RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAKE COUNTRY ON HORSEBACK. No. VII.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2170, 5 June 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

RAMBLES THROUGH THE LAKE COUNTRY ON HORSEBACK. No. VII.

I\ the evening, not long after my arrival at Atiamuri, Mr L. M. Grace, M.H.R., drove up fiom Taupo ; and later on there turned up Mr Perrott and Mr J. Main, of Hautapu. The two latter gentlemen were doing the country on horseback, with a packliorso bearing their tent and camping lequisites for roughing it in an independent sort of way. The present accommodation house is a plucky enterprise of the Brady Bros., and was put up about eighteen months ago. It is a vast improvement on the old raupo whare, which is now used as a stable, and is a welcome resting-place for the night on the road to or from Taupo. Fronting the hotel, and flowing under a h'gh bank, the Waikato is a considerable river ; but, with that peculiarity it so frequently displays in its course, it narrows itself into a small rapid channel beneath the bridge, and rushes away over a channel beneath the bridge, and rushes away over n channel of boulders, A few hundred yards down the river, and standing on the edge of a plateau, (at one time the river bed, now covered with a mass of great boulders) rises a gigantic isolated rock, computed to be about five hundred feet high. It bears the name of Ninokaore (Rat's tooth), and is a marked feature in that country side. The summit is said to have been occupied in for* mer times by Maoris as place of refuge from the inroads of their enemies, remains of native whares still appearing there. The ascent must be very laborions, and how people managed to live there at all is a puzzle. Whilst searching amongst the boulders for curios, I found some beautiful creamy pink-coloured flint rock, of which I broke off specimens, and which {Mr Grace saw with some astonishment. He pronounced it to be the same as French burr, a valuable stone used for grinding -stones for flour mills, and he was not aware it existed there. 1 left Atiamuri early the next morning, and passed over a small plain, and through some low hills, till the mountain road over Pohautaroa was reached. Mr Grice, of Rotorangi, near Cambridge, owns some fifty thousand acres of this land, purchased from the natives, but has not yet made any use of his possession. The country here is very poor, except where there are patches of bush, and is only fit for depasturing great cattle in a wild state. A stiff S.E. breeze was blowing through the gorges, blowing the fine dust about, and making the ascent of the mountain a slow process. Leaving Pohautaroa behind, the road traverses several tussocky flats and bits of broken country. I turned off the road to look at a native village called Motupuka, with a view to gaining some information, but not a soul was to be seen there. I ascertained later on that everyone was away at the potato plantations in the bush on the top or some adjacent hills. Further on I passed Otuparahaki and Fuketarata, where there is another settlement, in a depression of the land, and with two patches of totara bush around it. There was a grand view from here of the succession of mountain ranges of the East Coast, stretching far away in the distance. My wish bad been to have turned aside here to visit the alum cave at Orakeikorako, and I was provided with a letter to the native chief there, very kindly given me by Mr Grace, desiring him to show me attention. Sut some natives I met here informed me that the distance was five miles, which decided me that I could not now spare the necessary time, so I was reluctantly compelled to forego that portion of my plan, for I understood the cave to be well worth a visit. On the brow of a hill, at the further side of the settlement, stands a n old unused shanty which formerly served as an accommodation house, on the weatherboards of which some wag had inscribed the legend : ''Antediluvian Hotel, built before the time of Noah." From this spot I gained the first sight of Ruapehu, snow-capped and regal, together with Ngauruhoe and Tongariro, the two active volcanic mountains, which formed a grand group, and rose clear and distinct against a cloudless sky. I sat down on the doorstep of the hut and pencilled off a rough sketch of those historic peaks, which I showed to a young Maori who was with me, and his exclamation of astonishment was a flattering compliment to my artistic skill. The soil here seemed of a superior quality. Continuing my journey over undulating country, gradually becoming inferior in appearance, I next reached the native kainga of Oruanui, situated at the^foot of some high bush lands. I passed a mob of over two thousand sheep slowly proceeding from Napier to the Waikato, and here, also, I was overtaken by Messrs Perrott and Main, with their pack horse and camping paraphernalia. With that insatiable appetite for acquiring knowledge and information outside of the common rut, I turned aside and entered the village, and made myself known to the natives, who received me with civility, and asked me to take a look at their carvings. Accordingly, dismounting, I accompanied them a short distance, where, nnder a covered space, was a stock of slabs covered with splendid specimens of native craft, now fast disappearing as an art from the race. These carvings had been the ornaments of their wharepuni, which had fallen into decay, but which they were about to rebuild on a substantial scale. I was more particularly struck, however, with an enclosed vault or mausoleum, very neatly built, and artistically carved and illuminated with their native pigments. A headstone by its side bore record that here was interred the remains of Rangihaoa, wife of the chief Hohepa Tamamu'tu. On the opposite side of the road, facing this village, is another vault, built of wood, and erected on the apex of a small conical hill, in which reposed Amarou, the deceased wife of another chief. Thanking Hohepa for his attention. I cantered off, and soon overtook Mr Perrott and his companion at the bottom of a hill, terminating in a level piece of country. After this the road twists and turns over a region of low hillocks, covered with light scrub, and miserable looking land with a general inclination towards the great lake. In all the cuttings on the road between Atiamuri and Taupo are to be seen, exposed to view, the charred trunks of trees which mast, in the days of general volcanic activity, have been subject to the influence of the subterranean tires, or ejected from their sites by the frequent eruptions that then took place, and were subsequently buried beneath the accumulation of volcanic dust and detritus. I noticed the same indications on my return route as far north as Mangaiti, on the road over that range, with occasional deposits of pumice stone, as though they had fallen in detached showers, proving demonstrably what tremendous forces formerly reigned around the volcanic regions of Taupo to scatter vomitted matter to such a distance. We caught sight of the broad expanse of Lake Taupo when about four miles from its shores, with the houses of Tapuaeharnrn, the township, below! us. The view was very grand and impressive. The great volcanic peaks, loomed up in the distant horizon, in proud and silent majesty. All around the lake, as far as the eye can reach, there are nothing but ranges of rugged hills and broken, bleak, dismal country, sloping down to the lake. Beside the township the monotonous formation of the country was broken by the solitary peak Tauhara. Lake Taupo is thirty-six miles in length, with a depth, in the deepest soundings, of 86 fathoms. The township is situated on a broad inlet, which, however, shuts out a general view of the lake's extent. At times the water is very stormy, with a rough sea, and navigation is subject to some risk from treacherous winds. We crossed the Waikato river, where it isfcues from the lake, by a substantial bridge and entered the township. The river is here the same deep, rapid hi ream of dark green colour, The wretched country we had

