1842 - Wade, William A Journey in the Northern Island of New Zealand - Chapter II: Hokianga

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CHAPTER II.

Hokianga.

The Mission settlement at Mangungu lies on the southern side of the Hokianga river, or rather on an estuary into which the Waiho and Mangamuka branches of the river empty themselves. The Mission houses are not arranged after any regular plan, and stand at different elevations, on an abruptly rising ground. The chapel is a neat, substantial, weather-boarded building, capable of accommodating five or six hundred natives; and, viewed from the river, it forms a conspicuous object of interest. The area of the chapel had not been found sufficient for the number of natives sometimes attending divine service, and I was informed that the brethren had it in contemplation to erect a gallery.

Mr. Woon, having made arrangements for taking Mrs. Woon up the Mangamuka river, I was glad to avail myself of his friendly invitation to accompany them. At nine o'clock, A.M., we left the settlement in a large boat belonging to Capt. M'Donnell. The banks of the Mangamuka are thickly wooded. Here

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THE KAURI.

and there were seen the homely cottages of white settlers; those who were then living on the banks of the river being for the most part sawyers. The Hokianga is a noble river, running through a thickly timbered district, and supplying the spars which are so much in request for masts, &c; but the bar at the entrance of the harbour has always been a serious deduction from its other advantages. The timber most sought after is the kauri, the monarch of the New Zealand forest.

The Kauri (dammara Australis,) is the well known pine so much used in the neighbouring colonies. Its trunk, when full grown, is commonly from sixty to eighty feet in height, and sometimes, but very rarely, twelve feet in diameter. One at Pateretere, near the Waimate, measures a circumference of thirty-six feet, but does not carry that size to any great height, and is probably unsound at heart. The finest grown kauri tree I have seen is in the immense forest between the Waimate and Kaitaia. It measures thirty-three feet in circumference, the trunk being perfectly straight, clean, and apparently sound, to the height of near eighty feet, then thickly branching out, and covered with rich foliage. The white resin which oozes freely from the kauri wherever an incision is made, has been exported as an article of commerce. It has been collected and sold wholesale to American traders, at two-pence half-penny a pound. In its fresh state, the resin is chewed by the natives, who sociably pass the chewed piece from mouth to mouth. Older lumps, the produce of former years, they collect in baskets, and burn in their kumara grounds,

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KAHIKATEA----PURIRI.

to kill the caterpillar. Large tracts of open country, as far as the growth of the kauri extends, are characterized by lumps of the resin invariably embedded in a white, stiff, sterile soil; affording proof that land which is now covered with stunted vegetation, wearing a truly uninteresting aspect of barrenness, was once crowned with the perennial verdure of a New Zealand forest.

The wood of the Kahikatea (podacarpus excelsus,) another of the coniferae of New Zealand, bears some resemblance to inferior kauri, and has often been fraudulently substituted for it. Where kauri cannot be procured, and the work required is inside work, not exposed to damp, the kahikatea may be advantageously employed.

Besides the kauri and kahikatea, there are other valuable timber trees, which have been turned to account, for various purposes.

The Puriri (vitex littoralis,) has been improperly called the New Zealand oak, its hardness and durability being the only qualities in which it can be said to bear resemblance to the monarch of British forests. The wood of the puriri is invaluable for heavy work. For fencing, it may last half a century, without rotting. For the wood-work of ploughs, carts, wagons, &c, and for the ground plates of boarded houses it is in high estimation; but it is rendered unsightly, and unavailable for outside or ornamental work, by perforations, nearly half an inch in diameter, bored by a large grub, while the tree is living and otherwise perfectly sound. For fire-wood, no tree in New Zealand is superior to it; but many a time the

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TOTARA--TANEKAHA.

axe will rebound, and many a tool will be broken in splitting up the hard logs for this purpose. The sacred groves of ever-green puriri, rescued by native superstition from the destructive fires which have cleared the country around them, are often a pleasing addition to the otherwise monotonous landscape. Not so the dead trunks and leafless branches of the many puriri trees, which have indeed endured the fire; but have lost all their beauties, or exchanged them for the assumed ornament of the kowarawara, an epiphitical astelia. A number of puriri trees together, with many of these epiphytes growing on them, present, at a distance, the appearance of a rookery.

The Totara, (podocarpus totara,) in the northern parts of the Island, is only found here and there among the other trees of the forest. In the neighbourhood of Rotorua, where there is no kauri, there are whole forests of totara. Rotorua lake itself bears evident marks of occupying the site of a former totara forest, the land having sunk by volcanic or plutonic action, leaving a vast basin, which was subsequently filled up with water. In the shallow parts of the lake it requires great caution in steering, to avoid the stumps which are still standing; and large totara logs, discoloured by age, yet still perfectly sound, are occasionally hauled up by the natives. As a timber for building, it may hereafter be found, when totara districts become colonized, that in some respects the totara is preferable to kauri, being less liable to swell or shrink with the weather.

