CHAPTER XXVII
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CHAPTER XXVII.
Journey to Tauranga.
After having availed ourselves of the kind hospitality of the missionary for several days, we crossed the lake on the morning of the 14th of June, for the purpose of continuing our journey to Tauranga, on the eastern coast. We induced four other natives to accompany us, in addition to the three who had come with us. These men engaged to accompany us to Auckland. One of them, who had been taken as a slave from Manukao, went with us chiefly for the purpose of applying to the Protector of the Aborigines appointed by Government, to obtain back some of the land which formerly belonged to his relatives. The poor fellow, who was a very well-informed man, and a clever mechanic, afterwards met with a refusal at Auckland. Many similar cases will doubtless be submitted to the consideration of the Land Commissioners, and I conceive that they ought to be decided, not according to English laws, but according to the equity of the case.
On the north-western banks of the lake I ob-
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REKA-REKA.
served similar alterations to those on the eastern; the lake had encroached upon the shore, and broken trunks of trees in their natural position were standing under water at some distance from the present margin. We passed a native settlement, Reka-Reka: the land around it consisted of low, fern-covered, and fertile hills; but the natives had their plantations about three miles from the lake, near the forest, where the land was still more fertile. Here we pitched our tent in the midst of the tribe. I observed that many of the natives were occupied in preparing a kind of food which I had not seen before: it consisted of the amylaceous seed-covers of the hinau (Elaeocarpus hinau), which they powdered and made into cakes. It appeared to me to be rather insipid, although it is, I have no doubt, very nourishing.
The next day we entered the forest covering the hills which run along the eastern coast, and which separate the interior and comparatively open tableland from the sea. The forest was mostly tawai (Leiospermum racemosum), miro, and hinau; the Dracophyllum, which often grows to the size of a small tree, and the reddish leaves of which render it a very remarkable and beautiful shrub, was here and there to be met with. If the reader can imagine a pink that has become so gigantic as to have reached the size of the hazel-nut tree, he will have some idea of the appearance of this shrub. I also
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ACTION OF WATER.
observed several kinds of Aralia, a very curious form of plants. From the top of a very slender stem the long narrow leaves spread in a circle, hanging down in the shape of an umbrella.
The first part of the road was flat and very good, and had been cut by the natives for the convenience of the missionaries; but it soon became a narrow path, across which the luxuriant vegetation of creeping plants often produced a perfect net-work. The soil was pumiceous gravel, richly mixed with vegetable mould. Afterwards the land became more hilly, and its configuration and external outlines were often extremely picturesque: the tufaceous and pumiceous formation assumed castle-like forms, and the rivulets had cut out deep channels in the soft rock, leaving high banks. Notwithstanding the softness of the material, it must have required a great length of time to hollow out these rivulets, which I am inclined to ascribe entirely, or almost entirely, to the action of running water. Some spots were devoid of trees, and were covered with high fern (Pteris esculenta); they bore evident marks of having been cleared of the forest by fire. It is remarkable that this fern universally appears wherever a spot has been thus cleared, even in the middle of the primitive forest, where it never grows so long as the trees are standing. I have no doubt that the highly farinaceous root of this very common plant, which was formerly the principal food
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EXTENSIVE PROSPECT.
of the natives, will one day be brought into use. At all events, it is an excellent food for pigs, which feed almost entirely upon it, and grow very fat.
On the 16th we still continued our route through the forest, and, from the quantity of creepers (Smilax), walking became very difficult. Towards noon, however, we emerged into open land. The forest terminated so abruptly, that there could be no doubt of its having been consumed by fire up to its present limit. If any other proof were wanted, the large and half-consumed stems of trees which lay at its verge were quite sufficient to convince the most sceptical. A splendid and most extensive prospect here burst upon our view: the range of hills which we had passed sloped gradually towards the east coast, spreading out into flat land near the seashore. Before us was the Bay of Plenty: to judge from its present appearance, it may well be said to have been prophetically so called by Captain Cook. To the northward the whole coast-line towards Witianga, or Mercury Bay, presented itself, at which place the coast-hills resumed bolder forms; the Mercury Islands also were visible: to the eastward was the island of Tuhua, or Mayor's Island, and several smaller rocky islets. More to the southward was Puhia-i-Wakati, or White Island, emitting from time to time volumes of white smoke; and to the southward our eyes followed part of the coast, which retained its smooth outlines.
