A TRIP TO THE MANAWATU GORGE AND BACK.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4372, 25 March 1875, Page 3

A TRIP TO THE MANAWATU GORGE AND BACK.

(From the Hawke's Bay Herald.) Napier, March 6, 1875. On Wednesday morning I started on a trip to the Manawatu Gorge and back, —my first trip into the interior of this province. Leaving Napier by railway at 7.30 on Wednesday morning, I reached Paki Paki in due course, and there found Mr. Peters' coach ready to take passengers on. Te Aute was reached about half-past fen, and after a short stay to change horses, a capital team brought u.s to Waipukurau. where a considerable addition was made to the living freight, several travellers who had gone on the night before, joining us, and proceeding right through to Wellington. Three or four were Australians, who have been making the' tour of the North Island this smnmer, and have been lately through the Taupo Lakes. . Instead of taking the steamer from Napier to Wellington, the course usually adopted by tourists, they preferred the overland route, and a very large proportion, I think, would do the same were they aware how much they see for their money, and with what comfort the journey can be performed at the present time. If all goes well with New Zealand for the next few years—if the hon. Julius gets the money he is now negotiating for, and the public works and immigration policy is proceeded with—the railway will connect us with Wellington direct." It is true that at present only some twenty miles are open for traffic in Hawke's Bay, but all the way from Paki Paki, the present terminus, to Takapau, a distance of some fifty miles, the earthworks are being pushed on. Mr. Kirdy's contract at Te Aute is rapidly approaching completion, and beyond that, Messrs. Brogden's men are making good progress, although not so marked as on Mr. Kirdy's sections. The line follows close—in some places it appears rather too close—to the road as far as Te Aute, where a detour is made .to the left, so as to avoid a steep ascent by following the road which is joined again at Kaikora, the line keeping in close proximity to it to Waipawa. Here and at Waipukurau is a Ion"- bridge spanning the Waipawa and Tuki Tuki rivers respectively. Both these bridges have been spoken of by previous correspondents ; they are works of some magnitude, but of the ordinary kind, presenting little, if any, engineering difficulties—very different from the bridge which spans the Manawatu, at the Gorge, but of that presently. From Waipukurau to Takapau the earthworks are being constructed through an easy country, and I should think in about eighteen months the line ought to be finished to that point, where the Seventy-mile Bush is tapped, and an important stage in the work is reached. Already a great deal is being done in the timber trade in this locality. A steam saw-mill is at work about three miles from Fergusson's hotel, and all through the settlements of Norsewood and Danevirk large quantities of railway sleepers are stacked by the roadside ready for carting to the various points on the line where they are required. The Seventy-mile bush is not only one of the most splendid of New Zealand's forests in respect of scenery, but it is a most valuable property, or at all events will be in a few years, when its totara and other timber can be transmitted by rail to any part of the country. The work of preparing these railway sleepers has been a grand stand-by for the Norwegian and Scandinavian settlers in the Bush, many of whom have been making very good wages, enabling them to save the necessary capital to acquire the freeholds of their holdings, and to create comfortable homes around them. The many neat wooden houses that have been already erected, with their patches of cabbages and potatoes, and, in some instances, more elaborate attempts at gardening and cultivation, are evidences of material progress amongst this section of the population which are highly satisfactory. I heard, and have no reason to doubt the statement, that several who left the district some time ago for the Wairarapa country have returned, finding they could better themselves in their old quarters. On the other hand, there is no doubt some few have " given it best," and have left the place with no intention of returning. At the Gorge I met one of the latter, a very intelligent and well-educated man, who, with his wife and family, are going to settle near Wellington, where he considers his prospects better. On the whole, I should think, from what I saw and heard, that the Norsewood and Danevirk settlements may be regarded as satisfactory experiments. The land, where it has been cleared, appears excellent, as good as any in the province of Hawke's Bay, except, perhaps, the Ahuriri plains; but it is thickly timbered, and time and labor will have to be expended upon it liberally. Our friends the Good Templars would say that there is one element of these two settlements that has conduced to their prosperity,—the absence of a public-house,—. and probably there- is something in that; but whether it be so or not, the settlers are now, I hear, desirous of having a licensed house in their midst. To travellers it would no doubt be a convenience. There is now no licensed house all the way from the Tamaki Hotelbetter known as. Elmbranch's from the name of a former proprietor—until you get to Palmerston, thirteen miles on the Wanganui side of the Gorge. I hear, however, that at the recently formed township of Woodville, which is to be the great inland town of Hawke'3 Bay, but as yet only exists on paper, an hotel will shortly be put up on one of. tho corner allotments which fetched such a good price at the recent land sale. Here, three miles north of the Manawatu crossing, the road from Masterton joins the Napier and Wanganui road, and here at some future time other cross roads will meet, so that it is probably destined to be. an important place, but its importance is as yet slumbering in the "womb of time." The Gorge, which I reached on Thursday at mid-day, having stopped the previous night at Takapau, has been already described by your special correspondent who visits the locality prior to the Woodville land sale. I can add. nothing to what he has said of the extreme beauty of the scene. Language, indeed.is inadequate to convey an idea of the picture which has been painted by the hand of Nature. The grand scenery of Lake Taupo has been • frequently pourtrayed by the sketcher, artist, and photographer, and the views of its painted terraces are familar both here and in England. Some of the views appeared in the Illustrated London Nexos, but of the Manawatu Gorge I do not remember to have seen any pictured representation whatever, and am not aware that any are in existence. If there are none, a field is open ; and if there are any, a somewhat wider publicity should bp given to them. No artist could adequately paint the scene any more than any writer could adequately describe it, but something might bo produced approaching the reality, which might induce tonristß in search of the sublime and picturesque to pay a visit to the locality. The coi-rcspondent to whom I have before referred gave you the details of that great engineering work—the bridge over the Manawatu Gorge—a work of no ordinary kind, for which a special design was prepared by Mr. Carruthers, the Engineer-in-Chief. Tho contractors, Messrs. Mac Neil and Dunn, will complete tho contract, should no unforeseen accident occur, in about two months from the present time. As you are probably aware, the bridge is designed for both road and railway traffic, and is of the most substantial description The massive stone pillars look as if they would last for centuries, impregnable to floods or anything short of a severe earthquake. Mr Mac Neil is an adept at this business. He buiit the Tamaki Bridge, near Auckland, and the bridge at Wanganui, besides others of less magnitude, and hi» previous reputation in this

