CHAPTER III. WAIKARI.
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CHAPTER III.
WAIKARI.
"Sir! are you awake yet?" inquired Sam despondingly, on the morning of the twenty-sixth of April.
"Awake yet! Yes, Sam; I am yet awake, if that's what you mean, and I wish to goodness I wasn't. But after all, what's the good of lying down, when one can't sleep. Just dance the Highland fling, will you, Sam, to waken up the house, and then p'raps we shall get something in the shape of a breakfast, before we start."
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"Oh! no, sir, I shouldn't exactly like to disturb them after their civility to us last night."
"Ah! you're not half a colonial, Sam. Well! we must start on an empty stomach, and without Mr. Munro's 'notion.'"
"That don't matter, sir. I think I know as much about the land as Munro does; for one of the chaps, that was here to supper last night, was the Surveyor himself. So I pumped him about it as well as I could,"
"Considering you were half drunk."
"Oh! no, sir. It takes a sight of grog to make my face flush even."
"I dare say it does, Sam. You've got a dark complexion. But are you sure, you know the position of the new district?"
"Yes, sir. We can't miss it."
"Why so?"
"You see, sir, it's on a piece of land that's shaped like my nose."
"Like your nose, man! What do you mean?"
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"Well, sir! It points out into the sea, and it hangs on to the mainland, just as this feature," and Sam pointed to his proboscis, "hangs on to my face. The lower side of this piece of land is bounded by the wide mouthed entrance of Whangari harbour, and it's upper side is limited by the line of the sea coast."
"And where abouts is Waikari situated?"
"Just about the bridge of the nose, sir."
"And we shall have to start from the nostril I suppose? Well! have you got a pocket compass with you?"
"No, sir. I haven't, but there's a biggish wart on the tip of the nose, as 'ill serve tor a land mark to steer by. I means the Great Bream Head."
"Well! Are you ready? Let's make a start of it. Come."
They slung their "swags" on their backs, and walked off with Lupus. The country was of the most varied description. They passed over hill and vale, down abrupt cliffs, through deep
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gullies, up to their middles in muddy water. Sometimes wandering over vast tracts of open fern laud, and at other times traversing patches of thick and heavy bush, where the lofty totarra, and gigantic Kauri, spread high overhead their impenetrable foliage, casting into the deepest gloom the confused undergrowth of tree ferns and cabbage trees. The strange looking supple-jacks, like long black snakes, hung suspended from the trees, and clung about, and twisted and twirled themselves fantastically around in every possible direction. One huge Kauri tree, the girth of which was more than twelve yards, rose up to a height that could neither be measured nor even guessed at, from the astonishing assemblage of various kinds of inextricable foliage, which completely concealed its upper parts. There is something particularly gloomy and threatening in the dark foliage of the Kauri, supported, as it is, by heavy, twisted, and gnarled branches. This tree is a species of pine, but its general appearance reminds one of a straggling ilex.
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Sometimes it grows to an enormous size. Mr. Terry, in his work on New Zealand, alludes to one, near Mercury Bay, called "The Father of the Kouri," by the natives, "Although almost incredible, it measures seventy-five feet in circumference at its base..... There is an arm, some distance from the trunk, which measures six feet in diameter at its juncture with the main stem."
"Well, Sam, if it's all the same to you, we'll sit down, and have breakfast, or rather dinner, for it's past noon," said the Captain, seating himself on the edge of a deep cattle track. "I feel considerably done up."
"That's the creek of the Pataw, sir, in front of us, I'm well nigh sure. Hadn't we better push on? There's no water here, and biscuit is dry eating by itself."
"Hang the water! I've got a few mouthfuls of brandy in a flask. Come, sit down. We must make the best of it."
After a light meal, they continued onwards
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in the same direction, through the same tangled scenery, indented with ravines. They intended to track down to the coast a little river, which they could occasionally catch sight of, from the higher land, and which they surmised must run into the Pataw, where some of the best lots of land in the district were said to lie. They had a long walk over a high fern range of excellent land for cattle. The ferns grew to a height of seven feet, and were mixed in places with ti trees, sufficiently tall to afford shade and shelter from the midday heat.
