TRANSACTIONS
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OBITUARY.
SIR DAVID ERNEST HUTCHINS, 1850-1920.
Tre late Sir David E. Hutchins, born on the 22nd September, 1850, was educated at the well-known Blundell’s School, Tiverton, England, and after leaving went, when twenty years old, to the famous Ecole Nationale des Eaux et Foréts at Nancy, France, where he gained his diploma in forestry. From Nancy he went to India as Deputy Conservator in Mysore, and ~ spent some ten years in the Indian Forest Service. Here he showed his wide views of forestry in two papers which he wrote on Australian trees in the Nilgiris and on the coastal planting of Casuarina. These papers are still standard works on their subjects. From India he was transferred in 1882 to Cape Colony, where, after some years passed in charge of the Knysna forests, he succeeded Count Vasselot de Regné as Chief Conservator of Forests, and remained until 1905. Sir David’s work as a forester in South Africa has received the highest praise from such well-known autho- rities as Sir W. Schlich, the late Professor Fisher, M. Pardé, H. R. McMillan, and others. Under his regime in South Africa not only was scientific management applied to the remaining indigenous forests, but extensive plantations were made of eucalypts ‘and other exotics, which are now yielding an annual revenue of about £20,000.
On his retiring from the South African Forestry Department Sir David was later employed by the British Government to report on the forests of British East Africa, where he succeeded in demarcating reserves, and, among other things, in establishing economic plantations of the Chinese coffin-wood tree (Persea nanmu). He was appointed Chief Conservator of Forests for this territory, and after three years’ service there he retired from regular Government employment. At various times in his career he was called upon to visit different countries and report on forestry problems. In 1907 he was employed by the Colonial Office to report on the value of the Kenia forests, and in 1909 to inspect the forests of Cyprus.
In addition to his experience in India, South and Kast Africa, Sir David during several visits had gained an intimate knowledge of the forests of Algeria, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, France, and Germany.
Sir David came out to Australia in 1914 with the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and remained there to study forestry in that land. Whilst in Australia he wrote a valuable book on Australian forestry, A Discussion of Australian Forestry, with Special Reference to the Forests of Western Australia (1914-15), and by his persistent advocacy stirred up such an interest in the matter that in all the various States of the Commonwealth Forestry Departments are now firmly established.
In 1916, on the invitation of the Government, Sir David Hutchins came to New Zealand to report on forestry in this Dominion, and it was mainly on his advice that it was decided to establish forestry as a separate and independent State Department here. He was also the original promoter
vill Obituary.
of the New Zealand Forestry League, as he recognized that some such body is essential to sustain the interest of the public in a matter which, unfortunately, is liable to be thought to concern our successors more than ourselves.
Whilst in New Zealand Sir David devoted the whole of his time to the study of forestry in this country, and when not in the field inspecting native forests and plantations he was writing on those matters. Before his death the Government had published his Report on the Waipoua Kauri Forest (1918), and Part I of Forestry in New Zealand (1919), and up till the time that he passed away he was engaged in writing Part II of this latter work.
For forestry in the British Empire probably no one has done such service as Sir David Hutchins, and it was for this that he in 1920 rece.ved the honour of knighthood, which, in connection with forestry, had previously been conferred only on three official heads of the great Indian Forest Service. His published works were numerous, including, besides those mentioned above, Report on Transvaal Forestry, 1903; Report on Rhodesia Forestry, 1904; Hxtra-tropical Forestry, 1906; Forests of Mount Keria, 1907; Report on Forests of British East Africa, 1909; Cyprus Forestry. 1909 ; and others.
He died at his residence, Khandallah, on the 11th November, 1920.
E. Puitiirs TurRNeErR.
WX.
{Pace p.
Obituary. ix
GCCLONEL THOMAS WILLIAM PORTER, C.B., 1844-1920.
CoLONEL PortER came of a soldiering family. His father, Lieut.-Colonel Porter, 7th Bengal Native Infantry, died in India during the Mutiny. On his mother’s side he was Highland in descent, of the aristocratic and ancient Roses of Kilravock Castle, Geddes, Nairnshire, a family whose records go back for over a thousand years. He was a nephew of Lord Strathnairn, a prominent figure in military history. He went to sea at the age of thirteen as a midshipman in the Royal Navy, and served in H.M.S. “ Hercules’? in raids against pirates on the China Station, 1857-58. Leaving the Navy m 1859, he came to Australia and New Zealand, and entered upon the military hfe in the Maori War. He joined the Colonial Defence Force Cavalry, and after spending some time im charge of a blockhouse at Mohaka (H.B.) he served in his first engagement with the Hauhau natives at Waerenga-a-Hika Pa, near the present town of Gis- borne, at the end of 1865. There he distinguished himself by assisting a wounded comrade under fire, receiving a slight wound. After the disband- ment of the Cavalry, Porter joined the New Zealand Armed Constabulary, and during the campaigns against Te Kooti on the east coast, and against Titokowaru on the west coast, he served in command of Maori contingents. He was continuously on active service from 1868 to the beginning of 1872, and during that period fought m scores of engagements and skirmishes. His courage and skill were conspicuous at the siege of Ngatapa, in the Gisborne district, where he commanded a portion of Major Ropata Waha- waha’s Negati-Porou contingent. After sharmg in the final defeat and pursuit of Titokowaru and the west-coast Hauhaus, in the interior of Taranaki in 1869, he returned to the east coast with his No. 8 Division, Armed Constabulary, and then took a very prominent and useful share in the campaigns against Te Kooti in the Urewera Country. In this most arduous chase, lasting for three years, Porter (then Captain) was a marvel of energy and physical endurance. The Ngati-Porou contingents under Ropata and Porter sometimes remained months in the formidable forest ranges, far from their base of supplies, often without any food but what the bush afforded, rigorously searching the almost unknown Urewera terram for the rebel bands. Numerous skirmishes were fought and fortified positions captured, and in September, 1871, Porter and his Ngati- Porou decisively defeated Te Kooti at Te Hapua. (The final shots in this forest war were fired by Captain Preece’s force in February, 1872.) The infamous Kereopa, the fanatic murderer of the Rev. C. Volkner at Opotiki in 1865, was captured by a detachment detailed by Captain Porter in the Upper Whakatane, November, 1871.
After the close of the Maori wars Colonel Porter, who during his prolonged and incessant activities was four times wounded, filled many important military and Civil Service appointments on the East Coast. In 1889 he was once more called upon to take the field against Te Kooti, who with a large body of followers insisted on a visit from Waikato to the east coast. The old rebel was arrested by the Colonel at Waiotahi, Bay of Plenty, and sent back to Auckland. When the South African War began Colonel Porter once more sought active service. He commanded the
x Obituary.
Seventh New Zealand Contingent of Mounted Rifles in the Transvaal, Orange Free State, Zululand, and later the Ninth Contingent. For his services on the veldt (1900-2) he was awarded the Queen’s Medal (four clasps) and created Commander of the Bath. For some time before retiring from the service of the State, in 1908, Colonel Porter was Acting Under- Secretary for Defence.
He was the author of The Life and Times of Major Ropata Wahawaha, and had also completed a history of the war with Te Kooti (published in several forms) and a book of Kast Coast Maori legends.
Colonel Porter was actively interested in the Historical Section of the Wellington Philosophical Society, formed in September, 1918. He held the office of vice-chairman from the beginning, and his picturesque figure, his manly and military bearing, and his conversation, based on a long, varied, and active experience, were always of interest.
His contributions on Maori subjects were highly valuable, and had his life been prolonged he would no doubt have added considerably to the store of New Zealand historical data. He died on the 12th November. 1920, at the age of seventy-six years.
JAMES COWAN.
[Fuce p. Xt.
Obituary. xl
KENNETH WILSON, 1842-1920.
KenNETH Witson, M.A., was born at Leeds in 1842, the youngest son of Thomas Wilson, M.A., Director of the A. and C. Canal Navigation Com- pany. He entered the Leeds Grammar-school, completing his school educa- tion there, and leaving with a scholarship which took him to St. John’s College, Cambridge. At Cambridge he took his degree, and at that place he imbibed that pronounced appreciation of the classics of English literature which he retamed throughout his life. After leaving Cambridge Mr. Wilson spent some years as assistant master at Mostyn House, Cheshire, and on being offered a position on the staff of King Edward VI School at South- ampton he accepted it, and remained there until he came to New Zealand in 1881 as Headmaster of Wellington College, with which he was connected for many years. During this period many men now in Wellington and elsewhere passed through the school, and they recall with friendly affection the upright and distinguished figure of the Headmaster. For the last thirty years of his life Mr. Wilson resided in Palmerston North ; his was a familar figure, and his devotion to the beloved classics provided one of the few remaining links with that period of English University life when the Classical Tripos represented the beginning and the end of educational excellence. Though actively engaged in teaching during his residence in Palmerston North, he found time for other pursuits, and in conjunction with Mr. Welch was one of the founders of the Manawatu Philosophical Society. He was President, and for eleven years Secretary, of the society, and its members have good reason for remembering him, since it was mainly due to his enthusiasm and tireless, patient work that the society is in the strong position it occupies to-day. Mr. Wilson, who lost a son in the war, died on the 10th October, 1920, aged seventy-eight years.
Cuas. T. SALMON.
CONTE NS:
PAGES Rott oF Honour ae ce ac re ae Xxi-Xxxili PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS 56 ae 510 36 Ss XXV—XXXIV ANTHROPOLOGY. ART. I. The Maori Genius for Personification ; with Illustrations of Maori Mentality. By Elsdon Best, F. N.Z.Inst. : 1-13 XLVIII. Maori Food-supplies of Lake Rotorua, with Methods of outa them, and Usages and Customs appertaining thereto. By. Te Rangi Hiroa (P. H. Buck), D.S.O., M.D. sc 433-451 XLIX. Maori Decorative Art: No. 1, House-panels (Arapaki, T'uitui, or Tukutuku). By Te Rangi Hiroa (P. H. Buck), D.S8.0., M.D. 452-470 L. An Account of a euppoed eee) poe sane stone. By Robert Fulton, M.D. 3 j .. 471-472 BOTANY. Art. XL. Notes on Specimens of New Zealand Ferns and Flowering-plants : in London Herbaria. By W. R. B. eo BLS 0 eZe-5 Dominion Museum, Wellington 362-365 XLI. Descriptions of New Native Flowering- eer with a fou Notes By D. Petrie, M.A., Ph.D., F.N.Z.Inst. .. 9365-371 XLII. The Genus Cordyceps in New Zealand. By G. H. Garant 372-382 XLIII. Unrecorded Plant-habitats for the Eastern Botanical District of the South Island of New Zealand. By W. Martin, B.Sc. 383-385 XLIV. Further Studies on the Prothallus, Embryo, and Young Sporo- phyte of Z'mesipteris. By the Rev. J. E. Bone ae D:Sc., F.N.Z.Inst., Hutton Memorial Medallist 386-422 XLY. New Species of Flowering-plants. By T. F. Con RLS, F.Z.8., F.N.Z.Inst., Curator of the Auckland Museum .. 423-425 XLVI. New Plant-stations. By A. Wall, M.A., Professor of English, Canterbury College 426-428 XLVII. On Growth-periods of New Zealand Teese speciale Netiefag fusca and the Totara (Podocarpus totara). By H. B. Kirk, M.A., F.N.Z.Inst., Professor of Holoeyog) Victoria aareratty College 429-432 GEOLOGY. Art. IV. Notes on a Geological Excursion to Lake Tekapo. By R. Speight, M.A., M.Se., F.G.S., F.N.Z.Inst., Curator of the Canterbury Museum dc on 30 37-46 V. The Modification of eek aia = Qidsiadan! By R. Speight, M.A., M.Sce., F.G.S., F.N.Z.Inst., Curator of the Canterbury Museum 47-53
32°81
XIV Contents.
Art. VI. aad eee in the Terminal Face of the Franz Josef Glacier. R. Speight, M.A., M.Sc., F.G.S., F.N.Z.Inst., Curator of the ene Museum
VII. Notes on the Geology of the Patea District. By PG sanonant M. ke F.G.S., Director of the Geological Survey, New enim ;
VIII. The Geological History of Eastern Neues By Professor James Park, F.G.S8., F.N.Z. Inst.
IX. The Birth and Development of New Teena By Peeraon sans Park, F.G.S., F.N.Z. Inst.
X. Some Tertiary Mollusca, with eeecne of nee Sapte By P. Marshall, M.A., D.Sc, F.G.S., F.N.Z.Inst., Hector and Hutton Medallist, and R. Murdoch :
XI. Fossils from the Paparoa Rapids, on the ear Ree By P. Marshall, M.A., D.Sc., F.G.S., F.N.Z.Inst., Hector and Hutton Medallist, and R. Murdoch
XII. Tertiary Rocks near Hawera. By P. Marshall, M. A., D. Be E.G. s., F.N.Z.Inst., Hector and Hutton “Medallist, and R. Murdoch Ae
XIII. Geology of the Waikato Heads District and the Kawa Unconformity. By M. J. Gilbert, M.Sc. ais Brother BEESUE), Sacred Heart College, Auckland
XIV. Notes on the Geology of Gee ees Island, New Zenlens By J. A. Bartrum, Auckland University College
XV. A Conglomerate at Onerahi, near Whangarei, Mee os Fee land. By J. A. Bartrum, Auckland University College
XVI. The Warped Land-surface on the South-eastern Side of the ane Nicholson Depression, Wellington, New Zealand. By C. Cotton, D.Sc., F.N.Z.Inst., Victoria ATOR ces Wel lington
XVII. Porirua Harbour: a Study of | its Shore-li line and thee Physiouraphie Features. By G. Leslie Adkin
XVIII. An Account of the Geology of the Green Teland Coalfield. By L. ih Grange, M.Sc., A.O.S.M.
XIX. On an Ice-striated Rock- sue on ae Shore of Circle eae hess Manapouri. By J. M. Fowler 30 a a
HISTORY.
Art. II. Old Redoubts, Blockhouses, and Stockades of the Wellington Dis- trict. By Elsdon Best, F.N.Z.Inst. :
Ill. The First New Zealand Navy; with some Bipisodes of the } Maori War in connection with the British Navy. By Herbert Baillie
ZOOLOGY.
Art. XX. Notes on New Zealand Mollusca: No. 1, Descriptions of Three New Species of Polyplacophora, and of Damoniella Gee He Miss M. K. Mestayer, Dominion Museum
XXI. Notes on New Zealand Mollusca: No. 2. By Miss M. K. Mestayes Dominion Museum
XXII. Notes on New Zealand Chilopoda. Be Gilbert Arche, MA, Assistant Curator, Canterbury Museum
XXIII. A New Species of Shark. By Gilbert Pachey, M.A., (eee Curator, Canterbury Museum
XXIV. The Leaf-mining Insects of New Zealand: Part II. By Moet N. Watt, F.E.S. ..
PAGES
53-57
58-64
65-72
73-76
77-84
85-86
86-96
97-114
115-127
128-130
131-143
144-156
157-174
175
14-28
29-36
176-180
180
181-195
195-196
197-219
Art. XXV.
