THE TANGARAKAU COUNTRY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XL, Issue 9195, 24 September 1891, Page 2

THE TANGARAKAU COUNTRY.

! DESCRIPTION OF THE DISTRICT. I WRITTEN SPECIALLY FOR THIS PAPER BY I MR. JOHN SKINNER. I So much has recently been spoken of the land to the east of Pukearuhe, and 1 known as the Tangarakau country, that a further account of the district will be to a ; certain extent interesting; but there has [ been a good deal stated that is not abso- ; lutely correct, and this has left the general^ ■ public in an uncertainty of mind with** regard to its capabilities. A full account, [ therefore, of the district by one who has : been over the larger part of it might-be ' useful, if not very entertaining, especially - as the futuro of the older towns of the t Province is so intimately connected with ■ the settlement of our back country. The present way of getting into thia p part of the interior is from the Tongaporutu, » leaving the North Road at its crossing of i that river, and going up its banks as far as Pukiki, an old clearing on the river. This 1 will be, after leaving: Mr Houston's farm, [ through land belonging to the Mokau . natives, by right of conquest from the • Ngatitamas. About here the confiscation ■ line crosses the track, and you go through 1 Crown land as you go forward. From : Pukiki there is a pack track, that was . opened when the railway survey was pro- > ceeding, that goes as far as the Wditara river — which takes its source about 12 ■ miles south-east of tho mouth of tho > Tongaporutu, This track is still fairljr ' open, and requires very little expenditure [ to make it fit for packing or «yen stock [ driving. From the end of the pack track swag tracks have been made — one along ! the Papatiki stream to the Tangarakau, and [ another along the Waitara river and over the water parting of the Waitara and Tangarakau— known as Skeet'e saddle — down the Waimarara stream to the Stratford railway route. This traok is principally along the Mimi route, and is very level. Near Skeet's saddle the confiscation line running south crosses the track, which * runs about 14 miles through Crown land. Af tor leaving Pukiki the track goes up and \ along a ridge, until it drops into the Maka- } rakia, through a fairly good grazing : country, the bush consisting to a largo ' extent of kohekohe. At the Makarakia . there is a considerable clearing, being an ' old camping ground of the railway surveyors. This clearing has a lot of grass on it, which shows by its growth that the land is of good quality. It will be about here that the road up the Mimi will cross or join in with the present track, so that the country hereabouts will be opened eventually by way of theMimißoad. From the Makarakia to the Waitara the track , passeß over a rather stoep ridge, and soon falls into the Waitara River, hereastroam ' about (he size of tho Mangaotuku at New Plymouth. The land along the Waitara is of very good quality, being principally heavy clay soil, and similar to that at the Onaero. Along hero the track has been 1 well opened, and most of the streams ' bridged ; one of these bridges, tbat across 1 the Waitara, having cost over £30, and is still good, and one cannot help regretting that the little useful work that was done for the great sum of money spent in connection with the railway survey should be now going to ruin through neglect. From the Makarakia to the eastern confiscation line, which is all Crown land, the country is good and fit for settlement, the soil being heavy and of good quality, and not too heavily timbered, the bush being principally tawa, riinu, and kahikatea. From the confiscation line the land ia at present in the hands of the natives, but the Land. Purohasft Department Jw to I

fyiir"^") "n't" ' "j » ■"■•■.'.' -..-.--.>»'■. ■ | pertain extent Recured the several blocks that are not in tho proscribed district, called the Rohi Potai or King Country. A very large amount of the Tangarakau country is good grazing land, and parts of ' it, no doubt, farming land, especially about the Tahoroparoa clearing, through which the Stratford railway route passes. These clearings alone are several hundred acres in extent, and the land around them is light scrub and bush. Altogether from the Waitara to Tangarakau there is over 20,000 acres of land suitable for settlement, and boyond this there is a large area of grazing land that will come in for use when the country has been thoroughly opened vp — land equal to that now being settled east of Stratford. From the Tangarakau, still going south-east, there is very fair but heavily timbered country as far as the Eao stream, but beyond this to • the Wanganui river very little of the land will pay for clearing and grubbing, being principally birch ridge? or very heavily timbered with rata. The great cry against this country has been as to ita roughness and difficulty of access. As to the rough • ness, that a large portion is rough there is no doubt, but a still larger extent is not rougher than a great deal ot the land aheady settled, and as it is principally marine deposit, and contains a considerable portion of lime, will compare very favorably for grazing purposes with volcanic land not nearly so broken. So far as the difficulty of putting roads through it, this is certainly very muoh exaggerated, as the pack and swag tracks are all on good grades, and could be converted into at least driving roads for cattle at a very small cost. As far as the Tangarakau from Makarakia there is no difficulty whatever of getting a good road, and beyond that there can be little difficulty, as a railway has been surveyed and no serious obstructions come across, and as their grades will be at the greatest lin 50, as against the grade of a road 1 in 15, there is no reason whatever why a good driving road should not be taken through from tho Mimi to the open land on the Ohura, and at a low cost. In what direction the road should go has, of course, to be considered, but there is a fairly good block of land on the Wanganui, the Opatu Block ; it is Crown land, and it would seem advisable to make it as nearly direct to this as was possible. From here — or, in fact, anywhere along the Ohura river — roads can be taken to Taumaranui, a native pah situated where the Central Railway will cross the Wanganui rivor. From Taumaranui, as no doubt you are aware, you can now go along good horse roads to all parts of the island— north by way of the Porotorau tunnel to join the railway at the Upper Mokau; east to Taupo; and south through the Waimarino and Moromuti to Wanganui, or by way of Hunterville to Wellington— and yet, though the ports of Waitara and New Plymouth are less than half the distance of any other, there is no way whatever open by which horses or cattle can bo brought out to them. The whole of past expenditure in this district around Taumaranui has been to open it to Wanganui and to Auckland, and one cannot but be surprised, and even more than surprised, that, though we have three members who staunchly support the present Government, they allow nearly the whole of the votes for opening up this back country to be for tb6 same end, as will be ■een by the Public Works Statement. {To be continued )