REPORT OF THE EXPEDITION

New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, Volume I, Issue 32, 21 November 1840, Page 3

REPORT OF THE EXPEDITION

WHICH PROCEEDED TO TARANAKI BY LAND. [Concluded from No. 31.] We had the use of a wari, winch tlie natives told ns they had built for Mr. Barrett, of Port Nicholson ; it was most carefully and' neatly built. The inside was lined with the common reed, and crossed with the kakaka, a species of roed or cane of a red colour, which formed an agreeable contrast. I noticed a peculiarity in the rafters, which were flat, as if intended to be painted wi'h some running ornament, and curved or hoPowed out at the foot to meet the uprights on whVch they rested. It rained the whole day. and during the night blew a furious gale from the north-west, «nd we had reason to congratulate ourselves that we were securely shfiltersd from the violence of the storm. We walked £rom Wanganui to Otumatua, about 102 milps, in seven (Tays. - Otumatua ia about 62 miles from Nga-motu, There are two or tbrpe fiimilies b" the side of the stream Wai-kori, Hit it scarcely deserves the name of a pah. WifK this exception there is no settlement of ary kind between the two place<?, until you arrive at Oagura, six miles from Nga-motn. There are seven streams, including the Wai-koti, in the first eight miles from Otumatu, and they occur at an interval of a mile apart; the Kunehu, the Koronaho, the Mnngn-humi, the Wai-ou. two other streams whose names I did not learn, and' the Wai-koti. On the banks of the Wai-ou there was formerly a Targe pah named Ttune-pikp, contni'ninar about five hundred inhabitants with much cxiltivated ground in its neighbourhood, but it is now en* tirely broken up, and the place dpserted. During the next day's journey, which was about seventeen miles, we passed several streams in succession, altogether eleven in number, but I could only learn the name of the first, the Emama. Lying on the beach were the fragments of a wreck, the pintles of the rudder, dead eyes, portions of copper sheathinpr, &c, and' two iron anchors, the remains of the illfated " Harriett." We had now arrived at a point from which we could see the ridge or range of hills which runs from Mount Egmont* to the coast at Oagura. For eight to ten miles from this point towards Nga-motu, and half a' mile from the beach, the ground is curiously broken into knolls or hillocks, but beyond this is level to - the trees. In this day's journey, which was twenty-two miles, we passed nine streams, the names of the three last^-as I obtained them from the natives, are the Wai-rou, the Wai-mogou, and the Otupotu, the last about eight yards wide and rather more than three feet deep. The road continued either on the' beach or within five hundred yards of it during the whole day ; the land in this day's journey is much- lower than at Otumatua, and but' slightly raised above the level of the beach; near Oagura the cliffs again become lofty. Our resting place was within sight of the Sugar Loaf Islands, which we reached the following afternoon, after a fatiguing walk over the rooky beach, crossing in succession the Wai-ridi, the Okohou. theOhou, the Wai-mariki, theTemaru, the Oagura, the Tapu- wai, and the Onghi-onghi. We passed over a high sand-hill running down to Sugar Loaf Point, and descended to the pah on the other side, which is a small collection of huts, without even a fence, and very few natives. The house in which we slept during our stay at Nga-motu had been built by them in expectation of the arrival of immigrants among them,, and was intended for their reception. It. was the longest we had met with, being one hundred and forty feet long, and eighteen feet wide, having 'seven doors or openings, and a rude verandah in front about three feet wide. There are two others in progress, one on either side that- just described ; these are the same width with the first, and 90 feet long These houses are near the anchorage, on the edge of a terrace which skirts the beach from Sugar Loaf Point to the eastward, following the curved- line of the bay. The anchorage is formed by 3 islands and the reefs connected with them, called from their conical shape the Sugar Loaves ; the fourth of these conical hills terminates Sugar Loaf Point. The district is called from them Nga-motu (of the Islands) and Moturoa (the high Island.) The highest is between four and five hundred feet high ; on the. furthest Island the natives keep their property and provisions to secure them from .a sudden visit or incursion of. the Wykato tribes. The soil from the beach to the hills, which are a quarter of a mile distant, is rich and black, and has evidently in the more prosperous days of the tribe been under cultivation,.being covered with the koro-mikakou. There is not much wood in the immediate neighbourhood ; the. natives bring the wood used in