The Tanekaha (phyllocladus trichomanoides,) is a serviceable wood, but not very plentiful. Its bark is

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THE TOWAI.

used as a red dye, for the ornamental parts of the native kaitakas, --their best bordered garments. For this purpose, the bark is first cut off in pieces and collected in a kete, or native basket. It is then beaten with the paoi, or fern-root pounder, and when softened by beating, it is put into cold water, in a kumete, (a kind of trough, resembling a short ill-shaped canoe,) along with the muka, or prepared flax. Stones made red hot are then thrown into the water till it boils, the stones being changed for others from the fire, till the muka is dyed red, when it is finally taken out and hung on a pole to dry. For making a black dye, the bark of the Hinau, (eloeocarpus hinau,) is substituted. The same process is gone through as with the bark of the tanekaha, till the material is dyed red. After it has been hung up and dried, it is rubbed in the black mud of a swamp, and then left, for a short time, in a heap of mud. If left too long it will lose its colour. By carrying a piece to the water, and washing off the mud, the operation is known to be completed by the material remaining perfectly black. Iron pots now supersede the kumete and hot stones.

The wood of the Towai, (leiospernum racemosum,) is of a reddish colour, sometimes prettily grained; it is harder than cedar, but liable to swell, even when seasoned. I have seen chests of drawers, cabinets, &c, made of it, and it will probably come into general use for furniture. The towai, though not now to be found in large quantities, must have been plentiful in former days, as it is often found as a mere bush, growing in the open country: being kept down

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OTHER FOREST TREES.

to bush size, but not radically destroyed, by the fires which frequently pass over the land.

The Pohutukawa, (metrosideros tomentosa,) is a tree of sea-side growth. The knees of the branches of this hard, durable timber, seem exactly formed to be suitable for ship building, for which purpose the pohutukawa has been found exceedingly valuable.

The elegant acacia-like Kowai, (Edwardsia microphylla,) has also been found serviceable as a close, hard, even-grained wood. Its value has hardly been tested.

The Rimu, (dacrydium cvpressinum,) the Rewarewa, (Knightia excelsa,) the Taraire, (laurus taraire,) and others, might also be mentioned, but I will only add here one other.

The Rata, {metrosideros robusta,) affords a durable reddish wood. A peculiar characteristic of this tree is, that it commences its growth as a climbing plant, embracing with its aerial roots some tall tree as a friendly supporter; but growing itself, at length, to a majestic forest tree, and standing for years in perfect vigour, long after the one which formerly upheld it has gone entirely to decay.

After calling on one of the Mangamuka settlers, we came to Mangataipa, a retired pa, situated on a bend of the river. Beyond this, the stream becomes narrow and more winding, and as it takes its course through a forest of lofty evergreens, which grow close to the water's edge, and frequently overhang the river, the eye is refreshed by varying and lovely scenery. Higher up, the river is impassable for boats, the trees which have fallen into, and across it.

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MAUNGATANIWA.

forming a serious obstruction. The natives, however, with their shallow canoes, easily manage to glide over or under. We landed on the western bank of the river, and, after a short and pleasant walk through the wood, arrived at Rotopipiwai, a native settlement fifteen miles or more up the river, and delightfully situated in a fertile valley. There was no pa, but only a few scattered houses, with low fences, and a large native built chapel. We could see the lofty peak of Maungataniwa in the distance.

Maungataniwa is one of the loftiest mountains in this part of New Zealand. It rises towering amid a wilderness of hills, clad to their very summits with the perpetual green of a dense forest. The road which has been cut through this forest runs within about a quarter of an hour's climb of the pointed top of Maungataniwa. Travelling once in that road, a splendid scene, near the great mountain's top, unexpectedly opened before us. Through an agreeable break in the seemingly interminable wood, we looked down upon what appeared to be an immense unruffled lake, its clear mirrored surface reflecting many a floating cloud of varied hue, while here and there a wooded island rose to add its interest to the scene. We looked up; not a cloud was visible. In truth, we had been gazing upon a brilliant mass of sunny clouds beneath us, and our imagined islands were neither more nor less than hill tops peeping through.

Mr. Woon informed me that many natives from the different villages on the Mangamuka, --some from a considerable distance higher up than Rotopipiwai, --were in the habit of assembling at Mangungu

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THE VEGETATING CATERPILLAR.

on Sundays; bringing their wives and families in canoes on the Saturday, and returning on the Monday. From other branches of the Hokianga, natives also attended in a similar manner.

We returned part of the way down the Mangamuka in a small canoe, in which we had to pass both over and under the fallen trees. To glide under one large tree, which had fallen completely across the river, we were compelled to lie perfectly flat in the canoe. It was about eight o'clock, P.M., when we got back to Mangungu. Mr. Turner had just arrived.

