ON THE WANGANUI RIVER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10571, 18 January 1896, Page 2

ON THE WANGANUI RIVER.

By W. B. FiSHEn,

There are few EUorilanders, either dark or fajr, who have not heard soaie account of the magnificent river aftar which i;he town of WnnI ganui has bean named ; bat probably few in.the ! South Island hsve availed tberasslves of any I opportunity of personally inspecting it . and noting the beautiful scenery for which it is in some parts so famous. It. seems to. bs a I curious oversight on the part of many colonials, I considering their generally, restless .habits, in 1 not making thsroselves more familiar with this ' Rhine of the Sonthern Crots. : I have known people make two trips to England and back, who have also travelled extensively in Europe and Australia, but jet hava'uevtr been up the Wanganui river, and consequently were unable to give any description of the pleasing and varied scenes with which it is co bountifully endowed. From a few I had heard some acoount of the attractions to bo met with, and it was with pleasurable auticip*tion that I took advantnge of a trip advertised to be made to Pipiriki by tha Wairere, and went on board tbat boat early oa Christmas Day. We had about 25 p&esengcrs, comprising tourists from England, Australia, and New Zealand, and puuctually af. 7 a.m. the prow of our boat was headed up the river, and we glided merrily along at the rate of. abßuS 12 .miles .aa hour. In tha lower part the river is from 500 to 600 feet wide, and ia some respects not unlike the Wairaakiu-iri, near Kaiapoi, but of. courno much larger. Oil tha banks to the right and left, which are fringed wifth willows, are .to be seen pleasant home-sbeads-here surrounded by trees planted by the early settlars, there embowered in the luxuriant vegetation indigenous to the country,-with sheep and cattle lazily browsing in the greon pastures, which stretch for miles in every, direction from all points-of'the compass. From ttia > summit oE ona of the adjacaut h:ib, Ruapebu (9000ft)—the source of one of the tributaries of "VVaDganui—looms up distinctly visible on a clear day, its majestic oone-sbaped peak clothed in pure snow; and viewed in the golden light of a summer evening the contrast of tho glistening cool iidgea of snow and ins make up a niosb glorious pjctnre. The WaDganui is an exception to most of the New Zealand rivers which it is claimed have no history, for here, by a combination of past events, comedy and tragedy are closely interwoven with romanca and legendary lore. Some dirfapea to the left way be sceu a tombstone in the grounds surrounding the English Church recording tho names of several members of a family who ,were murdered .by Natives in 1847. In connection therewith, a lady who liv been in the district since it was first settled told ma tbat a party of four joung Maoris suddenly appearsd ia front of the house, and .performed the haka or war dance. The occupants, ooaiprising Blr , his wife, sister-in-law, and several children, were (brown into a state of terror and confusion, during which the head of the household managed to sneak away, leaving tlje women and children to their fate. The Natives, kilted Mra and several of the children, but tfce sister-in-law, who received a severe gash on the torople among other injuries, managed, with the youngest child in her arms, to get out to the cow, which was girnzin^ close by. The cow seems to have bad an instipotive hatred of Maoris, and would rusH at any who' came rear her, and consequently ou this occasion Miss ——was not fiirther molested. After firing the house the murderers decamped, and Miss was subsequently discovered unconscious, with the infant saturated in blood on her breast, and the splendid old cow standing guard overhof. She recovered, and is at present livipg in tbe Wauganui district, with the toma-. hawk mark on her'forehead, bub the tpwDS-. people made it so hot for her brother-in-law that he seized the (irct opportunity and cleared out to Sydney. Some time afterwards the property was purchased by aMr , and aftor erecting a wham p&i (a good bouse) ami making things a bit ship-sbape, he also received a visit from three or four ho3tile Natives, who, with blcod-curdling yells, duly performed the indispensable haka. Mr , who was a Sscotohman, received the enemy in kilts, and, armed with an old blunderbuss, responded with such a series of Gaelic veils and gesticulations, intermingled with tbe strains of a bagpipe (performed on by one of his children) that the astonished' Maoris fled in amazement and never troubled him afterwards. . .

We are now opposite Upolrongaro, a peaceful little place inhabited by Mapris and Europeans, with a pica little Enjlish church, " whose spire points np to heaven, rs if to intercede for "sinful hamlets scattered ali its feet."

