Through the Auckland Province With the Governor.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXII, Issue XII, 25 March 1899, Page 366

Through the Auckland Province With the Governor.

BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.

HOKIANGA, MANGONUi, AND WHANGAROA.

With a view of ensuring* arrival at llokianga to the* time scheduled in the scheme of the tour, the Tutanekai, instead of remaining alongside the Dargaville Wharf on Thursday evening, dropped down tin* river, and was anchored at dusk towards its mouth. As the sequel will show, the precaution proved rather a loss that a gain. An anchor is not weighed without a majority of those on hoard having

their attention drawn to the fact by tin* somewhat jarring noise of the process, so when next morning about nve tin* winch was put into requisition to draw in the forty-five fathoms of chain which had been so quickly let out the previous evening, those who do not regard early rising as a virtue

io he cultivated anathematised the cause of their early awakening. When, at half-past seven, the pilot was dropped at I’oil to, a short, distance from the Heads, most of the party were on deck. A fresh southerly breeze was blowing, and for the most part the passage of the bar was not looked forward to with altogether pleasurable anticipations. The lighthouse, situated in the immense waste of sand which .constitutes the northern head, dipped its flag three times in salute to the Governor’s ensign, which was flying from the masthead. It was when entering on the bar here that we had our first illustration of tiie encroachment of the sand on the land so common along the west coast. It is said that even the spinifex iiirsntM, which will thrive in almost any sand, will not grow at Kaipara Heads, and the scant vegetation seen in small patches in the midst of the sand waste bear the* appearance of making a struggle for existence. The bar did not prove in quite as unpleasant a state as some of those on board had feared it would do. but nevertheless several places were vacant at break-

fast, and everyone was willing to adopt for his own ends Tennyson's words, 'And may there be no moaning of the lair when I put out to sea.' The Kai para in its way is an extremely objectionable bar. You really cannot consider that you are altogether quit of it till seven miles westward of its commencement in the vicinity of the lighthouse; and for the greater part of this distance the chan-

nel is not well marked. Howeve-, the trip up the coast was pleasant enough, and must- have come as a pleasant respite to the Governor and Premier, whose task on the Wednesday after-

noon at Helensville, and on the Thursday at Dargaville, was by no means

easy. Shortly after two the Tntanekai was lying off Hokianga. but as the

Hags were unfavourable for the passage of the bar, she rolled up and down in front of the river, much to the discomfort of everyone. The changing of the signals at four o'clock was received with no small amount of thankfulness,more especially’as the sky was threatening, the wind increasing, and the responsive sea rolling itself in waves which were gradually assuming by no means despicable proportions. Onee inside, the sea became like the

proverbial mill pond, while the sky cleared considerably. It is a striking commentary on the little that is known of Hokianga that till the day previous it had been impossible for Captain Alexander, His Excellency's secretary, in spite of frequent communications, to ascertain with any certainty the places that it was expedient for the steamer to visit. However, while we were at Dargaville, the arrangements which had been some three months in reaching finality were at last settled, and, having picked up the pilot just inside the heads, the Tntanekai steamed up to Opononi, some two miles inside the estuary. As we came alongside the little wharf the salute of guns from close to the wharf welcomed the Governor. 1 am a stickler for a man obeying commands, but if someone over me had given me instructions to fire the guns which were responsible for the salute, and which I afterwards saw. T would flatly have refused to have anything to do with it unless perchance 1 hail a very handsome accident insurance policy on my life. There is a quartette of these guns, and they are the quaint old iron muzzle-loaders of close on a century ago. They are situated

on Mr John Webster’s property. It will be as well to intimate that Opononi and John Webster are somewhat synonymous. Opononi would not be Opononi without its John Webster, and vice versa. Mr Webster is an oldyoung man whom few would. suspect of being as old as he is. He has an exceedingly nice place, and under his trees His Excellency was formally welcomed.

