the trees, and sawn them on the spot, in a most inconvenient position, and even then, they would have had to carry or drag the sawn -itimber a considerable distance round a swamp, which lay between the saw-pit and the shores of the lake. He pointed out these difficulties, and proved to them how they might be obviated— first, Jby making a road across the swanip--tben constructing a carriage on which the logs could be almost dropped from a precipice convenient for the purpose, and thence, drawn to the shores of the lake, and tbere sawn into suitable sizes, from whence they could be floated to the pa. He had of course, much in arousing the Native indolence to undertake a work new to them and foreign to tbeir habits, but he at last succeeded—the road was commenced and finished under his superintendauce and personal exertion— a rude, but efficient carriage constructed— levers, ropes and pulleys, instruments totally unknown to the Natives, were used to move and lower the logs on tbe carriage, and tbe whole were conveyed across the swamp, "sawn and floated to their destination, in a much shorter time, and with much less personal fatigue thau tbe Natives could have possibly conceived. He, in conjunction with Mr. Falun, a very ingenious mecbanic who resides at the pa, arranged [the plan of.the building, directed the Natives in shaping the various portions of tbe wood work, and in finishing the internal ornaments. When -we visited it, tbe interior was nearly completed. It is situated on a knoll, the highest point in the pa, andis forty-five feet in length, by twentyfive in breadth j the framework being formed of neatly -finished pilasters of matai, set at equal distances, and connected by elliptical gothic arches of the same material ; between each of these is a narrow gothic window, and ot one end a large one consisting of three divisions. The is supported by four pillars, from which cpring tasteful ribbed arches, and the whole of the inside is lined with coloured laths, and tbe reeds of the towitowi, tied down by interlacings of tinted flax, tbe whole, forming an arabesque pattern, tbat displayed much taste in the design. A belfrey is also in course of erection, and the outside walls formed of raupo, neatly finished after the usual fashion of the Natives, and covered with a thatch of a strong smooth rush, called • wi wi,' When completed, it wtll' be a building of .which both the architects and workmen may be justly proud; and Mr. Spenser has got the Natives to promise faithfully, that no pipe shall in future desecrate) the chapel. I cannot 6ay how much I was gratified by all that I saw in Kuakareo. as it served to shew, Low much the efforts of a tingle energetic individual, may do towards tbe improvement of a people, however savage, and apparently unimprovable. There is no doubt, however, that Mr. Spenser bad advantages, in finding a simpleminded race, little contaminated by intercourse "with low Europeans, who are a curse to whatever society they introduce tbeir infamous habits —but this- does not in tbe least lessen his merits in tbe pleasing change that has taken place under his auspices. I need scarce say, that with so intelligent a host, we spent a most agreeable evening. He teemed well acquainted with tbe Native character, and on my remarking that their form of internal Government, if they had any, seemed to be tbat of a Republic, be said — "No, it is an anarchy," and proceeded to explain, that wtth tbe exception ofsome superstitious observances, each man seemed to do" what was right in his own eyes," that the chiefs had little or no power, when opposed to the general or even individual will) and that chieftainship was a name, rather established by custom, than an hereditary or elective dignity, although be allowed that courage, personal prowess and ability did in some instances, entitle tbe possessor to a species of authority in the affairs of the tribe. He instanced tbe great popularity of Rauparaba in these parts, tobave arisen less from his talents, than from tbe presents he was enabled to make, out of the "utu" given by the New Zealand Company's Agent Colonel Waken" eld, for the land supposed to be . purchased for that body; of which Rauparaha adroitly managed to secure a very large share. It is tbe desire of being noted for liberality and thereby acquiring importance, tbat causes the New Zealanders to be so desirous of obtaining f£uiopean articles, for they seem to set little va-

lueon them, beyond what is requisite for their own personal convenience. The idea of accumulating after our fashion and for the purposes we do, never enters their imagination. We accumulate and retain to increase our importance in the eyes of our fellows, they' on the other hand accumulate to give away for the same reason. Tukerau the Ariki of Taneroa or Poverty Bay, distributed at one feast, three hundred kaituka mats to his principal guests. It is astonishing how their natural indolence can be overcome in order to acquire a character for liberality. — Whole tribes will toil almost night and day to plant an extent of ground with potatoes, to supply one of their feasts: Many of the Rangatira have received large 'sums of money and trade for their lands, but scarce any of them now possess an extra blanket or a sixpence, all has gone in presents. The Taurekareka or slaves do not consider it necessary to maintain a reputation for munificence consequently many of them are possessed of property. Until this vanity is removed from the native mind, it is needless to expect them to pursue a course of regular industry. In the* vicinity of our towns how ever,symptoms of a change are visible.aud they begin to feel the importance, that the possession of wealth ensures. If then, we would make them industrious, we must in the first place, however, repugnant the doctrine, make them avaricious, and although Mr.Spencer does not,inculcate this a la rigueur, he endeavours to impress upon the natives the propriety of not wasting their time in listless indolence, when they are unoccupied in the cultivation of the soil for the means of- mere sustenance, but encourages them to prepare for sale the fine flax with which the pa abounds, and thus acquire many articlesof foreign manufactnre,that will be conducive to their comfort and reipectability. I was shewn here a man and a boy who were afflicted with a very peculiar disease. The man had lost the two first joints of all bis finger* and the fingers of the boy were so contracted as to be completely I ent inwards. It appears that the disease first shows itself by immobility of the joints, then by contraction of the tendons.and finally the joint! mortify and drop off 'by what surgeons would call "dry gangrene." The proximate cause of this malady it said by some to arise from eating the raw berries of the karaka, which are known to be highly poisonous though eaten largely by the natives after undergoing preparation; now we know that a disease very similar in cbatacter, appeared at one time in Germany, from eating bread made of the meal of diseased rye, so that there may be some truth in the supposition. Others again more credulous impute it, to the malevolent influence of an "Atua" or evil spirit, or to the individual being makutu or struck by an evil eye* It is singular that this superstition should extend to eveiy part of the known world,and here likewise, these inflictions are chiefly attributed to old women, or others, who by a saturnine and morose disposition forfeit the good will of their neighbours, indeed so powerful is Ihe impression made on the mind of the;unforlunate individuals, who imagine themselve to be the victims of their supernatural power, that they often lie down, refuse food and ultimately die, without being affected by any apparent disease. . , (To be continued.)