THE EARLY SETTLERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2556, 11 March 1903, Page 30

THE EARLY SETTLERS.

GATHERING AT" WAIKOUAITI.

The sixty-third anniversary of the settlement of Waikouaiti was celebrated at that historic place on Thursday by a gathering of eld identities, their descendants, and friends. The afternoon, unfortunately, turned cut wet, and an adjournment was made to the Fchoolrocm. The Waikouaiti Band was in attendance. An apology was received from Mr Dons.d Rud, who "legrettcd not being present on account of una\o'.dabk biuiuees arrangements; al'o from Mr Peter Duncan, on account of the arrival of a brother whom he had not seen for 20 years, and whose stay was limited to throe days There were only two of the original passengers of the Magnet on the ground — Mrs Dardcn (Be?l), Waikouaiti, and Mia Shanks iColeman). Port Chalmers,— but a number of descendants, and a general gathering of about 800.

Mr John Reid, chairman of committee, addressed the assemblage as follows: — Ladies and gentlemen, fellow early settlers and descendants of early settlers, — It affords me the greatest pleasure to be privileged to once more meet you at our annual gathering. On this occasion we are met to cele-brate the sixty-third anniversary of the settlement of Waikouaiti. Waikouaiti, as you arc aware, was settled eight years before "the arrival of the first settles under the Otago scheme, and I think it fitting that we should keep alive the names as well as the circumstances which led those hardy pioneers to our shores, and if you will bear with me for five minutes I will endeavour briefly to Siimniariw them. Whaling, which wa^ conducted chiefly by =hote parties organised mostly by Sydney traders, was the primary cau-,e leading our countrymen thitherwards ; and amongst them was the late Mr John •Tone-, w hose headquarters, was then at Wailcoua'tL. Being a shrewd, far seeing man, Mr .foil/" 1 purchased land from the Maori*, and with tlie \io\v of turning it to the best account from on agricultural and pastoral poait of view he p-H'.*agod for that purpose in Sydney the- following, who arrived by the brig Magnet on 16th Morch, 1840:— Ha- brother Tho-. Jon»-, Wife. s on, and daughter; David Carey, wife, and daughter: Joseph Be-al, wife, and daughter; Tho*. Pascoe, wife, and son ; Tho=. Hawkins and wife ; Wm. Keni ard, wife, two daughters, and son ; Wm. Stiilmg and wife; Mr Tiottcr: Benj. Coleman, -wife, and two daughters; Wm. Coleman and wife; John Fuller, wife, and son ; Gco Glover, wife, son, and daughter ; and Fred Pricr and w.fe. It is extremc-ly gr..t - fyms* to be able to cay that of those 33 souls landed here 63 years ago the following still survive, and tome of them at anyrate I hope are with v-> to-day:— Mm Joseph Beal and her daughter Mr 3 Durden ; Mrs Kt-nnard. her son Wiliam. and her daughter Mrs Burns : Mrs Benj. Coleman, ndw Mra Williams: Mi« Man- Coleman, now Mra Wol-fy: and Mi-s Phopbe Col«>mnn, now Mrs Shank's ; or eight of the original 33, after 63 yeais of the up, and down? of a pioneer lifetime, and of "tlie^e eittht Mrs B?al, Mr.= Kcnnard, and Mrs William.,, are the respected widows of three of the original band -their ages ranaing from 84 to 87. — the remauiing five being five <>i tlie " little pilETims" of 65 year-, ago' Only Mr Wm. Kenuard of the '" mule rer^uasiou" of the pilgrims cvmve At tins distance of time we arc apt to forget the great advantage which Ota?o'= early Mitlei, derived from Mr Jones'- prior settlement a* Waikouaiti, and <,-p"cal!y »ai tliU so in their being able t'i purcbiiie- from him. at Cherry Farm, dairy tow-, fat cattle, and working bullocks at leasonable pi.cc«. Mr June- was a strictly honourable man, who never took an undue advantage- <>f his position. He had only one price for rich and icoi, and dunn« a scarcity ot flour and ,-alt in Duued.n in its very early day 1 . Mr Jones be-m? the only holder, he decl-ripd io sell to tWe stoic-keeper?, and instructed h.l tru«tpd =torerran. tlie late Mr James Marshall, to allocate Ins fctoek according to the- requirement.-, of tlie various rettlcre, lav Jt aside to their several addresses, and charore them the usual mtes ' Could anything be more generou-" or thotiffhtful? His nama w&ll deserves to be hold in grateful lvmembrance. Tt na>. at his n =t3<T < c that the Rev. James Watkm wa 3 appointed mi-^ioiary- at Waikonaif —tho flrrt nr-s'onary i" this i-!and. In IS 3 *, or four yta'-s aft'i- the isi'i.xl of th" Mrgr.it jvfp-rr'Hl to, Mr Frrder<rk Titcketl, a fjr verar in nh« Kqw Zealand CoraDaiiy'ji ser-