A big percentage of those present were Maoris. When Mr William Webster had welcomed His Excellency, the Maoris took a good long innings, and after Lord lianfurly had retired to Mr Webster’s house, they kept the Premier to pour into his ears all their various grievances. Mr Webster entertained the Governor and suite, the Premier, Hon. Jas. Carroll, and Col. Pole-Penton at dinner. At the Opononi Hotel, just at the head of the wharf, jollification was kept up to a much later hour than at Mr Webster’s. I don't wish to say anything deroga-

tory to the natives of Lower Hokianga, but, if the truth must be told, a great many of them were really very drunk that night. This is the more remarkable as Landlord Andrews informed me that this was the season when the natives were short of readymoney. Some of the whites, too, w-ere hardly what one with any regard for I ruth could call ‘sober as judges.’ However, no ill effects were noticeable next day. and those suffering from a racking headache—and there must have been many in this sad plight—kept the fact religiously to themselves. The steamer started for the upper parts of the river very shortly after breakfast was over in the morning. A large number of the local residents accompanied the steamer, and an opportunity was thus afforded of learning something of the present state of prosperity in the district. Timber milling, for the simple reason that all the easily available kauri has been cut out, does not now rank so prominently as heretofore; gum, too, is all too manifestly not so plentiful as it was some few years ago. Settlement is of too scattered a nature to give promise that a creamery if started would receive satisfactory support. What the people of the district look forward to doing well with when gum and timber have, through the exhaustion of these products, been relegated from the place they still oc,cupy as the main sources of income to the majority, is fruit. Communication at present is too bad—the steam service is trimonthly—for anything to be done in opening up a market; but, as Mr Seon, agent for the Northern Company- at Kohukohu, says, it will be improved as occasion demands. The natives, it seems, still own the best of the land on either side of the estuary, having retained, with very considerable cuteness. the great extent of the alluvial flats in the valleys. As His Excellency in his speech at Opononi deplored. they make but poor use of it: in fact, they do not crop it to a fraction of the extent that their forefathers did. It is a fact to be deeply regretted that our educational system has so far had but little effect in overcoming the improvidence of the natives. As long as they have

sufficient to eat and drink and a place to lie down in comparative comfort they are content, and few indeed are the exceptions whose ambitions for something better spurs them on to steady personal exertion. The natives of the Hokianga district in this are only typical of their brethren further South.

The scenery of the river is not so fine as many on board had antici

pated. Occasionally there are pretty glimpses, but the distant mountains bush-clad and enveloped in a light haze raise hopes of pretty scenes which somehow are not realised on j nearer approach. The Tutanekai was brought up against the wharf at Herds point, on which the county town Rawene is settled. Rawene was revealed to fame last year as the base from which our untried but, we are confident, gallant permanent force marched to suppress the disaffected natives out Waima way whose unwillingness to pay the Government tax on their hordes of canine companions looked as if it would really end in serious trouble. But for this

Rawene would not probably have ever come prominently before the public, for, although it possesses among its attractions the S.M. Court and Council Chambers, both it and its people are quiet and with no apparently great hungering for notoriety. The usual address of welcome was presented His Excellency on the wharf by Mr William Burr, the County Council chairman. After a

short walk through fhe township, during the course of which was pointed out the famous puriri tree to a bianeh of which it is said the Maoris in their cannabalistie days used to hang their victims till they became a little tender, the steamer proceed ed on towards Kohukohu. It is here that perhaps the prettiest part ,>f the lower portion of the river is passed. The banks come eloser together;

in fact the place is called the narrows. Rounding a bend a by no means unpieturesque straight stretch up the Kohukohu is unfolded. Once alongside the wharf at this latter place a basket of fruit was presented His Excellency by a pretty little girl named Freda Wallace. The fruit was not only in great variety but so perfect that there would appear to be no reason to doubt the capabilities of Hokianga climate and soil to grow the most magnificent peaches, plums, apples, etc. The vice-regal party conducted by Messrs Yarborough, Wallace and Son, who were apparently an unofficial reception committee, visited the vineyard of a German

named Heidecker. It is said, ami figures are brought forward to prove the assertion, that Mr Beideekei makes £4OO a year oil’ the 2 acres that he has in grapes. Just nt the present time the vines are louden with fruit, and Mr Heidecker looks forward this season to nt least equalling his average annual output of 1200 gallons of wine. Nearly the whole is planted with the Isabella