At length they gained a commanding view of the windings of the river, and towards evening our travellers had the satisfaction, after wading across a marsh full of tall rushes and mangroves, to arrive at a singularly picturesque spot. The marsh drained itself into the little deep river, which wound along amid some high flax plants and cabbage trees, into the creek of the Pataw. There was aflat, rocky, corner jutting out into the river, and shelving down to it. Behind was a
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bank covered with fine timber. On this flat, rocky, corner stood two trees, between which they determined to fix their tent. They had barely sufficient time, before the sun set, to do so, and to light a good fire. While the fire was burning up Sam walked down to the river side to fill a saucepan coffee pot with water. The dog was lapping up the water with great eagerness, so Sam followed his example by taking a good pull at the coffee pot. He stopped short, however, after the first gulp, and began groaning dismally.
"Faugh--ugh--pah! Sir, the water's as slimy and brackish as lobster sauce."
The Captain was in despair. It is by no means pleasant, after a long, wearying walk in a hot climate, to find, when your encampment has began to assume an air of comfort, that a long and perhaps unsuccessful search for water awaits you.
"Nonsense," said he, running to the stream; "it's impossible."
"I'll tell you what, sir, I'll just go into the middle of the stream. It may be better there."
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Not a bit of it. The tide was running in from the sea, and consequently, though the water had not quite such a fishy flavour, yet it was much more salt.
"Well, sir, I don't know what to do now. I haven't got my Bibles with me, else I might hit upon some remedy."
"Your Bibles, man; what do you mean?"
"Don't you know what my Bibles are?"
"No."
"Why first, there's the Bible, sir, which is my guide to heaven. Second, there's Nory's 'Epitome,' which is my guide at sea. Thirdly, there's Galton's 'Art of Travel,' which is my guide in the bush. Those are the only three books worth reading, sir."
"Well, Sam, this marsh extends apparently a long way, and its water is sure to be all putrid. The only thing for us to do is to start off again with our baggage; that is, if you can't do without water. I'm not so very thirsty myself."
"And I'm not so hard up for water, as that comes to, either," said Sam.
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"Suppose we make some onion broth with this sea water. It'll do instead of salt."
They made some very tolerable broth, which, however, did not have the effect of abating their thirst. This fact, together with the many millions of mosquitoes and sand flies swarming and buzzing around them, effectually drove away all inclination to sleep. They sat, however, very comfortably in their tent, with the fire in front of them, so arranged that the wind blew the smoke through its canvas opening, right in their faces, and filled the tent; but this not being quite sufficient to clear off these insects, it was found necessary to add to it the smoke of tobacco. They, therefore, resolved upon lighting their pipes having a bit of chat, and then smoking and sleeping by turn, till daylight.
"Well, Sam, what do you think about Mr. Munro? If he could have his way, he would give you your land at four shillings an acre, instead of at ten shillings. That would suit you, eh?"
"He's a public spirited man, at all events, and that's not what is often seen in the colonies."
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"What! You, an old colonist, say that?"
"And he seems a quiet man, too, and how he's got to be elected puzzles me."
"Why so?"
"Well, I'll tell you what it is, Captain; I've been to most of the places about here and in Australia, and I always thinks the people out here don't understand the meaning of 'holding a stake in the country.' People come out here not, generally, to live, but 'to go the rounds,' to pick up all they can get, and if they have luck, just to go back home again; so, in course, they don't hold a stake in the country, though they pretends they do."
"I see, you think 'the stake' becomes not so much a symbol of responsibility as an authoritative weapon to knock about the ears of the people, and to clear a passage through them for oneself in the universal scrimmage after the almighty."
"It's just that, sir, and I thinks that if it hadn't been for that, the people wouldn't have been such fools as to have instituted their suffrage dodge."
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"Well, but it's the people that did it."
"And the more fools they, for they've opened the doors of the parliament to all them as shouldn't have been allowed to enter it at no price. They've opened it to all the roystering blackguards that infest the country."
"Why, you're a bloated aristocrat, Sam."
"The same to you, and wuss, sir, whatever that may be. But, sir, a country ain't a ship, to be governed from its starn."
"Well, but tell me why you think it all so bad?"
"That'll take a long time, sir; and where to begin I don't know."
"Oh! I'll steer you through the subject. Just imagine the constitution to be a big tree; now begin with the roots. What sort of people do they elect to be their members of parliament? Are they clever men? In what do they principally excel?"
"I've observed, sir, that they generally excels in one of two things, sir. First, in that of liquoring-up well the highly independent constituency."
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"Independent you mean, I suppose, of all such foolish and impracticable notions as true patriotism, love of genuine reform, &c."
"Yes, sir; and secondly they excels in ignorance and conceit in themselves, for having discovered something which everyone else knew long ago, they gets so conceited over themselves for having discovered it, as they thinks, that they makes quite a fuss about it."