XXVI.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.
XXXII.
XXXII.
XXXII.
XXXIV.
XXXYV.
XXXVI.
XXXVII.
Contents.
Some New Zealand Amphipoda: No. 2. By Charles Chilton, M.A., D.Se., M.B., O.M., LL.D., F.LS., C.M-Z.S., F.N.Z.Inst., Hon. Mem. Roy. Soc. N.S.W.: Professor of Biology, Canterbury College, New Zealand F
The Life-history of some New Zealand THe No. 1. By John G.
Myers, F.E.S.
A Revision of the New Fealanal Gieadiias (eee Descriptions of New Species. By John G. Myers, F.E.S.
Bionomic Notes on some New Zealand Spiders, with a Plea for the Validity of the Species Araneus orientalis asec cl John G. Myers, F.E.S. :
Notes on the Hemiptera of the Kermadec ieee with an Addition to the Hemiptera Fauna of the New Zealand Sabre ey John G. Myers, F.E.S.
Notes on the Me es (Diptera) of New veaiees By J. W. Campbell :
Material for a Monograph on ihe ieee nace of ee Zealand : Part II, Family Syrphidae. By David Bos F ae Govern- ment Entomologist :
=
Notes and Descriptions of New Tenlana Lepidopters By E. Meyrick, B.A., F.R.S. : : Notes and Descriptions of New Zealand Deconteee: By Alfred
EDO F.E.S., Assistant Entomologist, Cawthron Institute of Scientific Research, Nelson
Description of a New Dragon-fly belonging to the Gente Uropetala Selys. By R. J. Tillyard, M.A., Sc.D. (Cantab.), D.Sc. (Sydney), F.L.S., F.E.S., Entomologist and Chief of the Biological De- partment, Cawthron Institute of Scientific Research, Nelson
Studies of New Zealand T'richoptera, or Caddis-flies: No. 1, Description of a New Genus and Species belonging to the Family Sericostomatidae. By R. J. Tillyard, M.A., Sc.D. (Cantab.), D.Sc. (Sydney), F.L.S., F.R.S., Entomologist and Chief of the Biological Department, Cawthron Institute of Scientific Research, ‘Nelson :
Descriptions (with Illustrations) of oe Fishes new to New Zea- land. By L. T. Griffin, F.Z.S., Assistant in the Auckland Museum : : Sic a0 Sic
Observations on certain heAee Parasites found upon the New Zealand Huia (Neomorpha acutirostris Gould) and not pre- viously recorded. By George E. Mason
XX XVIII. The Crab-eating Seal in New Zealand. By W. R. B. Oliver, RLS:5
XXXIX. Variations in Amphineura.
F.Z.S8., Dominion Museum, Wellington
By W. R. B. vues: PLS, PZS., Dominion Museum, Wellington :
MISCELLANEOUS.
Art. LI. The Food Values of New Zealand Fish: Part IT. oy oe ) Dorothy
E. Johnson, B.Sc. in Home Science
Lil. The Chemistry of Flesh Foods—(5) The eee Consti-
tuents of Meat-extracts. By A. M. Wright, A.C. F.CS.; (Miss) J. F. Bevis, B.Sc. ; and the late P. 8. Nelson, M.Sc.
LIL. The Anticomplementary Properties observed in certain Serum Re-
actions.
By A. M. Wright, Captain N.Z.M.C., Bacteriologist,
XV
PAGES
220-234
235-237
238-250
251-256
256-257
258-288
289-333
334-336
337-342
343-346
346-350
351-357
357-359
360
361
472-478
479-483
484-486
Xvl Contents.
PROCEEDINGS.
Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors : Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute Science Congress Wellington Philosophical Society
Auckland Institute
Philosophical Institute of eehierbies
Otago Institute
Nelson Institute
Manawatu Philosophical See
Wanganui Philosophical Society
APPENDIX.
New Zealand Institute Acts and Regulations
Hutton Memorial Medal and Research Fund
Hector Memorial Research Fund
Regulations for administering the Government Research Grant
Carter Bequest
New Zealand Institute—List of Gicees &e.
Roll of Members
Serial Publications received by Ane ee of the 1 Institute
List of Institutions to which the Publications of the Institute are presented
InDEX OF AUTHORS
PAGES 489-506 506-519 520 -524 525-527 528-530 531-522
533 533-034 534
537-542 543-545 545-546 547-548
548 549-553 554-569 570-575 576-581
583-584
LIS OR ae AAMs Ss:
FOLLOWS
PAGE
Sir Davip ERNEST HUTCHINS vil COLONEL THOMAS WILLIAM PORTER bse KENNETH WILSON xl
Extspon Brest— Plate I.—Stockade at the Taita. Pencil sketch EDs W. ara 17th ee 184—
Plate II.—Fig. 1. pena of een BICcRB Ova still aading in 1920. Fig. 2. Old blockhouse near Wallaceville, built in 1860-61
HERBERT BAILLIE—
Plate III.—Fig. 1. Rane Port Waikato (from a sketch by 8S. Percy Smith). Fig. 2. The * ieee oe eae irae a sketch by John A Gilfillan) F :
Plate IV.—Fig. 1. The “Governor Grey” (from a ae Major Aleaphy) Fig. 2. The “ Caroline ” (from a painting by W. Forster) F
Plate VY.—Fig. 1. H.M.S. “‘ Eclipse ” (from a photograph supplied ie Kee Sir E. F. Fremantle, G.C.B). Fig. 2. The “‘ Pioneer” off Meremere
Plate VI.—Fig. 1. The “‘ Pioneer.” Fig. 2. The ‘“ Rangiriri ”
R. SPEIGHT—
Plate VII.—Fig. 1. Lake Manapouri, looking east, showing notched seule: Fig. 2. Lake Manapouri, looking east, showing islands
Plate VIII.—Fig. 1. Lake Manapouri, looking west. Fi is. Reset eacted knob, Thompson Sound a Fie
Plate [X.—Range west of Cass River, ieee Valley ae
Plate X.—Fig. 1. Jim’s Knob, Upper Rakaia Valley. Fig. 2. Ice-cut bench on lower side of Bealey River at its junction with the Waimakariri River
Plate XI.—Fig. 1. Jumped-up Downs, Upper Rangitata Valley, looking down- stream. Fig. 2. ease ue Pa Upper ane V oe looking up-stream
' Plate XII.—Fig. 1. Ice-front Siete fates Pare Rock, eee punt west. Fig. 2. General view of glacier, looking south from Park Rock
Plate XIII.—Fig. 1. View looking east from Park Rock. Fig. 2. View ne peg No. 7, looking south : oe of ic
P. MarsHaLtit and R. Murpocu— Plate XIV.—Figs. 1, 2. Melina zealandica Suter .. Sc : Plate XV.—Fig. 1. Osérea gudexi Suter. Figs. 2, 3. Thracea magna n. sp. .. Plate XVI.—Figs. 1, 2. Miltha neozelanica n. sp. a Se Je Plate XVII.—Fig. 1. Miltha neozelanica n. sp. Figs. 2, 2a, M. dosiniformis . n.sp. Hig. 3. WW. parki n. sp. 56 20 50 ae 60 Plate XVIII.—Fig. 1. Couthouyia concinna n. sp. Fig. 2. Vermicularia ophiodes n. sp. Figs. 3, 4. Cymatium suteri n. sp. Fig. 5. C. pahiense n. sp. Fig. 6. Cypraea sp. Figs. 7, 8. Admete maorium n. sp. pe Plate XIX.—Fig. 1. Daphnella varicostata n. sp. Figs. 2, 3. Euthria subcalir- morpha n. sp. Fig. 4. Lulimella awamoaensis n. sp. Fig. 5. Odostomia (Pyrgulina) pseudorugata n. sp. Fig. 6. Turbonilia awaimoaensis n. sp. Fig. 7. Hulima aoteaensis n. sp... se ate aC
XVill List of Plates.
M. J. GirpERT— OREOUE: Plate XX.—Fig. 1. Showing the characteristic dune-bedding in the consoli-
dated sands close to the bed of lignite near Fishing Rock, on the coast north-west of Waiuku. Fig. 2. Photomicrograph of algal limestone north of Te Orairoa Point. Fig. 3. nee of fine ae limestone, Koruahine Point ; 112
Plate XXI.—Fig. 1. Mesozoic shales me nen of the: vattile aban a little south of Okariha Point. Fig. 2. The belemnite shales ae at the South Head, Waikato River . : so TEA
J. L. BaRrtrRumM—
Plate X XII.—Fig. 1. Western coast of Great Barrier Island: view looking north-north-west towards the entrance of Port Abercrombie. Fig. 2. Kai-
toke Beach from the south, mid-east coast, Great Barrier Island 118 Plate X XITI.—Fig. 1. The Needles, north-east coast of Great Barrier ieicsal
Fig. 2. Breakaway Cliffs of Whitecliffs Range, near Whangaparapara .. 118 Plate XXIV. rag aes aut a summit of Mount Young, looking
north-west 124
Plate XXV.—Fig. 1. A conspicuous acid ion valley of Awana aan Fig. 2. Ramifying narrow dykes, Mine Bay, Great Barrier Island.
Fig. 3. Closely-folded fine-bedded sediments, Harataonga Bay xan 24: Plate XXVI.—Figs. 1-6. Photomicrographs of rocks from Great Barrier Island .. a an: Br de - a sey 24 Plate XXVII.—Figs. 1-5. Photomicrographs of rocks from Great Barrier Island .. ; 50 ae 36 36 ae seen OE Plate XXVIII.—Figs. 1-6. Photomicrographs of rocks from Great Barrier Island .. oo BS a = a ee 28
C. A. Corron— Plate XXIX.—Fig. 1. The eastern shore of Port Nicholson. Fig. 2. The Baring Head platform as seen from Cape Turakirae .. 136
Plate XX X.—Fig. 1. The Baring Head platform between the mouths of the Wainui-o-mata and Orongorongo Rivers. Fig. 2. The Baring Head platform, Orongorongo es and higher ge as seen from
Baring Head Dc 136 Plate XXXI.—Fig. 1. Baring ERAS antec on (anne ea Big 2. Teeth Koangatera, at the drowned mouth of Gollan’s Valley 2 140
Plate XX XII.—Fig. 1. The aggraded headward-tilted valley of the western branch of the Wainui-o-mata. Fig. 2. View looking seaward across the
widest part of the rocky coastal plain of Cape Turakirae ae oo _LZko) Plate XX XIIJ.—Tig. 1. Map of the Hutt River delta. Fig. miner ee the Upper Hutt basin- plain 140 Plate XX XIV.—An aggraded plain in small eee rgiel tilted auaiaties of the Mangaroa River 30 oe : - 140 G. L. ApKInN— Plate XX XV.—The raised shore-platiorm of the Porirua coast... .. 148
L. I. Granece—
Plate XX XVI.—Fig. 1. Section of cemented greensand of Waterfall Creek. Fig. 2. Crystal of sodalite with inclusions .. sts i .. 164
J. M. FowLEr—
Plate XXXVIT.—Fig. 1. General view of striated rocks at Circle Cove. Fig. 2. Near view of striated rocks ue ue ate Seno:
M. K. Mrestayer— Plate XXXVITI.—Figs. 1-3. Lorica haurakiensis n. sp. Figs, 4-6. Lorica volvox. (Reeve). Figs. 7, 8. Plaxiphora (Maorichiton) lyallensis n. sp. Figs. 9-11. Rhyssoplax oliveri n. sp. Fig. 12. Damoniella alphan. sp. .. 176
List of Plates. X1X
G. ARCHEY— FOLLOWS ! PAGE Plate XX XTX.—Scymnodon sherwood? .. 3 =z : wa) L9G M. N. Watr— Plate XL.—Mine of Nepticula egygia, showing character of frass-deposition .. 208 Plate XLI.—Fig. 1. Mine of N. perissopa. Fig. 2. Portion of early part of gallery of NV. perissopa, to show character of frass-deposition .. .. 208 Plate X LIT —Early portions of mines of N. tricentra es : a 208
Plate XLIU.--—Fig. 1. Mine of V. fulva in leaf of O. nitida, as seen on upper surface of leaf. Fig. 2. Mine of N. fulva in leaf of O. nitida, as seen trom underside of leaf .. 56 Ae aie ae at we 208
JoHN G. Myrrs—
Plate XLIV.—Fig. 1. Ctenoneurus hochstetteri : egas (mostly hatched) in situ on under-surtace of tawa-bark. Fig. 2. Ctenoneurus hochstetteri : imagines
and nymph of advanced age : si ao ZBlY Plate XLV (coloured).—Figs. 1-10. Welamosdlul (various epeuiea} 55 si0) Plate XLVI (coloured).—Figs. 1-13. Melampsalta (various species) 250
Davip MiInLER—
Plate XLVIT.—Figs. 1-5. Lepidomyia decessum: female, male, larva, and pupa. Fig. 6. Sphaerophoria ventralis n. sp.: wing. Fig. 7. ee novae-zealantliae ; adult male ae is rs 304
Plate XLVIEI.—-Fig. 1. Syrphus novae .zealandiae: larva on leaf. "Figs. 2 S. ropalus: larva (side view) and empty pupa. Fig. 4. S. sate : adult male. Fig. 5. Platycheirus lignudus n. sp.: adult female.