'building these houses a distance- of some miles. All theii time seems to have bten occupied lately with them, almost to the neglect of their potatoe grounds ; and their thoughts are wholly engrossed with the subject. They 9peak of nothing else but Port Nicholson and the settlers there, and all their questions are directed to this point. The day after our arrival it rained heavily, but the next day we were able to go into the country as far as the wood. The ground in the immediate neighbourhood of the beach has been already described, beyond this it is rather broken ; after crossing a small stream, we ascended a hill of very moderate elevation, on the top of which there is a level space of several hundred acres, the low hills on each side sloping towards it, this is covered with fern of luxuriant growth ; indeed from the hills near the beach to the wood is mostly overgrown w th fern: beyond this the ground again becomes more broken until passinj a small stream we entered the wood. We were now oblig d to think of returning. From Patea to Nga-motu, .from various causes, we had found it extremely difficult to procure provisions, and at Nga-motu the difficulty was still greater. There i.-> no settlement between Nga-motu an 1 Moko'.i, so th.vt it was impossible to proceed any fin ther. I have been since informed there really is a scarcity along the coast, the demand for provisions this year, owing to the inllux of immigrants, having been much greater than usual, while the natives have not planted last year to their usual extent ; and they appear to have hardl/ a s lß'cient store of potatoes left for their own consumption, until the crops they have just planted are fit for use. We regretted this the mo.-c, as th^ dt--'rlci of Waitera, the count} immediately beyond Ngamotu, and the laid en tV other side Mount Egmont, is said to be mor2 valuable than any portion of Taranaki we had seen. The Waitera river is said to have its rise in the Wanganui district ; it fit ws through a level country of the richest descriptor, and after a long and wind'nj course, in which it is navigable ibr boats the whole way, fills into the sea beyon I Nga-motu. We could hardly refrain from wishing that asm ill vessel had taken us at once to Taranaki, with provisions and supplies to have rendered us independent of every contingency, and this enabled us to have devoted that time, which must now be consumed in retracing our steps home vnrd over the same ground we had already traversed, to exploring and gaining a more perfect knowledge of this district. Sept. 27. — "«Ve left Nf a-motu on our wy 1 ack to Port Nichol on, and arrived at Patea in six days. The evening of our arrival it rained heavily, with a stroig noith-wester during the night. The next day we travelled by a path leading from the Wenuakura river, and for the first two miles of tae way the soil was light, improving however as we advanced ; for the next six miles the land, particularly the latter portion, was very good, the path leading through high fern or copse wood, with large tracts of flat land extending inland ; after this the land became lighter until we reached some sand hills: the path had been t* this point at an average distance of four miles fiom the sea. We now crossed the Wai-roa, a small stream, and found ourselves again in the fern ; at twelve miles from the Wenuakura we came in sight of the Wai-tuna, which flowing from the hills falls into the former river. The Wai tuna appears to be a considerable strea n varying in width from thirty to fifty jards; we saw it several times during the next three miles of our journey. Two miles further, or seventeen miles from Wenukura, we arrived on the banks of the Wai-ou, a small stream which flows from a lagoon into the sea. We rested ourselves on its banks near a small fishing hut containing an eel pot similar to that described at Manewatu; the stream was divided into three portions lengthwise, each division being sufficiently wide to contain one of these pots. The country now became more hilly and broken, and the soil rather light : two- m lesfrom the last stream we came in sight of another lagoon, the Totoroite ; to our left were some cultivated grounds of the natives on the sloping side of a hill, which had a very pretty appearance. The country now was still more hilly., When within a mile of Epuku we saw the pah Tokah, where the battle was fought; its site very much resembles* that of Epuku. The country in the vicinity of the pah I have already described ; since our last visit some clearings have been made by the natives : the trees at the foot of the hill on which the pah is built had been cut down to prevent their screening an. invading: enemy ; the" fences of the pah

