FROM THE WAIROA TO MAUNGANUI BLUFF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8064, 27 September 1887, Page 6

FROM THE WAIROA TO MAUNGANUI BLUFF.

THE EAIHU VALLEY RAILWAY. [BY OUR OWN REPORTER.I

The wealth in kauri of the Northern Wairoa River and the importance of its timber trade have long been known. From an early period in the history of the Eaipara Harbour the Wairoa has had the lion's share in the export of kauri timber and kauri gum from that estuary; and the private townships of Te Kopuru, Aratapu (once known as Bonar's Mill), Maungawhare, and Dargaville have succeeded to the scattered samps and shanties of the early logchoppers. ! In the process of time the bashes in the vicinity of the river, its tributary streams and driving creeks, were denuded of kauri, and skid roads, slush lubricated, and wooden tram* ways carried the campaign against the forest further afield. Such helps had their limits, and the desire to tap the rich store of timber yet more inland gave rise to the conception and present execution of the Eaihu Valley Railway. *■ The past winter has hindered the advanoe of the work on the line, bat the fine weather of spring will be taken every advantage of, that, with a strong foroe of hands, renewed headway oan be made. Starting from the substantial wharf at Dargaville, and passing through the heart of that township, the line of the railway follows the general course of the Eaihu River, which it crosses, at two miles sixty-two chains, by a stronglysbuilt wooden truss bridge near the flaxmill. The shore piers of the bridge and the adjacent ends of the embankments are protected against floods by terraced tiers of strongly made tea-tree stake fascines well pinned down. The river fiat near Dargaville is but little below formation level. Though moist, it can hardly be called swampy for the first mile, but on passing the native village of chief Parore, and cutting through a high spur, a stretch of kahikatea swamp is met with, through which the line is carried upon a high embankment, not yet completed, and for which much of the earth has been obtained by side-casting. Owing to the wet state of the ground, and the gnarled and intertwisted roots of the trees, coiled together like the snake folds of the laocooa, the task of making the line has been most unpleasant for the workmen. Shortly before reaching the bridge a flood opening of a hundred feet has been left. As is common in the Wairoa district, the land at the water's edge is rather higher than farther back from the river. This is probably owing to the accumulation of drift wood round tne stems of the trees near the stream first, and the deposit of silt among the drift, the whole forming a low, irregular dyke, bound together by the subsequent growth of herbage. Hence, when floods have come and gone again, the water is retained in lagoons and pools back from the river. To prevent this the flood opening has been made, and a channel provided for the escape of the water to the river lower down at a point where the Kaihu, after making a long loop, curves back. The course of the flood water is, in fact, a short cut across the bend ; but no danger is thought to exist that this will develop into a cut-off, and form a new and direct channel for the river.

Across the bridge the land is higher and dryer, flax swamp taking the place of kahikatea. The flaxmill and the associated buildings, with the run of the land known as the " flax lease," are occupied by Mr. Trounson, whose residence, placed on the point of a spur that comes down to the Kaihu, has a fine view of the surrounding country, backed up by the serrated Tangihua Range and the long, sloping back and high shoulder of Tutamoe, one of the loftiest of mountains north of Auckland, and 2576 feet in height. The railway just touches the foot of the spur, and passes on through a level country, not much below the level of the line. A rolling tea-tree country lies to the left hand, and flax a .vamp extends on the right to the river, or to the intervening belt of kahikatea marsh. At four miles thirty chains the road curves to the left to avoid crossing the Kaihu, here sharply bending back. A short bit of small and not very wet kahikatea swamp is passed through, a " blllabong" rather than a stream is crossed by a bridge, of which the piles have been driven down forty feet to secure a firm foundation, and then Babylon, "that great city," consisting of a store and sundry seedy-looking shanties, is come to. As Babylon, however, is the centre of gum camps., mustering a population of over one hundred and fifty gumdiggers, and is the shipping port of the Kaihu for their gum, Babylon is not to be sneezed at. Half a mile beyond Babylon is a high bank, around the point of which the line curves quickly, and then comes to the " Jong swamp," a mile long, over which it is carried by a high embankment and two bridges, which are really flood openings, forty feet wide each. These are more to admit the passage of water backing up from the Kaihu in floods than to drain the land behind them. Should, however, it be deemed advisable to fit these openings with valves to keep back the waters of the Kaihu, that the lands at the rear, when settled on, may not be burdened with more than their own drainage, the embankments are deemed strong enough to withstand the pressure of the water. From the long swamp onward to Opaheke the country is very favourable to the engineer: the grades are light and the curves easy. Immediately beyond the long swamp, after cutting through a spur, is a curious little piece of bog, too thick to swim in, but not thick enough to walk upon. Its composition is of a black, treacherous sponge, into which a stone disappears with a splash or a puff. A sixteen-foot plank has been thrust down into it without touching bottom, and this horrible morass, may yet engulf and suffocate more than one hapless traveller.

