IN THE SOUTH ISLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20088, 27 October 1928, Page 5 (Supplement)

IN THE SOUTH ISLAND.

QUEEN CHARLOTTE SOUND.

GLIMPSE OF THE STRAIT. SOVEREIGNTY PROCLAIMED. When we look at the present deserted appearance of Queen Charlotte Sound in the neighbourhood of Motuara Island, it is difficult to conceive that at tho date of Cook's visit tho mouth of tho Sound had a population of from three to four hundred souls. The Scenic Reserve at Ship Cove, and tho few bays where tho original forest covering has been preserved, give us an idea of the lovely scene which greeted Cook's eyes when first he sailed up past. the island. The dense bush-clad hills supplied sustenance to vast numbers of birds, the §ea gave similar supplies to quantities of fish, and tho birds and the fish thus provided for were tho chief food supplies of the dense population which then inhabited the Sound. Tho bird life can be compared with nothing thero now, and, probably, with very little else now to be found in the Dominion. Banks describes tho morning melody of the foathored songsters of Queen Charlotte Sound:

" I was awakened by the singing of the birds ashore, from whence wo are distant not a quarter of a mile. Their numbers were certainly very great. They seemed to strain their throats with emulation, and made, perhaps, the most melodious wild music I have ever heard, almost imitating small bells, but with the most tunable silver sound imaginable, to which, maybe, the distance was no small addition. On inquiring of our people, I was told that they had observed them ever since we had been here, and that they begin to sing about one or two in the morning, and continue till sunrise, after which they are silent all day, like our nightingales." Tho first arrivals of the New Zealand Company in 1839 listened to the same melody. The visitor of to-day listens in vain. Mementoes Left. On Tuesday, 23rd January, on one of his many surveying expeditions, Cook went some twelve or fifteen miles up the Sound, and, not. finding the end of it, landed and climbed the hills on the eastern side. He was disappointed in his hoped-for view of the Sound itself, but was rewarded, on looking over to the east, with a sight of the longsuggested strait which Tasman had in vain attempted to locate. Cook had climbed the hill with only one companion, and, as might have been expected, " returned in high spirits." He had seen the strait, the land stretching away to the eastward on tho other side, and the open sea to the south-east.

On a later date, accompanied by Banks and Solander, Cook again ascended the hill, and carefully examined the western entrance of the strait, which was to be named after him, Cook Strait. On this occasion the party erected a small pyramid of stones, in which they placed musket balls, shot, beads, and any available thing likely to stand the test of time. On Tuesday, the 30th, three days afterwards, a visit was mada to Jacksoir Head, and, on the top of the hill, from which a view was taken seaward and the different spots located, a caini was built, mementoes placed .therein, and an old pennant left flying from a pole upon it.

In addition to these records of his visit to the Sound, Cook caused two posts to be prepared, giving the day, date, and name of his vessel. One of the posts was erected at the watering place, where to-day Cook's Monument is located; the other was taken over to Motuara, and, after the consent of the natives had been procured, was carried to the highest point of the island, where it was placed in position, the flag hoisted, the inlet named Queen Charlotte Sound after the King's consort, and possession of tho mainland taken in tho name of King George the Third. On Motuara Island, British sovereignty was, on Ist February, 1770, first declared in the South Island of New Zealand. —Robert McNab—"From Tasmnn to Marsden."