"You mean the fanatical ignorance of the demagogue whose ignorance having been en-enlightened on a particular truth, fanatically converts it into a general one, and thrusts it into novel spheres with an audacity that astonishes and electrifies the howling mob." 1
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"Some'ut of that sort is what I mean, sir."
"Well, Sam, now that you've proved some of the roots to be vitiated, let's see what we may expect from the trunk of the tree, from that main support of the country--the parliament."
"Perhaps, sir, the Sydney Parliament, being the oldest, would give a chap the most correct view of what it all comes to, and it's awful there, sir; the sensible ones can't say or do a thing."
"You think, then, that the shallow, impudent, and noisy demagogue, being in the majority, utterly overwhelms the quiet, prudent, and patriotic."
"The things that go on there are so disgraceful and ridiculous, that the visitor who looked on would laugh it all to scorn, sir, unless he wept at the folly of it."
"Well, but what sort of things go on there?"
"They drinks themselves up, and blackguards each other like fun, sir."
"Can it be habitual with these dishonourable
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members to drink themselves into a state of fuddled talkativeness, in order to wind themselves up to the requisite pitch for the display of effective personal abuse? I cannot believe you, Sam."
"Well, sir, the Sydney Punch, and everyone else, always calls it 'the great parliamentary pig-stye.' But, sir, it would take half-a-dozen Punches, a blazing away at them in every column, to do them any good. Why, sir, talking of the Melbourne Parliament, there was one big member began a bullying and blackguarding one of the quieter ones; but the quiet one wouldn't stand it, and so he gets up, and says, since they are canvassing the private character of himself, he'll just do the same for the tother party, and then he tells them that this big bully had once been the Captain of a slave ship, which happened to be becalmed, and so couldn't escape from an English man-of-war, and that he tied all the slaves, by one arm, to a long rope, and dangled them over the side of the ship, with just their
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noses above water, and with a heavy weight at their feet, hoping that the officer of the man-of-war wouldn't see them; 'but,' says he, 'the officer happening to put his head over the ship's side, he hears a bit of a splash--and what do you think the splash was?' says he, --'why, it was the slaves; for, as soon as ever the Captain saw the officer a craning his head over the side, he give a whistle, and the mate for'ard cuts the rope with his axe, and down goes all the slaves, so sudden, that they had no time to screech out.' That story, sir, silenced the big bully for a time, I should think."
"You've not got the story quite right, Sam; but never mind. Well, we now come to the foliage of the tree. What sort of society have you, in a general way, among the middle and lower classes in Australia? Is it as bad as it is here?"
"It's much worse, sir. It greatly resembles the foliage of the Australian trees generally,
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which is narrow, drooping, and anything but verdant."
"Colonial society, you would say, then, is unutterably dry, and has to be perpetually moistened with beer, wine, and spirits, otherwise it would completely fade away?"
"In fact, sir, the society is all pot-house, and that's the truth of it."
"Well, as regards the fruit of such a tree as that you've been describing, there can't be a doubt about it--that if, to the upper classes, the whole becomes a ludicrous burlesque upon England, to the lower classes it must be a sad and fearful tragedy; for, of course, there can be no relief for them--none of those organisations, wheel within wheel, which provide for and sustain them in England. They are, I suppose, entirely dependant upon the philanthropy of others, and it takes only a little knocking about in the world to find that there is not much of that in reality, though they get shamed into it a little in Eng-
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land; but that does not hold good in the colonies, I suppose?"
"If the poor man, sir, once loses heart out here, it is all over with him; he may as well do what many of them does--go into a bush, and die like a dog--decently, sir, under a tree, not in the pathway, or the passer-by will probably d--n him for leaving his carcase in the road."
"Well, Sam, this tree that you have been describing to me is quite a curiosity in the vegetable kingdom, for it's grown just contrary to all the laws of nature, and it reverses the natural order of things. The great classes, or ranks of man, are natural divisions, Sam. A linen-draper wouldn't make a good bush man, nor a bush man a linen-draper. And, Sam, history shews us that all men and nations naturally fall into these classes. Each class may have a right to be represented, in proportion to the elevation of its rank; but that any one class has the right to outvote another, so that it shall have no representative at all, is wrong, even though it favours.
