The Log of G. M. Hassing

Southland Times, Issue 20903, 12 October 1929, Page 19

The Log of G. M. Hassing

Sailor —Pioneer —Schoolmaster

Personal Experiences

(Edited by A. E. Featherstone').

VI. OAMARU TO WANAKA IN 1860. Pioneer Otago Squatters. In 1858-59 most of the Otago runs were taken up by the early squatters, and Oamaru became a busy centre for the runholders on the Waitaki. The late Hon. John McLean explored the country beyond the Lindis Pass, and from the top of Grand View mapped out a run containing some 400,000 acres, bounded on the north by the Hawea Lake and river, on the west and south by the Clutha River and the Dunstan Mountains, leaving only the eastern side of this immense area of beautifully grassed country, equal in size to Sutherlandshire, to be artificially fenced. Messrs Robert Wilkin, H. S. Thomson, Kinross, and John Roy followed up the Lindis and Upper Clutha, where they secured runs on the western side of the Clutha, the Cardrona, and around Lake Wanaka. The whole of the country here mentioned was at that period magnificent sheep country, clothed with luxuriant grass and native herbs, giving to the merino mutton an exquisite flavour quite unknown to the present generation.

Wanaka via Oamaru. In January, 1860, I obtained from Messrs Stewart and Kinross, of Wellington, a contract to supply all the sawn timber, posts, rails, and shingles required for their Wanaka West Station; the price of the sawn timber to be £1 per 100 ft at the pit, shingles 30s per 100, and black pine or totara fencing posts Is each. At these prices it would easily enable a fair bushman to clear a pound a day in a good bush.

My mate, Bill Atkins, and I left Wellington, in January, 1860, in the barque Snaresbrook, Captain Mundle—better known as One-eyed Mundle. There were two Mundle brothers, both captains, sailing out of Wellington at that time. The barque was chartered by Stewart and Kinross to carry 2000 sheep from Wellington to Oamaru. The run down the coast under a favourable gale was made in less than 48 hours, and the anchors dropped in the roadstead of Oamaru. As there was a considerable sea breaking on the beach our landing in the surf boats, owned by Captain Sewell, was anything but a pleasure trip. However, after a thorough drenching we all landed safely. The sheep also reached shore in good condition. Oamaru had at that period but one hotel, the Northern, kept by Mr Baker, and one accommodation house, the Star and Garter, run by Mr Jones. Both of these hosts were perfect gentlemen. After procuring our saws, axes, and other necessaries at Traill and Roxburgh’s store I started with Atkins and a tall, weatherbeaten, raw-boned, old man, who rejoiced in the sobriquet of Yorkey, for Wanaka Lake. Our tools, swags, etc., were to come by the bullock dray which would accompany the sheep that were being driven by Mr Thomson, the manager, Captain Ellice, Andrew Marshall, and the late James Bamfield, of Oamaru. Our journey up the Waitaid was a pleasant one, as the hospitality of the early squatters was proverbial, and the Waitaki runholders were especially noted for their profuse liberality. We called at Filleul’s, Borton and McMaster’s, Dansey’s, Julius Bros., Little McLean’s, Parson Andrew’s, Gooch and Miller’s, and finally arrived at the homestead of John McLean (Big McLean), at Morven Hills. Here we were most hospitably entertained by the manager, Mr Wilson, and his estimable wife.

