FROM GISBORNE TO AROWHAHA STATION.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXX, Issue 3883, 28 October 1899, Page 3

FROM GISBORNE TO AROWHAHA STATION.

THE HOME OF THE KUMI. (By Our Travelling. Reporter). As in going to the Motu from Gisborne so also in going from Gisborne to Ax’bwhana (the home of the Kunu), the shortest way is to go through \\ai-ranga-a-heke, Ormond, Kaiteratahi and thence on to Te Karaka. From Te Karaka the two routes diverge, the road to tho Motu running about due north, the road to Arowhana about Soon after leaving Te Karaka., going to Arowhana, ono passes Rangatira Station. This is a fine statino, and is, I believe, one of the Globo Estate's assets. Rangatira is a name with - a fine ring about it, and it I wore asked for a new name for Foyerty Bay I would probably say, Call it ‘Rangatira.’” After travelling along a very good road for about nine miles from'Rangatira Station, with good gracing lull country on either side and a few Hals suitable for- ploughing along the road side, we come to the. little township of Mangatu, alias Whatatutu, alias -‘The Rat Trap.” . , This thrice-named stopping place comprises an hotel, storey and blacksmiths shop. About a mile front here, across the Waipoawa River, lies the homestead of Te Hau-o-te-Atua, a large' station owned by the Messrs Bloomfield Bros., and managed by Mr McLean. ■ ■ After leaving “The Rat Trap, and continuing on 'to Arowhana, the road follows the Waipoawa River die whole way. A very appropriate name for this road would be “River Road,” for one is compelled to cross the river.uo less than fifty-two times or thereabouts in the twenty miles which separate Arowhana from AVhatatutu. It would not he p very pleasant trip up or down .this river, if it were at all flushed _h.y rain, for even at the present time it is, at some of the crossings', up to the horses girths, and the horse has to -pick his way among boulders of various sizes at most 'of the crossings. After travelling about twelve miles from Aratatutu we. come to Waipoawa Station upon the left bank of the river, and Mangatu Station ,on the opposite side. Waipoawa Station is owned by a Wellington syndicate, and managed by Messrs -Muir and Lockie, both Wellingtoniahs. Mangatu Station is owned by Mr Tiffin, and managed by Mr Tiffin, junr. Some ' hundreds of acres of bush have been felled upon Mangatu Station this autumn, so there will he a big fire here in all, probability next autumn.

The land on either side of the’Waipoawa River is of excellent ouality, but owing to its rough, more or less mountainous nature, is only suitable for grazing purposes in fair-sized blocks. In formation this country reminds me of the Wairarapa East Coast country. When we get past Waipoawa Station the whole country is still in.standing bush, or has recently been felled. There is a large amount'of heavy towa in this bush, which denotes good land, nio, matapo, some rirau, pigeon wood, etc, struggle one with another in rich profusion for ' an existence. Cattle would no doubt do splendidly in .this bush, but owing, to the,.lack of. fences probably, cattle are here conspicuous by their absence. All three stations up the Waipoawa River are connected with Gisborne, and consequently with the whole world, by telephone. The line from- Whatatutu Post Office onward is a private line constructed at the station-owners’ expense. Consequently this latter portion has a somewhat makeshift appearance about it, rough saplings got out of the bush serve as poles in the open and where the line runs through the bush, which it does off and on all the way up the river. The insulators, to which the wire is attached; are simply affixed to the living trees which happen to be growing on or about the line. This method seems to answer admirably, and greatly reduces the cost of laying a telephone or telegraph lines. The advantages of telephone communication seem to be thoroughly appreciated by Poverty Bay station-owners. Mr W. I). Lynars, for example, has a' wire laid on to his several stations from the nearest Government telephone office, so that he is able to sit in his office in Gisborne and talk with the managers of his three stations in different'parts of the Cook County. The line to Arowharia is not quite complete, but it very soon will be. On some stations here they connect the head station rvith, the out-stations by a telephone wire running frequently along the fences on the run ; m such cases the wire is carried over the gateways on high poles affixed fo the gateposts. After leaving Waipoawa Station there are no other homesteads up this river until w r e have traversed a distance of about eight miles and come to Arowhana Station, wdiich is the last place at. present occupied on this road, although I am told there is more land to be opened up by and by further back still. ' Arowhana Station is owned by Mr Mr W- D, Lysnar, the well-known «o!i----citor here, and is managed by his brother, Mr Harold Lysnar. • Mr Lysnar has comparatively recently acquired this block, of country. As he is expecting a considerable amount of money annually in improvements, a large portion is already in grass and