While staying at Mangungu, I had an opportunity of collecting from the wood specimens of the Hawato, or Hotete, (sphoeria Robertsia,) a singular natural production, mostly found among the lesser roots of the rata tree. The hawato appears above the ground as little more than a dried stalk, scarcely discernible among the withered leaves and rubbish, but bearing a minute bulrush-like head, which, when closely examined, appears to be a collection of capsules. On digging carefully round the brittle stalk, into the stiff clay, you come to what forms the root of the plant; but which has evidently once been an organized and living caterpillar. The stem grows from the head of the caterpillar, which is always found upwards. Some of my specimens, when first dug up, showed the exterior of the caterpillar so perfect that you might clearly distinguish the hairs over the body, and the sharp hooked claws on the foremost legs. Whether cut transversely or longitudinally, the substance of the hotete exhibits precisely the same vegetable character as the stem that grows from it; only that you

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THE VEGETATING CATERPILLAR.

may clearly trace the whole length of the intestinal canal. Conversing with the late Allan Cunningham Esq., on the subject, when he visited the Waimate, he confessed the difficulty of accounting for this remarkable change from animal to vegetable matter; but ventured the conjecture that a seed being deposited in the caterpillar, whether by swallowing it or otherwise, the secretion and deposition of vegetable matter destroys and takes the place of the substance of the animal. If this be correct, there is so great an analogy between this mysterious process, and the apparent transition from the vegetable to the mineral, called petrifaction, that we might venture to give lignifaction as an appropriate name for a similar transfer from the animal to the vegetable. The hawato is used by the natives in a state of charcoal, to blacken the incisions which they make in their flesh with broken pieces of obsidian; but it is only used for the softer parts of the body, or for the faces of children. Pigs grub up the hawato for food. The manner of re-production of this plant never having been discovered by the natives, they easily settle all botanical disputes about the matter, by asserting that it comes down from heaven. 1

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VISIT TO THE BARON.

Mr. Turner and two other friends went with me to pay a visit to the Baron de ------ [DE THIERRY], who had come to settle in the country with very large expectations, upon the ground of a disputed claim to an extensive tract of land in the Hokianga district. The Baron, (a wild adventurer, afflicted with monomania,) had assumed the title of "Sovereign Chief of New Zealand," and arrived from Sydney with sixty emigrants, who were to make their own fortunes after having made his.

A pleasant breeze wafted our boat up the Waiho river, the perpetually winding course of which presented a constant change of agreeable scenery, the river banks and adjacent land being rich and fertile. About seven miles up the river we landed, and, making out our way over an almost over-grown native path, we came upon a level open road, extending in a direct line before us, but not more than twelve feet wide. A walk of nearly a mile along this road, which had evidently been made with much labour, enabled us to remark upon it, as we knew it to be the Baron's first attempt at road-making in New Zealand. The narrowness of the road, its want of a crowned centre to throw off the wet, its perpendicularly cut ditches, were severally commented on. No one was at work upon it. Nor did we see any one, till, approaching the ascent to the Baron's mud cottage, we observed half a dozen white men clearing a piece

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THE BARON'S DOMICILE.

of ground, which the Baron afterwards informed us was for the cultivation of the cotton plant. The Baron came out to meet us: his dress was old, and shabby in the extreme, but his address free and gentlemanly. He received us in the politest manner, made a score of apologies for the state in which we should find his dwelling, and then ushered us in.

The cottage, a long gable-ended building, constructed of white clay, and covered in with very inferior native thatch, stood in a well chosen and commanding situation. Its interior was comfortless and deplorable in the extreme: no door, no window, no floor, no partition, no attempt at order, cleanliness, or convenience. Upon the bare ground were placed in the greatest confusion, casks, chests, and cases; and, with equal disregard of all arrangement, guns, hammocks, and a variety of etceteras, were suspended throughout the whole length of this most conveniently undivided space, which served alike for parlour, drawing-room, kitchen, store, and bed room. The hammocks afforded common sleeping accommodation for the whole establishment, consisting of the Baron and Baroness, four children, a sort of house-keeper or governess, two female servants, and a youth who acted as interpreter.

There being no tables nor chairs, Mr. Turner and I were seated on a case, with our backs to the ill-supported old door, which served as a substitute for a table. Our companions sat on another case, the Baron on another, and the Baroness on what appeared to us to be a brandy cask. Miss was lounging in one of the hammocks, and the boys rambling

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THE BARON'S ROADS.

about the premises. The Baron's facile conversation exhibited a strange mixture of intelligence and chimerical absurdity; his road-making propensities being not a whit abated by difficulties and disappointments. Of the sixty settlers whom he brought with him from Port Jackson, all but the six whom we saw at work had deserted him; and, on that very day, his whole gang of thirty natives had struck on a dispute about their payment. The said road, we were told, was only intended for a foot-path, to pass through an avenue of not-yet-planted peach, orange, and lemon trees; the carriage road, of a proportionate width, running parallel with it. Thus the road was to be carried through to the extremity of the Baron's possessions, and, if permitted, continued on, at his sole expense, to the Bay of Islands; all this scheme being laid down without any survey of the country, or accurate knowledge of anything respecting it. With a detail of this, and other equally visionary plans, the Baron entertained us for a couple of hours, bringing forward for our refreshment some excellent cheese, with maize bread, and very middling wine.

