REMARKS on the MIDDLE ISLAND of NEW ZEALAND, by Dr. MONRO, of NELSON. [From the Nelson Examiner.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume I, Issue 3, 26 October 1844, Page 3

REMARKS on the MIDDLE ISLAND of NEW ZEALAND, by Dr. MONRO, of NELSON. [From the Nelson Examiner.]

On the vhole, the east coast -of the Middle Island much exceeded my anticipation ; which,

however, I may mention were "by no meansextravagant. It offers a larg/exrent of level and undulating land ; while the circumstance of its being covered with grass is of the greatest importance, as affording' to industry a natural production of inestimable value, capable of being converted, with the smallest amount of labour or outlay, into a source of wealth and abundance. It is a remark which has been put into the mouth of Dr. Dieffenbach, that we came here to colonize New Zealand a thousands years too soon. Applied to the North Island, any one who has seen it must have been struck with the justice of the remark. But it is much less applicable to the east coast of New Munster. Altogether this portion of the country has much more the appearance of being matured, and has an older and more respectable look. You do not see those numberless sharp, fresh-fractured-looking ridges which cut up the surface, and render it hope-* less to anything but goats, who alone might live there if there were anything to eat. On, ' the contrary, the outline of the hills is more rounded and swelling, with expanded tops, while plains lie at their feet, resulting from the same causes which have produced the rounded outline of the former, what geologists term " degradation," viz., the washing down of the more elevated portions of the land by the long-continued action of the elements. The geological structure of the country appeared to me of an older chara r ter than, that of the North Island. Thus in Banks' Peninsula we find an old vesicular trap — at' Moeraki, Waikouaite, and Otago, we met with the coal formation and old basaltic rocks — between Molyneux and Totoes the coast consists of grand and lofty cliffs of dark red sandstone, the strata of which rise not towards the interior of the country, but towards the sea. Stewart's Island (at least the portion of it I saw) is basaltic, and it may be supposed that the force which determined its upheaval ,was the same which gave to the strata above mentioned their rise to the southward. In the North Island, on the other hand, the rocks are, generally speaking, of a more recent geological date ; while, as volcanic forces are still in operation there, we find 1 more of their recent products, and more of ' the effects of their disturbing forces upon the"'' general configuration of the country. In the < interior I understand considerable districts are covered with cinders and ashes, andj consequently, perfectly barren. Other parts of the country, non -volcanic in their origin, seem to have been shattered and broken up as it were but yesterday. Near the East Cape, I have walked along ridges which I could have sat stride legs upon, one leg in one valley, the other in the opposite one. The east coast of the Middle Island seems to me to hold out greater attractions to the colonists than any part of New Zealand : butto take advantage of its resources to the full extenc, I humbly conceive that it will be necessary to dispense both with the Wakefield system and Lord Stanley's Act for regulating the sale of waste lands in the Australian colonies. Regarding the Wakefield system, it may be said to have been " weighed in the balance and found wanting." That it exhibits great ingenuity and has certain advantages, no one will deny ; but that it is of necessity attended with many disadvantages, which more than balance any good which it secure.*-, is equally clear. It has one prima facie andinsuperable defect : it entails, or, more cor- • rectly speaking, it attempts to entail upon the settlers the expense of founding d colony, a business which, under the most favourable circumstances, is only accomplished by a very great outlay of capital. Thus in South Australia, after the settlers were all ruined, it was found necessary that the British Treasury should pay large sums of money ; and an immense capital having thus been expended*, the place begins to breathe and show some symptoms of life. It may be said that this was the fault of the settlers, who never hitherto applied their energies to production ; but this is not true : it was the fault of the system, which placed men in a false position, in circumstances in which men never did and never will act otherwise than the South Australians - did. In New Zealand the same system has been tried both by the Company and the Government. The means of the settlers have been crippled by paying large suras of money for land, and everything at present seems to point to the same consummation as in South Aus- • tralia — total exhaustion, and then health,' from necessity and the contact of starvation:' a system like that of Doctor Sangrado, who cured his patients by bleedirig and hot waier. We may remark, however, in. passing, that the Government settlements have Ibeeu much better off that tltt Company's. The money paid for lsttfl at Auckland, ought (ooe?hal£,o.£ \\ at least) to have been sent home for. gmigraUon, N,o» farthing wts forthcoming jEor ,