At a little beyond this, at the Taita Church, native school, and settlement, the character of the country ohanges, and becomes more favourable for' the intending settler. Hitherto the country passed through has preserved ono appearance. From the flaxmill bridge to the Taita Church bridge across the Mititai stream, the line has kept to the right bank of the Kaihu, that is, to the left-hand side going up the valley. Low rolling ridges and spurs, sometimes clayey, bat mare often, superficially at least, of a grey sandy' nature, come down to or nearly to the river, forming side valleys, which at bottom were level expanses of swamp overgrown with flax, raupo, rushes, and kiekie. These valleys ran back almost to the ooaat, narrowing as they go back, but widening as' they approach and become verged in the swampy recesses of the main Kaihu Valley. All the creeks crossed by the line drain these swamps ; in most cases they run bat a little into the swamp mass. The Government road from Maungawhare to Hokianga runs up the valley on the same side of the river as the railway, but keeps well back from the river, now sidling up a spur or running across a saddle back in it, searching for an easy grade more than for ' a straight course, and crossing the swamps or causeways, fascined at the top, and set out with white-painted pilot posts on either hand to guide the wayfarer when the road is under water. The high lands, covered with tea-tree chaparral, with regaid to gum may be considered rich ; they are not too attractive to tho farmer. The swamps, when drained or where drainable, are valuable for pasture and root crops, not for cereals, and the fund of dark decomposed vegetable matter can be drawn upon for long without exhaustion. Bat tbe advisability of taking up swamp land is a question greatly of levels, and throughout the Wairoa district, where swamp prevails, and more especially in the neighbourhood of tidal influence, the lowlands will have to be treated Dutch fashion with dyke and windmill. The natural slopes are not enough in many places to rid the land of surplus water till late in the season, and the experience gained in the Bedford Level and the lower Mississippi is needed in the Lower Wairoa.

Beyond the Taita Church, higher up the valley, the land is dryer and more level. The natural growth for about three miles or more is medium to heavyish - tea-trpe bush, interspersed with cabbage tree. A considerable extent of ground has been cleared by the natives on both sides of the road ; the cultivation grounds are well fenced with pigproof posts and rails, and where turned up and in crop show a black,. freely-working soil. Some cf the enclosures have been allowed to take a Maori fallow— have gone back to flax bush and milk weed. Outside the enclosures there was much pasture, wall established, and with a good bite of feed in it.

Without saying that the line can be laid as a surface line, there is not much to do in the way of earthwork on this section of the railway. Hence, though nothing has been done here more than clearing the bush away, there is really very little to do. A slight diversion has been made at eleven

miles from Dargaville. The original survey led across a by-wash from the Kaihu, whioh took off a doal of water from the main channel in freshets. The Maoris had dammed the inlet of this by-wash, bat the dam had given way, and had not been replaced. The fresh survey avoids crossing this by-wash twice, and involves a slight increase of gradient, though this is counterbalanced by a align!; straightening of the course. The Government road, which here runs alongside the line, will no doubt follow the railway in this diversion.

