WEEKS ON FOOT

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21574, 9 February 1940, Page 10

WEEKS ON FOOT

Kaipara To Petone

Missionary’s Long Journey

The story of how the Rev. James Buller came to be in Port Nicholson in January, 1940, and was thus in a position to conduct the first religious service in the presence of the original pioneer settlers, is the story of a remarkable journey on foot through a greater part of the length of the North Island The Rev. James Buller and his wife left England in 1835 to join the staff of the Wesleyan Mission to the Maori people. Arriving in April, 1836, he Spent three years at the headquarter? Of the mission on the Hokianga River, where he acquired a sound knowledge of Maori customs and of the Maori language. In 1836 he took charge of a station in the Kaipara rjlstrict, but he had not been there a year before he was required to make an overland journey to Port Nicholson to welcome the settlers who were expected to arrive from England. He set out on his journey on November 27, 1839, haying the Rev. John Whiteley aS a fellow-traveller as far as Kawhla. On the way they passed over the site of the city of Auckland, then a waste. After leaving the Manukau, they headed for the Waikato, halted for a night at an Anglican station there, and went on to the station of the Rev. James Wallis, who was at Walngaroa, near Raglan. A halt was made here for several days, and then the two missionaries went on to Kawia. Here they parted company, but it was twelve days before Mr Buller could resume his journey southward, owing to the difficulty of procuring Native guides. After leaving Kawhla, Mr Buller did not sleep in a bed again until he returned north in the following year. Primitive Scenery From Kawhla, he proceeded in the direction of Lake Taupo. He saw Tongarlro, from the crater of which volumes of smoke were pouring, and there was snow on Ruapehu. Two days were spent in crossing a scene of desolation, and then three in penetrating a thick and continuous forest through which the sun’s rays hardly penetrated. Pipirlki, on the Wanganui River, was reached on January 11, and an eager welcome was accorded to the traveller by the Natives there. A week or so later Otaki was reached. It was then a fortified pa, and had recently been the scene of a bloody battle. At Walkanae Mr Buller dined “in truly primitive style,” as he says in his records, with Mr Hadfield, then a young man in delicate health living in a tent while a rush house was being built for him. Mr Hadfield lent Mr Buller his boat in order to visit Kapiti Island . A visit to Te Rauparaha on Mana Island followed, and A service was held there. The boat was nearly swamped on the return journey, but finally Porirua was safely reached. In Sight of Port Nicholson A five hours’ walk from Porirua through thick woods brought Mr Buller in sight of Port Nicholson, which to his eyes had the appearance of a large lake. A descent was made to Pito-one, where Wharepouri and other chiefs were met. This was on January 21, and on the following day Mr Buller walked to Te Aro “over a rugged, rocky road, or rather cliff." On that day the Aurora made port, so Mr Buller had timed his arrival very nicely. On the following Sunday he held a service on board—the first service for the new settlers. He was able to tell the settlers much about the new country and what was in store for them, and he predicted trouble owing to the lax way in which the land had been acquired. A Colourful Paragraph Mr Buller finally returned to the Bay of Islands, on a whaling boat. He had been away nearly three months, two of which had been spent, to use his own words, “climbing mountains, descending precipices, wading rivers, and penetrating forests, sometimes drenched with rain, then broiling in the sun, and at night sleeping on the ground. My travelling companions told thrilling tales of blood and battle —what hecatombs of human bodies had been cooked and eaten in days gone by. But withal the journey had its bright side. I found in most places, a ‘people prepared for the Lord’ and ‘fields white unto harvest.’ ’’