variety, and a peculiarity is that the plants are trained close to the ground, a practice which Mr Heidecker recommends, because he avers that since he adopted it the vines have been free from the blight which when trained higher off the ground attacked them, while the heat of the ground he believes is a material factor in ripening them. Of course everyone tried the wine, and although that which went by the simple name of red wine must have had a great deal of sugar put into it--treatment which would not conduce to its appreciation by critical English palates—the lighter coloured wine was decidedly drier and of finer quality. Back again at the heads, and the dozen residents who were invited guests on the trip up to Kohukohu landed at Opononi. theTutanekai crossed the bar and was headed north. The narrow strip of land which from slightly above Hokianga stretches away to the North (’ape is a dreary enough expanse of gum country, en-

croached on by the endless driftingsand which characterises a great portion of the western coast of the Auckland Province. Here it makes considerable inroads, and at one place has in fact extended right across this narrow tongue of land and effected a junction with the somewhat more rocky eastern shore of the island. The people of the North have nevertheless something to thank the sand for. It forms a beach from here to the North Cape, which it is probably no exaggeration to say is the finest in the world. It is the publie highway north of Ahi para, and along it a five ton load may be carted without the wheels sinking in more than half an inch. For seventy miles it extends fringed on the one hand by the placid breakers of the Southern Pacific, and on the other bv the roll-

ing sand hills a stretch that makes the pulse of a well-mounted horst*man throb and an unentered paradise for the cyclist it wots not of. About midnight the Tutanekai was abeam of the Cape Maria, and before the dawn of Sunday the 12th hail broken was well down the eastern coast. Be fore many of those on board were astir the steamer had entered from the great open Doubtless Bay. tinpretty little inlet on which Mangonui stands, and was safely moored against the wharf. The impression that is. 1 believe, generally entertained of Mangonui is that it is one of the dreariest places in the northern country, which, truth to tell, can boast some places whose appearance would quell the exuberance of spirits of a Tony Weller. If this is the light in which Mangonui is regarded it is entertained under an entire misconception. Sunday, the 12th. was certainly one of those beautiful bright days when the state of the atmosphere may expressly be de

scribed as balmy, but this alone could not account for the favourable im pression that Mangonui created on those on board the Tutanekai. It bore a look of scrupulous cleanness that in itself would be no siderable passport to favour. The Inml. although hilly, is not so abruptly steep as in some parts of the North, notably Kohukohu. I add the last two words with a certain amount of trepidation, as I am assured that f the unwary traveller emphasises the departure of the land of Hokianga from entire flatness further than Io say that it is undulating there ar.likely to be unpleasant things in store for him. However, to return to Mangonui the land surrounding the town is it n fort u mite ly, for the most part, poor gum land. In fact so is a great part of the rest

of the county for this northernmost section of these islands is the best hunting ground left to the gum-dig-ger. (iood evidence of this is forthcoming' in the fact the Gum Act of last session, put almost immediately into operation by the energetic action of Mr IL Al. Houston, has resulted in a return of over a thousand pounds in license fees. The poor Austrian, whose entire ignorance of our laws has been so often deplored, has been showing the Mangonui local authorities another stud totally different side of his character. So as not to be interfered with in his work he paid the necessary license fee. but being of opinion that the law will not stand the test of the courts, subsequent!.! notified his intention of contesting the matter. Despite the large amount of inferior and bad land to which Mangonui can lay undisputable though unenviable claim, there is some g-ood hind, There is said to be about 10.000 acres of really firstclass land round Kaitaia. and it is a grievance of the settlers that the descendants of the missionaries who with considerable acumen secured it in the early days neither put it Io adequate use nor will sell it to those who consider that they would do so. Mangonui. it has no doubt been gathered from waht has gone before, depends very largely for its prosperity. such as it is. on the gum industry. but timber is also still worked. The mill is only intermittently in use. logs not being readily available. but just at present there is :t large supply lying in the booms ami in adj: t'tidal waters. As in other parts of the north fish are very plentiful in the waters along the coast, ami fruit thrives wonderfully on what for ordinary purposes of agriculture or pastoral pursuits is the very poorest of hind. In these industries, in con j ii net ion with extensive canning operations. I should say must inevitably lie the great mainstays of the people of Mangonui in the not very remote future. A comparatively good road at any rate a good summer road strikes west from Mangonui. Oruru. I’eria and Awanui. coining out on the wonderful beach I have spoken of at Ahipara which, once a thriving missionarv station, is now almost deserted. The east coast road is hardly so good, ami of the main route to the Mint h over which the Premier rode to Whangaroa. it is perhaps sufficient to quote that bon. gentleman's remarks when asked if he had driven the distance. If anyone proposed that I should drive over that road.' said the genial Mr Seddon. 'I should seriously want to know that his motives in respect to my person were good!' .Monday was another charming day. The usual address of welcome was presented on the wharf after breakfast, ami then a start was made on what proved a very pleasant little excursion inland. The road is by no means bad. and. lying for the most part up the Oruru Valley, the grade is-good, only one ridge having to be crossed. In ' Mnngonili a great difference of opinion is entertained on the question of the distance to I’eria, estimates