After stopping here » few minutes to. land. Bomo stores, we tafce one or two Maoris on board and away we go again past undulating oonntry and table lands which, gradually' bsgin to get higher, and occasional glimpsvs arc presented of a forest-like aspeot iv the distance.

On we go by happy home.strads, Bornju on Waug^nui's floocl. ' Oft were Waugaaui's rivera In tlie old time staiaed with blood. Now along the stately river Flocks arid herds on uplands graze. Peace has swept away fnr ever Traces of the warlike days.—Bracken. _

After going up a distance of about 13 miles we are abreast of the spot from whioh stone was obtained for protective works on. ihe river, and, by a curious coincidence, the coutractor (a gentleman well known in Ofcago), who put dqwn a' double line of rails from the river to the quanits many yesra ago, happened to bo onboard, and pointed out this particular locality to ma. Two uiilea further on we pass Kaorikia (Laodiees), a small Maori settlement, where ono of the dusky wahine? sang out; to a countrymau on pcacd, "Kua kai ranci koe?" ("Have you had anything to cat?") Tho reply being brief and to the point, "Ac" ("Yes!"). Another hour's steam brought us to Parakino, opposite Kait.ingata, where a number of Maori boys were diving off a cliff into the river and gleefully twiD-miog sround the Wairere, to the intense amusement of both themselves 'and those on board. Just above this point ene of the rapids—a fell in the ■water—was met with, over which skilful navxgaticn was necessary. Eight miles further on and we are abreast of Atone (Athens), a cosy looking kainga located on the bauk of ' a picturesque bend of tho river, and from this" point may be seen tha bed over which the rivar flowed in post ages, it having been subsequently diverted through the agency of Mount Egmont, which, according to \he Maori legend, formed the valley of the 'Wiinganui river. The ttory is as follows .—Egmont formerly "etood away in the interior, on a spot at present occupied by Lake Taupo, and fell in love with Ruupehu. Unfortunately for him hifl lo^g was not requited by Rnapehn, as that massive lady mountain hud lavished it ou Tongariro. Consequently Egmont shouldered his swag tnd moved to Rangatana, where there is at present a small lake. Looking feaek, the sight of the wedded bliss of his rival enraged him to such an extent tbot he challenged him to mortal conflict, in which Tongiriio came off victorious. He then retreated in the direction of what is now known aa Oast.lecliff, forming the Wanganui river bed as ho buncied along.' He then went np tbe coast and baited at last in the New Plymouth district. Espying a lady mountain named Poawha in lonely spuisterhopd on the coast, ha was so charmed with her ap-pearancß-'fhat ha settled down happily by her side. The hills oa the eastern bunk of the Wanjraaui river are the offspring of Tougarico and Ruapehu, while those.ou the. western of Egmont and Poawha. After leaving Atene, the river took a more markedly zigzag direction, and at ev2ry bend exclamations of dclighh arose from some of the tourißts. Frowning olematis-covced cliflfn aud towering cone-shaped hill<i alternated with Bunny patches of table laud and deep cool gullies, all more or less covered with luxuriant ferns and other evergreens, iutermingled with clusters of scarlet rafca flowers. The higher and more distant tbe- hilts;* the -deeper and lovelier Beamed the blues and purples of the summits, while bete and thero beautiful fleecy clouds curled round their peaks, probably' remaining till the morning sun bade them disappear. Innumerable ttreams come trickling and tumbling down to the right aud left, from the rivulet of locsl origin to the torrent which has its source in the glaciers of .Ruapehu.. Wo now caught sight of a fleet of canoes, each having a sail set and filled with Maoris, but there was not sufficient wind to take them along without the aid of poles1 and paddles. Tha man that we' took to ha the admiral was of giant proportions, and as regards weight I • chould. say he fairly rivalled a well-known brewer, who, I remember, caused a serious displacement of water one morning at th's St. Clair baths a few years ago. The canoes wera loaded with a heterogeneous collection of produce, dogs, women, children, and man: pnd the abovementioned admiral wai attired in a short black petticoat only. bulling his canoe alongside, he called to one of the, Maoris on the Wairerc, "A hea koe, hold ai?"' ("When shall jou return ?"), to which he response was "Apopo ito ata" (" E*rly tomorrow moruing '''). Korinti (Corinlh) was the next place visited, where two more Maoris came on board. Threa miles further on we reached Karatia (Galatea), a little above whioh ia an island with rapid water flowing on both sides, against wbich the steamer could make no headway without the aid of the towline. This unfortunately broke, and it took about an hour to gei) un the nest 100 ysttds into smoother

