The Hobelist. A TON OF GOLD! OR, THE NARRATIVE OF EDWARD CREWE.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2147, 20 November 1875, Page 4

The Hobelist. A TON OF GOLD! OR, THE NARRATIVE OF EDWARD CREWE.

ByW. M. B.

———*• : — ■ ..: A Tale of Local Interest.

Chapter 'VII, — Contimied. During fine weather, and when the journey is hot attended with much hard-, ship, inbsfc Europeans, on the right side of the. hill of life, h fully appreciate a few daysu" roughing' it." With savages it is^ tkeir normal Xtate, of; existent, ;a perpetual pie-nic without its alimentary adjuncts,?and taken by them^uite as,a matter of course. They are, :;as it were, professionals)' and.see little or no fun in the doings,of those, energetic white'men. Amateurs in" camping-out, who are often ■ climbing up mountains, mostly are in a hurry, and always are wanting to go where no one "has ever been'before. There is much resemblance between the views' of the nigger- who concluded ihat " ease is happiness V and of.those drawingroom travellerajvhose comfort depends, as I .mentioned before, in the possession, amongst their "plunder," of numerous articl^js^lp-r'cohering orcplouring their persons." '" The tin " billy,", had been slung over a roaring fife, and the tea made ; I was using the pannikin—we had only one — whilst my companion drank his tea: "from out the " billy's " lid, a vessel not easy to hold reversed, and drink from when full of hot tea, as any one may easily prove ; though I do think the most objectionable teacup I ever had to use, or go without the beveragej was a glue-pot, an iron one, rusty inside and:-begrimed without. '; Behold us seated in Ihe doorway of our tent, the light of the fire, in the fast approaching night, showing fitfully to, our view the whale-boat a score of yards from our camp, and ihe cliffs beyond that bounded the bay, inland a little bush comes down almost to the beach,: the nearest trees are Pohutukawa of course, a tiny stream coming from the ranges rushes to the shore, and there is lost in the waste of sand. All ijs very still, soundless, excepting the sea lightly breaking upon the b,each of the little bay,.with a music ;reminding of something I-have heard or felt before, some association I fail to recall, perhaps the immortal part of me has a memory more lasting than I wot of, and in this melody of silence, broken only by the surge* my soul reverts tb,an epoch in the past. The next morning we arose, mightily refreshed, the pleasant sequence of those who have the •" canopy of heaven" for their bedroom. Seth, always an early riser, had been up some time before I was, during which period he had contrived to catch, us a supply of rock-cod for breakfast. For my part, I must confess that I am one of those who " take a lot of sleep*" nothing less than nine; hours out of the twenty-four has ever been sufficient to restore my constitution to its wonted equilibrium. It was still early morning when we launched our boat, and proceeded on our voyage up the harbour; on either side much of the land was covered with a growth of manuka (tea-tree), rewa-rewa, towai, karaka, and other, smaller kinds of timber, with a fringe of pohutukawa at the water's edge. Sailing along we passed several colonies of cormorants (shags), perched on these latter named trees ; these, birds have a quaint and idiotic-looking way of extending their wings some time previous to taking flight, as if it were their first essay, and might prove a dangerous experiment; sometimes we disturbed a solitary one of these " pelieanidae" fishing for his breakfast, on which, occasions, when one-was on the wing, Seth would amuse, himself by shouting and yelling in so frantic a manner as frequently to make the bird disgorge in mid-;air a living fish, his late repast. Arrived at the head of the harbour, and close to a spot where, some years after " The Great Barrier Company; erected a large sawmill, we found a party of natives on a shark-fishing expedition. \ Whilst still some considerable distance \ from their, camp, we could plainly see, and ■ very decidedly wind the proceeds of their skill. „ ;■....■ .

"Te mango — shark was hung aloft from a transverse pole, supported at each . end by a stout-forked post, and had no little resemblance t owhat I should imagine was the appearance: of the bodies of a gang of robbers, as they were wont to be huog in chains in mediseval times, and after a lengthened exposure to sun and wind. ■.£. -% Shark";'dear reader, is not nice eating, serve it as you will, and surely it is only by much practice and some hunger that the natives become so partial to the nasty stuff. When cured native fashion it is. of an oak colour, and if the taste is at all analogous to tlio.smell, I should confclude that *> inutile, like Caviare, would go a long way. Of the former sense I cannot speak, as I never could,. though with every wish to . partake of the delicacy, get a portion into my mouth, its pungency taking away my breath. The roe, yellow and oleaginous and as big as a duck's egg, is considered a bon bouche, and may be likened in flavour to that of. a tallow candle. We camped a short distance from, and to windward of these aborigine?.The Maories are true latitudinarians on the subject of foodj and admire rather than otherwise the " pakeha's " abstinence from all participation in some six or eight peculiar adjunctsto the native "cuisine,"rightly judging him to be a "slave white man," " c pakeha tutua," who leaves his mpre clearly dietary; scale for the promiscuous consumption of-Maori food. There was amongst bur hew friends a poor fellow prostrated with rheumatic fever. Of course we were .applied to for "c rongoa," a medicine, and equally oft course we declared, our inability to do anything for the sick man, and indeed our ignorance of the healing art, but advised their taking the "-invalid to Auckland, where, if placed in the hospital, he wpiild meet with every attention

