EARLY WAIKATO.

Waikato Times, Volume 108, Issue 18167, 4 November 1930, Page 3

EARLY WAIKATO.

■ GLIMPSES INTO THE PAST NOTES FROM OLD BOOKS. ■ SOME INTERESTING INCIDENTS. H ■■ (By Andrew Wilson.) There are many books, historical and otherwise, written about New Zealand, but not many of the earlier ones mention the Waikato. Most of the first books were written about ■ the whaling days and the trading be- ■ tween the natives and Europeans ■ visiting the harbours and along the ■ coast line. The first mention of, the ■ Waikato worth noticing is in Rev. ■ William' Yates’s book, “An Account H of New Zealand,” published in 1835, ■ .where he states that in' February, I ' 1834, Rev. A. N. Brown, from Pallia, I and Mr Hamlin, from Waimate, were I deputed to go overland to the WaiI kato and report on the possibilities of I establishing mission stations there; I and after an absence of three months ■ they returned from their expedition, ■ bringing a good account of the land I and recommended the establishment ■ of three mission stations. A Much-quoted Work. Rev. Richard Taylor, who published • a book called “Te-Ika-Maui,” in 1855, which is accepted to be the best and is the most-quoted book on the natives and the natural history of New Zealand, mentions the Waikato River on eleven different occasions throughout the book. Amongst "a list of Maori mottoes (every tribe had'its motto) one was “Waikato Hoehoe ■'f Waka Nukenuke” (Waikato paddles are crooked”) —a simile drawn from their shape—which, unlike others, are crooked—this is applied by their enemies to /their general character, and is a term of reproach. Waikato taniwha rua” (Waikato has its hundred taniwha) signifies that it has its great number of powerful chiefs. “Waikato Horo Pounainu,” a bluff at Waikato Heads where many canoes have been lost and people drowned — hence applied to Waikato as a peopledestroying tribe. It was at one time supposed by the earlier writers, and is shown on the first maps of the North Island, that the Waikato River emptied into the Manukau. Taylor says “that the Manukau is close to, the Waikato which is a big river flowing from Lake Taupo, and it is not improbable that before many years have elapsed that a canal will be made from the Piako to the Wa'ikato and from the ,

.FicUvo to me wamtuu aim uum me Waikato to the Manukau, and from there to the Tamaki, which will enable •vessels of almost any burden to penetrate into the great central lake, of the Waikato, which is the finest and -most available district in the entire-, island.” At that lime Taylor estimated the population of the Waikato at 13,000. Mr Taylor also states that the first missionaries visited the Waikato in 1832. The missionary could traverse the country with some degree of safety, although this could not be done by the natives themselves. - An instance of this occurred at the Waikato, when the brethren first attempted to cross that river on a moki (raft) formed of bundles of sedge tied together. The natives spied- approaching, and - taking them/ '-for enemies immediately levelled their guns.. The missionaries tied a" white handkerchief to the end of a paddle and hoisted it up. It was no sooner seen than down went the guns and they were permitted to proceed in peace. “A Slap In the Faoe.” Rev. James Buller arrived in Hokir anga.Jn 1836, and afterwards wrote - a book, “Forty Years in New Zealand.” He visited the Waikato several times, and- has a lot of information about the Maori war in the Waikato. Buller made many journeys through the Waikato district; amongst many interesting incidents he mentions: “As I came to Nghruawahia I found Hie people dll astir. Some forty- or more chiefs of Ngapuhi, with a number of Government officers and others, had come from Auckland in the hope of bringing about a conference with the Maori King and his Ministers. Prince Albert was in Auckland,' and it was thought if a - son of- the Queen could be brought face to face with the Maori “King" it might have a good effect. Accordingly negotiations had been opened, large provisions made; Prince and Governor were ready to start as soon as a message should inform them that the “King” party was on its way to Ngaruawahia, the proposed place of meeting. Public exceptation was on tip-toe. The astute natives at first sent ambiguous replies. At last a special messenger—a chief of high rank—was sent; he brought their answer—it was a slap in the face I “Give us back Waikato; then, and not till then, will we see your Governor or your Prince.” Buller also gives a lecture on the Maori war, in his book, which was delivered to the Y.M.C.A. in Auckland on June 25, 1869, by him. There is another book, “Life Amongst the Maoris in New Zealand,” by Rev. Robert Ward. It has a lot to say about the appointment of a king amongst the Maoris. This is one of the later books—there are a great number of them—that have remarks about the Waikato as to how the inhabitants advanced from the advent of the missionary to 1860. Dr. Hochstetter, the naturalist, who made a geological survey of the 'Waikato in 1858, remarks on the wonderful cultivation and the great success the Maoris had in growing wheat, maize, potatoes, and many kinds of fruit; also hops; and at the number of flour mills driven by water-power—there are six of these mills shown on Dr. Hochstetter’s map of the Waikato, south of Ngaruawahia. The Maoris' had constructed roads, built schools and churches, and seemed to be on a fair way to become a prosperous people. There was no potato blight, codlin moth, nor had the hundreds of blights and curses arrived in the country up to that time. Peaches grew

