SECOND PRIZE.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 December 1926, Page 2 (Supplement)

SECOND PRIZE.

D. Phillips, 14 years 6 months. Form Vb. A history of Taranaki would be incomplete without some mention of the conditions existing before the arrival of the Europeans. The first Maori tribe to ! live in Taranaki was the Ngatiawa tribe, who, in the exodus from Tahiti, came to New Zealand in the canoe Tainui. under the leadership of Manaia. This tribe travelled from the Bay of Islands to the North Cape, down the West Coast, and finally arrived at the Waitara River, where they conquered the original inhabitants, the Ngatimoko-

! tare. Then they settled in Tftrftfiaki 1 and became a fierce, restless people Willi j great influence and strong pas all over I tlie district. i Tlie first European to approach Taranaki was Tasman, who sighted Egnioilt in 1642. lie was followed by Cook in jthe year 1770. However, it was not until the year 1828 that white settlement I came about. In that tear the cutter Adventure was stranded neftr Aloturoa. With the help of some natives, however, it was refloated and Barrett was able to establish his whaling station. Soon after a tfeinentlous eitsk Of pork, falling tiiiough tlie bottom of tile good ship Adventure, damaged it beyond repair. ■ Tiie whites in the whaling station intermarried witli the Maoris and settled . down. | In the year 1832 tlie Waikatos came I down upon the Ngatiftwas, whom they | defeated at Waitara, and then they advanced upon the Ngamotu pa. With the laid of the. whalers, who had three small I cannon with them, the Ngatiawas tri- ; uinphed and tlie Waikatos withdrew. I In 1834, a certain German botanist, j Deifl'enbaeh, who had come Out to New i Zealand in the ship Tory, arrived at , Mottiroa, and in five days ascended Mt. fEgmont, thus gaining tlie distinction of i being the first European to do this, i In 1839 two surveyors tfavelled overlaiid to Moturoa from Wellington, but did hot stay on account of the scarcity [of food. I The first settlement of any conseIqiience in Taranaki was effected by the il’lymohth CothpanJ', formed in 1840 as a branch of the New Zealand Company. ;The idea has to bring otit a number bf pioneers from Devon and Cornwall to

i settle in either Nelson-Marlborough or | Taranaki district. Edward Gibbon Wake- | field sent F. A. Carrington to decide which district should be chosen. Air. Carrington chose Taranaki, a fertile land without a harbour, in preference to Marlborough, with good harbours but rugged land. So on February 12, 1840, the e.s. Brougham arrived with Mr. Carrington to survey the hind. The Waitara site was abandoned, as the river bar was imjiassable. Moturoa, as a town site, was also given up, for several reasons —no good water supply, drifting sands, firewood scarce, the whalers and mission had land there. Consequently it was decided to make tlie town between the Te Henui and the Huatoki, with Moturoa as tlie possible harbour. It was fortunate that the pioneers were able to arrive, as because of evil reports concerning the district, the shipowners had refused to send ships. Many people left their ships at Wellington, and a move was actually made to abandon the settlement. Besides this, prices for the carriage of" goods were prohibitive. Fortunately, this crisis passed, and on March 30, 1841, the William Bryan arrived with 178 settlers on board. These were landed at the Moturoa beach, and all the heavy goods were taken to the Huatoki mouth. At first the pioneers Iftd a strenuous time, living in tents and wliares. They began to dear the bush, and by tremendous efforts made their uncomfortable position more tenable. They began to cut roads, and lay out the town on definite, well thoughtout lines. The first building was a stone house to the north of the Huatoki, at the back of Messi's. Burgess and Fraser’s present buildings. The first business man waa R. Brown, who had his office ion St. Aubyn Street. I Tlie William Bryan was followed bv i the Amelia Thompson on September 3, I with the main body of settlers and soreIly needed supplies. Land was granted Ito the pioneers at (id ’ for tlie first two I years' rent for an eighth-acre lot, after I which n new rent was to be fixed. Great progress was made in one year, and prospects, though at times not as good as was expected, were always hopeful. The land was deared first in the direction of Fitzroy, then Vogeltown. The years 1842-3 were ones of peace, though not always of plenty. In 1844, as the harvest had failed, much privation was endured. Many people left the settlement. Owing to land | troubles witli tlie Maoris experienced the j whole time, Governor Fitzroy was led ito declare that the (>O,OOO acres which I the company owned were illegally i bought. Tims their holdings were reduced to an area stretching from Paritutu to , Smart Hoad. However, this was remedied in 1847, when the Gray. Bell and , Omata blocks were again purchased from ithe Maoris. | Before this time there had been much discussion over the question' of a liarhour, of which the settlement was in dire need. The Waitara River mouth was useless, because of the bar. The mouth of the Huatoki, which was then "dear and deep,” could be used as a boat harbour, but otherwise was also useless. Captain Hay, R.N., proposed a scheme which would utilise the reefs off Kawaroa. Carrington favoured the Moturoa site, and two surveys were made, in 1841 and 1844. Meanwhile surf boats were used for the transference of passengers and goods to tlie beach.

I In the first year of settlement, the I foundation of Taranaki's main industry : were laid by the. milking of goats. At I this time wheat was grown in fairly large quantities. 'Die years preceding 1850 are generally known as the “golden age.” As this name may suggest, fortune, during that happy time, smiled upon the fair face of Taranaki. The sturdy pioneers, though tremendously handicapped in manv ways—namely, by the hostile attitude of the natives, the smallness of their numbers, their isolation and crude impleffieilts—succeeded, by wonderful efforts, in taffiihg a wilderness and in making considerable progress.