Maropiu store and native settlement la met with at twelve miles, making the division between Mr. Tinue's land and the native«owned block of Opaoeke, also marking the transition from the tree bush to the heavy bush. To this point the line will bo open and trains runnine by Much next. The native clearings and cultivations here occupy both banks of the Kaihu River at intervals. The banks show a good depth of brown, friable loam, resting upon a stratum of boulders and large waterworn shingle. This soil bears an excellent name for fertility ; the natural growth upon it is pretty heavy, consisting of large puriri, taraire, kahikatea, and nikau, with large kauri on the spurs and ranges at the back. Across the river is the uew hotel belonging to Mr. Nathan, a partner in the Maropiu store. As this is the only institution of tho kind between Dargaville and Hokianga, it furnishes a great convenience to the traveller. There are seventeen rooms in all; two sittingrooms one reservable for ladies, a commodious diningroom, and eight private bedrooms. The place Is kept very clean; the cuisine is capital, and the liquors of good quality. The licensee and manager is Mr. J. S. Snowden, late of the Manganui Bluff Hotel, and his knowledge of the country will prove of great use to the visitors. The river if fordable in ordinary circumstances, but there is a help-yourself ferry in time of high water. A boat is moored by a traversing loop to a wire strained across the river; a rope leads from either bank to the boat, and by this the passenger becomes . his own ferryman. The clearing for the line terminates at Maropiu; the survey is completed, and the contracts let as far as the native settlement of Opaneke, distant in all 16£ miles from Dargaville from the railway. The final survey of three and a-half miles will be finished before Christmas, and will take the line half a mile into Government land, up the valley ef the Waima, famous for its kauri. Two miles from Maropiu the railway will cross the Kaihu at the'*' broad ford" by a truss bridge of two 40ft spans and two 14ft shore spans; thrse miles farther on the river is crossed once more by a bridge, presumably of three 40ft spans, and then what iB oalled the " portion of the valley is entered. The ranges come right up to the river's brink, and are covered with kauri; the formation becomes basaltic, and possibly a small tunnel of five or six chains length may be necessary, unless the survey will admit of its avoidance. Just beyond this, at the junction of the Wairoa and Maungatu Rivers (which form the Kaihu), is the line between the Crown land and the native block of Opaneke. The company have reserved for them by the Government the right of selection in this Crown land to an amount specified in their charter, and on the completion of a certain portion of the line can begin their selection. The ultimate terminus of the railway is fixed at twenty miles from Dargaville. At this terminal station a township will be established. This land is at present only traversed by the Maungawhare-Hokianga Road, that, after running along the valley as far as Opaneke, mounts the fern ranges to the west. After some seven miles of high, open country; the great Maunganui Bluff swamp is reached. The great morass, over a thousand acres in area, lies at an elevation of 500 feet above sea level, and, like nearly all the country between the North Head of Kaipara Harbour and the Manganui Bluff, drains eastward, the outlet stream being crossed a little before arriving at the now closed Manganui Bluff Hotel. The swamp lies in the fork of the Government road and a track which runs off to the left along a ridge three-quarters of a mile before coming to the stream ; it is of an irregular elliptic shape, and ends north-west-ward at a wall of heavy bush lying in a valley between the great bush-clad bluff itself and tho spur up whioh the Government road runs. Toe stream running out of the swamp flows into the Waima at a mile and ahalf, falling in that spaoe 150 feet, and &l\ that hinders the swamp from being converted into firm land is a ledge of rook near the road. This cut through the one-time swamp will be a fine farm for somebody, and a grand racecourse could be laid out upon it. Once the dam of rock was got rid of, the rest would be matter of detail simply ; contour drains could catch the rainfall of the enclosing slopes, while the swamp drains would form another system. Otherwise a great arterial drain running along the middle of the swamp would gather the drainage of the hills with its own. But this is not the only way by which the swamp could be drained. The boforementioned track, leading to the left, runs along a ridge that, at a point opposite the hotel, is but two hundred yards wide and twenty feet above the margin of the swamp. Westward is a deep gully running into the Waihaupai River. From this gully a drive put through the ridge for less than ten chains would famish another outlet for the drainage of the swamp. Abundance of kauri lies on the ranges to the east, and three miles beyond the hotel, along the Government road, rumour tells of a level tableland of over ten thousand acres of taraire bush, 1300 feet above the sea. All this country is to be served by the Kaihu Valley Railway. The railway, as a railway, should work very well, for the general course of the line is straight, there are no great heights to be overcome, and the curves are neither numerous nor cruel. The governing ia one in 58£, and of this there are only a length of twelve chains; there is one ourve of eight chains radius, one of nine, the majority are of fifteen to forty chains radius, and there are no reverse curves. Where the curves exist the line is level or of very slight inclination, while there are many stretches of level upon which an engine-driver can make time. The formation level is kept eighteen inches above ascertained flood level. Packs of drift timber in the Kaihu River have dammed up flood waters to au unusual height at times, but it will become the duty of the line tenders to remove these, and with them their attendant dangers. Mr. Morton Williams, chief engineer of the line, is confident that all danger from floods is removed by his arrangements: for fourteen or fifteen chains embankments hare been raised to guard pgainst the effects of the packs in the river, but of embankments raised to the full height determined ou, no one has been submerged. The bridges are stoutly made, considering the weight they are to bear. Where washing of the embankments by flood water is looked for, fascine work will be resorted to in the first instance, and when the rocky gorge is entered, the stone obtained in excavation will be used in making aprons of loosekrubble (pierres perdues), or " rip-rap," as our American cousins call it, in replacement of the fascine*. Where the banks are Bandy the rubble work will need a further backing of small shingle to prevent the washing through of the sand. Barrow-pits have been largely resorted to to find the stuff for the embankments, asjthe cuttings actually needed are both shallow and short. The linn will be laid with flat-footed, single-head rails of Bessemer steel, 531 to the yard, fastened down with fang spikes. The rail joints will be simultaneous, made upon the sleeper, flanged fishplates being used. The gaugo is 3ft iSin. The vessel with the first instalment of the iron is due at Dargaville the middle of this month (September), and the laying of the rails will commence on her arrival. Fifteen thousand sleepers are alreidy on the ground. The line will be ballasted with river shingle, taken from an old bed of the Kaihu, ana with the advent of the four-wheeled "pony" engines, ballast trains will be run. The standard type of engine will be a sis-coupled, twenty-ton engine of short wheel base, and the remainder of the rolling stock will be of the kind usual on our railways. The cost of the whole line, equipment included, will be kept much within the primary estimate, and by this time next year, if not before, the line will be regularly open for traffic throughout.