IX. A TRIP FROM NELSON TO WAKEFIELD IN FEBRUARY, 1843.

Colonist, Volume LVIII, Issue 14539, 17 October 1917, Page 3 (Supplement)

IX. A TRIP FROM NELSON TO WAKEFIELD IN FEBRUARY, 1843.

A reside at of Wai-iti thus graphically describes his first trip from Nelson to Wakeiield in February 1843, and also the hardships he endured some time afterwards:—" About the beginning of February we remor/cd with a number of other families to Wakelield.*■ A man named Garnet, with, a dray and team of "bullocks belonging to the Company, started with the luggage and provisions, reaching Destruction Hill-;, the first night. My father and 1 and Mr Young started the next morning. The three of" us -walked until we got to a swamp about Stoke, where a big ditch was cut across the road. The men jumped over1, but I was not so lucky, and landed in the ditch, where I had to stop until my father came back and pulled me out. Then we jogged on too .Richmond, where" we had some refreshments c t Mr T. Kite's. I saw no other houses on the road, except a small buildiuj; they told me belonged to Mr Snow, the tailor, until we reached the VVairoa river; but soon after we missed the dray and could not find our way, so we recrossed the river and went to Mr Duppa's to Inquire the road. It cnn-e on terrain heavily, and the river rose so rapidly that we had great "difficulty in crossing it. We found our way to Maddock's Bush, and pei severed we came to Mr McKae's, the fourth house we had seen since leaving Kelson. They very kindly gave us some bread, butter, and milk, and also directed us to the Government camp." The writer, after describing the difficulty experienced, in getting up provisions, the raupo whares erected as residences, and the arrival of the wives and children of the men, all hands being busy at work—the men road-mak-ing and the women cooking, etc., and everyone, healthy and contented, then goes qn ; to say.: "This happy-state of things was soon marred by hearing or" the sad massacre at the Wairau. We were terribly scared, especially the women and children. The men set a watch by night for fear the Maoris would come upon us unawares. JJy degrees things got quiet again, and we lived on pretty jolly until such time as the Company began' to break, when nard times commenced indeed.

"'We had to live as beat we could for •some time. .Our provisions were chieii> potatoes and salt, relieved occasionally by fish or pigeons. For years I never Baw or heard, of any butchers—only ■v, hen a neighbour killed a pig. Mutton was out of the question, and I never saw a joint of beef for several years except from a, bullock that died from tutu, or from a beast that was killed to save it from dying." Lest we forget! The good old pioneers.

"Never before nor since," wrote Mr A. Saunders, M.H.R., "did I see men and women endure so much, real privation, with so little complaint, or work | so hard, "or live upon so little. Until | the growing potatoes were fit for"food tte struggle was a very stern one, and many a mother went hungry to bed to feed her children. . . . Itf could hardly be said that the privations of the many were, in any case, aggravated by the luxuries of the few. The very few that were really weiJ off felt, their responsibilities too close to be set' aside by any indulgence. In hundreds of cases the very poor helped those who were poorer still. ~~Many a careless spendthrift learned it at it is not safe to live always from hand to mouth; and^ better still, we all learned either to see or to feel that many a neighbour, whose generosity had never before been tried,- was all there when he was really wanted. Now (1892) many of the most esteemed settlers, who have since been loved and trusted, are the men and women who first proved what they were made of in those days of trial."

•Notwithstanding all the difficulties through which the young settlement passed, and with the shadow of troubles yet to come, the growth and progress of tl*e place were remarkable. The population of the town in 1844 was 1460, and of the country 1576, making a total of 3037. Sheep of excellent breed had been imported from Australia, and there were now 5782 and 918 cattle, besides other stock. The amount of land in cultivation was 1262 acres —mostly in cereals and potatoes.