Before we arrived at the perfectly even land
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MISSION-STATION.
nearest the coast, we passed several swampy valleys of small extent, formed by the ramifications of the hills; and at last we followed the narrow crest of one of these ramifications down to the plain. The vegetation everywhere indicated the richest soil, and the most prominent plants were fern, flax, and veronica. Towards sunset, after a very fatiguing journey, we approached the homely-looking buildings of the Church mission-station, surrounded with gardens, and a planted shrubbery of acacias, ricinus, and peaches, which was almost the only vegetation in the shape of trees which we saw, as for several miles around the station there is no wood. Captain Symonds was welcomed to the house of the Rev. Mr. Brown, and I was kindly received into the family of Mr. Stack, a very active and unassuming missionary, to whom my best thanks are due for the hospitality I received at his hands for nearly a week.
I at first supposed that those singularly-formed mountain-ridges which are observed in Queen Charlotte's Sound, consisting of clay-slate and occasional dykes and interruptions of Lydian stone and basalts, might continue throughout the island, and thus diminish in a great measure the chances which a colony would have of success, as, from their steepness and from their everywhere forming narrow ravines, and small hays near the coast, they promise little reward to the labours of a European agriculturist; but, having passed from the western to
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TAURANGA.
the eastern coast, and having thus seen a large part of the interior, I came to the conclusion that there is no regular system of a mountain-range running through the island. The hills which I passed from Rotu-rua to Tauranga are tufaceous; they are of moderate height and undulating, and, although their surface is wooded, the depth of the vegetable soil and the tufaceous substratum leaves no doubt in my mind that the whole coast district, down to and even beyond Hawke's Bay, will in future times form a very rich country; and that the natural outlet of its produce, from its easy communication with the valley of the Waiho, or Thames, will be the Gulf of Hauraki.
Tauranga has only been visited by small vessels of about two hundred tons. Although over the bar there are four fathoms water, the channel is very narrow, not being more than one hundred yards in breadth; and from its bending at a sharp angle, large craft would have great difficulty in entering it. Its southern headland is formed by a solitary conical hill, Maunga-nui, of about five hundred feet in height, which is connected by low land with the main. It consists of basaltic lava, large blocks of which lie on the sides and are strewed around its base. There are many traces of a former and very extensive native village on its sides; but in consequence of its being exposed to the attacks of a tribe of Rotu-rua natives, who live at Muketu, it has been deserted, and the natives
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TAURANGA.
live at the other side of the harbour. Some time before my arrival eleven natives had been seized and slaughtered; and these mutual depredations have now been carried on for several years to such a degree that the natives of Tauranga were unable to plant sufficient ground to supply them with food, having been besieged and shut up in their fortified places: the fertile district in which they live has therefore been of no use to them. The northern head of Tauranga spreads out into low and level land; and some islands of considerable dimensions, and of the same structure and configuration as the mainland, are separated from it by broad channels of the sea. Although at present the principal anchorage for vessels is in the inner harbour, not far from the mission-station, I am inclined to think that the islands just mentioned might offer safe places for anchoring, even for larger vessels.
The remarkable phenomenon of these large portions of land being separated from the main shows that great changes have taken place in the geological condition of this coast, which has wasted away, and been separated either by the inroads of the sea or by volcanic agency. The coast at Tauranga and on those islands is from forty to eighty feet above the level of the sea, and in the cliffs thus formed we find that the geological formation is a yellow loam, surmounted in many places by beds of peat, containing a great quantity of undecayed wood, and averaging between four and
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ISLANDS.
six feet in breadth: the upper layer is a yellowish earth, or decayed pumiceous matter. The lignite, occurring in large quantities, must be of great importance to Tauranga, as there is no other fuel for several miles around.
