REGION WITH A DRAMATIC HISTORY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22819, 28 August 1937, Page 1 (Supplement)

REGION WITH A DRAMATIC HISTORY

L IKE the road to it through the recently opened Urewera Country, Lake Waikaremoana is one of the most fascinating places in New Zealand, and one of the most wildly magnificent. The lake is always a dramatic conclusion to the route through the Urewera. Like the Urewera, too, it i'S steeped in the colour of a vivid past. Along tho. shore-lino from tho Mokau Falls, a small bay marks tho sito of tho historic pa of Whakaari. It was from this and the Tikitiki Pa that a force of four hundred men, under Colonel Herrick, in camp at Onepoto., on tho south-west shore of the lake, saw smoke rising, and pondered what move to make next. Although they \vero comparatively near the enemy, reaching him was no easy matter. As one officer of the force described it, the lake resembled nothing so much as a huge cuttle-fish, "its long arms stretching into tho hills in every direction. Campaigning Troubles Marching round was out of the question, owing to tho distance and the rocky, precipitous nature of the shore. Tho 111011 might have made the journey by water, for they possessed some remarkable pontoons built of sheet iron, shaped- like a cigar, which were sent from Napier; but the force to a man declined to embark 011 them, preferring deatli 011 tho field to drowning. lho talented inventor of these pontoons, records Lieutenant Gudgeon, ''evidently thought the lake a sort of mill-pond, but his pontoons were so tubular in shape that a squall would have torn them to pieces in a moment.

Lake Waikaremoana

By UNA AULD

Under these circumstances, Colonel Herrick determined to build two large boats, each of which should carry seventy men; they were to be built by ft body of men, of the Horse Marino type, who accompanied, the force, and bore the imposing title of the Naval Brigade. Tho boats were to bo completed in three weeks. Sawing commenced vigorously, and the planks were soon ready, but tho numerous other articles required for construction were not there, and had to be forwarded from Napier; consequently tho boats took six weeks to complete. When finished, they were, however, good specimens of naval architecture.

But by this time reinforcements had arrived at such a rate that great difficulty was experienced in feeding the men even 011 half-rations. More ominous still, a change of Ministry had also taken place, "and they viewing with alarm the very large expenditure of nearly £4OO per diem, and tho probability of small results, even though the force crossed the lake, ordered Colonel Herrick to withdraw his men to Napier. The stores and material were packed back to To Wairoa, but two large boats were filled with stones and sunk in sixty feet of water, where it was supposed it would be easy to fish them up again if required," and one whalehoat was buried on the shore. Colonel Herrick's activities, incidentally, cost, in 1869, something like £42,000, so one cannot blame the Ministry for getting worried. Pursuit of Te Kooti It is interesting to note that subsequently a force still pursuing the slippery To Kooti found that tho whaleboat had been removed by the Hauliaus; "the place where the others were buried could not bo discovered." This was enough for tho campaigners, who by this time had had enough and had started for home. On the way, however, they fell in with a party of forty

men, under a Mr. "VYhitty, armed with grapnels for raising tlie two large boats that had been sunk. Some of the Maoris returned to the lake with him, and one boat was discovered "in a very serviceable condition, but of too small dimensions to be of any great use. TIIO larger boats sunk in the lake could not be found, but, as the enemy's pas were all on the opposite side of the lake, and only accessible by water, the native force set to work with a will, and soon completed three large canoes." It was in 1870 that an engagement took place in. the middle of the lake between the Hauhaus in their warcanoes and the whaleboat they had confiscated, and a party of Government natives led by Major J. T. Large in the two new kahikatea canoes and a dinghy. It is hard to credit that scene of conflict now, while the ranges, "wooded as thickly as they were a thousand years ago," look down on a lake of sapphire or jade or silver dreaming beneath a quiet sky, and the lusty trout leap tantalisingly in and out of the water. Well-Staged Piece 01 Work

But, looking again at Tikitiki, one remembers that it was here that the Constabulary established themselves in occupation for a short time in 1871, while down at the south-west arm of the lake To Kooti, accompanied by a hundred men, demonstrated his natural cunning by converting a simple accident to his own use. His order that he must be tho first to cross the lake was ignored by a s section of the Urewera Maoris, who pushed out in a small canoe. This was capsized by a squall when about half-way across. The crew had great difficulty in reaching shore, and lost their arms and ammunition, one man being so exhausted that he died from fatigue. Te Kooti, however, "with his usual promptitude, took advantage of the circumstances, and assembling his men, warned them of the. extrenfb danger they incurred by disobeying his orders, and concluded by informing them that the reason he had ordered them to wait until 110 crossed was that God had warned him of tho coming misfortune, and that it could only be avoided by Te ICooti himself crossing in the first canoe. Tho superstitious Maoris wexe much impressed.by this statement, and did not again disobey." Near by tho old pa of Whakaari is tho promontory of Matuahu, another troublous centre in tho olden days when it was the site of "Te Kooti's runanga house, large and spacious and elaborately carved and embellished," and fifteen to twenty houses of various kinds, somo "subterranean built under a projective bank in the side of a declivity, or otherwise heavily earthed over."

Secrets of the Fast Even the enchanted lake of Waikareiti, lying about 2900 feet above sea level and within two hours' easy walk of Waikaremoana, holds its secrets of the past, for "on its islands the lake people found sanctuary in the days of olden conflict. The lake is a dream within a dream . and out on. a tiny wooded islet there is another lako still. A miniature one, this, shut in by its secret forest on the top of its small island. No trace of volcanic action is there to account for its origin. Like Waikare-iti, it is content to hold the past inviolate. On either hand tho great trees and quiet ferns make a fairyland that soothes every sense and delights the eye. Where tho bush of Waikaremoana fills one with a sense of wild, primeval grandeur, this track is delicate and fairylike. One meets grandeur again at the Aniwaniwa Falls, where the plunging water spreads in patterns of lacy white; or out in a boat on Waikaremoana, one can land on tiny bays where the bush stands in eternal immunity as it has stood for century after century. No sign of civilisation is in sight. One is utterly alone in country that ever after draws one back to it.