varying from 7 to 17 miles, but probably measurement would show 12 miles to be a comparatively accurate computation. The road for the first few miles lies along* the side of a creek, which forms an arm of the Mangonui Harbour, till, branchingaway to the right, its course is along the side of the valley, across a. well watered but poor country. There are some very pretty patches of bush and magnificent, clumps of tree ferns adjacent to the road, but for the most part the hills rise on either hand sparsely clad with stunted titree. Nearing Oruru an improvement is noticeable, some well matured maize crops, unfortunately in places devastated by caterpillars, showing that the soil on the low lying land is not lacking in reproductive properties. After passing Oruru post office about half a-mile you come upon the public

school, and here, on the suggestion of His Excellency, the Governor's carriage drew up. and the party alighted. Some thirty tanned skinned, brighteyed youngsters hailed with the delight with which children regard any break in their lessons the advent of the Governor, with the burly form of the Premier following him in through the doorway. After a few words with the teacher in charge. His Excellence’ on leaving suggested that the children lie granted a holiday for the remainder of tin- day. and. as the vehicles disappeared round a bend in the road close by the school the youngsters could be seen rushing pell meli for the fence anxious to catch the last glimpse of him whose mana was so great* that he could come in and say ‘No more school to-day.’ Arriving at Perin about noon a. large number of natives and white set tiers were* present to welcome His Excellency. A native school was opened at the Peria alsmt six weeks

ago. and practically the whole of the roll number, some thirty little darkies anil a score of white children, were lined up with military order opposite Mr W. Hazard's, the main building of the little settlement. Led by their teacher they gave three hearty cheers for His Excellency, and subsequently cheered the Premier, after which they were also told that their school duties were concluded for the day, a piece of news they received with acclaim. A most excellent cold lunch was provided by Mr and Mrs Webster, a great feature of which was the roast turkeys, which were finer than anything of the sort I have tasted for many a day.

It is unnecessary to go into details of the various speeches made, but

they were truly felicitous, from the Governor’s courtly words to Mi- Hazard's short, seven-worded reply to the toast of his wife and self, ‘Thank you, and God bless you all.’ Arriving- back at Mangonui at 3.30, a pleasant half-hour was spent at a gathering of the Tennis Club at Air O’Neill's place,, and the Tutanekai left at twenty minutes to five, bound for Whangaroa, great crowds cheering the Governor from the end of the wharf. The coastline between Mangonui and Whangaroa. must rank with finest bold and broken coast scenery of New Zealand. It is a coast which the effects of thousands of years of terrific easterly gales could hardly have moulded, but which must owe some of its grandeur to volcanic action. The entrance to Whangaroa Harbour, the characteristics of which are very similar to those of the coast both north and

south of it, is hardly noticeable at any distance when approaching from the sea. Whangaroa is an exceptionally fine volcanic harbour, presenting for its area a remarkable amount of deep water anchorage, and the people of the district are justly proud of their possession. One of the things that struck me most about the Whangaroaites was the intimacy which th w have with the associations ami traditions of their harbour. Some of the stories are certainly interesting. In one apparently unsealeable bluff, in an arm to the right of the entrance, was situated what was as near to being an impregnable pah as was to be found at the beginning of this century anywhere in the land, but the redoubtable llongi came along, and one of his followers made the perilous

ascent from the shore, ami. pulling down the unsuspecting sentry with an axe, he had left the road open for the rest of Hongi’s followers, who made very short work of the business. It was at Taratara, which stands out conspicuously at the head of the harbour, that the same redoubtable warrior, Hongi, received the wound which two years afterwards caused his death, and with which the old warrior was wont to amuse his more intimate friends by letting the wind whistle through it. On the occasion of this accident Hongi had, as usual, routed the opposing side, who were retiring with more celerity than grace, when one of their number stopped short, and. drawing a. bead on llongi. who had left the cumbersome old steel armour with which he usually went into battle behind, sent a bullet through his chest and out the other side. Again, local residents will show

