CHAPTER XVI
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CHAPTER XVI.
Wangape and Hokianga.
We now return to the western coast. If we travel from Kaitaia towards the source of the Awaroa, we see its valley separated from the coast by undulating hills of basaltic structure, and covered with forest. Where the basaltic rock is found, the soil is generally good; and I have no doubt that in the course of time these hills will all be cultivated, and thus increase the area which I have assigned to the district of Kaitaia. I do not include in this the hills in the middle of the island, to which Maunga Taniwa belongs: they are too steep ever to be anything but forest-land. The coast from Waro to Wangape, or False Hokianga, fifteen miles to the northward of Hokianga, is bold and rocky. Wangape has never been surveyed. Its entrance is about 200 yards wide; it then expands into a fine basin, surrounded by low wooded hills, and appears to afford no shelter for shipping. The natives have extensive plantations, and belong to the tribe which lives at Hokianga.
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MANGUMUKA RIVER.
Passing from Kaitaia to Hokianga, the bridle-road ascends nearly to the summit of Maunga Taniwa, and then proceeds in a different direction. We leave it here by turning to the westward, and, descending rapidly, soon arrive in a valley, through which a mountain-stream flows, which in its upper part has formed alluvial land about five or six miles broad and eight miles long. This river is the Mangumuka; its length, from Maunga Taniwa to the point where it joins the estuary called the Hokianga, is about twenty miles. At the upper part of the valley there is flat and fertile alluvial land, bounded on all sides by wooded hills; the river, running in a bed of whinstone pebbles, at some places deepens, at others shoals, and its banks bear signs of frequent floods. Lower down its depth becomes more equal, and for about ten miles from its embouchure into the Hokianga harbour it admits vessels of moderate burden. This lower part is bounded on both sides by steep hills covered with kauri-trees, but the best of them have been cut down near the water's edge. So much has been said about Hokianga, that in speaking of it I may confine myself to a few words. The estuary is almost wholly bounded by steep hills, which, after the kauri has been cut down, will not repay the trouble of cultivation. But the largest timber-trees, those fit for the Royal Navy, are nearly all gone: those that remain are good for logs, but not for spars; and therefore the timber-trade alone is not sufficient to repay the set-
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HOKIANGA HARBOUR.
tlers. The estuary is joined by several fresh-water tributaries, which have a little cultivable land on their banks; this is especially the case at the principal stream, and at the Waima near the entrance into the harbour; but the alluvial land bears a very small proportion to that which is clayey and useless. The good land is in the hands of the natives, who are branches of the Nga-pui and Rarewa tribes. They have cultivated small patches, and that portion of the land which they do not make use of might advantageously be occupied by a small number of European peasantry. But the nature of the country forbids any other kind of settlement. The harbour, however, although a bar harbour, can be entered by large vessels, and as there is a pilot on the heads there is no danger. There are already 200 Europeans settled on the Hokianga, traders and sawyers, who found ample employment as long as fine spars and cheap labour were to be obtained. But all this is now greatly changed.
The first Wesleyan mission-station was established at the Hokianga, and has been so effective that nearly all the natives are Christians. There is a printing-press at Mangungu, from which a few prayer-books have been issued. A Roman Catholic missionary also resides here during a period of the year. The hills in the neighbourhood of Hokianga consist of argillaceous slate, covered with a white stiff clay, characteristic of the kauri-land. In
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HOKIANGA.
several places basaltic rock is found underlying the slate
Hokianga is noted for its wet climate, and the thick fogs which envelop it long after the sun has risen above the horizon, whilst in other parts of the island they arc scarcely ever met with.
