DESTRUCTIVE FLOOD IN THE WAIPA RIVER, WAIKATO.

Waka Maori, Volume 12, Issue 4, 22 February 1876, Page 40

DESTRUCTIVE FLOOD IN THE WAIPA RIVER, WAIKATO.

[Communicated by Aperahama K. Patene.] On Tuesday, the 6th of December, 1875, it commenced raining before the hour of dinner, and continued till the night of Friday, the 9th. It rained for four days and four nights without intermission, the wind blowing from the north all the time. No apprehension of an unusually heavy flood was entertained. The water, however, suddenly came down with a rush, submerging the whole country ; houses and everything which impeded its course were swept away by the violence of the flood, and carried away on the surface of the rushing water. The food which, had been cultivated for this year's consumption was all swept away, and buried in the sand and debris when the flood subsided. It was fearful to behold the number of houses and other objects borne along on the impetuous flood. The houses which were not carried away were entirely submerged. Some plots of ground were carried bodily away; one piece of land, probably fifteen acres in extent, adjoining the property of your correspondent, was thus carried away. It was an appalling sight. All the tribes located along the banks of the "Waipa have suffered.

severely from the ravages of the flood f, their cropejr and other propertyhave been swept away and utterly; destroyed. The old men say they have never before" seen a flood in the "Waipa so heavy as this one; those, floods in the days of Te Heuheu and in the days q£ Hurikaupapa were nothing in comparison to it, and the old Pakeha settlers also say that, from the first arrival of the Europeans in the "Waipa, so great, a flood has never been experienced, in the district. The! old men tell of some great floods of which they have! heard from their fathers, which occurred probably, some eighty or ninety years ago, and whieh were! known as the Tiiitahi and the Tuarukuruku floods,, and they think those floods may have been equal to. this one. It would be impossible to describe the ravages committed by the flood. The banks of the "Waipa swarm with flies, attracted by the stench arising from the decaying crops and fruits. The tribes living along the banks of the river are reduced to a state of utter destitution by the loss of their crops for this year's consumption; their wheat, oats, potatoes, and every, other kind of food, are entirely destroyed, and the cultivations are covered with sand and mud. It is the work of the Almighty—He doeth that which pleaseth Him. "We have lately been reading accounts in the Walca of calamities of a similar nature which have befallen the French, although of much greater magnitude, for thousands of lives were lost; and we have seen that the nations who dwelt in security showed their sympathy for the sufferers by making subscriptions for their relief. The loss sustained by the Natives between the settlements of Ngaruawahia and Whatawhata, including property lost altogether and crops and goods rendered useless by the floods, must, at a moderate computation, be considerably in excess of £2,000. Information has been received that great damage has also been done by the flood among the inland settlements far up the river, at Kopua and "Waitomo. Those districts, especially for the last, three years, have been large wheat-producing districts,, but now all the wheat and other crops have been destroyed. It is impossible, therefore, to estimate the amount of damage done and the distress produced. If the flood had occurred in the winter the loss would not have been so great, because neither wheat nor potatoes would then have been planted; but the flood coming in the month of December, when the crops were growing and the people waiting for them to ripen, has brought destitution and want upon all whose cultivations have been destroyed. Let not those who read this account suppose that it is untruthful, or in any way exaggerated. It is not so. It is a perfectly true account, written in sorrow and grief while beholding our cultivations buried under the sand drift, and the wrecks of our houses cast on shore in the long reaches of the river. Therefore this is written for the information of our friends. "Waipa, December 13,1875.