WANGANUI RIVER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 189, 13 August 1940, Page 4

WANGANUI RIVER

EFFORT SHOULD BE MADE TO POPULARISE IT MAORI LEGENDS IN THE WILDS The bush clad slopes of the Wanganui River valley are referred to in a letter from Mr. Gregor McGregor, written from the Wanganui Public Hospital. He stresses the value ot such a scenic valley to the city and says that every effort should be made to popularise it. One suggestion which Mr. McGregor makes to the River Trust Domain Board is that tracks be cut, three to four feet wide, leading up from the river to the tops of the ridges, where at various vantage points, cleared areas could be made. This would enable full views to be obtained of the beauty of the valley. Mr. McGregor says that tracks would in no way endanger the bush.

Referring to one of the many Maori legends surrounding historical happenings along the River Valley, Mr. McGregor has written or some 30 acres of reserve which his late wife handed lo the Patriotic Society in the last war and was bought in by the late Mr. T. W. Downes, then supervisor for the River Trust. 'Phis reserve is on the lower regions of the most beautiful part of the river. That portion of the river, Mr. McGregor write, is called Puku Puku. Two natives, Takaka and his wife Mere, lived there. Takaka killed a white tui (manu teko, or “Albino”). This act was one which was greatly feared by the natives, as it meant bad things to come. It is said that Takaka ate some of the flesh of the bird, and, as a result, he was spirited

away to Tongariro. Whether he was spirited there, was forced there, or went of his own free will, is not clear, but he was absent from his haunts, Atene (Athens) for some months and was not seen by anybody during that time. One day he returned. His physical condition was terrible. He had apparently been severely wounded in several places. The front of his body was without much of its skin. Mr. McGregor saw him some time later, when his wounds had healed. Even then he was in a sorry state. He could give no account of where he had been or how he had lived.

When canoeing on the river Mr. McGregor often stopped at the home of the old couple. He says that 'he river valley is rich in stories of that kind, and its scenic beauty is som *- thing of which the city should be more ‘proud than it is.