Fig. 6. Mel anostoma fasciatum : eggs on a grass-head .. 304
Plate XLIX.—Fig. 1. Melanostoma fasciatum: larva on leaf. Fig. ye Xyl Aa montana n. sp.: adult female. Fig. 3. Tropidia bilineata: adult female 304
Plate L.—-Figs. 1, 4. Helophilus antipodus: adult male and adult female. Fig. 2. Wallota cingulata: adult female. Fig. 3. ee hochstetteri :
adult female te A a > 304 Plate LI.—Fig. 1. Myiatropa campbelli n. sp. : Raut fale Fig. 2 aM Boake equestris: adult female. Fig. 3. Hristalis tenaa: adult male .. jo Bu)
Plate LIT.---Fig. 1. Paragus pseudo-ropalus n. sp.: adult male. Fig. 2. Syr se us harrisi n. sp.: adult female. Fig. 3. Hristalis tenax larva submerged in water .. oe : plc of ft a .. 3032 R. J. Trttyarp— Plate LITI.—Full-grown larva of Uropetala carovei White sie .. 344
L. T. GrirFin— Plate LIV.—Fig. 1. Muraenichthys breviceps. Fig. Plate LV.—Fig. 1. Callanthias splendensn. sp. Fig.
Coris sandeyeri -. 302
Nw vo
Spheroides nitidus n. sp. 352 W. R. B. OLIvER— Plate LVI.—SkulJ of crab-eating seal .. 30 ac ae OU
D. PEtTRIE—
Plate LVII.—Fig. 1. Notospartium glabrescens in flower, Nidd Valley, Clarence River, Marlborough. Fig. 2. Notospartium Carmichaeliae, Tynterfield,
Wairau Valley .. ee De Bt se ee 56 axes) ~ Plate LVIII.—Figs. 1-5. Pods of Notospartium glabrescens, N. torulosum, and N. Carmichaeliae .. ne a, oe aie 56 -- 368
G. H. Cunnrincuam—
Plate LIX.—Fig. 1. Cordyceps Aemonae Lloyd. Fig. 2. Larva of Aemona hirta Broun. Fig. 3. lmago of A. hirta O60 31 50 376
XX List of Plates.
©, H. CunnrnguamM—continued.
Plate LX.—Fig. 1. Cordyceps consumpta n. sp. oe 2. Porine sh Buil.
Fig. 3. Cordyceps Craigii Lloyd
FOLLOWS PAGH
Plate LXJ.—— Fig. 1. C ne Robertsii Hook. “Fig. 2 yaneee section
through sclerotium
Plate LXII.—Fig. 1. Porina dinoiles Meee Fig. 2. Corduceps Sinclair
Berk. Fig. 3. a, Melampsalta cruentata Fabr. ; 6, M. cinguiata Fabr.
J. E. Hottoway—
Plate LXIII.—Figs. 1-8. T’mesipteris : Photographs of portions of prothallus 400
Te Raner Hrroa (P. H. Buck)—
Plate LXIV.—Fig. 1. Tau koura: the korapa being slipped down between the canoe and the fern bundle. Fig. 2. Taw koura: the eee vere
drawn up against the korapa
440:
Plate LXV.—-Fig. 1. J'aw koura: completely out of water. “Fig.2 Gite Eas $
the catch from one fern bundle
440
Plate LXVI.—Decorative panels. Fig. 1. Te fea rinon (the Milky Way).
Fig. 2. Stars, or roimata (tears). Fig. 3. Roimata (tears). Fig. 4. Rov-
mata toroa (albatross-tears)
Plate LXVII.—Decorative panels. Fig. 1. Poutama. Fig. 2. Kuokao (human ribs). Fig. 3. Kaokao eer ae Fig. 4. Niho taniwha (dragon’s
teeth)
458
458
Plate LX VITI.—-Decorative ae Fig. 1. Aanohi aua (herring’s eyes).
Fig. 2. Waharua (double mouth). Hig. 3. Waharua, or waharua kopito.
Fig. 4. Patiki (flounder) Plate’ LXTX.—Overlapping wrapped seitch
Rv Futton—
Plate LX X.—Three views of supposed sharpening-stone, showing grooves ..
458 458
470
NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE. LIBRA
ROLL OF HONOUR
SHOWING MEMBERS OF THE INSTITUTE WHO WERE ON ACTIVE
SERVICE DURING THE WAR.
Name.
E. H. Atkinson C. M. Begg
Val. Blake oe F. K. Broadgate .. P. W. Burbidge W. H. Carter
L. J. Comrie
V. C. Davies
W. Earnshaw C. J. Freeman C. Freyberg
J. G. B. Fulton
H. E. Girdlestone. . H. Hamilton
C. G. Johnston
G. W. King
E. Marsden
J. M. Mason D. McKenzie H. M. Millar
W. L. Moore
T. D. M. Stout
R. M. Sunley = W.M. Thomson .. H. 8S. Tily
H. Vickerman
C. J. Westland
F. L. Armitage
S. B. Bowyer
R. Briffault ‘
Pere buck (Te Rangi Hiroa)
S. Cory-Wright
W. J. Crompton .. F. N. R. Downard G. Fenwick :
Available Details of Service.
WELLINGTON PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. |
Colonel, N.Z. Medical Corps ate i Colac CaM Ge Died of sickness.
Lieutenant, Canterbury Infantry .. ate | Killed in action.
Lieutenant, N.Z. Engineers aX ee Killed in action
Sergeant, 34th Specialists.
Canterbury Infantry.
Sergeant-Major, 36th Reinforcements.
Regimental Sergeant-Major, Ist N.Z. Rifle | Brigade
Engineer Lieut.-Commander, R.N.
N.Z. Rifle Brigade.
ay Lieutenant, West York (Prince of Wales’s Own) |
Regiment. Corporal, 10th Reinforcements. Company Sergeant-Major, Wellington Infantry | Killed in action. Sub-Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve |
Lieutenant, Ist N.Z. Rifle Brigade .. .- | Killed in action Lieutenant, N.Z. Tunnelling Company. Major (temp.), N.Z. Engineers Bi .. | M.C.; mentioned
| in despatches. Lieut.-Colonel, N.Z. Medical Corps. | Trooper, Wellington Mounted Rifles.
Sergeant, N.Z. Engineers’ Divisional Signalling
Company. | | Captain, N.Z. Field Artillery as .. | Mentioned in de- spatches. Lieut.-Colonel, N.Z. Medical Corps .. 56, |) DUSKO)-
Corporal, Specialists. Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps. | Sergeant, N.Z. Field Artillery. Major, commanding N.Z. Tunnelling Company | D.S.0., O.B.E. ;
| despatches. Corporal, N.Z. Machine Gun Corps.
AUCKLAND INSTITUTE.
Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps. Gunner, N.Z. Field Artillery. Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps.
Major, N.Z. Medical Corps aie eon DESSOs
Captain, N.Z. Engineers, Divisional Intelligence | M.C. Officer |
lst Battalion, Otago Regiment.
Lieutenant, N.Z. Rifle Brigade.
Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps.
mentioned in
RY | =o
XX Roll of Honour.
Roitit oF Honour—continued. Name. Available Details of Service.
AUCKLAND INSTITUTE—continued.
R. H. Gunson . | Lieutenant, Motor Boat Reserve.
G. H. Hansard | Sergeant-Major, 33rd Machine Gun Corps.
D. Holderness | Lieutenant, N.Z. Engineers.
R. T. Inglis Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps.
J. C. Johnson Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps.
C. W. Leys | Lieutenant, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
K. Mackenzie | Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps.
H. A. E. Milnes .. | Lieutenant, Auckland Infantry Regiment Killed in action.
W. R. B. Oliver .. | Corporal, Canterbury Infantry.
G. Owen Lieutenant, N.Z. Rifle Brigade and N.Z. Engi-
E. Robertson C. B. Rossiter T. C. Savage
Rev. D. Scott
H. L. Wade F. Whittome
H. Acland
G. E. Archey J. W. Bird
F. J. Borrie
F. M. Corkill William Deans
A. A. Dowie Smith
A. Fairbairn H. D. Ferrar
C. E. Foweraker ..
F. G. Gibson J. Guthrie
W. Irving
L. 8. Jennings H. Lang
E. Kidson
G. MacIndoe 12. Sb Nelson
Sir R. H. Rhodes
A. Taylor
G. T. Weston F. 8. Wilding J. P. Whetter A. M. Wright
8. C. Allen R. Buddle
L. E. Barnett F. C. Batchelor
Rev. D. Dutton ..
A. Mackie EK. J. O'Neill
| Captain, N.Z | Chaplains Department,
neers.
Major, N.Z. Medical Corps. Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps. Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps. . Medical Corps
Force.
| Captain, Auckland Mounted Rifles. | Corporal, N.Z. Rifle Brigade.
. | Sergeant-Major,
PHILOSOPHICAL INSTITUTE OF CANTERBURY.
. | Colonel, N.Z. Medical Corps. | Captain, N.Z. Field Artillery.
Sergeant-Major, Instructional Staff. Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps. Captain.
| Captain, Canterbury Mounted Rifles.
Major. Captain. Trooper, N.Z. Mounted Rifles. Corporal, N.Z. Medical Corps. Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps. Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps. Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps. Captain, Otago Regiment .. : 2nd Lieutenant, N.Z. Rifle Brigade Captain, Royal Engineers. Signaller, Otago Infantry Brigade .. Private, Canterbury Regiment Sergeant, Head: quarters “Instructional Staff. Headquarters Instructional Staff. Colonel, Red Cross Commissioner. Captain, N.Z. Veterinary Corps. Lieutenant, Canterbury Regiment. Captain, N.Z. Field Artillery. Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps. Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps.
OTaGco INSTITUTE.
Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps.
Surgeon, H.M. Ships “‘ Crescent,” “‘ Cumber- land,” and “* Warwick ”’
Lieut. -Colonel, N.Z. Medical Corps
Lieut.-Colonel, N.Z. Medical Corps.
Chaplain, N.Z. Expeditionary Force.
Sergeant, N.Z. Expeditionary Force
Lieut. -Colonel, N.Z. Medical Corps ..
| Died of sickness. N.Z. Expeditionary |
Killed in action. Killed in action.
Killed in action. Killed in action.
Mentioned in de- spatches. C.M.G.
M.M. C.M.G., D.S.O
XXili
Roll of Honour.
RoLut or Honour—continued.
Name.
T. R. Overton H. P. Pickerill R. Price
E. F. Roberts S. G. Sandle
F. H. Statham . D. Stewart . Thomson Vanes Waters
=
W.A R. N. DOB: Jalil
E. C. Barnett D. H. B. Bett A. A. Martin J. Murray
H. D. Skinner W. R. Stowe H. F. Bernau J. P. D. Leahy
H. Whitcombe
. F. Northcroft
E E. G. Wheeler G. T. Williams
F. A. Bett
Nore.—The roll is as complete as it has been found possible to make it.
Available Details of Service.
OTaco INstTItTuUTE—continued.
Lieutenant, N.Z. Pioneers. Lieut.-Colonel, N.Z. Medical Corps .. Major, Otago Infantry ee Captain, Royal Engineers.
Major, N.Z. Expeditionary Force. Major, Otago Infantry
Lieutenant, Otago Infantry.
N.Z. Machine Gun Corps.
Lieutenant, N.Z. Expeditionary Force. Captain, N.Z. Tunnelling Corps.
5 || Ole 10 . | Killed in action.
: Killed in action.
c | Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps. |
Gunner, N.Z. Field Artillery.
Manawatu PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps. | Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps. | Major, N.Z. Medical Corps = | Lieutenant, Auckland Infantry. |
Killed in action.
Private, Otago Infantry Major, N.Z. Medical Corps.
Hawken’s Bay PHtLosopHicaL INSTITUTE.
Captain, N.Z. Medical Corps. | Major, N.Z. Medical Corps. | | Corporal, 41st Reinforcements.
|
Corporal, Wellington Regiment.
Wellington Mounted Rifles Died of sickness.
NELSON INSTITUTE.
The
Editor would be glad to be notified of any omissions or necessary amendments.
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.
Tue following is the presidential address delivered before the New Zealand Institute Science Congress, Palmerston North, on the 28th January, 1921, by Thomas Hill Easterfield, M.A., Ph.D., F.LC., F.N.Z.Inst., Director of the Cawthron Institute of Scientific Research, and Emeritus Professor in Victoria University College :—
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,—Our meeting to-night is saddened by the absence of two of our members whose names are familiar to you all: I allude to the late Sir David Hutchins and Mr. Kenneth Wilson. It was the intention of Sir David Hutchins to read a paper on forestry at this Congress. His whole life had been devoted to the study of forest problems in Africa, India, Australia, and New Zealand, and the fact that our Dominion has at last adopted an active forest policy is in no small measure due to his persistent advocacy of this step.
Mr. Kenneth Wilson was one of the founders of the Manawatu Philo- sophical Society, and its first President. He was for many years a member of the Board of Governors of the New Zealand Institute. That the present meeting is being held in Palmerston North is largely due to his efforts.
Addressing, as I am, an audience containing but few with an intimate knowledge of the science which has been my life-study, I decline to weary you by attempting any account of the progress made in chemistry or in any branch of it. I have therefore chosen as the subject of my address “Some Aspects of Scientific Research.”
At an early stage in the history of the human race man must have learnt that knowledge is the equivalent of power, and that the acquisition of new knowledge is of great importance in the struggle for existence. It is not probable that the idea of systematic experiment was common— indeed, the idea is still foreign to the conception of the average man. It would be natural for the first systematic observations to be made on the apparent movements of the heavenly bodies—the most systematically recurring of all natural phenomena. ‘The fact that the orientation of the starry heights is definite for the seasons of the year could not long have escaped observation, and a practical interest would thus be added to the study of the heavens. It is probable that the arrangement of the constel- lations much in their present order was carried out in Babylonia at least three thousand years before the Christian era. In no other branch of knowledge have early observations of the same degree of exactitude remained on record.
From many points of view agriculture must be regarded as the most important of human activities, and at a very early stage man must have been faced by the problems of the soil. Experience gained by long observation must have taught that certain crops will thrive only under certain more or less narrowly defined conditions of soil, season, and climate. How far the early agricultural knowledge was due to chance observation, and how far to direct experiment, we shall never know. Even in the Stone Age much agricultural knowledge had been accumulated, for both wheat and barley occur in those interesting pile dwellings, the remains of the villages of the neolithic lake-dwellers of Switzerland.
XXV1 Presidential Address.
Chemistry may still be defined as the study, in the widest sense, of the properties of substances, and the foundations upon which modern chemistry has risen must have been laid in a period of remote antiquity. The pursuit of the discovery of the philosopher’s stone and of the elixir vitae made alchemists and iatro-chemists acquainted with the properties of substances which otherwise might have been ignored, and even the art of the poisoner must have extended knowledge in a like direction.
Illuminating as is the study of the old-time knowledge, it seems to teach that the principles of scientific mquiry were understood by very few of the ancient observers. Such ingramed ideas as that astronomy is insepa- rable from astrology, or chemistry from witchcraft, or, again, that nature’s riddles may be solved by ingenious argument without appeal to observation or experiment, militated greatly against the development of accurate know- ledge. Only after the arrival of that indefinite period of transition known as the Renaissance would it appear that the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake became common—or, indeed, that such pursuit was regarded as legitimate. Even amongst civilized peoples of the present day the pro- portion of persons who show any real desire to learn more of the laws of nature than is already known is not very large, and the announcement of some important discovery in physics, chemistry, or biology receives but little notice from the general public. It may be that the desire for knowledge is latent in every human being, but that owing to our so-called civilization, or to some failure in our systems of education, the smouldering fire is seldom fanned into burning flame. Possibly the extension of those very clever researches in education which have been so energetically carried out in America during recent years may show us how to make every pupil interested in at least one branch of knowledge, and thus materially change the attitude of the public towards science and scientific research.
The sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries provided an ever- increasing number of intellectual workers prepared to devote time and labour to exact scientific investigation. The idea of quantitative measure- ment became more general; new instruments were invented, such as the microscope and telescope, the thermometer and barometer, and these assisted greatly in further discovery and in the elaboration of a new technique. The establishment of botanic gardens assisted and stimulated the systematic study of plants. The seventeenth century saw the founda- tion of the Royal Society of London, and of the Academies of Science in Rome, Florence, Paris, and Berlin. This period also marked the triumphs of William Harvey, Francis Bacon, Robert Boyle, Isaac Newton, Descartes, Huygens, Malpighi, and Leeuwenhoek.
The eighteenth century was very prolific not only in scientific discovery, but also in its technical applications. Linnaeus and de Jussieu published their botanical systems; John Hunter raised surgery to the rank of a scientific profession ; James Hutton founded the science of geology, Werner and William Smith the cognate science of palaeontology; Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen and ammonia, whilst Scheele, the brilliant Swedish apothecary, prepared chlorine and glycerine, citric, tartaric, oxalic, lactic, prussic, and uric acids; Henry Cavendish showed the chemical nature of water, and determined the mass of the earth; Lavoisier explained clearly the nature of combustion; John Robison and Volta observed the pheno- menon of the electric current, and William Nicholson that of electrolysis.
Amongst the technical applications of this period John Roebuck and Le Blane respectively established the manufacture of sulphuric acid and soda, the key industries of the heavy chemical trade. James Watt revo- Iutionized all manufactures by giving a practical form to the steam-engine
Presidential Address. XXVIII
and placing the theory of this prime mover upon a sound basis. The general adoption of steam-power necessitated a great increase in the number of skilled mechanics, and thus facilitated the production of all kinds of scientific instruments. In 1798 William Murdoch erected the first gas- works ; by the end of the next century the capital invested in gas under- takings in the United Kingdom represented a sum of more than £100,000,000.
Of the achievements of science during the nineteenth century I shall say littlke—the subject is too vast to allow of any survey to-night. I would, however, point out that whereas at the beginning of the period there were no schools or universities in Great Britain at which provision was made for the practical study of the sciences, there are now but few secondary schools in the Empire at which experimental science in some form is not taught. The University of Cambridge introduced an honours examination in the sciences in 1851, and there were nine successful candi- dates, of whom one, my old master, Professor Liveing, is still a distinguished member of the University. In 1900 there were 136 successful candidates for this examination, and at the present day the ** Natural Sciences Tripos ” is the largest of the ‘Cambridge honours schools.
Before any experimental research is commenced, a careful study and verification should be made of the statements due to earlier investigators. First of all the latest text-books are consulted—and I regret to say that generally they do not give much help. Then a systematic research is made amongst the original papers published in the scientific journals throughout the world. The neglect of this study and checking of the work of previous authors has caused much delay in the progress of science, and has led to much waste of time in work upon problems which had already been elucidated. I would remind you that the fundamental law of chemical action discovered by the Norwegian investigators Guldberg and Waage was overlooked for more than twenty years; Mendel’s discoveries with regard to heredity remained unknown for thirty- five years; whilst Caven- dish’s experiment indicating the presence in the atmosphere of the inert gases now known as the Argon group was unnoticed or forgotten for more than a century.
Investigators are therefore greatly handicapped if unable to consult a well-equipped and properly catalogued library containing complete sets of the most important British and foreign scientific journals. There is at present no efficient library of this type in New Zealand, and one of our greatest needs is the provision of such a central library, specially arranged for convenience of consultation, and from which, under suitable safeguards, books could be posted to investigators in other parts of New Zealand. The difficulty of equipping such a library will obviously increase year by year, since the demand for the back numbers of scientific journals increases annually, and every new American and European university endeavours to secure an efficient reference library.
To the workers in the biological sciences good museums are also essential, and I must add my protest to that of former Presidents of this Institute who have pointed out the negligence—in my opinion, criminal negligence of successive Governments in not providing suitable accommodation for the irreplaceable collections at present buried in the ancient and inadequate wooden buildings of the Dominion Museum in Wellington.
Research consists essentially of the collection of facts, the arranging of these in order, and the arriving at deductions from the statistics thus collected and arranged. It is true that in one science the actual methods adopted may be—in fact, must be—very different from those employed in some other science. Thus in zoology the facts are arrived at by such
XXVill Presidential Address
methods as the observation of animals in their natural habitats, the dis- section of animals, the study of their embryology, and the examination of the histological characters of animal tissues ; whereas in chemistry research consists largely of the preparation of new compounds, the determination of their composition, physical constants, and other properties, and the study of the nature of the changes which occur when substances are brought into contact under different physical conditions. When sufficient facts have been collected it becomes possible for some generalization to take place, the accuracy of which can be tested by further experiments suggested by the generalization. This generalization we call a “ theory ” or “ hypothesis,” and if all deductions based upon the hypothesis are found to be in accord- ance with fact the theory is accepted as a general guide for future work until facts are discovered which force upon us the rejection or modification of the theory. A theory is thus to the scientific experimenter what a map is to the explorer. If the map is wrongly drawn the explorer will soon find himself in difficulties. If the errors are only small the map will be of use as a sketch-map, but the explorer will learn not to rely upon it for points of detail. So also an hypothesis, which is the incomplete expression of a sound principle, may be of considerable use, in that it will indicate much which would not be foreseen without it. Kventually, however, it will be found wanting, since it is not a strictly true representation, but only allows us to “see as through a glass, darkly.” Again, just as a correct map may be misinterpreted, so also a strictly accurate hypothesis may through unsound reasoning lead to deductions which are quite unwarranted. Theories, then, are of great practical utility ; indeed, rapid practical develop- ment usually follows each great advance in theoretical conception.
It is obvious that research work may be undertaken either from a desire for knowledge itself or in order that the knowledge may be turned to some economic use. Research undertaken with the latter object is commonly spoken of as “ technical research,” and undoubtedly its prosecution is looked upon by the public with far more sympathy than is the research based upon a desire for knowledge alone. Whilst not deprecating in any way the technical application of scientific knowledge, I believe that the view of the public, that technical research is of more importance than research carried out with the object of increasing our knowledge of the laws of nature, 1s fundamentally wrong, for it cannot be too strongly emphasized that in every science the greatest advances which have been made, and which have led ultimately to the most important technical developments, have usually been those which were carried out by seekers after truth with regard to the Jaws of nature, and not to those who expected commercial returns from their investigations. On the other hand, I would enter my protest against the views of those who scoff at their fellow-workers when attempting to apply scientific knowledge to commercial development and to the benefiting of mankind. It has been my privilege to study under some of the greatest scientific thinkers in Great Britain and on the Continent of Europe, and I can say that, though most of these men devoted their labours to the elucidation of nature’s laws, they were ever ready to take an interest in the application of their discoveries to useful ends, and to encourage their students to accept positioss in which scientific knowledge could be applied to the solution of the problems of the factory and the workshop. No greater example of this can be quoted than that of the late Emil Fischer, whose death in 1919 caused sorrow in all scientific circles. Though the first of the so-called aniline dyes was prepared by William Henry Perkin in 1856, the real chemical nature of these substances remained a mystery until Fischer unravelled the tangled skein in 1878,
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Presidential Address. Oca bse
after which he was offered a very lucrative post as director of research in one of the most important of the German aniline-dye factories. This offer he refused, preferring the small salary of a university professor and the control of a school of scientific research. It is interesting to note that researches on coal-tar colours no longer occupied his attention, but that the remainder of his life was chiefly devoted to the study of substances playing an important part in animal and vegetable physiological processes. His next achievement was the placing of the uric-acid group upon a satis- factory basis; for, though uric acid had been discovered so long ago as 1770 by the great Swedish chemist Scheele, the number of its later-prepared derivatives being legion, and though many facts concerning the group were known, the kev had yet to be found before the relationship between these substances could be understood. From uric acid Fischer passed to the sugar group, then to the proteins, and lastly to the tannins. ‘The story was the same in each case. These four groups are of immense importance in the chemistry of the plant and animal kingdoms. In each case con- fusion reigned supreme before the group was investigated and brought into an orderly system by the great investigator. No one could accuse Fischer of the degradation of chemical research by turning his great talents to mere commercial problems; and yet I do not think I have ever met a man who more acutely realized the value of technical research for the people. He was always sympathetic with the manufacturer, and large numbers of his students found occupation as research chemists in the great chemical factories of the world. During the war his energies were naturally largely devoted to war problems. He warned the Westphalian manu- facturers of the inefficiency of the steps they were taking in the matter of nitrogenous products for high explosives, and was rebuffed by the military authorities. At his instigation a Food Commission was established in Ger- many, and he fearlessly warned the authorities that military victory was of less importance than the health of the people, which could not be main- tained with the inadequate food-supphes. I instance Fischer because he was the greatest organic chemist of his age, but all other great investigators whom I have known have shown a similar attitude towards the technical applications of science.
My own opinion is that it is impossible to differentiate sharply between pure and applied science. He who works out the life-history of a minute insect or obscure plant is adding to our store of entomological or botanical knowledge. He may, however, be throwing light, though unwittingly, upon some great agricultural problem. Are we to consider that the science is “ pure” if no immediate economic result follows, and “ applied” if our discovery turns out to be of economic importance ? Michael Faraday can- not have conceived of the technical importance of his investigations when he succeeded in the liquefying of gases, or when he discovered benzene, or when he enunciated the laws of electrolysis, or even when he discovered the remarkable phenomena of electro-magnetic induction. Yet upon each of these discoveries not one but many great industries have been founded.
Training in the methods of pure science is regarded by many eminent technologists as the best foundation for technical practice. I would remind you that the detection of the German guns on the western front, and their accurate location before the great advance of 1918, was due to the application of his electrical knowledge by a young Cambridge graduate of Australian birth, whose research work up to the time of the war was of a strictly scientific character.
XXX Presidential Address.
For the progress of science in New Zealand there is great need for a strong spirit of research to permeate the community. In every trade, in every profession, in our social relationships and religious questionings, a more burning desire for knowledge of the whole truth is required.
It is a matter for regret that such a small proportion of the students entering our University colleges become investigators. If we attempt to assess the blame, I do not think we can put any considerable portion of it upon the professors, for in general a professor of science has his time so fully taken up that it is only by extraordinary effort that he can himself get any serious amount of research work done. Yet experience shows that only those teaching institutions become important centres of research activity in which the professors are devoting their main interest to scientific inquiry, and the direction of such inquiry on the part of their students. One contributing cause in some of our University colleges is that too much of the instruction is given in the evening, with the philanthropic object of enabling those who are working by day to receive instruction outside of working-hours. Excellent as this practice is from one point of view, it is not in the interests of national efficiency, and it appears to be based upon the supposition that it is more important to give opportunities to all than that it is of the greatest importance to the State to have in the community a supply of highly trained scholars. “ These things ought ve to have done and not to have left the other undone” is a maxim as true to-day as when it was first spoken.
A point which I should like to stress is that we have great need at the present day for investigators who can carry on researches in the border- land between the different sciences. How seldom we meet a biologist who can understand the researches of a chemist, or a chemist who similarly can appreciate the work of a biologist! Yet there is an immense amount of work to be done in the borderland between chemistry and biology, and for this work to be successful the investigator’s theoretical and practical knowledge of both of these sciences must be of a very high order. Distinguished physiologists have assured me that the greatest hindrance to research in their departments was the fact that so few of the students desiring to carry out research had attained facility in the technique of the chemical laboratory, and that familiarity with theoretical chemistry which allows of the thinking without effort in terms of chemical phenomena. I believe that all great investigators now recognize that it is impossible for any one science to stand alone, and the difficulty which faces the educator in scientific subjects is to combine breadth of outlook with specialized knowledge in the short period which can be given to a student’s training. Several solutions of this difficult problem have been suggested. One is that an effort should be made to teach each subject more rapidly, by eliminating all unnecessary detail. From the examination point of view this system might be perfect, but I have great doubts as to whether the hastening-up of the acquiring of scientific knowledge by such a method can be effected satisfactorily. Time is essential for the absorption of ideas, and if the ideas are to take root and be fruitful of results the student must regard each principle from a large number of standpoints. He must discuss it with his fellow-students, and he must perform many experiments. Having made this criticism, I suggest that it would be of great interest if the teachers of some one science were to agree to carry out a series of experiments extending over several years, and checked by a constant comparison of observations, in order to ascertain the quickest way in which
Presidential Address. XXx1
that science could be taught effectively. I am not certain that either the students or the Councils of the University colleges would welcome a research on the lines which I have suggested.
A second suggestion which has been made is that a longer course of study should be demanded from those who proceed to a science degree in the University. A change of this kind has been made in medicine, the length of study having been lengthened from four to five and then from five to six years. Obvious objections to such a course are the greatly increased expense to the student, and the fact that so many of those who work for a science degree do not intend to become scientific specialists, being satisfied to attain the comparatively low standard demanded of the science master in the secondary school. If there were more openings in this country for well-trained scientific men there is little doubt that many students would be prepared to undergo a longer and more intensive period of training.
Still another suggestion which has been made is that more attention should be paid to the teaching of science in the secondary schools. In some of the schools in New Zealand the science teaching is well done; in others, however, it is certain that the subject receives the “ cold shoulder.” With the large number of subjects which enter into the secondary-school curriculum, it could only be by very careful organization and excellent teaching that the average boy could obtain such a grounding in science as would allow him to hasten through the University course of instruction with greater rapidity than is the case at present.
No institution has done as much as the New Zealand Institute for the encouragement of scientific research in this Dominion. Established in 1867 by an Act of the General Assembly, the Institute bound together the philosophical societies already in existence in different parts of New Zealand. The preamble of the Act states that it 1s expedient to promote the general study and cultivation of the various branches and departments of science, literature, and philosophy—in other words, to encourage the advancement of every branch of knowledge. The first volume of the Transactions of the Institute was published in May, 1869, and contained articles on geology, ethnology, chemistry, zoology, geography, and engi- neering; such practical subjects as gold-extraction, the preparation of New Zealand flax, the smelting of Taranaki ironsand, and experiments with hydraulic mortar are amongst the articles; so that, as at the present day, the philosophers of that time interested themselves with subjects of both theoretical and practical importance. I trust that this interweaving of science with practice will always continue amongst the scientific men of this Dominion. I am glad to be able to tell you that though for fifty years the Government grant to the Institute remained at £500 it has this year, on the recommendation of Sir Francis Bell, been increased to twice that sum. Unfortunately, the cost of printing the Transactions has increased in almost equal proportion, so that the balance left for work in other directions is still small.
