THE SKETCHES

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 2775, 22 July 1907, Page 2

THE SKETCHES

A PEN PICTURE OF KAWHIA. A corresponcfent supplies ns with the following description of Kawhia, which lias come into prominence of late in connection with the wreck of the Kia Ora, this being the place I where the survivors were able to obtain food and clothing, after their trying experiences. | Before the -Maori war, says our corS respondent. Kawhia was famous for ! the wheat it exported. As many as | 27 brigs anu schooners were known to j assemble here to load wheat for j Sydney, the Ylaoris being -■’id in

kind, tobacco, spirits, and other things being exchanged for wheat. Since the war all that country has been allowed to run hack to fern growing and waste. Wheat in small quantities is still jjfl'owi; along the Aotea beach. The one great drawback to the whole district is the .Maori land that settlers cannot acquire, and which the Maoris are willing to sell or lease. When the Government is awakened and compelled to open up these lands Kawhia will soon boom. It will have its freezing works and coal mine in next to no time. In two blocks alone 185,000 acres of the best land is locked un. besides which all the foreshore for two miles around is Maori land. The settlers are at the back of this land, and get no assistance from the Maori lands lor the purpose of roadmaking, and have to do the fencing themselves. There are valuable limestone and coal deposits here, and a railway to connect them with the Main Trunk Line would make Kawhia the port tor the Waimarino forest and all the centre of the island. The railway would be about 22miles long. Ocean-going boats could coal here, and good coal is very handy—in fact, would be along the railway line. The Kawhia district appeals to the settler and offers countless beautiful homestead sites. Numbers of good settlers with comfortable homes are already here. When we New Zealanders learn to appreciate the advantages of climate and scenery provided so bountifully around the Kawhia Harbour and along its beautiful rivers and inlets every spot will have its settler. The sheep farmer, the fruit grower, and the land-owning fisherman will live and flourish here. What opportunities these places offer to men and women, avenues lor peaceful healthy lives! It our race were not mad with the desire for city life, how it could transform these harbour soli-

I light. Think ol what could he done | with Kaw hia, when apple orchards I fmed the hollows and vines grew on i tile slopes, with leiiiiin and uinei I trees, instead of the manuka, and j when short sweet grass supplanted j the tern ! What a race could grow up I here ! Strong, clean-limbed and tree, I fitting deseendents of sturdy pioneers, i who are men of pluck, push and prinj ciple. and who, to conquer the forest j and win freehold farms, must exercise much grit, gumption and go. and ! who chseive al* they win and more, i There is a splendid fleet ol oil launeli!es that serve all parts of the har- | hour and inlets thereof, ami the scenj cry on some o; the l ivers is simply j beyond description and must be seen |to he appreciated. 1 would w ish for j no nicer holiday than to live in quiet Kawhia township and journey in one !of the many launches to different parts round about. There is one drawback, and that i'. that the names oi places are uiis|K‘lhihle and unpronounceable. This is very interesting history in connection with the place, about missionaries, etc., and especially about the renowned warrior To Raupyaha and other chiefs and the wars before the advent of the pakoha. Here at Te-Hau-a-uioa we are only an easy day’s ride trout the worldfamous \\ aitomo caves and still more uomlerliil caves ot the Haukuri. i There are rumours and indications i that some of the native land will he available for close settlement shortly' that means a tew veals, I suppose. That is the chief drawback to this place. As long as that land is shut up, so long will Kawhia he a rising ; township in the sense that it lias not risen, and he a rising township lor , UK) years.