vice, sent to select a site for the Oiago settlement, accompanied by Sir David (then i Dr) Munro, visited Waikouaiti, and Dr Hockcn iv his book on early New Zealand, quoting from their diaries, says Waikouaiti was perhaus the most populous and thriving district ia'Xew Zealand, the European population numbering about 100 and the Natives somewhat more, all occupied either independently or on behalf of Mr Jones in farming, whaling, or sealing; that Mr Jon«s had about 600 acres enclosed, 100 acres in crop, 100 horses, 200 head of cattle, lad 2COO sheep. Thi?, therefore, constituted the whole fitocli and agricultural iinproven -ents at that time from the Bluff to Nelson. Compare then and now, and what a change! I hope my hurried sketch of early "Waikcuaiti has not wearied you. But before silting down I would like to urge upcci you, both young and o'.d, the desirability of taking a lively, active interest in the work and working of the Early Setrlers' Assoeiatiou. It is doing good — :-uraly it does us all good — in promoting meetings like the present, where we can kc&? alive old acquaintanceships, recall old memories, and make us older folk feel quite young again in recounting with our old cionies our corly expeciorces and " fighting our battles o"cr again !" But our indefatigable secretary (Mr Langlands), who is head and fronl of the whole affair, in addition to a most valuable collection of early records of Otago, has a most interesting collection of other relies all reminiscriiit of olden times which ho is badly in need of a permanent home for, and to that end he in getting up a bazaar on an ambitious scale to help to raise the requisite hinds, and I strcngly commend it to your he.ir-y and genosous support. In the evening a eonewt was held. CONCERT AT "K'AIKOUAITT. In conrinu'ation of the celebration "of the sixty-third anniversary of the landing of the early settlers at Waikouaifci a concsrt was held in the hall at Hawksbury on Thursday night. There was a large attendance. An ano'otty for non-attendanes was recerved from* Mr t4. Allen, M.H.R.. who is laid up with influenza. The local band played a programme of music before the concert commenced. The chair was occupied by Mr AUcollc, who hns been a. resident of Waikouairi for 42 years. The programme was as follows: — Pianoforbc <luet, Misse-s Fodor a,nd AUcock ; song, Miss F. Smith-, song, M:ss M. Valentine ; piano solo, Jhss Orkney; for-jr. Me Stewart; «ong. Mr« Iverr ; song, Mrs Kelly; pumo solo, "Avid lang syne," Miss Templeton. Subsequent to ths c'onor-rt refreshments were provided by the Exrly Settlers' Picnic Committee in the Council Chambers, the fallowing kicfces kiiidly undertaking to dispense the goo-1 th'ng= : 3le£daines Allcock, Bell, D. Shand, "Williams, Allen, and Hood, and Mir.scs I>iack, Thomson, M'Pougall, an<l Kirby. A d«nce was then held in the halt, about £0 i couples attending. The M.C.'s were Messrs H. Allcock and P. E. Wilson, and music was | provided by Mi=a Fodor. ! Diirin"- the evening speeches were given , by Mc«ts D. R-ci<l, jun., M.H.R., J. 3>ur.i can. T. Mackenzie, iM.Ii.R., and the Rev. ' J. ChrLstse.

Mr D. Reid, M.H.E. for Taieri. raid bo was very pleased to have bocn at the gathering thai day. As a visitor, Jie considered that r-verytiimg had gone splendidly, ond those who had left he was sure carried awuy with them the most pleasant recollections of the day's outing. Waikouaiti wr.s a most fitting place for a gathering of the kind. Bcs'dcs being the mest picturesque spot between Dunedin and Chr-'stchurcb, it was marked out by historic associations connected with tho finrt settlers, who oould there meet and* chat with others who remembered the very early history of Otago. He hoped the anecdotes and remmis-oences of the oarly days would be recorded by tho?e _who wers in possession of them, so that further additions might be made to tho association f store of trsasures. The association, he might fay. aimed at great things, and Mr Lacsrlands, the energetic sccreiiry, was doing \ahiable work, and ha-d built up the association to an extent that those who were its originators ncvor dreamt it would occupy. They tlcuircd that the association should retain its prestige, and it was hoped a repository would be secured for relics and nu'mentoes of the pa"=t, and with that object a bazaar was to be held in June, for wh'"oh he bespoke the aAiistauce of the YTaikouaiti friends.