On the following morning the shepherd accompanied us a few miles so as to lay us on to the correct mountain spur leading to the top of Grand View Mountain. This route, being the short cut, would save us 20 miles of hard walking. On reaching the top of the mountain the view presented to our wondrous gaze was of a beauty that I could not possibly hope to describe. Though I had visited many parts of the world, that view far eclipsed any panorama I had ever beheld. Lakes Wanaka and Hawea, the Clutha, Hawea, and Cardrona Rivers, the Southern Alps, clearly and boldly defined, with Mount Aspiring towering above all in the background, made a picture of beauty which, when once seen, can never be forgotten. Along the Waitaki—A Grand Panorama. The three of us stood spellbound gazing till the sun in the western sky reminded us that we had little time to spare in descending the mountain to reach the Hawea Flat and then travel seven or eight miles to the junction of the Hawea and Upper Clutha, where Mr Robert Wilkin’s huts were located on the western bank. But just before descending Grand View an argument arose between Atkins and Yorkey as to which would be the shorter and safer route to take, either the leading spur on our right or the gully just below us. Yorkey insisted upon the gully, while Atkins declared in favour of the spur. As Yorkey appeared to me to be the more experienced traveller I followed him. Juicy Berries—Beware! The gully soon became enclosed by precipitous rocky banks, and after scrambling among boulders and bracken fern 6ft high we slid down several hundred yards, where ; we landed amongst a mass of broken fragments of rock and huge boulders extending the whole width of the gully and continuing a long way down it. It was with the utmost exertion and peril that we reached the Hawea Flat, completely exhausted, at twilight. We could then see by the clear outline of the leading spur what a mistake we had made. However, we sat down to rest, weary and parched, as the day had been very hot. How we longed for a drink of water! But ■ no water was in sight. Presently a cry ] of joy arose from Yorkey who had dis- i covered several large tutu bushes laden • with luscious berries. He immediately pulled off large bunches, handfuls, and swallowed them, calling upon me to join him. I remonstrated, as I knew that in the North Island they were poisonous. On his tssurance that they were quite harmless down south, and that his wife, while alive in Canterbury used to make barrels of wine from tutu, and being parched and hungry I joined Yorkey in the banquet. We then started for a clump of manuka scrub where we pitched our tent, or fly, for camping till morning. We also carried a blanket each, and, rolling ourselves up in them, were soon fast asleep. Tutu-ed. The night was clear, and calm, and the full moon shining brightly, when about 12 o’clock a terrible voice awoke me suddenly. On looking round in the, clear moonlight I observed Yorkey with both heels in the air and kicking frantically. I sprang up to his assistance, when he seized his blanket like a maniac and tore it in shreds from top to bottom. He raved and swung his arms and legs with all the force at his command, and, he being ’a most muscular and strongly-built man, I deemed it wise to. keep out of his reach until his paroxysm of madness had expended its force. In about 15 minutes he calmed down, and fell back perfectly

Wai mate to Tirnaru.

Going down the Waitaki there was now no necessity, as in the previous year, of claiming the hospitality of the squatters, for several good accommodation houses had been established along the line of route. Arriving in Oamaru, I found but little change since my visit a year previous. A few more cottages had been erected, but no improvements had been made in the way of street formation. Trail and Roxby still did the chief storekeeping business, while the Northern Hotel was run by Mr. Baker, and the Star and Garter Accommodation House by Mr. Jones, who in after years had the Hunter run on Lake Hawea. In the whole of the Waitaki and Canterbury region at that period the social distinction recognized only two classes of people—the squatters, who were the patricians, the aristocrats, and the lawmakers; and those who were not squatters, but simply toilers or plebeians. Speaking generally of the squatters at that time, though they had absolutely the ruling power in New Zealand, I found them very select and conservative, but a very fine stamp of men. . I shall just mention a few of the names on the line of route I travelled between the Lakes and Oamaru: Messrs H. S. Thomson, John Roy, Robert Wilkin, John McLean (“Big” McLean), Gooch and Millar, Parson Andrews, Julius Bros., Danscy Bros., “Little” McLean, Borton and McMaster, Filleul, etc. These were all generous, hospitable gentlemen and good pioneers.

In those days, of course, there were neither coaches nor traps, and journeys were mostly done on horseback or by bullock dray. The wool from the Lakes district and Upper Waitaki was carted by bullock drays, joined in caravans, generally of a half-dozen or more, so as to assist one another at river crossings and through bogholes. It was then no uncommon sight to see thirty or more bullocks yoked on to a bogged drayload of wool and half a dozen drivers frantically cracking their enormous whips, punching the struggling bullocks, and swearing most horribly in their efforts to have the load drawn out. With many of the old drivers swearing was reduced to a fine art. Indeed, the late Hon. William Rolleston, being a classical scholar, used to swear in the original Greek. One of the drivers was reproved by a squatter’s lady, who said: “Oh, John, where did you learn to swear so?” John replied coolly: “You couldn’t learn it, mum; it’s a gift.”