such a purpose. The money was spent in the place, foolishly perhaps, but still some good was got out of it^f But in the Company's settlements lMgtsums have found their way, to pay .for emigration, into the pockets of the English shipowners, who are great promoters of emigrating schemes, and are generally considered to be rather knowing fellows. Lord Stanley's Act appears to me * bad one, inasmuch as it demands a price for wilderness land which no wilderness land is worth. At the same time, seeing that people were determined to emigrate, were enamoured of the Wakefield system, and had made up their minds to buy waste land at any price, as was the case a few years ago, it certainly was very reasonable conduct on the part of the British Government to pass such an act, and as far as in them lay transfer the expense of founding colonies from the shoulders of the British people to the shoulders of those who engaged in the " heroic work." Lord Glenelg was very much abused by Mr. E. G. Wakefield and his associates, because he did not jump at once into the South Australian scheme : was called a sleepy-headed old dolt, and received other such cottrpHments. Lord Glenelg told the colonizing gentlemen that colonies were very expensive things, in saying which he certainly saw quite as far into the millstone as any of the sharp, self-supporting theorists. Pasture is the natural and great resource of the east coast of this island. Agriculture will be subordinate to it for a long time, although there is a good deal of land which may profitably be brought into tillage, particularly when the soil has been enriched by stock running over it and manuring it. In commencing upon a wilderness, it does not pay to break up second or third rate soils. The richest land alone will yield a remunerating return for the outlay. But, as provisions become abundant and labour cheaper, land of inferior quality comes into cultivation. In the block intended for survey for New Edinburgh, it will be impossible to find the required number of sections of first rate land, if any thing like continuity is to be preserved! The great proportion will be pasture land for many years, and for this the colonists will find they have been paying at the rate of £2 per acre. From an acre of such land, a return of perhaps Is. sd. per annum may be obtained — an interest upon the sum paid of less than 4 per cent— to say nothing of the expense of a colonist establishing himself in a wilderness. If the colonists of New Edinburgh see their own interests clearly, they will take but little account of the land they have purchased, but, taking advantage of the great extent of natural pasture which surrounds them, they will run their flocks far and wide over the surface of the country. Let them keep in view the advantages which that part of New Zealand possesses as a wool-growing country, and they will secure their prosperity. There is a very large field for the production of wool along the east coast of this island, and I am convinced that it can be grown with greater profit there than in any part of Australia. There are no native dogs, which are the principal cause of the expense of shepherding in Australia. (There are, however, I should mention, a few Maori dogs run wild, but these might soon be got rid of.) There is abundance of water, enabling the flockmaster to wash his wool thoroughly ; and the climate of this country is particularly favourable to the constitution of tire sheep. Having seen most of the Australian colonies, and acquired a little experience at some expense, I see no occupation which affords so good a prospect of rapid return upon the money invested as sheep-grazing in this country, wherever pasture is sufficiently abundant ; and there is a great extent of grass land between Banks' Peninsula and the Bluff. This district of country possesses also a great advantage in this, that there are almost no natives. On the great plain to the south of the Peninsula there are not, we were told, more than thirty or forty altogether. Otago and its neighbourhood and Robuki are their head-quarters, and there their numbers are very inconsiderable. In the fine district behind Molyneux Bay, there are only four men. To the southward, along the coast, there are hardly any. So that settlers in this part of the country have nothing to fear from claims to land or annoying attempts at extortion. On the west coast of the Middle Island, commonly called by the whalers the " West Side," we heard a good deal both from the whites and the natives. All accounts agreed that it is of a most rugged and inaccessible character. Mountains towering to an im-. mense height rise, it is said, almost perpendicularly from the water, while their sides, rent and shattered, for deep sounds and arms of the sea affording the most perfect shelter. It would teem that no part of the coast of New Zealand is so inaccurately delineated on the charts at this. Instead of the/ tolerably uniform line with which it is dr-awn at pre-

