EARLY REMINISCENCES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13791, 24 October 1908, Page 3

EARLY REMINISCENCES.

| Related by the late Mr W. K. Ifillke to Mr. W. 11. Skinner.]

When we landed at Wellington (on December 12, 1840) the temporary town or settlement, which had been established at Petone, was in the act oi removal to the loreshore along Lanibton harbour, the permanent and present site of Wellington City. We ot the London were amongst the No. 2 select? or« ot orders ot choice from the Now Zealand Land Company, and we found upon arrival that the whole ol the available rural and siirburban land at lhe Hum and in and around Wellington had been absorbed, by the selectors ol No. 1 order oi choice, and that there was nothing in the shape ot Company's lauds available nearer than 100 to 120 miles distance from Wellington. As we were all most anxious to see our luture holdings and to get into occupation with as little delay as possible, a party was organised to walk overland to the Wangniiiii river, where the No. 2 selectors were to be located. Accordingly on December li), 1840, we set out, twel\. or fourteen in all. Mr ft. Dorset was one (il the number and we had a young Englishwoman, J" 1 emigrant by the London, who had run away with the

{ '•Chip.s" of thai vessel, who \\a^ also one ol ihe party. Our track lay along the old .Maori pathway through what i«, now Johnsonville "and Tawa Klat, coming out on to Cook's Straits at the entrance to I'orirua harbour. It was our intention to stay the night here at the .Maori pa, but we altered our plans somewhat hurriedly. ,J u.-t prior to our arrival at thin sett lenient a small war party had relumed from worrying and harrying the original tribes ot the Sounds across the Strait, and a consid- ,' erable amount of excitement prevailed | amongst the Natives. My attention was attracted to a fine war canoe ; drawn up on the beach, and I was great- ' lv struck with its size and beauty ol line and ornament. Within the canoe lay many articles belonging to the returned war party, and amongst thes« was » red gin case, an article \er\ 1 lOimnon in the early colonial days, i Prompted by curiosity I raised th< lid and iound^ihat the' case was lull oi i l he tine white feather* and down oi i sea birds. Pushing my hand in 1 fell something solid but (lamp, and upon withdrawing it I noticed blood on my lingers. Hrtishiug aside the feathers I uicnsaw lying at the bottom of tin bo\ to my honor, a fully tattooed huniaii head but recently severed from the trunk. 1 immediately closed the box and hurriedly got our party tooethor and told them of what 1 had Mist seen. We at once decided to move on, and our party spent the night somewhere about l'aekakarikt. J At the I'orirua pa we had met aMr 'Walpole, who had come around from Port Nicholson by boat. Mr Walpole and the boat's crew had been engaged by a Mrs How ell to go in search of her husband, who had been reported to havo been killed by the Natives at H.mgitikei. Mr Howell had chartered a small schooner to take up stores for the surveyors who were about to start work at Wanganui for the New Zealand Company. Mr Walpole and his crew sailed on as far as Otaki, where they left the boat with the resident Natives and joined forces with our party, and we journed on together from this point. Before leaving Wellington we had engaged a Portuguese as a •niide and interpreter at the rate ol Ten shillings a day. He had a Maori wife. Before we had gone very far we discovered that this man had never been to Wanganui and knew no more than we did of the route. However, we could not very well dispense with him as his services and those of his wife were required as interpreters. Leaving Otaki we kept' along" the beautiful" beach which runs for miles almost due north and was delightfully firm and smooth for walking. Passing Wnikanae- we were greeted by a large party of Natives, quit" 100, who we're gathering shell-fish at low water. TWey stopped us to enquire our errand and to gaze for the first time in their lives upon a white woman. They were intensely curious and interested in the woman of our party, and this was the • case all along our journey, wherever we encountered the Maori inhabitants. By the time we arrived at the Manaw'atu river our provisions were quite exhausted. Hearing from some Natives there that white men were living a few miles up the river two of us secured a small canoe and started off up stream in search of pakeha food. We were not long in coming to a small settlement, where we. found two Americans, brothers, called Lewis, who were building a'smalleraft for the coasting trade. They were very kind and hospitable, but were only able to spare one small kit of potatoes, and as our party numbered thirteen we were in a decidedly awkward fix. We decided there and then to push on as fast as we could to Rangitikei, the next Maori settlement, where, it was thought, we could obtain supplies of potatoes and pork. A short distance before coming to the Rangitikei we discovered on the beach the remains of Howell's missing schooner, partly burnt. Our suspicions were aroused, as we suspected foul play by the Natives. No one was to be. seen near the wreck ; no sign of the crew or of any living thing connected with the ship was observed ; but as wo approached a dead dog was seen lying about high water mark, which Mr Walpole recognised as the pet of Mr Howell, the owner and one of the ship's company. As the Rangitikei village was a little further on we decided to stop where we were and reconnoitre. Accordingly we camped down in the flax above- high water, and after dark the Portuguese guide and his Maori wife were sent forward towards the pa to pick up information. About midnight they returned and told us that they had listened at a safe distance to the conversation of the Rangi-

tikei Natives and they were not at all favourably impressed with the tone of these people. The greater part of tho plunder of Howell's vessel was in the bands of these Natives, and our guides said we should get past whilst it was dark, as it was hard to say what they would do with us if they discovered bur party on tho morrow so close to the settlement. We immediately acted upon this advico, and, keeping well down towards tho tide, marched silently nunt, Corded the rivor in single filn, and kept on till daylight, whfiii w«> dmv up into th« fltt« ttml re»t* i 4»» Moving on HtfttjH. w« Pama to the most) hrmuhUw nbutruetion ot mir journey, im Wungnehu river, which we reached «botit tho top of high water, ftovwgl of the party could not swim, myself amongst the number. We dared not stay for the tide to run out, as we were all the time expecting the Kangitikei Maoris to follow us up. and the difficulties of trying to ford the river inland were too great to be attempted. The Maori woman told us how to make a moki, or raft, and soon the whole party were at work gathering flax sticks, which we rapidly bound together in fair sized bundles, two or morn of which were bound side by bide. l T pon these we laid our clothes, blanket *. etc. Those who could swim then lower) lhe.ni iieross. tho non-swimmers, luiiu/iiifj on behind the moki in Jwrw ,») iliici'., tujujartt-d lh«m»r<lve«. tihovt:

the water, and in the course oi a very,! short time the whole party with our belongings were safely over this dangerous river. That night we slept near the mouth of the Turakina river; aiul

the following evening, December 30, 1840, we arrived at the AVangajiui river, and found that the New Zealand Company'?* surveyor had come into lh«' riser a iou hours lieiore us by cutter direct from Wellington.

(To be Continued.)