Tbis, however,- -did not suit the views of any of the party,'. and it appeared that tOo next day jthey; intended carrying their sick countryiiian to sonib hot springs, which they described as half a day's walk

from where we now were, and whose medicinal properties were certain to effect a cure in any such ailmeri|iascthat.; from: which the Maori was suffering. They also related other wonderful stories of these hot springs; so marvellous, indeed, were their accounts that I conclude we had lighted upon the rejuvenating.waters so long sought after but never found by some of the companions of Christopher Columbus. : . ■■■:■■:

The romance attached to the springs quickly made Seth and me determine to accompany the Maories on their, journey inland on the morrow. The next morning, the porters consisting of four stout young fellows, who were to carry the sick man, relieving eachother, and two at a time, proceeded to. place " Mohi," for so he was named, upon an extemporary but very ingeniously constructed litter, "kauhou." Then, without much ceremony or leave-taking !N a Kiri Kiri and Makutu, who took the first turn, got the: polos of the litter well on their shoulders, and started: of! at a good pace, taking..a road up a valley where a considerable stream ran, such a stream, that, had it iieen in England would 1 have probably teemed with trout,.whilst I here, in ISew .Zealand, itwas utterly without edible fish, eels excepted. , : After tlie first pair of porters had 1 carried Mblri Jalbbufc a mile; ;the second; j pair, namely, Te Ruapara and Hoepa, took a spell. I must also mention that" two I women, Mohi's wife, Beporai and another whose name I forget^ were. of. the party, _ and their business was to carry the men's blankets, some ready-cooked food, and a few other necessaries. After proceeding in this manner for perhaps three miles, we gradually entered the forest using the bed of the creek as a road, which here became very rough travelling especially for the bearers, of Mohi, who oscillated about in.a frightful way, with their top-heavy load of helpless humanity, as they struggled along the uneven bed of the creek.. After about a mile of this, we left the stream, mounting the right-hand bank by a little track. Here it was decided that we should all take a rest' and have a smoke. ■ ; v; ■. : The ground was covered with a verdure like long grass, but which I found to be young seedling palms " Kikau." The parent trees were on all sides, rising ten or fifteen feet, and then throwing out graceful fronds, whilst a.t thebase of these gigantic leaves there is, at its proper season, a quaint seed-pod, in shape like a Maori's "tnevi." ■ ; 'h -] ' Perhaps Nikau pdlmg are the ; most beautiful specimes of vegetation in the forests of New Zealand.. . '...: It is with the fronds of this palm that the natives commence thatching the roofs of their houses, weaving the leaves together by a plait of three. : : Our" road now lay up a most tremendous hill, so steep, indeed, that in places we gladly availed ourselves of the adjacent shrubs and trees to pull our weary bodies along. Up this dividing range of the islands was a tough job for the poor bearers, and they relieved each other frequently. Truly interminable seemed the: hill. However, the summit was gained at laSt—those who were in front sitting down on the narrow ridge and awaiting the arrival of the party. [Resuming our journey, we at once commenced the descent down the other side of the range by a road equally as precipitous as that we had just left. Away we all, except those carrying Mohi, bounded off down the hill,; taking long and kan-garoo-like jumps, utterly regardless of the not remote 1 chance of sprained ankles. At the bottom we struck the headwater of a small creek. Following this for some distance we again turned off to the right, and. continued our journey until late in the afternoon, when we arrived at the hot springs.' ; Of course the distance could have been accomplished in much less time tad we not been constrained, not knowing the road, to s.uit out pace to that of the Maories.' ..". • \■; • The first thing we did on our arrival was to have a bath in the hot water, and certainly! must admit that the.native account of the revivifying, effects of these springs fell far short of the reality. '• Seth," said I v as we were employed putting Up a rough, kind of shanty against the night, " if ever I become sick, or as old age approaches and my joints gets stiff, my hair turns grey, and my digestion becoming impaired, interferes with my capacity for enjoying life, I shall come to this place, even should I have to travel from Europe, Asia, Africa, or America for the purpose; for I see that we have, here the rejuvenating springs mentioned by the ancients." ; " And Mr Orewe," answered my companion, "did you notice the wonderful effecc the water had upon the eye ? " I had indeed noticed it, and startling it was, after splashing the water into that member, to find oue could discern the distant view of mountain cliff, and forest, as through a telescope ; the effects only lasted a few minutes, certainly, but I have not heard it recorded of any other water as producing a like result. That same night the sick man found his legs. ... ... Early next morning Seth and I again had a bath, and it was as we were frolicking about in the warm water that we discovered certain tiny creatures swimming neai*: the margin of the pool, and where the water bubbled up at a temperature of about —as I should suppose—lsodeg. Fah., for it was unpleasantly hot to bear the hand in for any length of time. A- • They were frail little wormy animalcules, perhaps three-quarters of an inch long, and so brittle were they, that onfishing one out he generally came, as it were, in pieces." , - I may here mention that some years after my friend, Seth Fearnley, frequently visited these hot springs and found another species, having, a beetle-like appearance, also making its home in hot water. The vegetation in the steamy vicinity of the springs was very rank, and would be a capital locality for gardens designed to grow potatoes, cucumbers, and tomatoes, all the year round and in the open air. Whilst.in this neighbourhood we also discovered a" salt-water creek, some considerable height above the sea level. We had noticed .in several places good " stands " of kauri, a great portion of which, I believe, is still untouched by the Yankee: axe of bushmen,' though I the cream of one forest, capable of being tdriven out" by dams, fell about the yeai 1 } 1864, to supply the Great Barrier Com/ ! pany's sawmill with logs. : " : -■ ' i After our bath we took a walk, accom-