j water again. It requires great skill and experience to navigate theso rapids, and oar captain and crew seemed to be the hardest worked men that I have seen for many a day, Close by this spol; the wreck of the steamer Tohua insy be seen, her hull lying in the river, having coaie to gnaf through getting broadside on in a strong rapid a few years ago. Formerly navigators had to pontend with innumerable snags, which caused vexatious delays besides being sources of danger, and something like £6000 has been sprat in gotting some of these out of the way. My curiosity prompted me to measure one of these snags which m lying on the river bank, and its length was approximately 81ft, with a diameter of 6ft at the thickest end. I wa3 told that the Tohua | has taken as long as nine daya to j come down the river from Pipiriki to Wanganui, a distance of 58 miles, and that some of her passengers, who had embarked with the intention of holding the periodical spree in Wanganui, managed to gei rid of their monsy loEg before they reached their destitution. After stopping at Banana (London), and taking on board a letter which was handed to us. sffined to the cud of a long stiok by a Maori girl dressed in a bright yellow skirt and hundBorne shawl made out of flax, decorated with various coloured feat.her«, &c., we steamed on slowly towards Tawhitiuiii, a small ksfriga, or kiiik, as it is called in the South Island. * Near this is tho Island of tloatoa, where a battle

took place between the Wunftanui Natives and Hauhaun, in which nearly 500 warriors were engaged. A graphic description of this battle w«s turnisbed me by fcbe Rev. Father Larauila about 17 years ago, and I remember how infcere&tiugly he described in his quaint" French accent the exciting scenes th»t trauapirsd on this island. I cannot recollect all the details now, but full particular*, I am told, can be gleaned from a literary work compiled by Sir George Grey. ' Although authentic reeord3 show that some of the fights which took place during these stirring time? were carried out in a violent and bloodthirsty manner, still it must be conceded that the old tribal raids were no more devoid of chivalry and romance than the mediaeval wars, which

they so strongly resemble. Fighting wag considered the profession of the better classes, cultivation l)ein B ' left to the (laves captured in war. Near this island we encountered another strong rapid, where the water was shallow and it was hard work to get along, the vessel bumping on the boulders and Buaga in a moat alarming manner. Fortunately her bottom was construotsd of the very best steel, and I believe her skipper waa capable of taking her over a paddock if necessary, provided there was a littla dew on the grass to make it Blippery. After overcoming this rapid and steaming along comparatively quiet for about a quarter of a mile, the turbulent . waters ahead suddenly indjostedt the niesence j

of another rapid, and a strong, deep ono ihis turned out to be. j I do not. know whether it was feu'nri. nec^sßary to act like the Yankee skipper, who, under similar circumstances, tifid down the safety valro and then shovelled intp the furnace all the available hams on board, becauas we were hero landed, and had over half a mile to walk ; but I know that tow lines were again called into use, and a fierce struggle took place between the steamer and rapid, the former eventually obtaining the mastery. In our stroll over the hilla we came across wild cherries, which were quite ripe and delightfully refreshing ; but I noticed that the peach trees seemed" to be in an advanced stage of decay. We passed several whares, around which, in some instances where cultivations of kumara, maiza, toro, &c, and horses, pigs, geese, turkeys, ducks, and fowls were occasionally met with, wb'lo the Maoris invariably greeted us with " Tenakoe " «s we wended our way onwards. Getting on towards evening, after embarking again, we caught sight of a chiirch spire, and in tee baantiful balray air which was burdened with mysterious hints of Bweetly-scenteil flowers, one could imagine over the rippling water the holy sound of the sweet toaguad bell calling worshippers to evensong.

We were now at (Jerusalem) Hiruharama, and the spire we had detected belooged to a pretty little Latin church established by the Italian missiou. Nestling among the everlasting hills is a large kainga, with convent

presided over by a talented ]ady known by repute to most Maorilßnders—viz., the Key, Mother Mary Joseph Aubert. Some of us west ashore and were photographed nnder the shadow of the spire by a lady who was taking snapshots at various points where the scenery 1 wr.s picturesque. Inquiring of one of the Maori women (whose lips were tatooed with bine paint made out of the pulverised charcoal of the veronica) Ihe distance from Hiruharama to Pipiriki, we found that we had another six miles to go before we reached our destination. The shadows now rapidly began to lengthen, and the t-fi'ecta of light and shade were very beautiful as we passed through a lengthy gorge, where &n occasional glimpse of a silvery waterfall could be had.