in every place, especially along river banks where out of the reach of stock, and bore fruit in profusion; and the same with apples. Waikato was the. granary of Auckland; the natives transported farm produce and pigs by canoe down the rivers, across the portage to the Manukau, and thence to Auckland. This appears to have been the condition of the Waikato in 1860, when trouble started over the conduct of affairs. The King Movement. A book which seems to handle the question of those troublous times in Hie Waikato from 1860 to 1864 is by j Sir J. E. Gorst, M.A., “History of the j Maori King.” This is a most interest- j ing hook, and the author has tried to J

- =| i . | . be fair to both sides. The Maori! i evidently began to feel that the > pakeha- was beginning to overpower; • him; their influence was extending ! and their acquisition of land was in- | ■ creasing. - The chiefs, gifted with ! wisdom and forethought, could see | i that no matter what was expressed | individually by the pakeha, it was i • evident that the wish of the collective j spirit of the white man was a most i pronounced one—to own the Wai- 1 kato. .The best of the natives tried to bring their.. people- 'into line by appointing courts to punish crime, and in the end went so far as to appoint a king, and it is' in his account of this attempt of the natives • to rule themselves, that Sir. J. E. j Gorst reveals the whole epic of the | Maori war—just one item that might appear misleading to the Maoris, considering the Europeans did not own the Waikato at that time and looked like exploiting the native land. 1 Mr 'John Featon wrote a book called “The Maori War.” The book was written in conjunction with ] Captain Gilbert Mair and G. A. Preece, | and should be fairly correct. In re--I lating about the means taken to raise militia it is stated that “several com- I panies were raised in Auckland, and | tempting advertisements, like the fol- | lowing, appearing in the newspapers, j soon filled their ranks with smart j young men.” : Rich Waikato Land. Wanted, twelve men for company forming under Lieutenant Spencer. Fifty acres of land and a town allotment for all men who Join this company. Apply at Daily Southern Cross Office. Waikato! Waikato! Epsom Company. Wanted, a few young men of good character to complete Captain Hill’s Cpmpany. Apply at Exchange Hotel, to Sergeant George Panter. This .would surely look to the c native as if it were an agrarian war I

he was engaged in. Libel on Bryce. G. W. Rusden wrote a history of New Zealand, but there was a statement in it about Mr John Bryce, Native Minister. Bryce took action for libel against Rusden, and got £SOOO damages and the book was suppressed; otherwise it was understood to be a valuable history. There is another book, called “Aureretanga,” which is an account of the Waikato war from a Maori point of view. I was lent this book by a Maori chief (the late John Ormsby), and I was very taken with it. It put a reasonable construction on many things hard to understand

about the conduct of both parties. I have an idea it may he Rusden’s history abbreviated and - under another name; but it is a real good thing to hear both sides of a story and to “see ourselves as others see us.”