locally known as the haystack. The native legend in connection with this you a high precipitous hill which is is that .a Maori girl jumped over it to a certain death, and her distracted lover followed her. Whether the primary cause of this distressing tragedy was a flirtation on the part of one of the participators, the writer was not informed. At a l>ay just inside the heads, on the southern shore, the natives gather about April every year to catch king-fish, which seem to be plentiful at that season; and here, also, the natives, up to within three or four years ago, used to bring in and try down an occasional shark, which fell a victim to their prowess with the harpoon. The people of Whangaroa lake no inconsiderable pride in the rumour that among the papers of Admiral Tryon, who went down with the ill-fated Victoria, was found a plan prepared by him for the fortification of the harbour, and its construction as a naval base. This was said to have been made by him subsequent to a short visit many years ago. Of the beauty of this harbour, about which the visitor will perchance be told, there can l>e no possible two opinions. Its picturesqueness is rather of the grand order, and no inconsiderable factor in its beauty is the almost entire absence of any stratified rock The towering cliffs are composed of a conglomerate which will never give a foothold for vegetation. Towering above the town of Whangaroa itself is Weakairi. or St. Paul’s, a high hill surmounted by a cupola of rock not unlike the dome of the great cathedral, from which the hill takes its English name. Almost exactly opposite is a very similar hill, which the Maoris know as Hopekako. and the Europeans have christened St. Peter’s. It would be too long a task to enter into a word picture of the scenic beauty of Whangaroa. and I must fain rest content with the plain assertion that the harbour is beyond question exceptionally tine. The inhabitants are partly dependent on gum. timber and shipbuilding. At the last - named some sixty men are employed at Messrs Lane and Brown’s yards, opposite Whangaroa township. The harbour drains but a comparatively small watershed, and the kauri. Which can be more conveniently conveyed to the Whangaroa mill than to that at Maugoniti, or that at Kohukohu, is becoming beautifully less and less. Stories are not, however, wanting of what the district used to produce in the way of kauri. The tale runs that logs have been so thick in the harbour that it was quite possible to walk from side to side on them, and. again, that 150,000,0110 feet of timber were cut from—l dare not say how small an

acreage. The Whangaroa people, after tendering His Excellency a formal address at the wharf, took the party for a run round the harbour and •true' New Zealand picnic. There are many very neat little gasoline launches at Whangaroa, and three of these were crowded with close on a hundred people. A run outside the harbour was made to a. place known as the 'hole in the wall.' It was the intention for the launches to pass through this aperture, there being just enough room to do so, but as a little sea was running it was decided not to take what was an unnecessary risk. Returning to the picnic rendezvous just inside the heads, the Medora was found at anchor in the bay. having brought down the Premier from Ta.metanie, where he arrived overland from Mangonui. The scene when everyone had landed and taken their seats on the grotind (with the exception of the Governor and Premier everyone sat on the ground) was typical of New Zealand picnicking at its best. The bay is an exceedingly pretty one. and it having no recognised name, it was, after lunch, with the Governor's permission, christened Ranfurly Bay. The best of good things come to an end, and two o'clock saw the Tutanekai passing out through Whangaroa Heads. At Russell, where, at 5 p.m. on the 14th the Tutanekai made fast, one of the most important functions of the tour took place, in the visit of His Excellency to a large number of natives assembled at Waitangi. The Tutanekai steamed over and lay off Waitangi, on the Wednesday morning, and the official landing was made at noon. Capts. Alexander and Wellesley, of His Excellency’s staff, and Colonel Pole-Penton, were dressed in uniform, a. fact very much appreciated by the natives, who have an inordinate liking for such ceremonious show. Of the

formalities of the reception, of the tendering by the Maories of an expression of their loyalty, and of His Excellency’s reply and good counsel. 1 do not propose to say anything here. The meeting, generally, will be dealt with in a future article. Suffice it to say that the effect of His Excellency’s visit, and that of the Premier on th“ following day. should bear good fruits in the future.