Mr John Duncan caid the first time he Faw 'Waikouaiti was in 1852, when he wa-lked o\er the h'ils from Dunedin with a mate io transart some business. They travelled over Flag.-taff, the Snowy tains. and the Cherry Farm range\ Thc-y could get no accommodation at Cherry Farm. and had to go on to Tumi!. He wpp much improssod with the beauty of Waikouaiti in those day. The bush, which Mm& down to the flat, gave cover to the pardon bird, the " rnoeky," pigeons, and other bird-, and the whole district, in ita frp.shnc.-s and picturesqueness, appeared to him like a paradise. On subsequent visits to the district he saw how the ha.cd of man was cutting and carving the grand scenery, until to-day the place had a nakedners compared with it? former wealth of forest and scrub, and its attractions w-pre not wh.it they used to b?. It was a difficult; niattT to reach Dunedm. Sometimes they would go down in the Native boats, but the trips wort' not resrulir, and if there wa.s no beat thpy walked. He wa= called "the moun t-iin pilot," and many wore the strangers to Waikouuiti that he euu'ed o\er the ranji'-. Auionj* tho miir-b^i- wro tlir> lale Di- Stuart and Hie lale Mr D.i-s id Hutchison, who for many ycnis carried the nxail between Dunedin ami Oamaru fortnightly. On one ocez.sinu Mr M'llai't-Pr, of Messrs Burton and M'M3«t?r, who h.id land to the north, chartered a Dutch vessel and brought a load of sheep to the district. Some hundred- w*r<? lan'lcd at Oamaru, and the rest on ;> pp't inside Otago Harbour. Tbe auimaU at once ran to tho rait water, and a large number of them died. Afterwards a traok was cut to Waitati by way of Purakanui, but one evenirg M>- M'Mastcr's ehepherd camppd them on a " toot " field, near Double Hill, ar.d next morning half the shc?p were d«\wl. 'lh'\i experience showed sonic of the difiirultie- encountered by the settler- in the oarlv days He was glad tl-o dii»:-ict had rr'a'n^d tho narrc of Waikoiuaili It was a '-oulrmt-nt th?t was in existence ei«ht years before tho Otago «chcmo oorrmerited. Tt v. as t!.e fcedtr of that district up to a Irne, ar.d it had many claims to retiming it-> u>ime in the history of th© colony

Mr* Tnornas Alnckenzi:. M.R.R.. said it s;ave him plea=urp> to bo there to tha re tho fi..-tivitie» of the okl settler-. Plea urablr- as a'l the gathering v. >.re, it ?:cn'd to him there v. .< , a piiufr of regret in tirm. inas.nmp.Li as .it was found that every tune the

roll call Was sounded the ranks of the grand old settlers were getting thinner, some of their respected settlers being yearly called to that bourne whence no traveller returns. The early settlers, he considered, had well and faithfully performed th© duty titeyf undertook, and the people of the present) clay could not honour them too much fori what they had dam?. They had the courage) to leave "the- homes of their forefathers and tho homes of their childhood, and risk tha parils of a long sea voyage, and take upon themselves the arduous work of colonisation. Thees people belonged to the best blood of the Old Gounfcry, and their settlement in this colony was surrounded 'by tha most fortunate circumstances. Tho evils oE the Okl Land were never foisted upon! them. Only once in tho history of tha oolony did a convict ship coma to Newt Zealand — that was when the Endeavour ar* rived in 1795,— but, thanks to th© ruggedness of the West Coast, they could no* penetrate into the interior, and were glad to clear out again.

Th« Rev. J. Christie, after thanking the committee for inviting him to be present, narrated several of his early time experiences of more or leas interest*.

On the motion of Mr Roland Jeffries, a vote of thanks was passed to the *concerb performers and the speakers, and a similar compliment wa* accorded the Mayor for presiding.

Mrs J. Fitzgerald Barry, late of Kuri Bush, who arrived in the early forties, and is now 93 years of age, was at the picnio on Thursday, and met a number of oldi acquaintance?, who were very pleased to meet her rgain. Mrs Barry lived ab "VTaikonaiti for a number of years before removing to Kuri Bush.