On leaving Oamaru I made for the Waitaki River, where my horse had to swim a few yards in the middle of the stream. As I was previously doubtful of his swimming qualities I now felt satisfied I should have no trouble in crossing the Canterbury rivers. I pushed on to Waimate, then occupied by Mr. Studholme’s station and one solitary accommodation house, kept by .a Mr. Smith, where I put up for the night. I had, however, but little sleep, as a jovial party of bushmen had a jubilee, which continued till the party collapsed early in the morning.

I started early, and got to Timaru the same evening, where I put up at Sam Williams’s hotel. Sam was an old whaling captain, and could spin a good yarn about Johnny Jones and the old whaling days. Like Oamaru, Timaru was then an open and dangerous roadstead, with the unbroken waves of the Pacific sweeping on to its beach. A landing was effected by surfboats, and attended often with considerable risk. The .town itself was a straggling row of small wooden cottages, and the chief store of supply was Le Cren’s. Old Captain Woolcombe was the magistrate. On leaving Timaru I passed by the Arowhenua Bush, and reached Orari that evening. Here Mr. Strang had a wattle-and-daub accommodation house, where I put up for the night. On the following

exhausted as though dead. Still his breathing was hard and audible. Having wiped the froth away from his mouth and made him as comfortable as possible under the circumstances I left him in a perfectly exhausted condition, and, again rolling myself up in the blanket, was soon in a deep sleep. The following day was beautifully bright and clear when I awoke about 11 o’clock in the forenoon. On looking round I missed my companion. I felt dazed and stupid, and my head appeared to have swollen to an abnormal size. I remember well that I put up both my hands to my head, then carried them out in front to ascertain whether I really had a swelled head. To make sure I put on my hat, but it fitted me as usual. Still I could not dismiss the silly idea that my head had expanded to twice its usual size. While I was still lying down and pondering in a dreamy way over the situation Yorkey entered the tent carrying one of my boots filled with water, which he had obtained by walking a distance of three or four miles to the Hawea Lake. How I did enjoy that refreshing drink out of that boot! I then related to Yorkey his condition of the previous night, of which he had no recollection whatever. Yorkey, in his turn, stated that 1 was seized about 8 o’clock in the morning in a similar manner, though less convulsive and violent, and how I seemed to become relieved by a copious bleeding of the nose. The fact that there was no water handy probably saved our lives. We resumed our journey both in a mentally muddled condition, and suffering with a weakness of the knees. The country covered with tussock had no track to guide us, and every few’ hundred yards poor Yorkey would tumble head over heels. Of course’ I assisted him to rise, but the situation was so comical that I had many a hearty laugh at Yorkey’s expense. Finally, towards evening we reached the junction of the rivers, where we were ferried over in the square box that did duty for a ferry boat. After relating our adventure you bet there was a roaring laugh in that camp, while the fun created by my description of the tutuing became matter for many a joke in after years. Yorkey subsequently went to the North Island, where, during the Te Kooti rebellion, he joined the volunteers under Von Tempsky and was killed in the engagement that also ended the career of that gallant leader. VII. FROM LAKE WANAKA TO CHRISTCHURCH IN 1861. A Long Journey. In the summer of 1861, having fininshed a sawing contract on Lake Wanaka West Station, I started by way of Oamaru for a trip to Christchurch to greet the arrival of an old shipmate and subsequent partner, the late Mr William Ellacott. After traversing the Upper Clutha Valley which was covered with a luxuriant growth of native grasses and abounded with native quail and weka, I entered the Lindis Gorge by a bridle track, and arrived at the Lindis diggings, the first goldfield rushed in Otago. These diggings proved very poor, and most of the diggers had cleared out for the new field at Gabriel’s Gully, which was reached in most cases by crossing the Dunstan Range. The store (kept by Mr. Hassall) was closed, and only a few isolated parties were ground-sluicing in the riverbed.

morning I crossed the Rangitata River and the Rangitata Creek, which was very high and as much as my horse could stem. Then followed a stretch of monotonous tussock country for over twenty miles, without habitation or road, except an occasional glimpse of a dray track. Swimming the Ashburton.