The New Zealand Institute exists, then, mainly for the encouragement of scientific investigation ; and the medium which the Transactions of the Institute provide for publishing the results of scientific observations has done much to stimulate those who, without this encouragement, would never have gone on with their researches. The Institute has lost no opportunity of placing before Cabinet, and other authorities, the need for some definite policy in connection with research work in New Zealand.
XxXxll Presidential Address.
Until a few years ago no help could be obtained for the financing of any researches in this country. On the representation of the Institute a research grant of £250 was in 1917 placed on the estimates by the Hon. G. W. Russell. This amount is now increased to £2,000, but is small in comparison with the large quantity of work which ought to be carried out. During the war the Institute conferred with a number of bodies interested and drew up a scheme for the advancement of scientific and industrial research. After slight modification by the Efficiency Board, the proposals were forwarded by the Chairman of that body to Cabinet with a very strong endorsement. I understand also that the general principles of this scheme were approved in the report of the Industries Commission ; but effect has not yet been given to the recommendations, which involved an annual expenditure of some £20,000 for the first five years. I know that the matter has received the sympathetic attention of the Minister of Internal Affairs and of the Minister of Education, and that other members of Cabinet recognize the importance of taking action in this matter. New Zealand spends half a million annually on national defence—it is a wise insurance- premium against attack from our enemies. Would it not be wise to also spend one-tenth of this sum annually on research as an insurance against disaster due to ignorance? None of the money spent on defence can be revenue-producing, but funds spent upon a wisely-directed scheme of scientific and industrial research could not fail to increase the efficiency of our primary and secondary industries, to develop our natural resources, and to add to our national wealth and prosperity. I see little hope of removing the crushing financial burden left by the war unless a determined attempt is made to ascertain the extent of our resources and to develop them upon the practical lines indicated by scientific investigation.
I trust that an efficient national research scheme will soon be agreed to by Parliament, that no attempt will be made to differentiate between the claims of pure and applied science, and that provision will be made—
(a.) For the encouragement of research in all the scientific Departments of the Government; for I am certain that, great as are the results that have been accomplished by those Departments, still more would have been achieved if, in the Departments concerned, a number of scientific men had been employed whose time was given entirely to the solving of problems, men who were com- pletely freed from ordinary routine work. It is, I think, quite evident that a scientific officer whose time is almost wholly taken up with routine work, and who attempts research work during the time when the pressure of the routine work slackens, can have but little chance of giving such an amount of thought and concentration to the problems as will ensure a high standard of efficiency. The economic results which would be obtained if really first-class investigators were employed in the way which I have mentioned would far more than justify the expense which would be involved.
(b.) For enabling the University colleges to become real living centres of research activity. Indeed, I should be glad to see the carrying- out of research work regarded as the most important duty of a University professor. This would involve the giving of more assistance to him in his teaching, and the better equipping of the college laboratories.
Presidential Address. XXXlll
(c.) For providing facilities for research in every institution in which problems are being seriously attacked. Such institutions should receive sympathetic aid from the State. The Fish-hatchery at Portobello, in which investigations are being carried on with the object of conserving and improving the supply of fish for the whole of New Zealand, is an institution which is worthy of much help. The Cawthron Institute, too, in which researches are carried out on such technical subjects as soil-chemistry, the diseases of crops, the control of insect pests, and the utilization of waste products, could not in fairness be overlooked.
(d.) For the continuing of the present system of grants to private workers, a class which has contributed a very large proportion of the scientific papers published in the Transactions of the Institute.
I am of the opinion that a very grave mistake will be made if in any general scheme for research the New Zealand Institute, which for so many years has devoted its attention to this problem, is not given a place of great prominence.
One fact which greatly militates against the advancement of science in New Zealand and the production of a continuous output of expert research work is the lack of employment for qualified graduates when they leave the University. One of the most admirable points in the New Zealand University system is that for a candidate to obtain honours in any science he must, in addition to the examination, present a thesis containing the result of his own original work. The obtaiming of the M.Sc. degree, then, is to some extent a guarantee that the science graduate has reached the research standard, and I can certify that the work which has been pre- sented by many of the candidates in chemistry has been very good indeed. When, however, the graduate leaves the University he generally finds it difficult to obtain in New Zealand a position in which his advanced know- ledge can be employed, and the more enterprising amongst these men leave the country, and, as a rule, do not return. No community can afford to lose a large proportion of its best talent, and it is little consolation to ‘know that many of these men are now holding positions of distinction in England, India, America, and Australia. I am sure you will be pleased to know that all the professors of chemistry in New Zealand are University graduates who have returned to their native land after post-graduate study in England or on the Continent of Europe. Although we can scarcely hope to retain the most brilliant of our graduates—men of the calibre of R. C. Maclaurin and Ernest Rutherford—nevertheless many would return to New Zealand if some systematic attempt were made to provide suitable employ- ment for them. It would, I believe, be in the interests of the whole country if a certain number of Civil Service appointments were made annually of honours graduates, who would be attached to specified Departments as research officers, and who would carry out investigations under the direc- tion of the scientific head of the Department. A condition of these appoint- ments should be that the officers must not be called away to do ordinary routine work when the Department became short-handed, but that they should devote themselves to the researches which they were undertaking, and to no other work. In agriculture alone there must be many problems which could be worked out under the direction of the Dominion Agricul- tural Chemist or Biologist. The Dominion Analyst, too, could, I am sure, find important researches for a number of these investigators. If these officers proved efficient, facilities should be given for them to rise to posi- tions of high salaries, for their work for the nation would be of extraordi- nary value. Difficulties would no doubt be met in establishing such a scheme, but I am convinced that if the scheme were properly organized
ii—Trans.
XXXIV Presidential Address.
great results would follow. Something has already been done by the Civil Service Commissioners in insisting that the cadets in the scientific Depart- ments shall attend University classes at the expense of the State, and that their grading shall to some extent be influenced by the progress which they show in their University work. Some of these men are already showing great promise of becoming investigators. and I do not doubt that the system will give great opportunities to many cadets who would otherwise have little chance of securmg a sound scientific education. One great advantage of the system is that, since these young men are mostly taking the full B.Sc. course, which involves the study of four sciences and the acquisition of a reading knowledge of at least one foreign language, they are obtaining a far greater breadth of outlook than could otherwise be the case.
Science durmg the last two hundred years has revolutionized the state of our knowledge. It has contributed more than any other factor to our material wealth. It has shown us the nature of disease, and has placed in our hands in large measure the means whereby disease can be combated. The scientific discoveries of Mendel are of far-reaching importance. They have widened our ideas of the origin of species, and their practical appli- cations have produced results of great value to agriculture. Dalton’s introduction of the chemical, in contradistinction to the metaphysical, conception of the atom formed the basis upon which the magnificent edifice of nineteenth-century science was based. The idea of a spatial arrangement of atoms hinted at by Wollaston and formally enunciated by Le Bel and Van’t Hoff as an outcome of Pasteur’s researches on asymmetry opened up a new science of stereo-chemistry, the importance of which to modern physt- ology is becoming daily more apparent. The new sciences of radio-chemistry and physics have shown, through the work of Bragg and Rutherford, not only how the atoms are arranged in crystalline substances, but also the structure of the atoms themselves. Can we doubt that the practical out- come of these investigations will be a harvest as important as that which followed the implanting of the Daltonian idea? The application of mathe- matics to the simple electrical ideas of Faraday has opened to us, through , Clerk Maxwell] and his successors, an almost limitless field of work for the physicist and electrical technologist, and wireless telegraphy is but one outcome of Maxwell’s conceptions. ;
The race for the future must be largely a race for the acquisition from nature of her many secrets. Are we in this country to take our fair share in the work, or shall we wait for it to be done elsewhere, in the hope that we may benefit by the labours of other nations, without ourselves taking part in the necessary sacrifice ? Tf this latter niggardly attitude is to be assumed, we must, as a nation, expect to sink into obscurity. New Zea- land’s problems should be attacked by New-Zealanders, and the work must be carried out in New Zealand and not in other countries. I emphasize this point, for the absurd view has been put forward that our scientific problems should be attacked for us by non-resident scientists. Such men could have little understanding of the nature and environment of our diffi- culties compared with that which would inspire our own investigators. Their results could not appeal to us in the same way as research carried out in our own forests, fields, and laboratories. Questions occasionally arise for the answering of which the help of outside specialists must be called, but this is no argument in favour of refusing to adopt a self-reliant policy and to undertake the solution of our own problems. In no spirit of narrowness I appeal for active support and sympathy on behalf of the scientific workers of New Zealand, knowing well that national progress will be influenced deeply by the extent to which this sympathy and support are given or withheld.
aol geN ee le ON GS..
oR ACN, S Ac@yiai OnNSS
Or THE
NE Wen A LAND IN See ee:
Art. I—The Maori Genius for Personification ; with Illustrations of Maori Mentality.
By Exspon Best, F.N.Z.Inst.
[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 18th May, 1920; received by Editor, 18th May, 1920; issued separately, 27th June, 1921.]
Or the singular mythopoetic concepts of the Maori folk, and their inner meaning, but little has been recorded. Such information on native myths as is contained in published works is in most cases a bare and hard trans- lation, a soulless rendering of the original that ignores the vivifying spirit of the myth and the teachings that it contains. The spirit that prompted the evolution of such concepts is ignored, or perhaps not understood. The cause of this neglect lies in our ignorance of the mentality of uncultured man, and of his endeavours, in times long past, to seek and explain the origin of man, of natural phenomena, and many other things. In the peculiar plane of mental culture pertaining to such folk as the Maori, such matters are taught in the form of allegorical myths, and the most remark- able feature of such myths is that of personification. At some remote period the Maori strove to envisage primal causes, to grasp the origin of life, of manifestations, and of tangible objects. In these endeavours he trod the path followed by other folk of a similar culture stage, and his mental concepts, his myths, teem with personified forms and with illus- trations of animatism. Personifications hinge upon animatism; for given the belief that all natural objects and phenomena possess an indwelling and vivifying spirit, then such a spirit is always apt to develop ito a per- sonified form. These primitive beliefs, coupled with that which looks upon all things as having come from a common source, contain the kernel of Maori mythology.
1—Trans.
2 Transactions.
Though the primal being of Maori myth was Io, the supreme god, yet it was not taught that he begat any other being, but, in some unexplained manner, he caused earth and sky to exist. These are personified in Rangi, the Sky Parent, and Papa, the Earth Mother, and these were the primal parents. Their progeny amounted to seventy, all of whom were atua, or supernatural beings, and among them was Tane, or Tane the Fertilizer, he who fertilized the Earth Mother, and who was the origin of man, of birds, fish, vegetation, minerals, &c.
All things that exist, saith the Maori, are a part of Rangi and Papa, the primal parents—that is to say, they originated with them. Nothing belongs to the earth alone, or to the heavens alone ; all sprang from that twain, even unto the heavenly bodies that gleam on high, and the heavenly bodies of all the other skies above the one we see: and all those bodies are worlds.
It was taught in the tapu school of learning that water is one of the chief constituents or necessities of life. It is moisture that causes growth in all things, other necessary agents being the sun, the moon, and the stars. Lacking moisture, all things would fail on earth, in the heavens, in the suns, the moons, and the stars of all realms. Clouds are mist-lke emanations originating in the warmth of the body of the Karth Mother. All things possess warmth and cold, all things contain the elements of life and of death, each after the manner of its kind. It was Tane (personified form of the sun) and Tawhirimatea (personified form of winds) who sent back the mists to earth in the form of rain, as a means of cherishing and benefiting all things, for all things absorb moisture, each after the manner of its kind. Air, moisture, warmth, with various forms of sustenance, were the origin of the different forms around us, of the differences in such forms, as in trees, in herbage, in insects, birds, fish, stones, and soils; these things control such forms, and their growth. Hence death assails all things on earth, in the waters, in the sun, the moon, and the stars, in the clouds, mists, rain, and winds; all things contain the elements of decay, each after the manner of its kind.
Again, there is no universal mode of life and growth among all things ; each lives, moves, or grows after the manner of its kind. All things possess a home, or receptacle, or haven of some kind, even as the earth is the home of many things. Even the wairua (spirit) has its abode in all things ; there is no one thing that does not possess a spirit or soul, each after the manner of its kind. And inasmuch as each and every thing possesses an indwelling spirit or soul, then assuredly everything possesses the elements of warmth, each after the manner of its kind.
Now, as all things in all the realms of the numberless worlds are so constituted, it follows that the female element pertains to all things. Everything has its male and female element. Lacking the female element, nothing could survive, for by such, combined with moisture, do all things acquire form, vitality, and growth. Warmth is another element by means of which things are nurtured, and earth supports all. Even stone 1s formed of earth, moisture, and heat, and so endowed with life and growth after the manner of its kind.
Now, as such was the intention of Io (the supreme being)—that is, to arrange the functions of all things—even so the denizens of the heavens were appointed as guardians and directors of all things in all the heavens, on earth, and in the heavenly bodies. The twelve heavens are connected with the moons, but the sun is above all—it is the controller of all things.
Best.—The Maori Genius for Personification. 3
Because all things are influenced by good and evil, by anger, jealousy, ambition, and because all follow some form of leadership, even so was it that guardians were appointed to watch each realm and report their con- dition to lo. And because of the differences that exist im all things, thus it is that all possess strength and weakness, goodness and evil, justness and lack of justice, each after the manner of its kind. Hence the guardians appointed as lords of the eleven heavens, of the earth, and of the spirit world. As these beings appointed as guardians are the salvation of all things by promoting their welfare, and are the emissaries of Io, thus it is that all eyes and all ears are directed to lo-matua, Io the Parent, for he is over all. He is the very acme of all welfare, of life, the head and summit of all things.
Since fo is the head of all things, all things become tapu through him, for without a lord nothing can become tapu, and so he is termed Io the Parent. Since he is termed Io the Parent, and represents the physical and spiritual welfare of all things, we see that the origin of such welfare is with the parent—that the parent holds and controls the welfare of every- thing. And since all things are centred in him, there is nothing left to be controlled or directed by any other god or being. All things in the Kel heavens, and in all realms, are thus gathered together before him. It i: now clear that there exists nothing that does not come under his er: all comes under lo the Parent.
All things possess a wairua (spirit, or soul), each after the manner of its kind. There is but one parent of all things, one god of all things, one master of all things, one soul of all things. Hence all things are one, and all emanated from Io the Eternal.
