CHATHAM ISLANDS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8466, 17 June 1907, Page 3

CHATHAM ISLANDS.

(Prom Our Own Correspondent.) TE ONE ONE, May 26. Winter is here at last. We had had such a long spell of lovely weather that wo thought perhaps he had forgotten to call, but, as is often the case, ,the wish was father to the thought. The weather is very unsettled, rain, wind, sleet, hail, from all. quarters. And at times it is as cold as one cares about; a different cold than that usually met in New Zealand, a raw, damp, penetrating cold that finds out the "rheumaticky" joints, the sciatica nerve, and even the faulty tooth. The damp has an unpleasant way of insinuating itself intp the houses. Boots left on the , floor of your bedroom for a few days will be found covered with blue mould when next you pick them up; matches in a box on the mantelpiece in the kitchen where there is always a fire will sometimes refuse to strike; while articles, especially those of iron, in unused rocms, feel cold and clammy to the touch. I suppose the "salt sea air" has much to do with this. Duck shooting began on May Ist. and plenty of big bags have been secured. One man got 63 himself the first day; but there seems to be just as many birds left in spite of the hundreds, even thousands, that have been killed. They are much plumper than the ducks of New Zealand, perhaps becaus,e their food is found in jjuch enormous quantities. Round the banks of Lake Huro, where there is plenty of game, at sunset and early morning the sounds of shots ' are very frequent, and the birds may . be seen flying about in all directions, looking for a sate place. They find none till it is too dark for the hunters to' see. On moonlight nights they are kept moving practically all night. The best shooting day is one - that is overcast, with a Scotch mist or heavy occasional showers, and above all.a south-westerly wind. The ducks are then to be found in the small ponds that are almost as numerous as themselves all over the islands. Empire Day was just like any other . day here. The school was closed, that • and a rifle match being the only < things that differed from the usual events of every day. The match was won by P. Lanauze, with his brother T. Lanauze as runner-up; scores 57 and 64, respectively, out of a possi'ble7s; distances 200, 300 and 400 yards. It was a pleasant day but a little on the cold side. The Lanauze family have always been, and still are, to the fore as rifle shots. The rest of the island's marksmen seem to be always trying to beat one or the other of them, and just falling short by a point or two. It is proposed to form a rifle club here. It should have a good membership, as there were i\ at the match on Fri-1 day, and a good many could net'man-. age to get there. " The range is not. the superior of Trentham, but the other arrangements are good. In time, perhaps, we may send somebody up to bring along that Sell that all'! the volunteers and riflemen of New . Zealand are so anxious to possess— | if only for one year. All the. island, that is .nearly all, is digging potatoes as fast as it can. j say, "as fast as it can," because men are scarce, and everybody has a crop of.'(some kind, small or large, and until a 1 man's, own are safely above ground he will not leave them to help to dig up any one else's. The settlers do not dig in the same way 03 is general ahiong white people. They seem to prefer the method the Maoris use, that is, squatting down, turning over the ground with a fork, and grubbing out the' tubers singly by hand. This proteas certainly' has not the merit of speed, though you do not leave so | many behind as when you do the work at high speed. and standing up. The crops are tjrning out all right, and some settlers will be sending as many as four or five hundred bags td New Zealand. The steamer will be well loaded with potatoes for; the next two trips at any rate. There; is even talk of a special trip being roide about July to take the extra crops that have been grown. I wish Marconi (or is it Sir Joseph Ward) would hurry up .wtfh 1 his wireless telegraphy connecting us with the main land. Of all the places round the shores of New Zealand I think' this would feel the benefit most. It is the cost .that' is . against it, I am afraid. that , comes down we shall have it, I expect. Then we'll perhapC have a newspaper, even a weekly one would be very acceptable; though where the subscribers are to come from it is hard to say. The whole population, men,'women, and children, native? and whites, is enly about 400, so the chance for making a fortune in the publishing line is very remote. _ I suppose we should have to pay a high price for our' "rag," but I thinkmost of us would be quite willing. There was, I believe, some time ago, a sort of paper issued monthly. It, of course, only contained island news, and was written out'and cqpied on a copying machine. It" had not a very prolonged existence, but a merry one while it lasted. There is a curious substance which comes ashore on the beaches here at times, called by the natives "pakeke," but I cannot find out what the pakeha ' calls it. It is black like cobblers' wax, which it greatly resembles in all other respects but taste and smell. The Maori children chew small pieces of it in much the same way as white children will chew india-rubber or other similar substances. The white children are also "pakeke." If it has any smell at all it is decidedly like petroleum or kerosene, of which some people say it is a product. Where it comes from nobody seems to know. It burns beautifully, and anyone who finds it and' knows it has that property, takes it home and uses it for lighting fires. A small piece placed at the bottom of the wood burns like pitch for quite a long time. Perhaps you could enlighten US, Mr Editor, as to its origin. It may be common enough elsewhere. It is strange to most people here. We have recently had a visit from Judge Edgar, of the Native Land Court. He came on the usual busi ■ ness connected with land. During his stay Waitangi was full of natives attending the sittings of the Court. No very important matters were brought up, but the usual long arguments over small matters made

the session a fairly long one. About the same time came a complete stranger, in the shape of a Government i land valuer, who went all over the island "taking notes," nobody I knows why or wherefore. Are the Government going to tax us, or rather the landowners amongst us? We await the arrival of the mail to explain the mystery. I suppose you are aware that there are no rates and taxes here, consequently no roads, no bridges, no nothing that you in New Zealand have if you worry the Road Board enough. We have no Road Board or County Council, nothing but a Wharf Committee which work the Waitangi Wharf with the funds collected for shipping dues. As we have no proper harbour the loading and unloading of the steamer is rather different to the usual thing. Everything is lowered over the side into large boats, which go to the wharf and unload. At the wharf there is about six feet of water at high tide, and practically none at low tide. The steamer is anchored about a quarter of a mile out in the sheltered bay. It is all rightfor passengers and goods. Sheep are carried to the steamer in these boats. One by one they are driven down a long race the length of the wharf. At the end a sliding board 'drops them one by one into th« boat. Cattle and horses have to get up to the ship themselves, that is they are driven into the water at tha end of a reef near the wharf. A rope round their necks is held by those in the boat and they are piloted thus to the side of the steamer where they are hoisted into the hold. There are not many cattle or horses sent, however, though the number of sheep is large. The natives here are a' quiet, peace-loving lot, quite different, I should think, from their not very far distant ancestors, who came over here and practically exterminated the quiet, inoffensive Morion's. These latter were a very easy prey. They offered no resistance whatever, so that no glory attaches to the invaders. To show how harmless Was the Moriori it is related that on one occasion, some two hundred of them had run down a straggling Maori warrior, who, seeing all chance of escape'gone, decided to die bravely. He ran to a huge rock and, turning round, faced his pursuers, who stood off for a moment or two. Then the Maori decided to sing his last war song. To the accompaniment of rolling eyes, hideous grimaces, and fantastic attitudes, the song resounded across the plain. It was too much for the Morioris, they had urgent business somehere else, and left without ceremony to see to it. If a man, thought they, can make such awful sounds and hideous grimaces, what will he do if we lay hands on him.