OTAGO HEADS BEFORE PAKEHA SETTLEMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3511, 28 June 1921, Page 5

OTAGO HEADS BEFORE PAKEHA SETTLEMENT.

PICTURES OF D'URVILLE'S VISIT.

A VALUABLE COLLECTION.

(See Illustrated pages.) The manner in which the Hocken Library | which is situated in the Museum, became possessed of the complete set of books of engravings and reports covering the voyage of the French discoverer, M. Dupont D’Ury;Le to the Pacific Ocean and the Antarctic in 1840 provides quite a little romance. A Dunedin citizen happened to be in London about three years ago, and his research work took him to the British Museum. In the Museum he came across these particular volumes, and on his return to Dunedin ho. sought for_ similar copies in the Hocken Library. The library, however, did not contain them, and the Dunedin citizen reported to tho Hocken Library (Committee that he thought that they should be obtained, as they formed a valuable historical record. _ The committe thereupon got into communication with its London agent, and ho was able to secure a full set of the volumes from a dealer in Leipsic. The value of the mark was so low at the time that the books were purchased at a very low figure. The set is comprised of two large volumes of plates, 10 volumes containing reports of the voyage, five volumes relating to its zoological aspect, and a large volume of coloured plates. It is interesting to note that D’Urville made two voyages to the Southern Seas. The first was made in 1828, when the voyager visited the waters round about Nelson. Here he named D’Urville Island after himself, and the French Pass also received its name as a result of this visit). D’Urville made his second voyage tp the Pacific in 1840, and sailed on to the Antarctic, where he discovered and' named A deleland, Adele, it is understood, being the name of his wife. The voyager then sailed northwards, and visited the Auckland Islands, and came on to Otago Heads, which he reached in January, 1840. He also stayed some time in Akaroa, and continued his voyage to the Bay of Islttnds. After his return to France an account of i the voyage was published, with separate volumes cf plates illustrating the localities visited and the animals, fishes, birds, etc., j indigenous to tho various places. | D’Urville had two warships under bis < command in his voyage of 1840, and they kept in touch with each other throughout. The voyage is of great interest to Otago for the reason that one of the large illustrations depicts Otago Heads in January, 1840. The entrance to the harbour is not shown, the drawing being of the sandy beach nearly opposite the Spit, with the harbour in the middle distance and the hills at the back. The two threemasted French warships flying the tricolour are shown at anchor, and there are also four sealers or whalers lying at anchor and a smaller craft. Pictures of Maori huts are shown on the beach, and two whaleboats drawn up high and dry. A number of the French voyagers are standing' on the beach, one of them evidently a marine, as his uniform is noticeable, and ho also carries a musket. Food stages — where the food was stored by the Maoris to keep it safe from, predatory animals — arc likewise situated on the beach./Under the plate are the words “Port Otago” find “ Nouvcllo Zolando. ' “ Port Otago ” has moved ahead since those days. Another illustration of interest shows a locality in the neighbourhood of the Kaik. Hei’e in the foreground is seen a double war canoe, and another noticeable feature is a high staging resting on two uprights. The .body and tails of two sharks are clearly visible hanging down from the staging. The picture of the double canoe is the only one in existence —that is, Otago canoe of this particular period. None of tho other early voyagers left any record of the canoes of the Otago Maoris. In the illustration two men are seen on the beach standing behind what is evidently a theodolite, and there are also one or two Maoris and a number of French -seamen. Several ships are lying at anchor, and hills are / shown in the background. Another plate depicts Akaroa before there was any settlement there —French or otherwise. It is thought that it was principally as a result of D’Urville’s visit to Akaroa that the French decided to return there. In Akaroa Harbour is seen two American whalers, flying the Stars and Stripes, the two French warships, huts, a Maori canoe, etc. The illustration of the Bay of Islands shows a very large number of vessels and if they were' all there at the one time the -Bay of Islands must have been a most popular anchorage for the vessels which sailed the Southern Seas. The most striking volume of the set, however, is that in which hundreds _of birds, shells, crabs, moths, butterflies, lizards, penguins, insects, and denizens of the deep are drawn in colouis. These were all engraved in copper, and after the plates bad been struck off they were hand-painted in their actual colours. The painting has evidently been done by an artist of repute, and the various works arc really magnificent, The different colours in the butterfly section, for instance, are beautifully done, the delicateness of touch required in many cases bearing evidence of the handiwork not only of ail artist but an enthusiast. One picture of a kiwi immediately arrests the eve, the soft brown colouring of the feathers being most lifelike. The illustrations in this “painted” volume cover a wide range of all kinds of life in New Zealand, Australia, and tlio Polynesian Islands. Tho committee of the TTocken Library lias thus made one more addition to its already priceless collection. The D’Urville set of volumes are well worth inspecting.