It may be thought that the foregoing remarks, which are translated passages from a speech made nearly sixty years ago by a teacher of the tapu school of learning, do not embody mueh information as to personifica- tions, but they do illustrate Maori mentality. They show clearly how the superior minds of a comparatively uncultured folk broke free from shamanism and a belief in malignant deities, and strove to conceive a supreme being of nobler attributes; how the ancestors of the Maori, wrenching asunder the bonds of gross superstitions, and seeking light from the darkness of ages, pressed forward on the difficult path toward monothesim.
ANTHROPOMORPHIC PERSONIFICATIONS.
We have already seen that the heavens and the earth are personified in Rangi and Papa, the Sky Parent and the Earth Mother, from whom all things are descended. They were the primal parents, and appear fre- quently in Maori myth. The Harth Mother is spoken of as the mother of mankind, as the guardian and nurturer of her offspring. Not only did she give birth to man, but she also produces food for him, and gives shelter to his worn body when the soul leaves it at death. After the rebellion of their offsprmg the Sky Parent wished to punish them, but the Harth Mother said, “‘ Not so; though they have erred, yet they are still my children. When death comes to them they shall return to me and I will shelter them; they shall re-enter me and find rest.’ Hence the burial of the dead.
It is probable that many of the offspring of the primal parents are personifications—some certainly are, and these come under the title of departmental gods. All these primary offspring were males, and all were
1
4 Transactions.
supernatural beings. They numbered seventy, and each had his own pro- vince and functions.
The most important of these children of Rangi and Papa, though not the eldest, was Tane, and he was the personified form of the sun, as wil! be shown in another paper. But Tane was also the Fertilizer — he who fertilized the Earth Mother, and so produced man and vegetation ; hence he also personifies the male element, as well as forests, trees, &c. His daughter was Hine-titama, the Dawn Maid, who, on being pursued by Tane (the sun), fled from him, and so passed into Night, the under- world and spirit world. She became ruler of that realm of Night. And ever Tane is begetting offspring (Dawn Maids), who pass through their brief life in the upper world and then retire to the realm of Night. For Hine- titama had said to Tane, “ Return, O Tane, to bring forth cur children to the world of Light, while I remain here to receive them, for their welfare shall be my care.” And ever does the Queen of Night battle with dread Whiro of the world of Darkness in order to protect her charges.
Another daughter of Tane was Hine-rau-wharangi, she who personifies growth in the vegetable world.
Whilst Tane is the personified form of the sun, the common vernacular term for the sun is va, Ra Kura and Tama-nui-te-ra being honorific names for the sun. Tane-te-waiora personifies sunlight. In our crude translations of native myths we render “ Waiora a Tane ” as “ life-giving waters of Tane.” This is quite wrong; in this connection watora means sunlight, and it is so called because the Maori taught that the sun is the origin of life. This waiora is a concrete expression, not two distinct words, and is clcsely allied to the words vaiora of eastern Polynesia, meaning “to be, to exist.” The waning moon does not bathe in life-giving waters of Tane to regain her youth; she bathes in the sunlight of Tane, and so returns to us again young and fair— which may be termed a scientific fact.
The moon is persenified in Hina-keha, or Pale Hina, and Hina is a far- spread name for that orb, as also is that of ra for the sun, a name that in ancient times was known in Babylonia and Egypt. Hina, being a female, is not included among the children of Rangi and Papa. Rona is the maid in the moon, her full name being Rona-whakamau-tai, or Rona the Tide- controller. Rono, according to Fenton, was a name of the moon god in Assyrian myth. Here we find a parallel in Polynesia, where Rongo, Longo, Lono, is evidently a personification of the moon. This is made clear in Hawaiian mythology, wherein Sina, personified form of the moon (cf. Sin of Babylonia), the Hina of New Zealand, on being translated to the heavens took the name of Lono.
Another of the primal offspring was Tu, he who personifies war and its attendant evils; he was an impcertant departmental god. In Assyrian myth Tu represented the setting sun and death, while Ra-tum (the setting sun) was god of death in Egypt, and ra tumu denotes the setting sun in eastern Polynesia (Churchill's Haster Island, p. 126).
In opposition to Tu of evil fame we have Rongo, another of the seventy brothers, who personifies peace and the arts of peace, such as agriculture, and all fruits of the earth. Hence Rongo is appealed to in peace-making functions, and by cultivators of food products.
Another member of the family was Tawhirimatea, in whom are personi- fied the winds of space. The personifications of wind number about thirty, each representing a different form. These are known as the Whanau Puhi
(the Wind family).
Best.—The Maori Genius for Personification. 5
Yet another of the brothers is the dread Whiro, he who personifies darkness, death, and evil. In the fierce war that waged between Tane (representing light and life) and Whiro (representing darkness and death) the latter was defeated. Hence he retired to the underworld, where he ever wages war against mankind and drags them down to death, while ever the former Dawn Maid, now Queen of the Underworld, strives against him for the souls ef the dead.
In Tangaroa we have the personified form of fish, and he shares with Rona the task of controlling the ocean tides.
Te Ihorangi personifies rain, while Parawhenua-mea is the origin and personification of the waters of earth. The former was one of the primal offspring, but the latter, a female, was one of the daughters of Tane by Hine-tu-pari-maunga, the Mountain Maid; hence the streams seen descend- ing from the great ranges. The offspring of Parawhenua-mea (water) was _ Rakahore, who represents rock, and who took to wife Hine-uku-rangi. the Clay Maid, and produced the personified forms of stones, such as Hine-tuakinikiri (Gravel Maid), and Hine-tuahoanga (Sandstone Maid), Hine-tauira (a form of flint), and many others. Another of the family was Tuamatua, who took to wife Wai-pakihi (Shoal Water), and begat different forms of stones, and sand.
Parawhenua-mea was taken to wife by Kiwa, guardian of the ocean, which is known as the Great Ocean of Kiwa. But the ocean is personified in one Hine-moana (Ocean Maid).
One Mahuika personifies fire. In the first place, fire emanated from the sun. When Tama-nui-te-ra (honorific name of the sun) decided to conier a benefit on man he sent them fire by, or in the form of, one Auahi-tu- roa (a personified form of comets). Mahuika had five children, and their names are those of the five fingers of the hand. (In Indian myth, Agni, the fire god, had ten mothers, who were the ten fingers of the hands.) These were the Fire Children, or family, and in the myth of Maui we see that Mahuika plucked off one of her fingers and gave it to him as fire. When pursued by Fire, Maui called upon Te [horangi (rain) to save him; hence rain fell, and fire fled for shelter to Hine-kaikomako (personified form of the kaikemako tree, Pennantia corymbosa). Thus is it that when man seeks to generate fire he hews a piece off the body of Hine-kaikomako whereby to procure it. The sister of Mahuika, one Hine-i-tapeka, represents the fire of the underworld—voleanic fire.
Now, the sun has two wives, Hine-raumati, or Summer Maid, the per- sonified form of summer, and Hine-takurua, or Winter Maid, the personified form of winter. The latter is a fisher, and the former a cultivator of food products. The sun dwells half a year with the Summer Maid, and the other half with the Winter Maid. The offspring of the former is Tane-rore, whose dancing is the quivering appearance of heated air in the summer- time. It is personified in Parearohi.
We have in Hine-ata a personified form of morning; of day in Hine- aotea ; and of evening in Hine-ahiahi, the Evening Maid, All three are females. This is a Moriori myth.
In Hine-te-wira and Tama-te-uira we have personified forms of lightning, one of each sex; and there are ten other such forms. Tawhaki also seems to be connected with lightning, as also was Mataaho.
Whaitiri personifies thunder, but each kind of thunderstorm has its own personified form, such as Rautupu, Whaitiri-pakapaka, Ku, Ka, Aputahi-a-pawa, Tane-matau, and others. Thunder is often personified
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in Hine-whaitiri, the Thunder Maid. It will be noted that a considerable number of personified forms are of the female sex. Hine-kapua is the Cloud Maid.
Personifications of the rainbow are Kahukura, Uenuku, and Haere Uenuku was originally a person of this world. He dwelt on earth, where he attracted one Tairi-a-kohu (personified form of mist), who had come down from celestial regions in order to bathe in the waters of the world. She visited Uenuku only during the hours of darkness, and strictly forbade him to make her known to his people. So beautiiul was she that Uenuku felt compelled to disobey her. By a cunning trick he delayed the departure of the Mist Maid, and so exposed her to the people, whereupon she deserted him and never again returned to earth. Uenuku was now disconsolate, and he set off in search of her. He traversed distant regions and many realms, but never again beheld the Mist Maid. Finally death came to him as he still sought her, and his ara, or visible form, is the rainbow we see in the heavens. Parallels of this curious myth are widely known in Europe and elsewhere, as shown in the writings of the late Andrew Lang.
A rainbow composed of bands of different colours has as many personi- fied forms, each colour bearing its own name.
Hine-korako is the personified form of a lunar halo or bow.
Personified forms of the comet are Wahieroa, Tunui-a-te-ika, Upokoroa, Auahi-tu-roa, Taketake-hikuroa, Meto, Auroa, Unahiroa, and_ possibly Puaroa.*
Fire is sometimes termed Te Tama a Upokoroa (the son of Upokoroa, the long-headed one), because the seed of fire was brought to earth by a comet, and hence Mahuika produced the Fire Children. These comet- names are suggestive in their meanings, as “long-headed”’ and “ long- tailed.’;
Personifications of meteors are Tamarau and Rongomai.
Hine-pukohu-rangi and Tairi-a-kohu are personified forms of mist, and Hinewai represents fine misty rain.
Ruaumoko represents earthquakes. He is the youngest child of the Earth Mother, but never came forth to this world. When he moves within the body of Papa an earthquake results.
Volcanic phenomena are represented by Hine-tuoi, loio-whenua, Hine- tuarangaranea, Te Kuku (or Te Pupu), Te Wawau, and Tawaro-nui.
The personified forms of wind and of rain are said to have cohabited, and their issue, twelve in number, represent different forms of snow, frost, hail, and ice.
In Wero-i-te-ninihi, Wero-i-te-kokota, Maeke, Kunawiri, &c., we have personifications of cold, and the first two are also star-names—stars marking winter months.
An old cosmogonic myth is that Te Ao (Day) and Te Po (Night) produced as offspring Oipiri and Whakaahu, or Winter and Summer, who were born in space ; both are females. Oipiri, whose full name is Oipiriwhea, pertains to night, and her name has the same signification as that of Takurua- hukanui, or Cold-engendering Winter; she produces snow, ice, frost. Whakaahu belongs to the day, or to this world, which she represents. Both of these female personified forms were taken to wife by Rehua, he who personifies the heat of summer. Their attendants are ever contending against each other, but neither side ever gains a permanent victory. This
* Puaroa, cf. Pusaloa = comet (Samoa).
Best.—The Maori Genius for Personification. 7
illustrates the struggle between summer and winter, which occurs often, but is never final. Tama-uawhiti, also known as Hiringa, represents Whakaahu—that is, summer. He 6 the same as ‘'ama-nui-te-ra—that is to say, the sun—and he represents desire for knowledge, industry in procuring food-supplhes, and other important activities. He is termed te puna o te matauranga (the source of knowledge). An old saying 1s, “* Kotaha tangata ki Hawaiki, ko Whakatau anake ; kotahi tangata ki Aotearoa, ko Tama-uawhitr.”’ (There is only one person at Hawaiki—namely, Whakatau ; there is one person at Aoteroa, Tama-uawhiti). This is equivalent to saying, “ The most important being at Hawaiki is Whakatau ; the most important thing in New Zealand is the sun ’—as it probably was to a people coming from the tropics. It is probable that Whakatau is a personification, possibly of winter, for we have a sentence in the above myth that runs thus: “‘ Whakatau was a warrior, equalling Oipiriwhea.”’ We have already seen that Whaitiri, Wahieroa, and Tawhaki, of Polynesian myth, are personifications, and Hema is a name for the south wind at Hawaii.
Whakaahu, Takurua, and Rehua are also star-names, whilst Oipiri seems to be connected with Pipiri, a double star that appears in June.
Tioroa represents winter, and Takurua is employed in a similar sense. Spring is personified in Mahuru.
We have seen that Hiringa (or Tane-i-te-hirmga) represents knowledge, but the acquisition of knowledge and the power of thought, mental activi- ties, are personified in Rua-i-te-pukenga, Rua-i-te-hirmga, Rua-i-te-mahara, Rua-i-te-wananga, &c.
Space is personified in Watea and Rongomai-tu-waho, and misfortune in Aitua.
In personified forms of clouds we have Hine-kapua, Tu-kapua, Aoaonui, Aoaoroa, Uhirangi, and Takerewai, and these all dwell in the house called the Ahoaho o Tukapua (the open space of Tukapua). Here they ever dwell, for they are in fear of Huru-mawake, Huru-atea, Huru-nuku, and Huru-rangi (personified forms of the four winds), fearing to be jostled and swept away to the bounds of Rangi-nui (the heavens).
The two principal personified forms of wind are Tawhirimatea and Tawhiri-rangi. These personified winds in general, but each wind has its own personified form. The personified forms of ice, snow, and frost we have already encountered; they dwell upon the summit of Mahutonga (an emblematical term for the south), in the realm of Paraiweranui. The Wind Children of Tawhirimatea bring hither the semblance of those offspring in the drifting snow and driving hail. One Tonganui-kaea took to wife Paraweranui (personified form of the bitter south wind) and produced some two dozen offspring, all of whom are personifications of different forms of wind. These are the Whanau Puhi, the Wind Children, who bore Tane to the twelfth heaven when he went to obtain the three baskets of occult knowledge.
The Wind Children abide at the Tihi o Manono, in Rangi-naonao-ariki (the tenth heaven, counting upwards), where also dwell their elder brethren, the personified forms of the four winds—north, south, east, and west. For there dwell Paraweranui, Tahu-makaka-nui, Tahu-mawake-nui, and the other elders; all live in the houses Pumaire-kura, Rangitahua, Rangi- mawake, and Tu-te-wanawana-a-hau.
The plaza of the Wind Children is known as Marae-nui, as Tahuaroa, as Tahora-nui-atea. It is the marae of Hine-moana, the Ocean Maid, the vast expanse of the great ocean. This plaza is the playground of the Wind
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Children. To this meeting-place they come from all parts to frolic and gambol on the broad heaving breast of the Ocean Maid. From the frigid south comes Parawera-nui, from the blustering west hurries Tahu-makaka- nui, from the east glides Tahu-mawake-nui, and from the fair north comes the marangai, while from every intermediate point the younger Wind Children troop forth to hold high revel on their great playground of Mahora-nui-atea, illuminated by Tane-te-waiora, or by the Whanau Marama, the Children of Light that gleam in cloudless skies when Tane has departed.