The day was very hot, and a north-west gale blowing, bo I made poor head-way, and reached the Ashburton River about sunset. The warm gale having melted the snow on the Southern Alps, the river was in high flood, with the water the colour of pea soup. I made for the dray crossing, when I noticed two men on the opposite bank waving ttiejr arms and making signs for me to go a couple of hundred yards higher up the river, and there make the attempt to cross. I followed their direction, but could plainly see that my horse would have to swim. I therefore unbuckled the bridle and drew my feet out of the stirrups before entering the river. It was as well I did so, for no sooner was my horse off his feet than he turned coms pletely on his side, and refused to swim a = stroke. I was thrown into the roaring 3 torrent, but kept perfectly cool, put the r end of the bridle between my teeth, and f struck out for the opposite bank, towing 5 the horse with me. As I was drifting 1 down the river in my effort to land the two chaps rushed along abreast of me 1 through flax-bushes and scrub, cheering me j up by yelling “Well done! Stick to him!” | and so forth. However, I managed to 3 land with the horse in tow about half a 5 mile below where I entered. I was all r right, but the horse looked like a German f Zeppelin. We dragged him on to the ’ beach by his hind legs and tail, rolled all 1 the water out of him, and in a few minutes ; he started kicking and got on his legs, j The two men were brothers named Bur--1 ton, I think, and they had a small flatbottomed boat in which to cross passengers ' over the river. The boat, however, could * not stem the flood that day, hence the ; trouble. They were very kind to me—--1 dried my saturated clothes, and I slept in ' their camp that night. Next morning I ’ was all right, and so was the horse. I do ' not remember seeing any other habitation ' about Ashburton except the Burton Bros.’ ! camp, but I believe some years afterwards the brothers put up a fine hotel on the ; site. ’ Christchurch Again. , I may here mention that between the . Rangitata and Ashburton I did not meet ’ a human being, nor yet did I meet anyone till I had crossed the Rakaia, which I negotiated easily. Here I was overtaken - by a young man from Alford Forest. I really forget his name just now, but learn he is still living there. The two of us kept company till we reached Christchurch, where I put up at the Golden Fleece, kept by Johnny Oaks, an old coasting skipper. City “Divarsions.” Christchurch had grown into a town of wooden buildings. Still one had to climb the bridle-track over Port Hills to reach Lyttelton. Of public amusements there were none whatever, except the evening singing by the local poet, Charlie Martin, in the old White Hart Hotel. The town crier, old Raymond, with his pet decorated bullock, used to create a little diversion in the daily routine. The races, attended by a few hundred males, were held during my stay. Bookmakers were unknown, and the “tote” not dreamt of. A few sweeps were got off privately. The only trained racehorse I remember seeing was named Charlie, belonging to Parkinson, the auctioneer, ridden by Bobby Ray. It scooped the pool. I stayed a week or so in Christchurch, when I moved on to the Waipara Station, which Captain Reader had just purchased from Mr. Waite. Here I took a contract to kill wild pigs, which were swarming in thousands on that and the adjoining runs. I had many adventures in that business. But that is another story that may be told some other day.