panied by bur dog "Brush,"- tdwards^the east coast of the island. We had proceeded only a short distance from the camp, and were rounding the swamp which occupies a great part of the country be-

tween the hot springs and the sea, when •''Brush " bailed up a r pig, which we were fortunate ctiaugtv to kiH,;aini& -it^pro^ing.a fine fajf half-grown animal, we concluded -to return to the enmp for the natives to carry'the -meat" in, trusting them to butcher the pig, and have, some of the : best portions cooked for us by our return late in the afternoon. ' : = '

In the course of the day we saw many wild cattle, of which, at the time I writa I understood from the owner that there were upwards of a thousand head on the island. Of late.years they have marvellously decreased in numbers; Maori gum diggers, the. crews of coasting-vessels, and the bushmen residing on'the island having mostly brought about this result. Arrived at the sea-shore, we rambled on for. sonic miles, amusing ourselves by picking up bits of sponge-and shells. : The latter; are; only very -poor in Newr .Zealand and* not" worth, colleptpj? for "ornamental.purposes. -C .. .-J"\ At the high-water mark of spring tidesthere was in places much drift wood and. wreck, and we found several corked bottles though, in no case did we light upon one containing any paper. . However,, at the mouth of a small creek we found*;a ship's-jbbat^apparently not much damaged, by its voyage from " somewhere," and we, thought, after due .examination, that it might be worth, our while to come with our boat and tow hor round to Trypheria", where' aS Setli justly; remarked of this: 'piece: of:> flotsutniiandl jeT:lmm,~we might possibly be able to sell her to the natires who, frequently, when on a voyage, resorted to that harbour for shelter. '•" ■ - ; -

On the third day after our arrival at the hot springs, Seth and I, together with all the natives, excepting Mohi and his wife Repora, returned to the native encampment at Port Fitzroy. . The abovo appellations, "oh, reader! are the Maori way of saying Moses" a.nd Zippora. ' ' '■" About a month after these events'; I chanced to meet Mohi in Auckland, and from him learaed, that after remaining a week at the hot springs, ; arid "being pe-ff fectly curedi he had walked to Port' Fitzroy, carrying besides his blankets, a heavy load of kauri gum. . : But to return. .On our .way to the shark-fishers' camp, and''about two miles from the odorous-vicinage, whilst in persuit of some : pigeons j we % lighted a considerable quantity'of kauri gum, the most remarkable lump of which we computed te have weighed 400; poundsU'^l^'ni:? 1 in situ/ -as we first -sawl it Jhigh> up in" the fork a gigantic kauri; although a tree of great size, it did mot run-up over thirtyfive feet from the ground, before three huge branches shot out forming a platform upon which.the exudation had collected. There was little to be seen of this mass of gum, from below, as it lay well back in the fork of the : tree, and greatly overgrown with whara-whara (Astetia Banksii), a sword - leaved orchid, having beautiful red bunches of fruit in its season, temptably edible in appearance, but really only adapted to the palate of the bird 3 ; and had it not only been for certain lumps of gum at the foot of the tree that had broken off, and tumbled from aloft, we should have passed by and. never thought of looking up, much less of making .any; attempt to climb the tree.' - Neither Seth nor myself possessed the art of walking up a tree, a la " West Indian Black." " Sambos," Andaman Islanders, and other savages, nor were we able to extemporize a staircase after the manner of an Australian black fellow, by cutting steps in the soft bark with, a tomahawk each succeeding " riser," of which is a notch cut right above his monkeyshaped head, and just sufficient for the insertion of his great toe. The natives of JN"ew Zealand have, no, clever method of climbing a tree, rather inventing a plan to suit the circumstances of each occasion as they arise.'