I Reaching Pipiriki after a journey of 13 hours, wo were received by numerous groups of Maoris—rnnn, women, and children—chatter-, ing away as if they had just began to gossip ; indeed, ib seemed that tae tonu t>.ta raatou ki reira ka tioiaH te kororo (as soon aa wo iivriwd the speaking began). The surroundings were very striking, for to the tight stood an old milt whose wi'.terwheel reminded one of pictures associated with English scenocy. To the lett, beneath the trees, whose foliage swayed softly in tho mild evening air, was the Papa-rod waterfall, tho spray from which sounded "very' musical as it cams over the cliffs and fell on the i rockn below in beautiful showers, la front of !us the wtarou, s»iaa embellished with Maori.

carving, with gaily attired wahines squatting J ' ia front nursing their". piewniniDS,. all sucking at pipes and puffing oat clouds !■: of smoke. On the opposite side of j , the river is a base ■ bluff, on which formerly stood a fortified stronghold that, during the wars, was in tha occupation of the British forces. Msnoage3 are occasionally sent from Pipiriki to W*ugauui by carrier pigeons, and in the "good old lighting day* " they ware | sometimes enclosed in bottlen and floated down I the rivsr. Although the Wairore, which is i 100 ft long, doea nob go higher than Pipiriki, it I ia possible for a stniller vessel to go many | miles further on, ouo captain having taken j a paddle" steamer a distance of 115 miles, I while the river is navigable by canoes for nearly 200 miles; and tha-higher one goss the more lovely the scenery becomes. Trout, perch, and eels are obtainable, and oh our way up we passed a pa constructed in the middle ' of the river forconserving the latter. The river at one time is reported as having bseu infested with taniwhas—gigictie Ssh that used to swallow the Natives,—and a, Maori [ pointed out a deep pool under some willows, : and told me his grandfather had been seized by ! one of these monsters at that spot,'dragged ta \ the bottom and eaten.' This taniwha, which I was about 40ft in length aud had a long mane, was in the habit of sometimes standing almost erect in the water, and frightening the woman and children out of their wits. It bad a treraendous-Biz-jd head, and its mouth somewhat resernblttd the beak of a very large i bird, its neck was about 6ft in circumference j and was covered with scale?, as likewise ita j body down'to' its tail, which was formed by a j series of fia-shap;d projections, and samewhat ; resembled in form the tail of a grey duck. It j had two short legs which were as big around as i the body of a half-grown pig, an-i with one I kick it could knock a lule through tha stoutest | canoo. The following is an account of its i origin:—At the mouth of the Waogsnui a j parcjr of Slanris wero one day fishing in \ cauoss when they suddenly caught sight of i a shark and chased it up" the river. | The flharfc, which could swim faster than the, i Haoti* could paddle, was found taking a. I spell some ruilra up, when suddenly it spotted I a large bird sitting among the toitoi on the bank near a rapid. Being hungry, it made a ! grub at the bird, but the latter, which turned | out to1 be a mop. sitting on her eggs, gave the j shark such n violent kick that it was afraid to ; rennvr further hostilities. In the scrimmage, I however, one of the egu-3, which was a yard in [ circumference, roiled luto the river, and was j. immediately swallowed by the hungry shark, which so ooragtd the moa that it sprang into i the water and, at'jar a severe tustle, killed i the shark. The Maoris coining up set jto work rftst d:iy extracting the best teeth from its maw, waich they propped op«n with & strong piece'of wood, a>id while talciog some rejection on shark fti;ak after some hours of hard work, they wera amazsd.to ! see something resembling a bird and fish hop out of- the shark's mouth and flop into the river, and Mft.tiirr.Hy enrae to tho cpcc!ußion that it was the product of the moa egg, which had ia t!is meantime bet:n hutched inside the shark. This curious production, which afterwards grew to such an enormous size, became one of tho mout dangerous tnniwhao in the river, and many were the wahiiies who were wtddoKed through the voracious appetite of thi* monster.

Before tlm-ing there remarks I may add thab sn old colonist from the Lower Hutt expressed tbo opinion tfca'; snme of tha im-.iny slopes on the biuks nf lh« Wansanui would be very suitable spots for the cultivation of grapaa, and I learned thafc at K>.«eroa there is at present a smalt vinejard, which wns planted many ye&r3 ogo by one of tho early missionaries.