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the aristocracy of merit; but, Sam, what shall we say, when it favours the creme de la creme of demerit-- 'the right of all men to have an equal vote in the government of a country?' What a statement is this! but what an egregious error is it, for the lower classes, of all people in the world, to make! It is the same as though they voluntarily gave up the right they undoubtedly have to call upon their wealthier brethren for help and assistance, in time of difficulty."
Sam slept.
The next morning (the twenty-seventh) while Sam was engaged in lighting a fire, the Captain managed to fill the saucepan coffee pot with tolerable water, by tilting into it the long, sword-shaped leaves of the flax plants, on which the dew had collected, in large drops, during the night. After a cup of coffee, they were in better condition for marching across the various lots of land.
Sam had a large map of the survey, on thin tracing paper, upon which he wrote a few remarks, in pencil, as he came to each lot.
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At one time, as they walked towards the creek of the Pataw, they lost all view of it, and seemed to be completely locked in by steep hills, covered with bush and impenetrable thickets. Here they came to a stand-still, and had to retrace their footsteps for some miles, which was most aggravating; when, just as they despaired of getting down to the place they had marked out as the extreme point worth visiting in that direction, they found a steep ravine, down which they rolled and tumbled, leading straight to the very place they wanted to examine. The beautiful Pataw, divided into two branches, lay right in front, forming a delta of very fair native grass. As they approached the creek, they heard sounds as of people throwing heavy stones in the water, and found it to be caused by large numbers of silvery-backed fish, which leaped out of the water to a great height, and then came down with a loud smack on the surface, at a distance of some yards from where they had risen.
They had sat down to smoke and to rest them-
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selves, and were taking notes of the land, when their attention was drawn, by the measured sound of oars close upon them, to a solitary Maori, in a canoe. On seeing them, the Maori paddled quickly to the other bank of the river, where he cautiously deposited some strung fish.
Sam shouted out "Tanaki, tanaki" (glad to see you), at the top of his voice.
This re-assured him, for he paddled towards them; and, on being given some tobacco, he carried them across the creek in his canoe, and subsequently pointed out the best way to get to the Tai Aruru, another river, at the mouth of which some of the best land was, according to Mr. Munro, situated.
After some hours' walking, they came upon what appeared to be a Maori burial-place. It was a flat, high mound, with a couple of stakes on either side driven into the ground, and a cross bar. There was no name to identify the dead; but an old pair of coarse blue trousers, the sign of its being "tapu" (or sacred) was
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hung up to float in the breeze. It was thickly over-grown with fern, on a rapid slope, just above a fresh water gully, filled with tall trees and ti-tree scrub--a delicious place for dinner, -- so they sat down and refreshed themselves with another cup of coffee and some biscuits and moat.
A long walk, in the afternoon, brought them to a mountain marked on the plan as Kauri Mountain, and which rewarded them for all their fatigues. A forest concealed its southern flank, giving it a black, savage appearance, when viewed from the side. It is a forest of Kauri timber, once so extensive as to have given the name to the mountain. The genuine Kauri forests are not so thick in that wonderfully rich undergrowth peculiar to New Zealand, as are those of mixed timber; but, perhaps, this may be said to be an advantage, in some respects, even as regards beauty, for the tree ferns, &c, grow more gracefully, and are certainly more visible. Arriving by circuitous cattle tracks, at
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the top of the mountain, the travellers had the gratification of finding that it commanded a view of the sea.
There was the blue ocean, on their right, studded over with a group of softly-tinted islands, breaking through the line of the horizon with their delicate outlines. A long, wavy, coast line, cast into numerous bays and creeks, was elevated, as a rocky barrier against the unquiet waters, whose hoarse roar, mellowed by the distance, they distinctly heard. To the front, full before them, stretched long roaches of undulating fern, sweeping inland from the high-lifted coast, covered with large patches of the hara-keke, or flowering flax, and intersected with the windings of the river, the Tai Aruru, which meandered downwards to the sea, through rich, green flats of grass. Behind them, the whole country rose up, with one accord, into a very tumult of hills, of every shape, piled at the base of distant mountains, which, in their turn, were over-topped by the Great Bream Head, with
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its wild-looking double peaks, jagged and naked on either side.
They now passed down the mountain and crossed some low flats, where the ti tree and ferns grew so luxuriantly, as to threaten to impede further progress, till ascending the high ridge which girt the shores--a ridge which sloped inwards, clothed with grass; but which, outwards, beetled down upon the sea, with stern and rocky cliffs--they arrived at a wide-opened chasm, or gully, and thence at a charming little bay, with cavernous rocks on its sides, and with a shelving, pebbly, and sandy beach in front, whilst a streamlet from the gully flowed down it, partially dammed up by a bank of sand, so as to form a small pool of fresh water, within a few yards only of the sea. Here they pitched their tent, lit a lire, collected a stack of fire-wood, and cut down a supply of springy ferns, on which to make their beds for the night.