seen on approaching did not prepare us for the Hiirpri.se wo experienced lifter crossing the bridge, for we did not think it possible Snch fine tall blue gums, nor the luxuriant growth of trees and shrub* which were growing in the garden of Major ScanneUt the Resident Magistrate, could be po*»ibl6 on such soil. The poutmaster took me over his kitchen garden durintr my visit, and showed me pumpkins that would have been a credit to our Horticultural Show, fine, long, shapely carrots, cabbages, and other vegetable*. There were several young apple trees doing famously. He hns prepared the ground with great care, and so successfully that last year, when potatoes were hcarce, he sold an early crop from a piece of ground about forty feet square for £30. This proves that skill and industry will metamorphose the most unpromising wilderness. Tnpuaeharuru, as a frontier post, formerly held a garrison of the Armed Constabulary, which were quartered in the redoubt that occupies a site in tho Government paddock, and overlooks the lake. For some months a Native Lands Court, under Judge Brookfield, had been sitting here, attended by five or six hundred natives, and I anticipated seeing this large assemblage of the race, but, to my disappointment, tho court had been adjourned a day or two before we arrived, and the natives had all dispersed to attend to their several cultivations. The placw therefore had reverted to an abnormal state of quietude. On our arrival I put up at Gallagher's hotel. Gallagher's Like Hotel is a double storey building and has, on the upper floor, a number of lofty, comfortable bedrooms, a large parlour, and a verandah facing the lake. There is another house, the Taupo Hotel, with Mr Noble as proprietor and host. It has excellent accommodation and a good table, also with a fine view of the lake and mountains. Travellers to these parts need have no fear about obtaining suitable lodging places and comforts whilst these public houses exist there. Pleasure boati can be obtained for water excursions, and if one desires to voyage across the lake to Tokaano, at the extreme south, he can take passage in the cutter " Rose," Capt. Ferney, of five tons burden, which was launched only a fortnight before we arrived. Few people would expect to find any natural beauty about Taupo when looking around the landscape of dismal, bleak country which surrounds it; but round the right hand point of the inlet, at a place called Western Bay, the scenery is described as magnificent, with gullies filled with luxuriant native bush and many interesting caves. Then, again, there is Tokaanu, a native settlement beautifully situated at the south end of the lake at the ;.fook of Tongariro and about thirty-five miles f rom Tapuaeharuru. It is reached either by water, the " Rose " being a regular trader, or by a good road round the east side of the lake, which skirts the low-lying hills of the Kairaanawa ranges. The soil at Tokaanu is very rich and will be in great requisition when offered for sale. There is a good, well ordered hotel, kept by Mr Blake, formerly the postmaster and telegraphist in charge of the Taupo station. The centre of attraction at Tokaanu art) the springs and natural baths, which will before long combine to make this a favourite place of resort for recreation and sanatory purposes. There ia a swimming bath, the largest yet known, beautifully clear and lined with a natural border of silica, whose waters, impregnated with alum and iodine, are infallible for cutaneous diseases and rheumatic ailments. Two months ago a fearful accident happened here to a man named Farrar, said to be a near relative of the distinguished Ganon of St. Paul's Cathedral, who went to the springs after dark one evening for a bath. He flipped into a- pool of boiling water, and was j terribly scalded. He managed to pull j himself out and crawled towards the hotel. He died a few hours afterwards in great agony, his flesh being literally cooked and dropping off bis frame. No one, with time to spare, should quit Tanpo without a visit to Tokaanu. I have commenced ray descriptions of the wonders of the Taupo regions from the furthest end, intending to take my readers quietly over the rest of the ground in the sequence in which I performed my rambles. Before continuing my own story I will give the native version of the origin of the spring* and volcanic agencies existing on the line from Taupo to the East Coast at Maketu, which is taken from their legendary lore, and will not fail to interest everyone who peruses these, pages, as a beautiful illustration of Maori tradition. (To he continued.)