sent, I believe it will be found, when surveyed, to present an outline somewhat like that of the west coast of Norway. The small portion of it which has been surveyed, viz., Dusky Bay, will afford an illustration of this. Numerous harbours, known only to the sealers, and named by them, were mentioned to us. We were told that harbours for boats could be found every five or six miles. There are still upon this coast a few seals, the pursuit of which gives occupation to one or two boats' crews. In former times they were very abundant, and yielded a very handsome profit. The sealeis do not go further north in general, than Jackson's Bay, or a harbour called Harness, which is still further to the north. Beyond this, there is said to be a narrow belt of low land between the mountains and the shore, which consists of open beaches without shelter. There is no level land of any extent on the west side. The climate is said to be mild, with much rain. In answer to our enquiries about the natives there, we were told that at one time there had been a considerable number, and that they were remarkable for their ferocity. At present their total number is about six. The greenstone, so much prized by the Maories, and also it was hoped by the Chinese, is found in various places on the west coast. It has principally hitherto been worked in a place called Barn Bay. A block of it, weighing several tons, lay on the beach here, in breaking up which Captain Anglin and some of his crew were so much injured. But the mineral must be abundant, for I was shown several rounded pebbles of it picked up on the beach, where they are sufficiently common. There are two kinds of greenstone, that which is commonly seen, and which is named the ponamoo, and another sort more glassy and transparent named tuggewai. The ponamoo is exceedingly hard, and has an irregular fracture. The tuggewai is much softer, of a more transparent green, and divides easily into plates. It can be scratched with a penknife, and thin plates can thus be raised. The greenstone prized by the Chinese is undoubtedly the same mineral, slightly different in colour. It has a transparency and brilliancy which I have never ytt seen in the New Zealand stone. Ornaments made of the Chinese greenstone look almost like a stained glass, or some parts of them are nearly colourless, while others are clouded with beautiful transparent grass-greens and whites. The mineral of these shades of colour is exceedingly valuable in China — worth its weight in gold. It is by no means unlikely that the mineral having the requisite shade may yet be found in New Zealand. Where there is a large extent of greenstone, it is rather indeed probable that very considerable varieties in its tint will be met with. The kiwi, called by the sealers the emu, is met with in great abundance on the west side. It is a common article of food with them, being caught with the assistauce of dogs. It seems likely that there are two species of kiwi, one much larger than the other. Another bird, called by the natives the " green bird," by the natives the kakaho, is abundant on the west coast. Dr. Dieffenbach, in his work on New Zealand, mentions having seen some feathers of this bird, but considers it to be extinct. The kakaho is nearly as large again as a kaka, nocturnal in its habits, hiding itself in hollow trees in the day time, and, though possessed of wings, hardly able to fly. I was fortunate enough to obtain a mutilated skin, without either the wings, bill, or feet. The general colour is green, which about the head and neck is of a brilliant shining colour. The under surface of the body is yellow, but the colours blend into one another, and some of the feathers are of both colours, some barred with black. It is impossible from such a skin to say to what family the bird belongs. From what I learnt of the structure of its feet, I ascertained that it is not a parrot, nor a cuckoo, as Dr. Dieffenbach supposed it to be. I think it probable that it may belong to the podargus branch of the goat-sucker family, having some analogy, perhaps, v»ith the celebrated guacharo bird described by Humboldt, which also is nocturnal in its habits, and makes its nest in holes in the side of a cavern. I observe in the mutilated skin which I have, that near where the bill has been there are some hairs pointing upwards. Concerning the moa, we could meet with no one who said he had seen it, although the belief prevails that it still exists. Near Waikouaite, many of the bones of the moa have been found. I have five in my possession, obtained in that locality, from the condition of which it must be inferred that the animal to which they belonged cannot have died, I should think, more than 200 years ago. It is, however, at all times very, difficult to say what the age of a bone may be,, so much depending on the kind of soil in which it has been entombed. I did not myself see the locality in which the bones were found, but I