This was the piece of land which Sam intended more thoroughly to inspect. From all accounts,
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it seemed to be the one best suited to his purposes, so they devoted the next morning (namely the twenty-eighth), after enjoying a bathe in the sea, to walking carefully round the boundaries of the lots, as pegged down by the surveyor, and identifying them with the lines and figures marked upon the plan. First, they walked along the marginal ridge, which, as we have said, confronted the sea with precipitous escarpments, and inclined gently inland, towards the low flats of the Tai Aruru. They found it to consist of splendid land, capable of supporting thousands of cattle--full of native grasses, ferns, flax, and ti tree, intermingled with flowers, which were covered with singing locusts. Moreover, as the land sloped downwards to the river, it became marshy and full of those tender, bright green rushes in which the New Zealand cattle seem to revel. Following up the surveyor's tracks to a spur of the Kauri Mountain, where it united with the ridge, they found it heavily wooded from top to bottom, with abundance of kauri, totarra, red
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pine, and other valuable timber, while the fresh water streamlet, which flowed into the bay, had its origin somewhere here, and circled around the base, on its way to the sea. Proceeding along its well-shaded banks, they returned to their encampment, and prepared an early dinner, which, by the way, was chiefly composed of a sauce made out of a moderately-sized crab, which they had found on the rocks, while bathing, in the morning.
"A pity we've got no butter, nor a frying pan, sir. These locusts are first-rate roasted in grease. It's best to pull off their legs and wings, though."
"Sam, my friend, you disgust me."
"Well, sir, John the Baptist ate 'em."
"And if he did, what then? He had thirty wives, was tattoed, and covered with vermin; you'd better imitate him in those matters, too, Sam."
"Oh! Lord, sir! don't be sacrilegious."
"And he went about stark naked, and smoked
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an iron pipe. Rather hot in the mouth that, Sam; eh?"
"Yes, sir; very much so, indeed. Not the pipe, I mean; but what you're a saying."
"What do you mean, man?"
"I mean the Jew, sir; the John the Baptist of the Bible."
"Oh! I thought you meant the Maori Chief, who sold this land to the government, and whose name they said was John the Baptist. But if he was a Jew he wouldn't eat a locust."
"Yes, sir; and wild honey, too."
"Well! red currant jelly goes well with hare, it's true; but still, Sam, the mixture would taste funny. Fancy honey, roasted flys, and melted butter, beat up together. Pah! it would be an apothecary's ointment, Sam; and the dead flies would make it stink, cooked or raw. No, old chap; it was the fruit of the locust tree he ate, not the fly. But what do you think about the land, Sam? Have you made up your mind about getting it?"
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"It's a great pity they've divided the piece we've been over into two lots. If I can bid for the two together, I'll do so; for then it would be a very complete piece, and one as would suit me well. For first, I should have a very good bay, where a schooner, in fine weather, could very well anchor; and in bad weather, she could always run into the Nongodo river, which isn't only a few miles higher up the coast. Secondly, sir, there's this stream, which, without any trouble, would turn a water wheel for a saw mill, and there's plenty of timber close by it. Next, sir, there's quite enough of a cattle run for me; and then, lastly, the fencing it all in wouldn't come to much, for it's rather triangularly shaped, and there would only be one side of the triangle to fence across, from the river to the sea. But I won't bid for one lot unless I'm sure of getting the other. "
"Well, I think you are right, Sam. If I had a wife and children, I shouldn't mind settling, too."
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We must here take leave altogether of Sam, who, as soon as he had regained Munro's farm, returned by steamer to Auckland; while the Captain proceeded to his schooner, which, being in perfect readiness for her voyage, got immediately under weigh.
At sun-down she rounded the promontory, and sailed up the coast, between that curious group of islands called the "Hen and Chickens," and the "Great Bream Head," whose summit resembled the head of a stag, having two branching knobs, surmounted with a grotesquely grown tree or two.
As the twilight advanced, this resemblance grew stronger and stronger, and the hills behind raised their heads in the shades of the semi-darkness for a moment, like a herd of wild cattle round some an tiered monarch, all madly galloping across a huge American prairie far away, retreating from the schooner into the distance of the fast falling night.
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