The bark of a kauri-tree is not very soft, still by making a perpendicular incision with a tomahawk, a hard wood: chisel-pointed pin may be-driven in, and made to hold a considerable strain.

We first proceeded to cu,t : an armful of flax, selecting the" best leaves, and stripping off the red edges ; we then cut five poles, two of which when lashed together were long enough*to reach to where the gum lay : the other three poles were left with a fork at ithe .upper.. end, and were intended to be placed as struts or bearers, to assist iv keeping our ladder stiff, and in its place; ;We then',cutten" manuka" pins, two feet long, sharpening one end of each into -a thin wedge.

All our arrangements being made, we now reared the.-poles, already lashed,together, placing them parallel to, and about eighteen inches from the bole of the tree. Whilst" Sethl held on, and with some difficulty steadied our would-be ladder, I first drove the tomahawk into the tree at about five feet from the ground, and then hammered one of the hard wood pins into the i cleft so made, the outer end of this I securely tied to the poles. Then mounting on this rung, I again stuck the tomahawk into the tree, making a way for another manuka pin: this I drove in, and fixed as the former one. I now came down, 'and taking two of the forked poles, leant them one on either side egainst the upright ones; that Seth stilUield- The third/ one I so placed as to force the whole fabric towards the tree ; I again, mounted, and this time oii the second rungi from jwhich position I could reach the forked struts ; these I soon made secure : I then, got in the third, fourth, and fifth; rung, which was close upon twenthrfive feet from the ground. We, now, finding the whole concern rather; unsteady, determined to make it safe by fastening two " guys "— ropes of flax leaves knotted together, at, the fifth rung—and then leading, tlie other ends to stakes we drove into; 'the earth : we also passed a flax rope round the tree, securing it to the ladder at the fifth rung. .•;.';.- The last four rungs I drove in and fixed nearer to each other than those below, that is, about four feet apart. The top.gained, Seth immediately followed me aloft, when after;throwing-down a quantity of whara-whara, the huge shapeless mass of gum was exposed to our view. Stuck fast as it wais?to the tree, we saw that it would be quite impossible to tumble the lump.in one piece: to the earth, so we had again to descend and cut a couple :ofr.handspikes,; and; .make some wooden wedges, with the aid of which we at length broke the "gum; piece; by* piece from its bed.

Possiblysome of; ray '■ readers -may' be carious to know why we should take all this trouble to collect this kauri gum, .'an export of.New Zealand never seen qr. even heard of by hundreds; of the gobdptople of Englana,';who ate'not aware t]?lit thousands of tons have been shipped away both to : Eur6p» and America —that the

supply is still unexhausted—and that it .forms an important pa/L' in the:manufacture of certain, lacquers and varnishes, and at;the time of which I write, well scraped kauri-gum could rca lily bo sold in Auckland for £20 per ton. We also found a' considerable quantity of:>um "in the immediate neiglibourhood of the tveo that had yielded the big lump, and ;|ud«G<l ithafc we were now possessed of nearly a ton weight of good clean Jkauri gum, and which being so handy to our boat we might as well use as ballast in preference to stones. - We spent yet another day with our native friends, going out shark-fishing with them: and it was then I loiir'nt Maori " fishing talk ; " at another period during my long residence in New Zealand, I was both skipper *>and" owner of a coasting schooner, and having a native crew, I then acquired-Maori s.hip " talk. A.t anothpr. timev having a store tip the country, the talk would be of blankets, black silk ribbon, prints, and calico, of tobacco ",go a shores," sugar, and spades. Then, again, having a mob of natives j getting out logs for my mill, I picked up many now phrases; yet,- iagain, : .liaving a nour-mill/ the sale o( flour and the purchase ot Jl wheat increased my vocabulary; also, I have had .'something, to; do with the erection of. tw.o.jcburcbes for the natives, one of which wa|( of .stone, tlieotlherof wood. After all these adyantagesand some others 1 "nob worth mentioning.'-4t isveasy to eeo that it can.be.no .very hard matter to be- ; COmfi aJJ!aori talker-. ;

; Qnelfine inorniu.g :vre, agairiiSet,put ; on" our voyages, and tuis time we had a;couple of passengers-; Na'XirlKiri; andhisl wife, who were wishful to be put across to the mainland at Port Charles j but.before going there it was;settled-that .we should run down the coaskpj" the, Barrier Island tp Trypbena, where we were likely to fall in witli; some vessel bound,-for:jAiiqklaud, by :which^ye could ship -our gum to my agents to sell for mo; -: ■.■?.--■. ■*,;>■■ .;:, 0;; y,

'To ■%c Continued.