[TITLE PAGES]
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In Memoriam.
AN ACCOUNT OF VISITS TO, AND CROSSINGS OVER,
THE
RUAHINE MOUNTAIN RANGE,
HAWKE'S BAY, NEW ZEALAND;
AND OF THE
NATURAL HISTORY OF THAT REGION;
PERFORMED IN 1845-1847: cum multis aliis.
IN TWO PAPERS READ BEFORE THE HAWKE'S BAY PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE, 1878:
WITH ADDITIONAL AND COPIOUS NOTES.
By W. COLENSO , F. L. S., ETC,
Member and Hon. Secretary of the Society.
"Should auld acquaintance be forgot;
And never brought to min'?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' lang syne?"
BURNS.
"One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can."
WORDSWORTH.
"We live in deeds, not years: in thoughts, not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best."
P. J. BAILEY (Festus).
"Words are the daughters of earth; things are the sons of heaven."
DR. JOHNSON.
New Zealand
PRINTED AT THE "DAILY TELEGRAPH" OFFICE, TENNYSON STREET, NAPIER.
1884.
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In Memoriam.
AN ACCOUNT OF VISITS TO, AND CROSSINGS OVER,
THE
RUAHINE MOUNTAIN RANGE,
HAWKE'S BAY, NEW ZEALAND;
AND OF THE
NATURAL HISTORY OF THAT REGION;
PERFORMED IN 1845-1847: cum multis aliis.
IN TWO PAPERS READ BEFORE THE HAWKE'S BAY PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE, 1878:
WITH ADDITIONAL AND COPIOUS NOTES.
By W. COLENSO , F. L. S., ETC,
Member and Hon. Secretary of the Society.
"For out of the old feldis, as men saieth,
Comith all this newe corne fro yere to yere;
And out of olde bokis, in gode faieth,
Cometh all this newe science that men lere."
CHAUCER.
"Similis--patrifamilias, qui profert de thesauro suo nova et vetera."
Bibl. Sacr.
--"Quae fuit durum pati meminisse dulce est."
SEN.
New Zealand: PRINTED AT THE "DAILY TELEGRAPH" OFFICE, TENNYSON STREET, NAPIER.
1884.
[DEDICATION]
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TO THE
EARLY SETTLERS IN HAWKE'S BAY,
(WHO HAVE ALSO EXPERIENCED BOTH PRIVATION AND TOIL, INSEPARABLE ON THE FIRST SETTLEMENT IN A WILD AND UNCIVILIZED COUNTRY,)
--AND PARTICULARLY TO THOSE OF THEM WHOM I HAVE WITH PLEASURE PERSONALLY KNOWN,
AND TO THEIR DESCENDANTS,--
IS THIS LITTLE BOOK HEARTILY DEDICATED BY THEIR PIONEER IN THIS LAND,
W. COLENSO.
Napier, May 15th, 1 1884.
DEDICATION.
As one who, walking in the twilight gloom,
Hears round about him voices as it darkens,
And seeing not the forms from which they come
Pauses from time to time, and turns and hearkens;
So walking here in twilight, O my friends!
I hear your voices, softened by the distance,
And pause, and turn to listen, as each sends
His words of friendship, comfort and assistance.
* * *
Not chance of birth or place has made us friends,
Being oftentimes of different tongues and nations,
But the endeavour for the self-same ends,
With the same hopes, and fears, and aspirations.
Therefore I hope, as no unwelcome guest,
At your warm fireside, when the lamps are lighted,
To have my place reserved among the rest,
Nor stand as one unsought and uninvited."
(Longfellow.)
[PREFACE]
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PREFACE.
It is probable that some who may read this little book may very properly wish to know, why these two Papers were not published in the annual Volume of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute for 1879? seeing they were written purposely for and read to the Members of the Hawke's Bay branch of the Institute at their ordinary meetings in 1878. This question can be briefly and truly answered.
The two Papers were duly forwarded to Wellington to the Manager of the New Zealand Institute; who, some time after, informed the Hawke's Bay Society, that the Board would only publish an abstract of them. This, however, could not be agreed to by myself as well as by the Society; and the Manager was officially informed, that the Hawke's Bay members of the N. Z. Institute greatly wished to have them published in their entirety; and, that if it were a matter of money (the cost of printing the whole), the surplus expense would be readily met by them: this overture was also refused by the Board. And, after some further delay, the two Papers were obtained from Wellington.
In their original state they were not so long as they are now; most of the copious Notes, and a few of the poetical extracts have been added; at the same time nothing has been omitted. The Poetry has been mainly taken from my favourite modern poet, Longfellow, (whose bust has lately been placed in Poet's Corner,) in the hope of their beautiful and expressive thoughts and language striking a latent and sympathetic chord in the hearts of some of our young Colonists; and possibly inciting them to seek to know more of the beauty of Poetry, and in particular of that of our National British poets. And it is still further hoped, that the Notes (particularly those in the Appendix,) will be especially appreciated by the Settlers of Hawke's Bay.--
In my longer journeys I always carried a few choice books with me, and among them a pocket edition of one of our Poets: --Ossian, Milton, Dryden, Pope, Thomson, Gray, Goldsmith, Burns, Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, Byron, Walter Scott, Longfellow, Tennyson, &c
In my originally writing these two Papers, and in preparing them for the Press, it has again been my aim, to stir up the younger folks among us to the
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study of Nature's works, with which we are profusely surrounded, and wherein is a rich mine of intellectual wealth! Of these studies it may be truly said in the impressive words of Cicero, (as I myself have proved and am now daily proving,)--"Haec studia adolescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant." -- These studies invigorate youth and solace old age.
"Ye who love the haunts of Nature,--
Love the shadow of the forest,
Love the wind among the branches. --
* * * *
Ye whose hearts are fresh and simple,
Who have faith in God and Nature;
Who believe, that in all ages
Every human heart is human, --
That in even savage bosoms
There are longings, yearnings, strivings
For the good they comprehend not;
That the feeble hands and helpless,
Groping blindly in the darkness,
Touch God's right hand in that darkness
And are lifted up and strengthened; --
Listen to this simple story."--
Longfellow.
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