understand it is at 'the month of a creek upon the sea shore that they are got, buried in sand. After heavy rains, when the banks of the stream have been encroached upon by its swollen waters, is the best time to look for them. I observe, by some notices in the English newspapers, that Professor Owen, from some fragments of the bones of the moa which were transmitted to him, conjectures the bird to have stood sixteen feet high. The bones which I have obtained do not warrant the supposition of any such extraordinary height. The largest bone I have is a tarsus, which measures fifteen inches and a half in length. (The tarsus, I may mention, is the bone below what is vulgarly called the knee, in a bird, — that part of the leg which is commonly uncovered with feathers.) In the ostrich, which the moa is believed to have resembled, the tarsus is about the sixth of the height of the bird when erect. This would give to the moa, to which the aforesaid tarsus belonged, a height of seven feet nine inches, which is not greater than that of the African ostrich, which sometimes even reaches eight feet. Three thigh bones, which I possess, all left thigh bones, consequently belonging to different individuals, are very nearly the same length, viz., ten and a half inches ; but these appear to me to have belonged to birds of a smaller size than that of which the tarsus above mentioned is a relic. Mr. Earl who lately resided at Waikouaite, showed me a thigh bone sixteen inches in length, with a circumference of eight, and a tibia, the length of which was thirty-two inches. These had probably belonged to a bird which must have stood, at least, twelve feet high. The smallest bones which I possess have no appearance of having belonged to immature individuals, and it therefore seems to me likely that there were more species of moa than one. The question of the existence of the moa at present cannot be satisfactorily answered until the Middle Island has been explored. The probability is, however, I think, much against the existence of the moa. In other countries bones of animals known to be extinct are found near the surface, and in a tolerable state of preservation. In the North Island, the bones of the moa are found frequently in the rivers which flow into Poverty Bay and elsewhere, but, though the island is populous, and has been traversed in different directions, no trace of a living moa has yet been seen. When in Molyneux Bay we heard a great deal about some animals said to be beavers which frequent the lakes at the source of the Molynenx River. So many persons told us of them, and one very intelligent native who walked with us, and said he had seen them, described their manner of swimming, and diving, and building houses on the bank, so circumstantially, that it was scarcely possible to doubt that there was some foundation for the story. These additions to the Fauna of New Zealand — and a floating island which is also said to sail about on one of these lakes — will, I trust, yet tempt some settler of New Edinburgh to visit the region in which they are found. Behind Toutuki, he may explore ihe mountain dreaded by the natives on account of its being the favourite residence of the mairoero. This is a wild man of the woods, strong, cunning, and mischievous, and addicted to running off with young people and damsels. His body is covered with coarse and long hair, which also flows down from the ' back of his head nearly to his heels. To compensate for this excessive quantity behind, his forehead is said to be bald. He was vividly described to us by a Maori who had seen one long ago, when he was a little boy, and was of opinion that " there is not a more fearful wild-fowl than your mairoero living." The pukatuola is another wonderful animal of the southward, told of by the old men. Under a different name he is heard of in the north. A gigantic animal of the lizard species, most dangerous to humanity. A very shrewd man, whom we met to the southward, was of opinion that these hairy men and crocodiles had their origin in the Maories seeing pictures of animals in books belonging to Europeans, and then persuading themselves that they existed in their woods : but I cannot take this view of the case. I would appeal to the actual discovery of the bones of the moa as a striking instance of corroborating the natives tales. And I can imagine New Zealand existing under different physical circumstance!, when both large monkeys and crocodiles formed part of its inhabitants ; and recognize the far distant tradition of these surviving (though modified) the lapse of many ages among a people naturally talkative and legend-loving. It will be of the greatest interest if hereafter the fossil bones of some large monkey or saurian animal should he discovered. The field for such researches in New Zealand is yet almost unexplored.