VIII. LAKES WANAKA AND HAWEA. Lake Wanaka. No doubt the earliest history of Lake Wanaka was collected by the late Mr. W. H. S. Roberts in his “Early History of Otago,” where he says: “Some distance inland, east of Big Bay and Mount Aspiring (9975 ft is Lake Wanaka.” The meaning of the word “Wanaka” has been variously interpreted by different Maori scholars, but it appears that the lake was really named after a chief of ancient days named Anake; therefore the Maoris called the lake O-anake, meaning Anake’s residence. But the early Europeans picked up the rolling sound of “Oa” as “W,” and changed the final vowel “e” to “a”, thus making the word “Wanaka.” A good many Maoris resided on the shores of the lake, as they did at every lake in the early days before the arrival of the Ngai Tahu. The lake by the present road is 189 miles from Dunedin, and 37 miles from Cromwell, along the banks of the Matau (right hand) or Clutha River. It is 35 miles in length, and varies in width from one to three miles, having an area of 75 square miles, at an altitude of 928 ft above sea level. Its depth at the deepest place in 1085 ft. The general outfall in winter is 10,000 sluice heads per minute. Maori Traditions and Place-Names. The principal feeder is a river from the north named Maka-rora (the powerless branch). In a sketch of the lake and district, drawn on January 13, 1884, at Te Puna-a-Maru, by the Waitaki chief Huruhuru, for Edward Shortland, the name of the river is spslt Maka-rore (a fishhook in a snare). A track to the West Coast over Haast’s Pass at an altitude of only 1847 ft above sea-level, enabled Maoris to reach Awarua in two days. It was by this track, about the year 1836, that the chief Puoho and his taua reached the Wanaka Lake, where his party killed most of the Wanaka and Hawea Maoris. Puoho and his Ngatitoa followers then made their way by the natural bridge over the Kawarau River, the Nevis, Nokomai and eastern banks of the Mataura, to Tuturau, where a great battle was fought against the Ngai Tahu chief Tuawhaiki and his tribe from Ruapuke Island. Puoho was killed by Tori Patuki, and his followers were killed or captured and taken as slaves to Ruapuke.

“Tititea” is the Maori name of Mount Aspiring, and means “the upright glistening mountain.” A large river from the glaciers of Mount Aspiring is the Matukituki (to destroy many.) A tributary of this river is the Matetapu (sacred dead), so named because the Maoris had a cemetery on the hill. Here was a kaika where the chief Te . Mohene was captured by Puoho. The Matukituki has two branches, one from the east the other from the south side of Mt. Aspiring. The river flows in a southeasterly direction for 12 miles, when it is joined by the Matetapu. After a further course of five miles it falls into the southwest corner of Wanaka Lake.

The Matetapu has two branches, taking their sources respectively from Mount Matetapu and Mount Cardrona. After 11 miles through the lanes of the mountains they unite and flow 12 miles northerly into the Matukituki. The Makarora enters at the head of Lake Wanaka. Its course is a straight southwest line for 16 miles. Three miles from the lake it is joined from the west by the Wilkin River, and a few miles further north by the Blue River. The Makarora and its tributaries are in the Canterbury province.

Five miles up the Makarora Flat was the Paekai village, where Potiki Taut ahi fought a battle some 250 years ago against his nephew Te Weka, from the West Coast. In 1860, when I explored the Makarora Valley and burnt the country from the lake to the Haast Pass, I discovered the charred remains of the old Maori Kaika Paekai (the place of abundant food). The ranges on the western side of Makarora River . are called by the Maoris the Tau-tahi Mountains in memory of a chief whose present-day descendant is Henare Te Maire, the Rangatiri of the Waihao Settlement, South Canterbury. Islands and Peninsulas.

