TARANAKI IN BYE-GONE DAYS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIX, Issue XXVI, 18 December 1897, Page 806

TARANAKI IN BYE-GONE DAYS.

NEW PLYMOUTH DURING THE TIME OF 1861 -2. F|l AKANAKI has been an unfort u- ■- nate district since it first was settled. During the sixties it was made to liear the chief burden of the troubles which arose out of a struggle l>etween the two races for supremacy of power the Maoris ignoring the right of the Europeans to settle on land which had been bought by the latter from natives who had proved their right to it to the satisfaction of the Government and the purchasers. The revolution which broke out early in March, 1860, continued for twelve months ; and whilst the fighting was going on considerable bitterness prevailed between the antagonistic parties. In March, 1861, a truce was declared between the Wai tarn natives and the Government, the former agreeing to the terms of peace proposed by the latter. Although the settlers had proved themselves victorious in the different engagements which had taken place, they had suffered great losses during the twelve months' fighting. Their cheerful homesteads had been reduced to heaps of ashes, rusty nails, and melted glass ; their land was covered with weeds, and the cattle and sheep which had not been killed by the natives had wandered into the bush and were growing wild. It is true that the people living in the place had the sympathy of the colonists; even those living in Australia showed their willingness to help those who had lost their all. But twenty years' labour is not to l>e replaced in a day, and no money could reinstate the settlers in the position they were in previous to the revolution. On the declaration of the truce. Sir George Grey expressed his kindly feeling towards the ruined settlers, for which they were grateful, for be gave them to understand that he looked forward confidently to a prosperous future for the struggling and war-worn communities. But if the fighting had ceased with the Waitara natives, the Maoris to the south of the settlement were anything but pacific. They would neither accept nor refuse the terms of peace

offered them by the Governor, and consequently the settlers felt that peace had really not been permanently established. And they were right, for on May 4 th. 1863, the southern natives renewed hostilities by tiring on an escort of the 57th Regiment, who were on their way to town in charge of a military prisoner. With the exception of one man the whole of the party were killed, and war in its fiercest form again commenced. During the two years of suspense, the |M*ople in New Plymouth were in anything but an enviable position; in fact, the truce was really worse for the settlers than if they had been engaged in actual warfare. They were compelled to lead idle, impoverished lives for many tedious months, in utter uncertainty as to when the time would arrive for them to re-

occupy their farms, to re-build their houses, and again be able safely to cultivate their land. Many had still greater troubles to l>ear, for they were without means to reinstate themselves. It is not, therefore, surprising that a feeling of depression prevailed throughout the community, and some became quite reckless as to their future. Previous to the native outbreak the settlers were in a position to vie with any part of New Zealand, if not in actual money returns, at least in solid comfort and

general prosperity. But all their twenty years' hard work had been swept away and they had been left in a helpless and ruined condition. No one in particular could be blamed for this state of affairs. The natives saw the ‘white-faces’ multiplying year by year, and they feared that in time they would be deprived of all their land. They accordingly made a determined effort to stem the invading tide of European settlers and tried their best to become the supreme

ruling power in New Zealand. On the other hand, the European settlers who had bought from the Maoris land supposed to be belonging to them, were not inclined to give up what had been paid for, l>ecause other tribes made pseudo claims to ownership. Driven into New Plymouth, those settlers who had some little means, started in business, whilst others lounged about the place, doing odd jobs, or (Kissed their time in the public houses. The people were confined within a very limited area, the lines of the town, as they were called, being formed partly by embankments and trenches, and partly by palisades, Liardet-street was then the eastern boundary, and Queen - street, and round where the Government buildings now stand, the western boundary of the town ; the southern boundary

being Leech -street. The barracks which were |>erehed on the crest of Marsland Hill, and St. Mary’s Church, were outside the lines, but in close contiguity to the town. The military barracks had a somewhat picturesque appearance, and were in a commanding position, forming the apex of a mound which had a look as if the hill had been made of forced earth. An extensive prospect of the surrounding country can be obtained from that elevated position at the present time. The soil of the home-

steads about looks rich, the vegetation luxuriant, and the broken character of the landscape, twisting and turning into endless varieties of undulating knolls and valleys, thickly studded with pretty cottages, cozily embowered amid a multiplication of fences of living green, impart a cheerful and happy English aspect to a very charming picture. But in 1862, the time 1 am referring to, the view was very different. Traces of war and havoc were visible in every

direction. Standing chimney stacks, fragments of what were once comfortable homesteads, burnt fences, untilled ground, the absence of cattle, all told the tale, of the rebels' vengeance ; and all this wreek and ruin was accomplished within a few hundred yards from a town garrisoned by upwards of a thousand well-armed men. The barracks on Marsland Hill in those days were capacious. Constructed of corrugated iron and surrounded by a strong and flanking palisading, loop - holed in every direction, they would have proved invulnerable against any attack made by the natives. After the Imperial forces left the colony the barracks were used for housing the immigrants as they arrived from England ; hut immigration as it was known in the early days of the colony becoming a

thing of the past, the buildings were deserted, and l>eeame of no use, so a few years ago the material was given to the Scenery Preservation Society, who raised money by private subscriptions, and had the corrugated iron of the military barracks conveyed half-way up Mount Egmont, and there erected a large building, which is now used by tourists, who make it a night’s' resting-place when wishing to ascend to the top of ‘hoary Taranaki.’ During the rebellion there were

several stockades erected in commanding positions. Of these, the one on Mount Eliot., which abutted on to the landing-place, was a good protection to the town against an invasion by the natives from the sea. A vestige of the hill is still to be seen, but it has been so cut about with streets through it that little remains of Mount Eliot at the present day. Outside the town, on the east side, was Fort Niger, where the sailors and marines were encamped. Then there were Fort Stapp, Fort Gold, and other camps for the defence of the town. New Plymouth, in those days, was like an English garrison town, and the traffic of a large population in a circumscribed space soon caused the unformed roads to be broken up, and in wet weather the streets became almost impassable. Through the want of drainage all kinds of diseases sprang into existence and deaths became numerous. Dyptheria was very prevalent at the time, the children suffering from the complaint and dying- off in threes and fours in various families. The picture which accompanies this gives the reader a very good idea of what New Plymouth was during the war. It was sketched by the late Mr W. Collins in 1862 from an elevation on the Carrington Road, and show’s every house at the time to the west of the Huatoki River, which runs through the town to the sea. Marsland Hill, with the barracks on its top, is to be seen, whilst the stone church, St. Mary’s, and the graveyard at the foot, clearly shows their position as I have attempted to describe above. More to the right of the picture is to be seen Paritutu, one of the loftiest of the Sugar Loaf Islands, which rises to an elevation of 503 ft. The other islands, which are a short distance from the shore, are also shown. Where the fiag-staff is seen is Mount Eliot, with the huts of a military encampment. As I have stated, that mound is fast disappearing, it being gradually cut down to a level with other parts of the town, and through which Egmont-street now runs, from Devon-Street to the railway station. The picture is valuable from the fact that no other view of New Plymouth is in existence taken at that time from the same spot where this one was sketched from.

W. H. J. SEFFERN.