CHATHAM ISLANDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22046, 28 February 1935, Page 14

CHATHAM ISLANDS

SOME STRIKING CHANGES BISHOP BENNETT'S COMMENT Several striking changes occurring in the natural features of the Chatham Islands were mentioned by the Bishop of Aotearoa, the lit. Rev. F. A. Bennett, who has returned after spending a fortnight there, states the Christchurch Press. For a week the bishop travelled over the island on horseback, covering 120 miles. Among the changes most noticeable were the gradual disappearance of both black swans and eels, and the withering of the kopi trees. ,

At one time the Chatham Islands were noted for the thousands of black swans that crowded its many lakes, especially Te Wlianga, the large inland sea of about 40,000 acres. A few years ago the Maoris were able to gather swans eggs by the cart-loftd. Now the swans are not nearly so numerous, though it is difficult to say why they are decreasing.

Certainly it is not because they are disturbed or Bhot. Possibly it is because the water-weeds and other foods on which they lived are dying out. Eels also were once very plentiful in Te Whanga and were caught in large quantities by the Maoris. Now these too are greatly reduced in numbers, probably because they also lived upon the weed which has disappeared. The kopi, or karaka tree, is one of the predominating featnres of the Chatham Islands bush. It is upon the kopi that the peculiar carvings left by the old Moriori are to be found. Bishop Bennett said that the wittiering of these trees from the roots was very noticeable to him in many districts. This, ho said, was attributed by the Maoris to the disappearance of the undergrowth which formerly afforded shelter to the trees. The kopi when unprotected and exposed to the full blast of the wind soon decayed.