linewill certainly not be lessened by his present undertaking at the Manawatu Gorge. When completed it will be one of the finest works in the colony. lam not an " expert" in these matters, but it seems to me that if the Tamaki Bridge cost £20,000, as I am credibly informed it did, the Manawatu Bridge is being put up very cheap at £12,000, which the contractor tells us is the price at which he has taken it. He has now thirty men employed, and as .the work is difficult and dangerous, a high rate of wages has to be paid, and the very best men that can be obtained alone engaged. It is satisfactory to know that only one accident has occurred since the commencement of the contract, and that not one of a serious nature. When the bridge is completed, the only obstacle to an uninterrupted journey overland—without change of vehicle—between Napier and Wanganui will be removed. Having stayed one night at the Gorge, I returned next morning (Friday), arriving at Takapau that night, starting next morning for Napier, arriving on Saturday. I have not gone much into detail iu this letter, for the reasons already given, which I presume your readers and yourself will consider sufficient. I cannot conclude, however, without saying that I have been greatly pleased with the trip, and know more than I did before of the great capabilities this province possesses for agricultural settlement. Its fine climate, good land, and beautiful scenery ought to render it one of the most attractive portions of this favored colony. It is true that a great deal of land which ought to be open to settlement is locked up in private hands, but a good deal yet remains, and in time I have no doubt many of the i-unholders will cut up and sell portions of their lands as did Mr. Tippen, at Kaikora, and Mr. Abbott, at Waipawa, or lease them as " Lord" Henry Russell ha 3 done at Waipukurau, at all of which placeß pretty and flourishing townships have sprung up, and are rapidly advancing. To all whose business or pleasure calls them to Wanganui or Wellington, if they can spare the time required for the overland trip—two days and a half—l would say by all means book yourselves as passengers by Peters' coach. You will, unless I am mistaken, enjoy the trip, and not regret taking my advice. The road is a good one— as good as any in the province—so far at any rate as the Gorge—and the rest is, I believe, much the same. The coach is well horsed, and by the time occupied on the journey, which I have stated above, you may judge that the pace is a good 'one. A great improvement has taken place as regards hotel accommodation on the line of route. At all the stopping-places good and wholesome viands, clean beds, and civility will await the traveller —at least I found it so, and presume others will do the same. It is the practice, I believe, in some parts of the colony to let mail contracts to Maoris. What with their miserable apologies for horses, and .their constitutional carelessness whether anything is done to-day, tomorrow, or never, it is not difficult to conceive the result. The' regularity and care with which the overland mails are delivered here is very creditable to the post-office officials and mail contractors, and if for the sake of economy a Maori proprietor of horseflesh, or a pakeha witli a spring-cart and half-a-dozen "scrubbers" gets the contract, I don't think the country will be much of a gainer.