A list of the many personified forms of wind would be tedious, but some of the more prominent ones were Rakamaomao, Titi-matangi-nui, Titi- matakaka, and those given above.
Tane is the personified form of trees, for a reason already explained, and in this connection his name is Tane-mahuta—for Tane, like the old- time gods of Babylonia, has many names, according to his activities or manifestations.
When engaged in his great search for the female element Tane took to wife many beings, who produced trees. In many instances such beings are viewed as the personified forms of such trees. Thus Mumuwhango represents the totara, Te Puwhakahara the maire and puriri, Ruru-tangiakau the ake, Rerenoa the rata and all parasitic and epiphytic plants, Hine- waoriki the kahika and matai, Mangonui the tawa and hinau, Hine- mahanga the tutu, Hine-rauamoa the kiokio fern, and so on. Puahou represents the parapara, Poananga the clematis, while Hine-kaikomako we already know in her character of fire-preserver for mankind. Toro-i-waho represents all aka (climbing and creeping plants), Tauwhare-kiokio ali tree- ferns,. Putehue the gourd-plant, and Haumia the edible rhizome of the bracken.
Te Rara-taungarere seems to represent the fertility of trees and plants, while Rehua was also connected with forests; he is mentioned with Tane in connection with forests (White’s Ancient History of the Maort, vol. 1, p. 145), and lehua was an old Hawaiian term for forest.
Tane, under the name of Tane-mataahi, represents all birds, though Punaweko is said to have been the origin and personification of forest-birds, and Hurumanu the same in regard to sea-birds. One Tane-te-hokahoka is also spoken of as one who brought birds into being; probably this is another name for the great Tane. Rupe personifies the pigeon.
In addition to these major personifications, we have, as in the case of trees, personified forms of different species of birds. Thus Terepunga and Noho-tumutumu represent the kawaw or cormorant, Parauri the tui, Hine- karoro the seagull, Hine-tara the tern, Moe-tahuna the duck, Matuku the bittern, Tu-mataika the kaka parrot, Koururu the owl, and others might be given.
In regard to fish, we have Tangaroa, who represents all fish. Tutara- kauika represents whales. Puhi is the personified form of eels, Takaaho of sharks. Te Arawaru represents shell-fish.
Rakahore is the personified form of rock, and Rangahua seems to repre- sent stones. These are the more important beings, but Hine-tuahoanga represents all forms of sandstone, Hine-one all sand. Poutini personifies greenstone in general, and is also a star-name. Hine-aotea, Hine-auhunga, Hine-tangiwai, Hine-kahurangi, Hine-kawakawa, and Tauira-karapa repre- sent different kinds of greenstone, while Whatuaho and Mataa represent obsidian. These will suffice as illustrations.
Best.—The Maori Genius for Personification. 9
Even swamps are personified in Hine-i-te-huhi and Hine-i-te-repo. South Island Maori state that Hine-tu-repo was the wife of Maui, and it was she who was interfered with by Tuna or Puhi, personified form of the eel. Maui himself seems to have personified day or daylight; hence his contest with Hine-nui-te-po, of the realm of darkness. Transform the eel into a snake, and in the inner reading of the Maui, Hine, and Tuna myth you have the true version of our borrowed myth of Eve and the serpent. This story also explains why the tail of an eel is known as hiku rekareka and tara-puremu. The name of the woman is usually given as Hina, a suggestive name.
The glow-worm is personified in Hine-huruhuru and Moko-huruhuru, the earth-worm in Noke, and the lizard in Rakaiora. One Peketua was the origin of lizards, and the first to appear was the tualara. Peketua moulded some clay into the form of an egg, and took it to Tane, who said, “Me whakaira tangata” (Give it life). This was done, and that egg produced the tuatara. All land-birds were then produced from another egg, fashoned by Punaweko, and sea-birds from yet another, made by Hurumanu. Birds and tuatara had a common origin.
Maru is the personified form of some celestial phenomenon. Amorg the Awa folk of the Bay of Plenty Wainui is a personification of the ocean, and Tahu personifies food.
Though Whiro is the origin of death, &c., yet there are many per- sonifications of different kinds of disease and misfortune. Among them are Maiki-nui, Maiki-roa, Maiki-archea, Tahu-maero, Tahu-kumia, Tahu- whakaeroero, and Tahu-pukaretu. All these dread beings are the hench- men and agents of Whiro, the evil one. They dwell within Tai-whetuki, the abode of disease and death, which belongs to Whiro, and ever they affict mankind. Thus does Whiro still continue his struggle against Tane, continuing to slay man, animals, trees—all things of this world that sprang from Tane. Thus is man destroyed in the upper world, and when his spirit reaches the underworld Whiro strives to destroy that also. Had not Hine-titama, the Daughter of Light, descended to the underworld, there to war with Whiro and so rescue the spirits of her children, then they would have been cast by Whiro into Tai-whetuki and Tai-te-waro, there to perish. When men of this world die, their spirits are drawn down to the underworld by Rua-toia and Rua-kumea, and are there received and protected by Hine. For, in the days when the world was young, when Hine fled from Tane, the sun god, her abiding words were, “I go to the lower realm that I may protect our descendants ; to the underworld I will draw them down and cherish them; their spirit-life shall be my care. Maku e kapu i te toiora 0 a taua tamariki.”
But ever Maiki-nui and Maiki-roa lurk within Tai-whetuki, the House of Death, while Rua-toia and Rua-kumea convey the souls of men to the care of the Daughter of Light, erst the Dawn Maid.
There are two aspects of Maori myths, or two forms in which they are related. One of these is the common or “fireside” version, the other is the “inner” version, as conserved in the school of learning, and taught only to those entrusted with the task of preserving the esoteric know- ledge of the elders of the tribe. These remarks do not apply to ordinary folk-tales, but to what may be termed the higher class of myths. The ordinary version of such myths is known to all members of the tribe, and may be related at any time or in any place. The other version is seldom heard, and is usually unknown to the bulk of the people.
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As an illustration of this double aspect, we will take the case of the myth concerning the origin or cause of the ocean tides. The common version is that tides are caused by the inhalations and exhalations of a colossal marine monster known as Te Parata. The school of learning ignored this as a fable, and taught something nearer the truth—namely, that when all realms were being placed under the control of certain guardians the marama-i-whanake, or waxing moon, and. Rona were appointed to control the tides of Hine-moana (personified form of the ocean). Again, the common version of the story of Rona is that she was transferred to the moon as punishment for having insulted that orb because one night its light became obscured when she was proceeding to fetch a calabash of water. She is yet visible in the moon, with her calabash by her side.
We have also the instance of Tane, whose many names were often inserted in genealogies showing the descent of man from the gods and the primal parents. The inclusion of these names as those of different beings was strongly condemned by the learned. The same remarks apply to Tiki and others.
We have given abundant evidence that the Maori was permeated with the spirit of animism and of animatism—that is to say, he believed in spiritual beings, and also attributed life and personality to things, but not a separate or apparitional soul as in the case of man. Yet the writer has heard statements made to the effect that the Maori possessed no power of abstract thought. Now, if there is one quality that the Maori did possess, it was that power.
In a brief account of Maori personifications it is impossible to give the various myths relating to them or in which they figure. We can only scan the long list and mention the more interesting of such personified forms. The following condensed account of one of the exploits of Tane will, however, serve to show how the wise men of yore handed these myths down, and how they taught racial beliefs to succeeding generations. Tane, the personified form of the sun, is necessarily the origin of light ; hence he is spoken of as the enemy or opponent of Whiro, who personifies darkness. After a long contest and many battles on the horizon and elsewhere, darkness is defeated and retires to the underworld, though Whiro still wars against Tane. As the personified form of evil things, he causes his satellites, Maikinui and others, to assail the offspring of Tane, who succumb in their thousands. Tane, as personified form of knowledge, is called Tane-te-wananga; it was he alone who succeeded in ascending to the twelfth heaven, where he obtained from Io the three baskets of occult knowledge, a fact that was bitterly resented by Whuiro. The latter, as the elder brother (darkness is older than light), objected to such treasure passing to the younger brother.
When about to make the great ascent, Tane went to Tawhirimatea and Huru-te-arangi and asked them for the services of their offspring, the Wind Children, to convey him “to the heavens. The multitude of Wind Children assembled from all quarters to bear Tane to the heavens; from far-distant realms, from the great spaces of Tahora-nui-atea they came. They ascended to the upper regions, to arrive at the Cloud House, whence emerged the Cloud Children to join them in brave array. Now came the multitude of Peketua, the Whanau akaaka, the repulsive ones—insects, vermin, winged creatures—sent by Whiro to attack Tane. But the Wind Children guarded Tane; they furiously assailed the emissaries of Whiro, scattered them, and drove them afar.
Best.—Vhe Maori Genius for Personification. 11
Having gained possession of the three baskets of divine or esoteric know- ledge—that of good, that of evil, and that of ritual—Tane began his descent to this world. He now assumed the name of Tane-i-te-wananga, as representing all knowledge, as being the fountain and source of know- ledge. During his descent he was again attacked by the army of Whiro, and here he is alluded to as Tane-te-waiora, for it was Darkness attacking Sunlight. His attendants called upon the personified forms of wind, snow, hail, &c., who swiftly came and defeated the hordes of Whiro. Some of the latter were captured and brought down to earth, among them being Waeroa (mosquito) Namu-poto (sandfly), Naonao (midge), Ro (mantis), Moko-kakariki (green lizard), Pekapeka, Ruru, and Kakapo (all night- birds). Thus Tane returned safely to this world, bringing with him the great boon of knowledge for the benefit of his descendants, the people of the World of Light.
A study of the mythopoetic tales so frequently met with in Maori lore tends to show that such mental concepts are by no means to be classified as ordinary folk-tales. They are not merely metaphorical discourses or hight allegorical fables, but often show that much thought has been devoted to the subject of the myth, to endeavour to discover cause or origin. The myth of Rona (the moon) and the tides illustrates this view, and other instances might be mentioned in which the Maori mind has approached near to scientific truth.
At the same time, man in the culture-stage of the Maori would never state baldly that the moon controls the tides. He must at least personify ocean and moon, for this curious faculty is one of the most remarkable and persistent features in the traditions and occult lore of uncultured peoples. We can even see survivals of such conceptions among highly civilized races, and we still cling to a few of the old-time personifications.
Neolithic man adopted this mode of teaching what he held to be primary truths. Having worked out his crude theories of the origin of the earth, of the heavenly bodies, of natural phenomena, of man, and of many other things, his mentality, strangely affected by long ages of contact with nature and by ignorance of natural laws, proceeded to depict all activities as anthropomorphic beings, and hence the Maori myths we have discussed in this paper. Uncultured man handed down his conclusions as prized knowledge to his descendants; he taught his children these myths, as we teach ours the moral lessons contained in Aesop’s fables and in fairy- tales.
A. ©. Parker struck at the root of personification when he wrote,
“ The primitive mind, believing all things the result of some intelligence, personifies and deifies the causes of effects, and thus has arisen the multiplicity of gods and guardian spirits.” Thus we have the many manifestations of the activities of Tane, the sun god and fertilizer. Even sunlight is personified in Tane-te-waicra, and in an old song we find the following :-—
Ko te ata i marama,
Marama te ata i Hotunuku, E, ko Tane-te-waiora ... e.
(Fair dawned the morn, Bright was the morn at Hotunuku, Behold! it is Tane-te-waiora.)
Explanatory myths teem in Maori lore, and are a characteristic feature of the peculiar plane of culture to which he had attained. The Maori was
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a mystic by nature. He ever felt that he was part of a living world in which nothing is truly inanimate. He looked upon Mother Earth as the nourisher of mankind, her offspring; his outlook upon life and upon his surroundings differed much from ours; he possessed a feeling of kinship with nature, and a curious form of mental vitality, utterly unknown to the dweller by city streets.
The curious practice of attributing sex to things that possess none is very noticeable in Maori myths, and we ourselves have retained some survivals of this habit. The Maori held very singular beliefs as to the protective and destructive powers of sex, beliefs that seem to be also held by certain races of India. Animatism is marked by mental concepts of a very strange nature, which in many instances are most difficult to under- stand ; of this fact many illustrations might be given.
These peculiarities of Maori mentality have the effect of making genuine old traditions, recitals, poems, and speeches of much interest, simply because they were reflected in the language of the people. The mytho- poetic concepts passed into the common tongue; hence such matter as mentioned above teemed with allusions to personifications, with metaphor and allegory, with aphorisms and occult expressions. Here we encounter in a living language the figurative expressions and quaint sayings in which is preserved the mentality of uncultured man. Here are the fossilized thoughts of long-gone peoples, of past ages, being uttered by persons of our own day. :
The better-class Maori was ever careful to acquire a knowledge of tribal history, of myth, tribal aphorisms and poetry, in order to adorn and point his speech. These folk were born orators, most punctilious in their utterance, and their formal speeches were marked by rhythm, by peculiar modes of diction, and by archaic and poetical expressions.
When Whare-matangi took leave cf his mother, Uru-te-kakara, at Kawhia, in setting forth to search for his father, he said to her, “‘ Farewell! Grieve not for me. Should I survive, then the sea-spray will assuredly return me to your side. Two nights hence, look you to the south ; should the gleam of Venus be plainly seen, it will be my token to you that I have safely reached my destination. If you see it not, then know that Aitua has struck me down, by the hand of man or by Maikiroa. Then do you send me kindly greeting by means of the kura awatea,* that I may be comforted by it in Rarohenga ”’ (the spirit world).
When Ngarue and his wife were separated, and he departed for Tara- naki, he said to her, ‘‘ Farewell, the breast-clinging spouse! Shame gnaws at me like unto the gnawing of the Ocean Maid into the flanks of the Earth Mother. It is like a fire burning within me. Even my love for you pales before it. Farewell! Remain at your home with your elders. Think not of me, though I will ever greet the mists that hang over Pari- ninihi and conceal you from me. And now the swift-running stream can never return to its source. Farewell! The gnawing of affection is a grievous affliction, but by Te Ihorangi was Mahuika destroyed. Farewell ! In the summer of our days we part as the Dawn Maid parted from the Sun God.”
In these notes we have endeavoured to explain the Maori genius for personification, and to throw some light on his modes of thought. For
*The kura awatea is the solar halo. The Maori believed that certain persons possessed the power to produce this phenomenon, and that they utilized it in signalling to a distance.
Brest.—The Maori Genius for Personification. 13
the Maori lived in a world to which we have no access; we emerged from that world many centuries ago, to enter a new and very different sphere.