There are four islands in Lake Wanaka. The northernmost is Te-Kumara-Karaka

1 (the red garden of the Corynocarpus lavii gata). This island is now known variously 1 as Manuka or Pigeon Island. The next t island southwards is Motu-tapu (sacred ist land) or Crescent Island, but locally known 1 as Ram Island. A pretty island in East Wanaka‘Arm is Te-Peka-Karara (the fern reptile) from the numerous lizards abounding there. This island is known locally as t Candy’s or Stevenson’s Island. The island > nearest Pembroke is Ma-takitaki, now known t as Ruby Island or Roy’s Island. 1 There are three peninsulas—Thomson’s, r Roy’s and Burke’s. These are each con--3 nected by a low isthmus with the main- ' land, and were apparently at no distant 3 period, islands in the lake. At a period - much further remote and immediately fol--1 lowing the great ice period, no doubt the 3 whole of the Fork Run, from the Hawea r Neck downwards, was an island, as were r also Mount Iron and Mount Barker, with 3 the lake extending as far as Cromwell, and t the outlet by way of Lindis Pass and the • Waitaki. At that period of New Zealand’s 3 history the Wakatipu sent its waters by way ■ of Kingston and the Mataura. 1 The town of Pembroke, where in ’63 I f erected the first wooden cottage, is situ--3 ated at the southern point of a deep bay 1 at the south-east end of the lake. Not ; far from Pembroke once stood the Kaika ? Parakerehu (a spade), where the noted 3 chief Potiki-tautahi was killed by his Ngai 3 Tahu enemies from the eastern coast some 3 ten generations ago. The Clutha River flows out of the lake from the next bay > east of Pembroke. About three miles 1 down the Clutha, at Albertown, it is join--1 ed by the Hawea River from the north and 1 the Cardrona from the west. I An Elysian Island Home. > Manuka or Pigeon Island, 11 miles from • Pembroke, is an extinct volcano. The • island is one mile and a quarter long by • three-quarters of a mile wide, rising 480 ft ’ above the surface of the lake. The crater I is occupied by a lake called Paradise, with

■ an area of three or four acres, 200 f- above ’ the level of Lake Wanae.a. A lake within ■ a lake, a marked wonder of Nature. The • island was known to the Maoris as Te Mona-hou (Hou’s Islet), because a Maori ; of that name lived there. On my first visit to the island in February, 1860, it was a perfect gem, covered with trees and shrubs to the water’s edge of both lakes. The lake water in the crater is beautifully clear, the surface being exactly the altitude of Lake Hawea. This seems to imply that there is an underground communication between the two lakes beneath the waters of Lake Wanaka. Another theory suggests that the water is supplied through lateral subterranean fissures from the western mountains. At any rate, Paradise is a beautifully charming little lake, reflecting its fringe of shrubs as faithfully as the most polished mirror. The beautiful primitive bush covering the island years ago has long since been nearly all destroyed by fire. On my returning from my rambles and explorations on the West Coast in 1868, Mr Alfred Finn, who died recently in Victoria, aged 94, had just laid the keel of a 40 ton schooner in the north-eastern bay of Pigeon Island. Mr. Finn was an expert ship carpenter, so I joined him as a partner, and we successfully launched the vessel (“The Eureka”) in the latter part of ’69. We had a snug, comfortable cottage on the island, and a fine garden, with quantities of currants, gooseberries, and raspberries. We also stocked the island with 200 fine merino-wool sheep. The fruit bushes are now running wild, covering the entire hillside, intermixed with lawyers and brambles. The Beauty that is Wanaka. In contrast to the majestic, rugged, and sombre beauty of Lake Wakatipu, the Wanaka lake presents a soft, dreamy, poetic attraction, with its low headlands jutting . into the pellucid waters of the lake; the blue and purple mountains, with their snowwhite crests and forest-jagged peaks make a picture which cannot be equalled anywhere else in the world. In 1874 I sold out my shipping interest at Wanaka and removed to Cardrona, but the recollection of the 14 years I spent at Wanaka made an impression on my mind that has afforded me many contemplative moments of unalloyed happiness and lasting joy.