stocked, and a lot more bush is coming down this winter and spring. No doubt when this property is all improved it will carry a lot of stock, as the laud, though rough, appears to be of excellent quality throughout. Arowhana has obtained some notoriety as being the place wnere the kumi is alleged to have been seen. I have seen the native whom Air Harold Lysnar tells me saw this strange reptile. There is nothing in his demeanour that would lead one to suppose- that he rad seen a kumi. He does not even brag about it; but, sad so relate, he is deaf and dumb, but an average inan could not even tell that until he began to talk to him. So when I was told that lie had seen the kimu I believed on him.

Other people have seen tracks which they believe to be tracks of a kimu, but “Dummy,” as he is called on the station—his real name has slipped my memory— is the only living man probably who has seen a kumi. He tried, in his own way—Dummy I mean—to give some men who were working with him a like privilege, but his entire vocabulary' consists of a peculiar sound which I can only define as being rather like a cross between a dove cooing and a pig grunting. The kumi, who was re the time taking stock of the native at the entrance to the hollow of a large tree, evidently didn’t like this noise; it appeared to bode him no good, as he “made tracks” before Dummy’s mates had time to understand what was up. and why the native was looking so scared. Most people in Gisborne are inclined to doubt the whole story, and think the native might have seen anything but a real kumi. So now, when anyone tells a story of any kind, i .he truth of which seems open to doubt, people say, “Ah, that’s a kumi.” But there might be a good many rare reptiles in the dense bush about Arowhana, without people being necessarily able to capture them. , However, enough of kumi; but some of these days the Waipoa.wa district may become famous for something of infinitely more importance than a rare reptile, which is only of interest to naturalists. For throughout this district there is evidence in various places of that useful oil petroleum. It is cosing out of the ground in numerous places. At Arowhana a remarkable "phenomena has been discovered. In, certain -places the earth is constantly giving forth a gas which possesses a peculiar disagreeable odour, reminding one of kerosene, and this gas, when a light is applied to it, burns brilliantly. At present this gas has been formed on a dry ridge, which constitutes the watershed at Arowhana. It is escaping from cracks in the earth and crevices of rocks. In some places, if a light is applied it flares up to a height of several feet, in others it burns with a steady but less fierce flame, which no amount of wind seems capable of extinguishing. The only way to annihilate the flame being to throw earth upon it. If these lines should meet the eye of an expert in petroleum boring, it would be interesting to know whether the facts above given would be of any assistance in enabling an expert to arrive at a reliable opinion as to- the probability of finding a profitable bore' in tbe vicinity. To a novice it is a natural hvnothesis that if this gas comes from a petroleum spring, then in that case there must be petroleum in : payable quantities' somewhere in the vicinity. Since writing the above I have been informed that one oil expert has given it as his opinion that tne proper place to sink for the oil is lower down, as the gas is escaping too far above (sea level to make it likely that oil is to be found there in payame quantities. This gas is not, I am told, peculiar' to Arowhana. It has already been discovered in several places in this district, even asfar, north as ; Waipifot, But I believe it has not yet been found else-: where in such large quantities as at Arowhana. Although there is evidence of petroleum all through a. large portmu of the Cook County, people here are at present rather shy of investing money to prospiect for a profitable bore. So far all enterprise in this direction has met with disappointment but it only one profitable spring could be struck then no doubt hope would revive. “For hope springs eternal in the human_ breast.” I do not know whether the judge who divided rogues into thrge classes:ordinary rogues, d——d rogues and mining experts had any shares in the Gisborne petroleum boring companies, but somehow people here seem to feel—l do not know with how much truth—that they have been rather bad in the past. _ If it were not for the cost of transmitting it, there .is no doubt the natural gas which, as far as I am aware, is peculiar to Poverty Bay, could be used for lighting and,., general household purposes. At 'Makaraka, close to Gisborne, the hotel is at present using a natural vegetable gas, obtained from the artesian Well for lighting the hotel. But 'he peculiarity ,of this gas is that rit has no smell and gives a ( bright white light. Scientists say it is produced by decayed vegetable matter;