TAUPO LAKE DISTRICT.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXV, Issue 3041, 3 September 1870, Page 2

TAUPO LAKE DISTRICT.

A " Visitor " writes to tho " Hawke's Bay Herald," of that neighborhood : — A visit to tho Taupo Lake district cannot fail to impress the observing traveller with the importance and value of the military station.? now established there by the New : Zealand Government. The idea of this masterly move I believe originated with Sir George Grey, but to the present Ministry is _ due the credit of having gained possession of this long- desired and coveted position, in the very centre of the North Island, the ad- ; vantages of which can scarcely be overestimated, and can only be fully known and appreciated by actual observation of the country around. Taupo, from its central situation, having access in every direction, forms a strategical point of the greatest consequence and value ; in short, its occupation by the colonial forces, puts in the hands of the Government — so to speak — the inland key to tho four quarters of the Island, and will do much in accomplishing and maintaining the peace of the country. The Kingites are well aware of the value the possession of the Taupo district is to us, and well may the Maori King say, as he has done, " thai the pakehas are coming into his house by the back door." The negotiating and accomplishing a matter of such vital importance to the j country, must have been a work of some difficulty, requiring inexhaustible patience, ability, and tact, together with a thorough ( knowledge of the native character and feeling on the part of the person who has been chiefly instrumental in bringing about so satisfactory and promising a state of things as at present exists in the heart of the Island ; for there were a great many impediments in the way, operating against its successful accomplishment. The great influence of the Maori King over the Lake natives had to be destroyed ; their own Hau Hau and Kingite predilections to be displaced by our friendship ; their fears and alarm of the hostile natives allayed ; their isolated position opened and entered ; their ignoran c c enlightened; their natural prejudices a nd suspicions of the approaches and motives of the white man had to be removed ; all these drawbacks and antagonistic elements have been successfully overcome, and our Armed Constabulary force have now an amicable footing in, and firm hold of, the I entire district. Besides this, a wise purchase has been made from the natives of a block of land for a township at Tupaehururu in a beautiful situation on the northern border of the Lake, where the Waikato river flows out near to. and having access by land and water to the hot springs. This acquisition of the Government bids fair to become an important thriving inland European settlement. The Lake natives have now, I believe, nearly all become our unequivocal friends and allies. They have fought on our side, and have, in return, been protected by our forces from their enemies. The highest Taupo chief, Te Heu Ecu (lately a rank Hauhau), after having been in the keeping ofTarehafor some months, has returned to his home, it is to be hoped a wiser and a better man, with his eyes well opened, and his mind fuUy convinced of the advantage to himself and tribe of having the pakehas as friends instead of enemies. When we recall the melancholy fact that, not very many months ago, Te Kooti and his band of assassins were roving freely about the Taupo country, and murdering men of the Armed Constabulary force at Opepe, we cannot but feel thankful that a traveller can now penetrate the interior of the island with perfect safety to life and property. There are five military stations on the way from Napier to the telegraph station (Tapuaeharuru) occupied by about 300 men of the Armed Constabulary force, viz., Te Haroto, Tarawera, Hun-inga, Opepe, and Tapuaehararu, and all rendered perfectly safe and secure by either well built redoubts or substantial stockades. Taking into consideration the short time the Armed Constabulary have been at tho respective stations, I was surprised at the amount of good work done without any extraneous or artisan aid, which, I must say is highly creditable to the industrial skill of the men, and to the knowledge and efficiency of tho officers. I am unwilling to make unpleasant comparison, hut I cannot refrain from expressing an opinion that the present organization of Constabulary force is some improvement on the old style of things ; but an experienced colonist is apt to sneer and laugh at clean boots, brushed jackets, and neat uniform clothing, in a bushranging corps ; at the time, ■when those are found to be combined with systematic elealiness, strict discipline, regular drill, useful daily work, and a general efficiency of the men, the sneer must give place to approbation and admiration. I noticed the manifest desire of the officers to promote the comfort and manly recreations of tho men, and could not but admire the self-denial example they have given the men under their charge by they themselves refraining from all exciting drinks. Foremost in this unselfish act are the two gallant Inspectors of the district, men well chosen for the responsible posts they hold ; and I am happy in being able to add that this praiseworthy effort on the part of officers has had the desired beneficial effect on the health, conduct, and pockets of the men, as the muster rolls, and the men's bank books can well testify. A summer excursion to the Taupo Lake and Hot Springs will repay the pleasure or health-seeking tourist. The magnificent lake with its extensive aea-like aspect and action, its transparent waters flowing rapidly northward, forming the great Waikato river, with its numerous waterfalls, steaming banks and hot jets, cannot fail to interest and gratify visitors. The medicinal or curative properties of the Taupo springs are now undoubted. I am assured, and I believe it to be tho case, that all who have bathed in them have been much benefited. The accounts given by the natives of the cures they have effected are marvellous, and, I am inclined to think, are not altogether without foundation ; butapart from the healing qualities of the baths, the sensation of pluuging from a hot pool into a cool one, dipping into every intermediate degree of temperature at pleasure, and ending under a waterfall of one hundred feet, is delightful beyond description. I speak from experience.