Lake Hawea. Lake Hawea is separated from its twin sister Lake Wanaka by a narrow ridge of mountains extending along the western shore of Lake Hawea for some 15 miles, where a sudden break In the range forms a low saddle, with an altitude of only 150 ft above the lake, and a distance across from one lake to the other of only one mile and a-half. This saddle is known as The Neck, and was used by the Maoris for dragging their canoes from one lake to the other. The Hawea Lake is 1062 ft above sea level, and 134 ft higher than Lake Wanaka. Its area is about 48 square miles, with a maximum depth of 1200 ft. The water discharged by the Hawea River on its seven-mile journey to the Clutha is on an average 3200 sluice heads per minute. Maori History. At the place where the Hawea River leaves the lake once stood the Maori palisaded village Kotani, occupied by the Ngatimamoe tribe. Just across the lake on its south-eastern side is Breast Hill, or Turi Huka (obstinate for a long time), 5146 ft high. On the lake side, at the foot of the mountains, is Te Tau-manuo-oTaki (Taki’s fishing-place), the site of an oldtime Maori settlement. Close by is the mouth of the Timaru Stream, up which Dr. Riley’s pastoral homestead is located. This is the usual headquarters of deerstalkers in this district. A kaika west of Hawea was Maka Pueko. There is a Maori legend of a floating island on Lake Hawea, which moved about with the winds. The chief feeder from the north, the Hunter River, was Pakatauia. The Maoris believed a tipua or demon existed on the east of Lake Hawea at a place called Tura-Huka (long daylight). A kaika at the foot of the lake was Te Tawaha-o-Hawea (the spot where the water flows from Lake Hawea). At the foot of Mount Grand View (4729 ft high) was Oko-Tane (Tane’s wooden bowl). It was the first Maori camping-place on the track from Hawea to Waitaki. In 1836 a great warrior chief, Puoho nephew of the celebrated Ngatitoa chief Te Rauparaha, determined to exterminate the occupiers of the Middle Island, consisting of the Ngai Tahu tribe and a remnant of the Ngatimamoe. He prepared to march his army down the east coast. His nephew, Puoho, with a taua of 40 warriors of the Ngati-Tamoa tribe, arranged to do the same on the West Coast. They started from D’Urville Island, and were accompanied by the chiefs Niho, Takerei, and Te Koihua and their fighting men. They went in canoes to Massacre Bay, where they attacked and destroyed the Natives. Te Koihua and his followers remained there and took possession of the land. The rest went overland down the West Coast as far as Hokitika, killing or making prisoners of all the inhabitants. Niho and Takerei and their followers settled at the mouth of the Mawhera, now the Grey River. Some of the cliffs along the West Coast were apparently impassable, but they overcame the difficulty by making scaling ladders of vines, flax and climbing plants. The rivers, some of which are of great volume, they crossed on mohiki (rafts constructed of koradi stalks or rushes, made for the occasion and then abandoned). A Fell Swoop; The Biter Bit.

The time occupied in reaching Hokitika exceeded 12 months. After a rest, Puoho, with a select party of wild and adventurous spirits and some volunteers from their prisoners to act as guides continued the journey down the West Coast to the Terewhata (a floating storehouse) River, now known as the Haast. Following up that river, they crossed the Southern Alps by the Okahu-Tara-haka-notej or Haast’s Pass; then down the Makarora River to Lake Wanaka. Falling by surprise on a few families of Maoris residing there, they killed most of them. Wakari Harika and his family were all made slaves, and his grandchild killed for food. Among the prisoners was a boy, Haimona Rakipatu, the son of a rangatira of the place, which was near the foot of the lake, and named Neheneho. The chief Te Raki, with his two wives and another child, was then at Manuwhaea (a mother bird), on the banlrs of Lake Hawea. To secure themselves and so prevent the possibility of anv intellicence of their nro-

seedings reaching the rest of the tribe, Puoho sent two of his strongest warriors with the boy as guide. The latter, however, managed to escape from them, and, hurrying by a little-known track, informed his father of what had occurred. Te Raki then went to meet the two warriors, and, being a powerful and determined man, killed both of the men sent to capture him, and escaped with his family. The war party, with the assistance of some of the prisoners, whom they reserved as slaves, built mohikis and descended the Clutha River. Thence by various routes they reached Tuturau, where they camped to enjoy a cannibal feast. Here one morning at daybreak they were surprised and surrounded and almost exterminated by the Ngai Tahu chiefs Tuawhaika, Topi Patuki, and a brave Scotch whaler, Chas. Ross, with their warriors from Ruapuke. Puoho was killed by Topi, who cut off his head and carried it as a trophy to Ruapuke. Topi lived to the age of 90, and joined his forefathers on October 1, 1900. (To be Continued.)