A TRIP NORTH.

Oxford Observer, Volume 1, Issue XI, 26 October 1889, Page 3

A TRIP NORTH.

[By Tbig.] (Ooniinued.) Erratum.— rjn last issue for 91s read *.. 21s license fee. The morning train for New Plymouth starts from Wellington at 6.4:") from the Manawatu Company's Station, which is beyond, and distinct from, the Government Station on the Wairarapa line. There is a morning tram-car which for some (to me unknown) reason does not go so far as the station, but stops about a hundred yards from it, and passengers have to shoulder their luggage and make a rush to catch the train with no time to spare. We got tickets for Stratford, m Taranaki (second, £1 11s.), and m a short time were out of sight of the " Empire City " once more, and slowly moving up a steep grade, with tunnels every now and then through the spurs of a narrow valley, having little of interest, until suddenly the open .sea, with its foam-capped clear green waves, dishing and sparkling m the morning sun, comes m view, and f<n* many miles the line skirts the coast of Cook Straits. In the distance is Kapiti Island, covered with bu.:h apparently, rising like a mount m m the sea. At Utaki the line goes inland through heavy bush country, past Maori villages — the homes of the Ngatiraukawa tribe, past clearings and growing townsliips, small now, but growing year by year as no townsliips grow m Canterbury nowadays, and once more we see the face of the country changing before the dominant power of man. The bush that has stood for thousands of years — that was standing when England herself was a savage land, peopled by savages far lower m manners and habits than the Maoris are now — is slowly but surely being felled year by year and converted into pasture land, the produce of which will go to feed the teeming thousands m our Mother Country, and so the old command is fulfilled, " to be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it." This is the land that was given by the Government to the Manawatu Hallway Company ; when the line was made opening up the country, they cut it up and sold it by auction m Wellington, some of it fetching high prices. Grand looking land it is too, deep chocolate-colored loam, and fiat from the sea on one side, to the Tararua ranges showing their snow-capped heads miles inland, well watered by many creeks, likely looking trout streams, which no doubt will be well-stocked before many years are past. Palmerston is reached about 12.40, and, having "twenty minutes to spare, we made a rush to Walkeley's Hotel, where a good feed was ready and quickly despatched, giving us just time to catch the train as it started. And now the bush is left behind, and we get into more open conntry, past Fielding, Halcombe, Marton, and Wangaehu, over rolling downs, sheep country evidently. The houses are large and well-to-do looking, with ornamental plantations showing that it has been settled for a long time; m the distance, rising against the sky line, are the Ruahine mountains, covered with snow, showing the boundary of the Hawke's Bay province. Then Wanganui Junction is passed, and the Wanganui River, navigable by a small steamer for two hundred miles, then Kai-Iwi (bone food) suggestive of cannibal feasts. I remember when up the Waikato m 1804 surveying, we came across an old Maori pah called Matakitaki, near what is now the township of Alexandra. Climbing orer the ditch and bank we got inside the pah, which was, as far as I recollect, about an acre m extent, the whole of which was covered with cooking places (copper Maoris), and surrounding them were heaps of human bones, skulls, ribs, and arms and leg.bones, which had evidently been cooked and cracked to get the marrow out. It was here that Hongi, the Bay of Islands chief, gained a great victory over the Wai : katos, killing immense numbers, of which they cooked and ate as many as they could, burying the remainder, and

then went further up the Waikato to look ior more. But they JMftl no luck, and food was scarce, so they came back again to Matakitaki and finished those that were buried. Probably we were the first who had been m the pah since, as, of course, it was horribly " tapu." It was at Kai-Iwi that the war. m Wanganui district commenced by the murder of Mr Hewitt, who was called out of his house one night, and went Avith his servant to see who was calling, when the Maoris seized him and cut oft' his head, the servant managing to escape. It was also at Kai-Iwi that the i>ryee-Eusden affair took place. Rusden, m his book, says: — " Some women and children emerged from a pah to hunt pigs. Lieutentant Bryce and Sergeant Maxwell, of the Kai-Iwi cavalry, dashed upon them, cutting them down gleeiully and with ease." For which little piece of history he had the pleasure of paying £5000 damages, as it was clearly proved at the trial — First, That the charge m question was made on the notorious Titokowaru's men; Secondly, That there were no women or children ; and, lastly, That the Hon. John Bryce was not there at all. All this country side abounds m reminiscences of the war, and even now the Maoris look black and sulky " pouri." If they Avere strong enough, it is not love for the pakeha that would keep them from making Kai-iwi of every mothers son that has taken their land from them. (To le continued.)