Lost But Not Forgotten

Tu Tangata, Issue 36, 1 June 1987, Page 42

Lost But Not Forgotten

ONGAR A OMU A

Nga maunga Ruahine

Na Bill Seeker

Although with regards to altitude, the Ruahine Range of the lower North Island falls well short of the grandeur of the loftier Southern Alps, this mountain barrier nevertheless presented a formidable physical barrier to parties who in olden times had reason to travel between Hawkes Bay in the east and the western districts of Te Ika-a-Maui. The range also presented a challenge to those parties journeying to the northern parts of the island as many a Pakeha experienced in the era before modern roading changed the landscape.

Today it is by no means uncommon to hear doubting Thomases within the ranks of New Zealand historians express their reservations about the depth of geographical knowledge possessed by the old time Maori. This questioning by a new generation of historians of how well the Maori of yester-year knew the hinterland of his tribal domain and what lay behind the distant ranges has been fueled to a certain extent from entries in the journals of early European explorers like the Rev. William Colenso of the Church Missionary Society. For in Colenso’s case he has left on permanent record, the problems he encountered in finding guides who knew the Ruahine Range like the proverbial back of their hands.

There is no doubt that due to a combination of circumstances which resulted from ever increasing contact by the coastal tribes with Europeans, that some aspects of the old communal life style under went change.

First-hand knowledge lost These changes in old Aotearoa took place from the time of Cook’s first visit to these shores. For in order to obtain articles of trade which were in demand by ship’s masters and traders so that European manufacturing of varying usefulness could be obtained in exchange, something in the old traditional life style had to be neglected. One of these changes brought about to the old communal life style by the changed economic conditions was that first hand knowledge of extensive areas of the

tribal hinterlands in many areas was lost. This lack of geographical knowledge of the far away forested ranges where life was hard, is shown with the ancient trails that worked their way through the Ruahines.

Some aspects of travelling in New Zealand have not altered with the years as any present day tramper who has cause to bivouac or camp out near the bush line can verify. This mountain forest has appropriately been given the name of elfin forest by plan geographers and is typical of highland regions of both the earth’s tropical and warm temperature zones where broadleaf plants flourish. Colenso in his mountain travels found that the gloomy elfin forest caused his

Maori companions to become depressed once sundown approached. Swirling mist, the sound of dripping water from trees festooned with moss, all combine to produce an eerie feeling which seems to be out of this world. A further characteristic of traversing the high peaks of the Ruahines above the bush line is the experience of a party almost without warning being enshrouded in thick mist. On occasions this gives rise to the spectre of the brocken. This is the phenomenon where the greatly magnified shadow of an observor is thrown onto a bank of cloud. All this eeriness made the Ruahines a haunt of the Patupaiarehe. These being spirit people who posessed bodies like humans, had fairer complexions than the norm and who engaged themselves in human pursuits.

Colenso’s journal is important for the historical record in that by the time he arrived at the Ahuriri Lagoon in 1843 to establish his mission station “Waitangi”, a generation of Ngati Kahungungu had come and gone who had no personal experience of life in the vastness of the Ruahines. At the same time however, earlier epics of the tribe and remembrance of unfortunate disasters to parties travelling in the vastness of the range and which were well remembered. These points of disaster were so well described in the tribal history that the areas were identified by folk who were passing them for the first time.

Colenso’s interest in penetrating the Ruahines by means of an ancient trodden pathway was to pay a pastoral visit to Mokai Patea. This upland area was in the watershed of the Rangitikei and on the western side of the range. The inhabitants of Mokai Patea (nowadays called Inland Patea) were the Ngati Paneiri or Te Upokoiri hapu of Ngati Kahungungu. By February 1845 when Colenso made his first attempt to reach Mokai Patea all contact with this far away hapu of Ngati Kahungungu had been lost for many years. Thus finding a guide who not only knew but was willing to lead the way was the missionary’s problem.

