SETTLEMENT OF OTAGO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21142, 28 March 1932, Page 9

SETTLEMENT OF OTAGO.

EIGTHY-FOUR YEARS AGO. ARRIVAL OF THE WELLER?. £ EARLY DAYS OF TRADING, References to tlio early days of Otago were made by the Mayor of Dunedin, Mr. R. S. Black, at tho celebrations of the eighty-fourth anniversary of the settlement of tlio provinco last week. Mr. Black said lie liad to accept, on bolialf of tho city, a trypot, harpoons and lances, presented by residents at Otago ITeads, and to hand over to the Early Settlers' Association those historic articles for safo keeping in its museum.' Tho trypot, ho added, was used by tho first white man who settled on the shores of Otago Harbour,- and it would be a constant reminder of their first commerce and their pioneer settlers. New Zealand was first settled by trading stations, and tho men of theso outposts of Empire, by intercourse with tho Maori and by their business enterprise, first drew the attention of tho outer world to Otago and made possible the coming of the missionary to the New Edinburgh settlement, the anniversary of which they were celebrating that day. The First White Man. i' The first white man recorded as arriving in our harbour was Captain Fowler, who, in 1313, was driven there for shelter, without food and water, and the strength of his men sapped by attacks of scurvy and disease," continued tho Mayor., " They were well received by the Maoris, their rigging was repaired and tha men were treated to good food and Maori remedies. In October, 1831, George Joseph and Edward Weller formed a settlement in Otakou. This trypot and these harpoons and lances may have been part of that first cargo. Before three years had passed the settlement was 80 strong and from that first day of settlement the locality has been. in constant occupation. Some of tho descendants of Edward Weller to-day live within half a mile of the original landing place. "In the earliest years the first, ship,' built in Otago was constructed by the Wellers and in 1834, owing to a misunderstanding with the Maoris, it was. necessary to arm it with one long gun and six swivel guns. On the marriage of Edward Weller to the daughter of the great warrior Taiaroa, and the niece of the Chief Karetai, all trouble ceased, and Weller's influence with the Maoris enabled the New Zealand Company, after considerable trouble, to complete the purchase in 1844 of the large Otakou block from Dunedin to tho Molyneux (400,000 acres) for £2400. Relics of a Bygone Day. " Tho Wellers were more than whalers. They owned the supply station and were constant exporters of large quantities of potatoes, for which even in the early 'thirties the Otago Peninsula was famous. Shiploads of timber and flax were sent to Sydney and in 1835 at least one cargo of local fish was sent to Mauritius. _ In 1340 a Erench exploring and colonising expedition was in our harbour and—it afterwards proved a most important point —found there a long-established British j settlement. Weller's influence with TaiaI roa, his father-in-law, after he had sold, I Akaroa to the French, and at the signing of the Treat v of Waitangi, should not be forgotten. The early surveyors speak of the neat gardens, with their European flowers, the wheat and the cattle of these early pioneers. To-day, 100 years later, a grandson, Mr. John Ellison, has presented to the city this trypot, _ these lances and harpoons in memory of his grandfather, who has been and will always be /- recognised as the first white settler in these parts. At. his request, and on behalf of the city, I now hand them over to the care of the Otago Early Settlers'Association." On behalf of the association tho president accepted the gifts and assured the Mayor that; in the safe keeping of the association, they would be placed on exhibition as most interesting relics of a bygone day. Tile president said a list had been prepared of the early settlers present that day, about 60 in number.