were strengthened, and every precaution taken to secure themselves in the event of another attack. .The 1 following evening we reached Wanganui, having walked from Nga-motu in eight days. Here we were informed a severe shock of an earthquake had been felt during the night of the 27th September ; we were then at Nga-motu, but we did not experience any of its effects." We were also detained here three days by the illness of two of the party. We left Wanganui the Bth October, Messrs. Park and Deans having started on the sth, oh their return to Port Nicholson by sea. On crossing the Wangaiho and Turakina, we found these rivers much narrower than before, and in the summer I am told there is very much less water in them than at this time ; and this Ibe lieve to be the case with all the rivers we had passed. On arriving late in the evening at Manewatu we found the pah quite deserted, the natives being up the country at their potatoe grounds, ar.d we saw in the distance the glare of the fires they had made in clearing some fresh ground for cultivation. In the absence af the natives, we had some difficulty in contriving the means of crossing the river; they had left behind them unly two large unwieldy canoes, the lightest 'of which it required the united strength of eight persons to bring to the water's edge. It was in the afternoon before this could be accomplished, and as it was ebb tide, and the wind was blowing very strongly, we deferred crossing until the next day, when we continued our journey, and arrived at Port Nicholson without anything occurring worthy of further remark on the evening of tie fourteenth of October.

"Glengarry" the head of the Macdonnels, sailed amongst the passengers from Glasgow, on Monday, for New Zealand; where, or in Australia, he proceeds to establish a new Glengarry settlement. He takes out a retinue of followers, consisting of shepherds and agriculturists of all descriptions, as well as a splendid stock of Scottish cattle and improved agricultural implements. After having formed his settlement, he intends returning for the whole of his* clan and dependents. The grandfather of this Glengarry is the Fergus M'lvor, of Waverley. — Globe. Sir Jahleel Brenton, Bart., X.C.8., RearAdmiral of the Red, is about to resign bis situation as Lieutenant-Governor of Greenwich Hospital, and retire on the half-pay of a Vice-Admiral. He will be succeeded by Sir James Alexander Gordon, K.C.B. RearAdmiral of the Blue. The arrangments are all completed, and the change may be expected to take place in a few days. Sir James Alexander Gordon received a medal, and is one of the six flag-officers of the rank of Admiral who have good service pension. He has also a pension for wounds received in the service. — Morning Chronicle. To give any thing like a correct picture of the depressed state of trade in Birmingham, and its consequences, would be no easy matter; a few facts may give some idea. The oldest, most extensive, and respectable merchants, manufacturers, and traders, concur in representing the present depression as unprecedented in their experience. Ten thousand applicants, by working men and women, for free passages to Australia have been made, and refused, within the last two months, at one emigration-oifi.ce iv the town. Between twenty and thirty good houses and retail-shops are untenanted in three of the principal streets, and thousands of middle and small-rented houses are unoccupied in every part of the borough. The walls are literally covered with auction bills, and a purchaser can hardly be found for either leasehold or freehold property. The brokers' shops are crammed with goods purchased at half the cost-price. The pawnbrokers, being completely stocked, refuse any except wlwt are termed best pledges. Thousands of mechanics are living on half-wages, thousands on quarter-wages, and numbers of creatures are sustained by means known to the Almighty himself. Upwards of three hundred applications were made to the Gloucester Railway Company, for situations as guards, &c, within the last month. The poor-rate is doubled, and numbers are leaving their houses to escape paying it. All is gloomy, and no one can see a prospect of improvement. — Birmingham Journal. \ Lord Henley, one of the Masters in Ch'Sucery, has been far some time in a state .-of mental derangement. We are informed that, notwithstanding this unfortunate fact, Lord Henley's office cannot be declared vacant ; it being necessary that a Master in Chancery should, by himself, resigu. A madman, it is evident, cannot resign ; and therefore a clause has, we understand, been embodied in a bjll now before Parliament to meet such contingencies as that of Lord Henley.-(--Observer. V