No sketches

From Colenso’s journal it is evident that he never resorted to the obvious thing to do by asking local sages to draw a sketch of what they knew of the way ahead. This was the practice resorted to by Edward Shortland when he placed on record the geographical knowledge of the Otago hinterland as imprinted on the memory of the Ngati Tahu and Canon Stack’s effort in obtaining the direction of a route through the Southern Alps from an elderly Maori, who had made the journey in the days of his youth. Both these cases have been recorded in earlier issues of Tu Tangata.

After being strongly advised by his Maori friends and benefactors not to attempt the mountain journey, Colenso obtained the services of a not too eager middle aged guide named Mawhatu who had made the trip in his younger days. This journey was an escaped captive. Although his knowledge of the area would be useful, important details

of key landmarks along the way would have become blurred with the lapse of time. This time the guide would also be travelling in the opposite direction and details that would have impressed on the young mind through changed circumstances would assume a different appearance when approached from the other leg of the journey.

Colenso’s first journeys to the Ruahines were by roundabout routes. The decision not to make the journey to Mokai Patea as short as possible by making a direct approach to the high peak Te Atua-Mahuru was destined to see the pastoral visit end in failure. For from Colenso’s journal it comes out how he considerably underestimated the time required for him to venture into the back of beyond. Also out of his reckoning was any thought of how he was to supplement his meagre rations by living off the land if time ran out.

Guided by Mawhatu, Colenso’s party moved through scrub and fern until the edge of the Ruataniwha Plain was reached at the banks of Mangaonuku River. From here the party moved across country through forest and skirting swamps until the Waiapaoa was reached.

Today for convenience of pronunciation and spelling this placename is referred to as Waipawa. At the end of the Waiapaoa’s middle course Mawhatu changed direction and led the party up the Makaroro branch.

From a study of the terrain it is obvious that with all the best intentions, Mawhatu led the party too far up the Makaroro before making the ascent proper. For by the time Colenso sighted Te Atua-o-Mahuru the river had changed its character and become a typical mountain stream, with numerous deep pools to negotiate, plus slippery water worn boulders to make footing difficult. In addition to these natural hazards were complicated logjams to clamber over and the numerous fordings of the river.

Second attempt successful

Colenso on leaving the river realised that the party had missed the way. Amongst his accomplishments Colenso had a keen interest in botany. At no stage in the climb to the main range were any signs of a track noticed. Although he was on the look out there were no signs of the Maori bush craft

practice of marking a recognised route by the custom of pawhati. This was the practice of bending a prominent branch or shrub in the general direction. The Maori members of the party also failed to notice any trodden moss, which in the days before the liberation of noxious animals into our forest, would be the result of human trampling.

On reaching the main range, Colenso endeavoured to speed up proceedings by sending a scout party to Mokai Patea. Due to shortage of food Mawhatu and his companions were forced to abandon the attempt of renewing contact with the distant Hapu. The failure was also a salutary lesson to all explorers in that it conveyed the message that in the ranges, living off the land was a difficult proposition.

In his next attempt Colenso achieved his objective. This he achieved by following another roundabout route to Mokai Patea. This led him initially up the Mohaka. By following a major track which had led him along the watershed which separated the Upper Mohaka and Rangitaiki Rivers, he eventually reached the shores of Taupo.

From Taupo his party moved southward across the Onetapu desert until the Ruahines were reached. After some further wearying travel across hill and dale which was not always easy on the nerves, Mokai Patea was reached. For all his missionary zeal, Colenso was not cut out for being an explorer. After leaving the kainga of Te Awarua in which he was guided part of the way back to Hawkes Bay by the two elders Te Koapou and Pirere Here, Colenso made things difficult for his party by failing to comprehend the instructions and read the Ruahine terrain correctly. As a consequence of getting off the recognised route the party experienced all sorts of difficulties before returning to Ahuriri.