We then took a walk over the grounds, noticing the tiny enclosure of plants, the well, the woods, and the prospect from the mount; after which the Baron and his lady politely accompanied us the whole length of the newly made road. We reached Mangungu at dusk.

On the Sunday I attended the station Sunday schools. The progress of the natives did not appear at all equal to that in some of the Church Mission stations; but the schools were of a more recent date;

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NATIVE MARRIAGES.

In the chapel, I addressed a congregation of between two and three hundred natives, although but few families had arrived in their canoes on the Saturday. The profound attention, and orderly conduct of the people, during the whole service, was highly creditable to them, and their singing was certainly the best I had heard in New Zealand. In the afternoon we had English service with the Mission families and other whites. In the evening the natives assembled again in the chapel, when Mr. Turner addressed them. After service a native couple were married, who were exceedingly stupid and awkward about the business.

Soon after our arrival in New Zealand my attention was drawn by the bell of Paihia ringing for the wedding of a native couple; and I found that the company, beyond the appointed time, were all waiting for the commencement of the ceremony. On inquiring the cause of the delay, I learned that the blacksmith was hard at work finishing the wedding-ring. A couple whom I afterwards married at Taiamai were indebted for this important article to a youth who was present, from whose finger we borrowed a ring for that of the bride. The native method of obtaining a wife is by main force: that is, if there are rival suitors, the strongest seizes and bears away the object of his choice. One poor girl at Paihia, who was about to be married in the Mission chapel, although under protection both of the Missionaries and the British Resident, was so injured, in a violent attempt to bear her away from the man of her own approval, that she did not long survive.

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ON TO PAKANAI.

Having sent for my things from Kaikohe, and Mr. Turner kindly affording me assistance to take me down the river, I left Mangungu on the morning of January the 9th, in "Missionary," the station boat, for Newark, or Pakanai, another Wesleyan station near the heads of the river, at that time occupied by the Rev. J. Whiteley.

We had wind and tide against us the greater part of the way. From a European, who accompanied us, I learned that the natives who had been working for the Baron, after coming to his terms, found that he had not wherewith to pay them: whereupon, they grew angry, and so did he, taking up his piece and threatening to fire upon them. This was too much for natives to bear. They soon collected to the number of two hundred, and throwing trees across the famous road, choked it up from one end to the other. The boat making very little head, we thought it advisable to land at the post station, as we had letters for a vessel lying off the point; and so proceed the rest of our way on foot. Staying for awhile at Capt. Young's, and sending the natives on before, we had to strip for fording a creek, and reached Newark about seven o'clock. The district around the solitary Mission house is abruptly hilly; a fair sample of many a district in the northern part of New Zealand.

On the morning of the 10th, I accompanied Mr. Whiteley to a place where two parties of natives were sitting, waiting for the Missionary to assist in settling their differences. A quarrel had risen in consequence of one of them meddling with another's fishing net; nets at certain seasons being sacred things. A scuffle

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CONSEQUENCES OF

ensued in which one man came off with a broken nose, and all were soon up in arms. By the time we came up with them, their wrath had, in a measure, abated, and after one or two speeches, paced in true native style, 2 to which nobody listened, matters were amicably adjusted by the interchange of muskets on the part of two of the principal men concerned; and the women of one party brought food for the others.

Quarrels will often arise from a breach of the tapu, by which persons or things are made sacred; but sometimes native selfishness will overcome scruples. I have seen a chief who was tapued, and who, consequently, was forbidden to touch with his hand anything that was to be put into his mouth, yield to the temptation of a fig of tobacco, which he was not to have unless it were put into his hand. But the tapu on fishing nets is specially binding, the coast and neighbouring ocean being made sacred. It was in vain I tried, on one occasion, to persuade the natives to let me pass along a tapued beach, where they were preparing their nets. I might have been twenty yards from them when they called out, and forbad my approach: and as I persevered in claiming a foreigner's exemption, and was slowly

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BREACH OF TAPU.

moving forward, one of them threw off his garment, and, stark-naked, ran violently at me with a small stick which broke against my breast; so that I was compelled to go round another way. The tapu is a fruitful source of warfare, its breach being treated with great severity, and there can be little doubt that misunderstandings on this head will sometimes bring colonists and natives into serious collision.