One of these islands is called Pane-pane, and stretches from Maunga-nui to the southward. It is about three miles broad and seven miles long. Another, running in the same line with the former, but nearer the coast, is called Matakanga. It is about the same size. A larger one in the same line is called Moa Opareoroi. The one nearest the coast, and of a square shape, is called Tangoia. Off Muketu is the island Motu-iti, of considerable extent, and said to have been purchased by the Americans. Off the entrance of the harbour of Tauranga is a small island, which I attempted to reach in a boat, but was obliged to put back on account of the heavy swell. It is situated about three miles from the southern headland, and consists, I am told, of basaltic lava. It is a mere rock, but possesses some interest as being the only spot, that I know of, in New Zealand where the new species of reptiles 1 exist which were brought over by me to England. The specimen from which Mr Gray of the British Museum has furnished the description came from that island. It is an interesting question whether this island has been connected at any time with the mainland, and whether
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NATIVES NEAR TAURANGA.
the causes which seem to have brought about the near extermination of that animal on the mainland have not been in action on a rocky island which is scarcely ever visited by the natives.
In the harbour of Tauranga the land loses continually by the encroachments of the sea. During a very heavy gale of wind last year the coast at Te Papa (the mission-station) lost ten feet. All along the east coast stems of trees are seen under water; this I state on the authority of Mr. Wilson, an intelligent missionary. Some of the rivers are nearly choked up by the quantity of wood carried down; this indeed is a circumstance of very frequent occurrence in New Zealand.
At a greater distance from Tauranga is the island of Tuhua, or Mayor's Island. It consists, according to the accounts I collected, of very rugged basaltic rocks and obsidian in situ, with narrow but fertile valleys. It is inhabited by a tribe of about two hundred natives, who cultivate the land, and occasionally provide passing whalers with provisions. They have been subject to many attacks from the tribes of the mainland, first from the Nga-pui in the Bay of Islands, and afterwards from the natives at Wakatane on the east coast. The latter attempted, about three years ago, to surprise them during the night, but were observed by the natives of Tuhua, who live in an almost unapproachable pa. They allowed them to come near, and then rolled large blocks of stone from the summit of the
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NATIVE CHRISTIANS.
hill into the fleet of canoes, which killed many of the aggressors, and the rest were forced to retreat. Since that time these islanders have been left undisturbed.
From several places near Tauranga, Puhia-i-Wakati, or White Island, is visible. It is a low island, still in volcanic activity, and produces a great quantity of sulphur. Already several cargoes of this mineral have been brought to Europe, where it has been sold for 8l. per ton. The sulphur is very pure, containing ninety per cent. The island is claimed by an Englishman, who lives opposite to it on the east coast, in Wakatane, and who is one of the oldest settlers in the country.
The natives at Tauranga belong to the large tribe of the Nga-te-awa, and live in three strongly fortified villages. Their number amounts to about three thousand. Most of them have been converted to Christianity by two missionaries of the Church of England and by two Roman Catholic priests. The missionaries of both persuasions reside here, and oppose each other as much as they can, and of course the native converts do the same. The number of converts to each creed is about equal, although the Roman Catholic mission was established much later than that of the Church of England.
Tauranga was in former times an important place for the pig and flax trade; and several European traders have lived there for many years. But from different causes the flax-trade has dwindled away
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TRADE AT TAURANGA.
almost to nothing, chiefly in consequence of the facility of obtaining European articles at a cost less than that of dressing the flax. The trade in pigs is still carried on; and the traders obtain many pigs from the valley of the Thames, from Matamata.
Little of the land at Tauranga has been sold, with the exception of one piece to the Church missionaries, which is called Te Papa (the flat). The natives are not inclined to sell any land, and their number is sufficiently large to enable them to occupy and cultivate their beautiful district themselves, if a durable peace were established among the different tribes.