That the route from Hawkes Bay across the Ruahines to Mokai Patea was part of the old communication net work before changing circumstances caused its abandonment, was brought to the attention of all concerned when in March 1845 the Rev. Richard Taylor reached this inland highland area. This was when after leaving his station on the Whanganui he ventured into the upper reaches of the Rangitikei and reached Matuku, an outer settlement of Mokai Patea.

From the high points provided by the peaks of the Ruahines, spectacular views are obtained and it does not require a great mental effort to move back into the past and appreciate what it all meant to ancient travellers who had reason to move along this primitive roadway. To the east of the main range lies the Heretaunga Plain. Tradition holds that this is a placename commemorating the memory of Whatonga, the son of Toi, who was the rediscoverer of the land found by Kupe. From the main divide can be seen the broad sweep of Te-Matau-a-Maui which in this day and age has undergone a name change and accordingly is known as Hawke’s Bay. However, in olden times Te Matau-a-Maui was identified as the large fishhook which enabled Maui to haul from the deep his gigantic fish Te Ika-a-Maui. It was also common knowledge

that if Maui’s impatient brothers had bided their time and let rigamortis set in before hacking into the flesh of the still live fish, mountain barriers such as the Ruahines would not have become part of the scenery. Fading into the distance behind Te Matau-a-Maui are the blue waters of Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa or South Pacific Ocean. Leaving the land of the Ngati Kahungungu behind, to northward can be seen the volcanic peaks of the Central North Island. This being the Ngati Tu Wharetoa lands and marked the way to Taupo-nui-a-Tia (Lake Taupo) and areas far to the north. Here further legendary exploits of the race were unfolded before the eyes of the traveller providing circumstances allowed him to take the scenery from a taumata vantage point. To the west was a never ending succession of ridges. This led to the lands

of the Rangitane and Ngati Apa and the western coastline of Te Ika-a-Maui. Travelling however was not always done in perfect weather conditions. Today when any well equipped tramper ventures above the bush line the thought is always in the back of the mind that the party is at the mercy of the elements. In yesteryear this sense of impending danger would be even more real. The Ruahines are exposed to extremes of weather in all months of the year. Razorback ridges that are not easy to traverse and steep slippery tussock clad slopes which could sweep a party to oblivion when covered in snow —, were aspects of travel which could not be ignored. It was the memories of fatal mishaps which prompted Te Hapuku, Tareha, Puhara and Te Moanui to advise Colenso not to embark on his projected journey to Mokai Patea.

This map of the Hawkes Bay and Taupo district is of importance. It not only records the journeys’ of missionary Colenso, but it marks the tracks which penetrated the Ruahines and gave access between Taupo and Hawkes Bay. To the south, but out of the picture is the Wairarapa. This valley provided an alternative route to Palliser Bay and Whanganui-a-Tara-Wellington Harbour, other than by journeying down the eastern coastline of the Te Ika-a-Maui.

Although by the 1840’s the track to Taupo and the West Coast by way of Te Atua Mahuru, a high peak of the Ruahine Range and the highland plateau of Mokai Patea had fallen into disuse, other pathways were still serving their role in the ancient reading system.

In the southern sector of the range a route which led from coast to coast was still very much in use. This route led up the Orua River until the path traversed a range of foothills which led to the Pohangina. This being a tributary of the Manawatu. From this point the track led into the Ruahines proper where an elevation of 3000 feet was reached before the route descended to what has become known as the Seventy Mile Bush. On reaching the valley floor there was a choice of routes. One via Porangahau and the coast or through the bush and the Heretaunga Plains.

An alternative route to Taupo which avoided Mokai Patea and the Onetapu desert was by way of the Wai-o-Hinganga or present day Esk.

After leaving the Esk the track crossed the Ahimanawa Range. From here the track circuited the upper reaches of the Waipunga which is a tributary of the Mohaka and onto the head waters of Rangitaiki and thence to Taupo.

Today modern highways follow the general line of these ancient trails.