The Maori had a loving regard for the earth, for was not Papa, the Earth Mother, the mother of mankind? Far above him he saw Rangi, the Sky Parent, upon whose breast the Whanau Marama, the Children of Light, were arranged by Tane the Fertilizer, who traverses the head of Rangi accompanied by Tane-te-waiora, the cheering sunlight. The moon was to him Hina-keha, Pale Hina, she who follows in the wake of the sun god, and, in times of stress, becomes Hina-uri, or Darkened Hina. In the transient comet he recognized Auahi-tu-roa, he who brought fire to man- kind; and in Maru he resolved celestial phenomena into a protecting deity and a war god. When a meteor darted across the heavens he knew that Tamarau was active; and he saw in the brilliant rainbow Uenuku spent with his long, hopeless search for the Mist Maiden. When the chill winds of winter smote him he knew that Paraweranui was abroad; when the heaving breast of the Ocean Maid troubled his rude craft he knew that the Whanau Puhi were gamboliing on Mahora-nui-atea; when the golden trail of Tane gleamed athwart placid seas he knew that the Wind Children had retired to their haven. Far overhead he beheld the many-coloured battalions of ‘Tukapua and the Cloud Maid, as they hurried forth from the Cloud House, harassed by Tawhirimatea. When Mahuika assailed in fiery wrath the offsprmg of Tane-mahuta he saw the countless legions of Te Thorangi darting to their rescue, while Mahuika found fair haven within Hine-kaikomako. In the ceaseless contest between Parawhenuamea and Rakahore he saw the origin of Hine-tuakirikiri (the Gravel Maid), whose multitudes protect the body of the Earth Mother from the wrath of the Ocean Maid, and of whom it was said, “ He ope na Hine-tuakirikiri e kore e taea te tatau”’ (A troop of the Gravel Maid cannot be numbered). Yet another stubborn defender of the Earth Mother was Hine-one, and all footsore travellers welcomed the advent of the Sand Maid.
Even so the Maori of yore traversed the path of life, the life he gained from the Earth Mother and from Tane. As he passed down that path he was protected by the offspring of the primal parents, by anthropomorphic personifications, and by the spirits of his dead forbears. When the path became faint as he neared its end, when Whiro and Maikinui destroyed his body, when his spirit traversed the Broad Way of Tane that leads to the spirit world, it was then that the Dawn Maid fulfilled her vow made in the days when the world was young, and protected her children who sought refuge within her realm.
And Tane the eternal, who saw the birth of man, guides his spirit down the Golden Way, and knows that the end is well.
14 Transactions.
Art. Il.—Old Redoubts, Blockhouses, and Stockades of the Wellington District.
By Exsvon Best, F.N.Z.Inst.
[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 21st September, 1920; received by Editor, 21st September, 1920 ; issued separately, 27th June, 1921.1
Plates I, I.
THE amount of interest displayed by Wellington folk in the story of the settlement of the district is exceedingly smali, and very few possess any knowledge of the anxious times passed here by early settlers during the Maori disturbances of the “ forties ” of last century, and, in a lesser degree, some fifteen years later. Probably no man could locate the sites of all the blockhouses, stockades, and redoubts erected in this district in the early days, hence it has been deemed advisable to put together the following notes pertaiming to those posts. The stockade-sites marked on Collinson’s little map are approximate only, but fortunately the writer was enabled to fix them definitely ere the old generation of settlers in the Porirua district passed away.
WELLINGTON REDOUBTS, ETC., OF THE “ ForTIES.”’
The general feeling of uneasiness and apprehension that followed the Wairau massacre led to the erection of two defensive positions in Wellington —one on the Thorndon Flat, as it was called formerly, and one at Te Aro, on the north side of Manners Street. The former was situated near the junction of Mulgrave and Pipitea Streets, and was known as “* Clifford’s Redoubt’ and “ Chfford’s Battery’ among the settlers, but appears as ‘“Thorndon Fort” in official documents. Mundy calls it “ Clifford’s Stockade,” but that name was usually applied to the post at Johnson’s Clearing, now known as Johnsonville.
In the New Zealand Journal of the Ist March, 1844, appears a report of the Committee of Public Safety, of Wellington, appoimted at the public _ meeting held on the 19th June, 1843. Among other items of interest in this report occurs the following: “‘ Your committee have also to report that a battery has been erected on Clay Hill, under the superintendence of Captain W. M. Smith, R.A., and three guns placed therein. Another battery on Thorndon Flat was in progress at the period of the arrival of the military from Auckland, but has not been proceeded with since.”
Clay Hill was the name of the bluff headland, known otherwise as “ Clay Point” and ‘‘ Windy. Point,” above the junction of Lambton Quay and Willis Street. Its native name was Kai-upoko.
In the same Journal of the 6th January, 1844, containing Wellington news up to the end of July, 1843, appears a statement that at 9 o’clock on Sunday, the 2nd July, 400 Wellington Volunteers mustered for imspection on Thorndon Flat. At a meeting of the military sub-committee on the 6th July, there were present Major Durie (president), Captain Sharp, Major Baker, Major Hornbrook, and Dr. Dorset. ‘“‘ It was resolved that a public notice be issued calling upon all parties to assemble on Thorndon Flat on
Brest.—Old Redoubts, d-c., of the Wellington District.
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Nacevilie
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Fic. 1.—Map showing blockhouses and stockades of the Wellington district.
16 Transactions.
Monday morning next at 9 o’clock, provided with spade and pickaxe, to assist at the erection of the battery now in progress, the completion of which has been retarded by the late unfavourable weather.”
The following is a copy of district orders issued in May, 1845 :—
WELLINGTON Minit1a.—Districr ORDERS.
Secretary’s Office, Wellington, May 26, 1845. By virtue of a commission issued by His Excellency the Governor of New Zealand, dated April 10, 1845, appointing me Major in command of the Wellington Battalion of Militia, I hereby assume command of the troops stationed in the southern districts of New Zealand.
Captain Russel, of the 58th Regiment, will take charge of and direct the detail of the garrison of Wellington.
Captain Wakefield will take charge of and direct the detail of the Wellington Battalion of Militia.
Captain Baker will take charge of and direct the detail of the Mounted Volunteer Corps when organized.
Lieutenant Rush, of the 58th Regiment, will hold the local rank of Captain in this division of the colony, to bear date the 10th April, 1845.
His Excellency the Governor having been pleased to appoint the undermentioned gentlemen to commissions in the Wellington Battalion of Militia, they are posted to companies as follows :—
No. I Company: Captain Wiliam Wakefield, Lieutenant Charles Sharp, Ensign Nathaniel Levin.
No. II Company: Captain David Stark Durie, Lieutenant Hugh Ross, Ensign George Hunter.
No. III Company: Captain George Compton, Lieutenant James Watt, Ensign Edward Abbott.
No. IV Company: Captain John Dorset, Lieutenant Robert Park, Ensign George Moore; Ensign Samuel Edward Grimston to be Aide-de-Camp to the Major commanding.
Captain Arthur Edward Macdonogh, Adjutant. Quartermaster, Alfred Horn- brook.
On the alarm being given, the troops will assemble at the following places :—
The detachment of the 58th Regiment will fall back upon Thorndon Fort.
No. 1 Company of Militia will assemble at Thorndon Fort.
The detachment of the 96th Regiment will fall in under arms at the Barracks, Te Aro, when they will be joined by No. 2 Company.
No. 3 Company will proceed to Fort Richmond, on the Hutt, and join the detach- ment of the 58th Regiment stationed there, under the command of Captain Rush.
No. 4 Company and the Cavalry will assemble in front of Thorndon Fort.
The Captains of Nos. 1 and 2 Companies wil! enrol the names of any volunteers who are desirous of giving their aid in case of emergency, and station them within the forts of Thorndon and Te Aro, for their defence, to render as many men of their companies as possible available to resist any attack that may be made upon the town.
The companies of the Militia stationed in the town of Wellington will patrol every morning from 5 o’clock till 7 o’clock a.m. No. 1 in the district from Thorndon Flat to the station of the 58th Regiment; No. 4 from Kumutoto Stream to Thorndon Flat ; No. 2 from Te Aro Flat to Kumutoto Stream.
These patrols will consist of a non-commissioned officer and four men, and will move in the rear of the town.
The detachments of the 58th and 96th Regiments will protect the flanks, and patrol at the same hours, the former in the direction of Wade’s Town, the latter towards the signal-station and Evans Bay.
The Cavalry Corps, when formed, will patrol the roads leading to Karori, Porirua, and Petoni.
A guard of the Militia consisting of a sergeant, corporal, and twelve men will mount daily at Thorndon Fort. The companies of Militia will assemble at their private parades for exercise every morning at 8 o’clock, and 4 in the afternoon, until further orders.
Definite instructions have not yet been received relative to the pay of the Militia, but for the present it will be the same as the non-commissioned officers and privates of the line. Those working at the batteries between the hours of drill will be allowed 10d. a day extra.
The Militia volunteer for three months, or 28 days.
(Signed) M. Ricumonp, Major Commanding.
Best.—Old Redoubts, d&e., of the Wellington District. 17
In the New Zealand Journal of the 10th October, 1846, giving Wellington news up to the 27th May, is the following: “* An address has been issued by Major Richmond stating that, in the event of any alarm, two guns will be fired. The guns at Thorndon Fort have been put in order and placed in charge of a gunner from Her Majesty’s ship ‘Calliope.’ The carriages of the two guns at the head of the bay will also, by direction of Captain Stanley, be repaired by the carpenters of the * Calliope,’ and the guns will be rendered fit for service.”
Colonel Mundy, who was in Wellington in 1 1847, wrote: “On the plain of Thorndon is an old field-work called Clifford’s Stockade, mounting a few guns. . . and intended as a place of refuge in case of an attack. With a little repair and deepening of the ditch this trifling earthen fortalice might be made quite efficient against a cowp de main; and, by a very simple contrivance, which may perhaps have never occurred to an engineer, or other defender of a fortified post, might be rendered impregnable against bare-footed savages—namely, by throwing into the ditch all the broken bottles which, in a short period, have been so lavishly emptied by the Company’s colonists!”
The above writer has anether entry, as foliows: ‘‘ January 18. Inspec- tion of the 65th Regiment on Thorndon Flat, an excellent parade-ground, like an English village green. It is pleasant to see the truly British appear- ance of the troops of this country—no pale faces, no dried-up frames. Here was a corps 900 strong, including detachments, so increased indi- viduallv in bulk and healthiness of aspect since I saw them a year ago at Sydney, after a long voyage from England, that it was difficult to believe them the same body of men.”
Te Aro Fort.
In Mr. Brees’ illustration showing the old Wesleyan Chapel in Manners Street appears a part of the earthworks of the redoubt at Te Aro, which was situated on the north side of Manners Street, opposite the above chapel: Brees remarks, “‘ The house occupied by the late Mr. Brewer is on the right of the road, and the large trench and mound which were formed immediately after the Wairau massacre, for inclosing certain spots as places of refuge in case of Wellington being attacked by the natives.” The illustration shows a bullock team and dray proceeding along Manners Street.
Barracks.
In the New Zealand Journal of the 15th January, 1848, giving Wellington news up to the 14th August, 1847, appears a short item from the Welling- ton Independent, as follows: ‘The mechanics and artisans employed in the erection of the new barracks lately completed at Mount Cook were on Monday evening regaled with a substantial supper by the contractor, Mr. Mills. The evening was very pleasantly spent. We have much pleasure im noticing this event, because the buildings have given great satisfaction, and reflect credit upon all engaged in their construction.”
The Thorndon Barracks were situated on the eastern side of the old Queen’s Head Hotel, where Fitzherbert Terrace now is. They have long disappeared, but two of the four cottages built for the officers at the junction of Park Street and Grant Road, eastern side of Park Street, are still standing.
he wood-trails on the hillside above Park Street, where the soldiers used to throw the wood down, are also still in existence.
The Thorndon Barracks witnessed a lively scene during the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh to Wellington in 1869, when a party of Maori per- formed a war-dance on the flat. They were armed with Enfields that were kept in store there
18 Transactions.
Karori Stockade.
The site of this post has been fixed on the map. It was erected on Mr. Chapman’s land at Karori in the “ forties,’ as a rallying-place and refuge for the surrounding settlers. It was erected under the supervision of Mr. A. C. Strode, on the high ground south of the main road and about opposite the English Church. It was apparently never utilized as a refuge.
Colonel Mundy wrote of Karori in 1847, ‘‘ Here are several hundred acres partially cleared, and the remains of a stockade built for the defence of the rural community.”
Hutt Posts oF THE ‘“ Fortress.” Fort Richmond.*
This was the principal defensive post in the Hutt district during the troubled “* forties,” and was situated near the old bridge, which was some- what down-stream from the present bridge.
Brees tells us that Fort Richmond “ was constructed under the direction of Captain Compton, an enterprising settler of the Hutt. It 1s planned on the model of those in the United States of America to guard against incur- sions of the Indians. The stockade is arranged in the form of a square of 95 ft., with towers of defence, or blockhouses, at two of the opposite angles, which command the bridge and river on both sides. It is composed of slabs of wood 9 ft. 6 in. high, and 5 in. to 6 in. thick, and is musket-proof. One of the blockhouses is 15 ft., and the other 12 ft. square. The fort was erected at a cost of £124, independent of the value of the timber, which was presented by Mr. Compton, and voluntary labour to the amount of £54 10s. is included in the above statement of the cost.
“ The excitement which was felt at the Hutt when a party of the 58th Regiment took up their quarters in the fortress on the morning of the 24th April, 1845, will not soon be forgotten. The settlers having brought all their energies to their assistance in the erection of the stockade, had just completed it on the evening of the previous day (Sunday), when an attack was expected from the natives. The settlers accordingly determined to hold possession until the arrival of the military, which took place at about 3 o’clock in the morning, amid the acclamations of the settlers.”
This post was named after Major Richmond, who was then in command of the district. A woodcut of the fort appeared in an early number of the Wellington Independent (now known as the New Zealand Times). A con- temporary remarks of those crude woodcuts, “They are apparently the work of no trained artist. The ground is black and the delineation white, reversing the usual process.” Brees gives a good illustration of the fortress.
Wellington papers of October, 1846, state that ‘‘ We are informed that the late flood in the Hutt has done considerable damage in the district. The south-western corner of Fort Richmond, where a detachment of the 58th Regiment is stationed, has been thrown down.” Ere long the river had swallowed the site of Fort Richmond, which fortunately was no longer needed.
Colonel Mundy, in Iur Antipodes, made the following remark on Fort Richmond: “It is a small baby-house kind of fortress built of timber, with a couple of carronades on corner turrets, one of which, impinging on the river, has been carried away by a freshet.” This writer visited the Huté in 1847.
* Not shown on map, but situated on the opposite side of the river to the block- house above Hikoikoi pa.
Brest.—Old Redoubts, de., of the Wellington District. 19:
Boulcott’s Farm Post.
At this place the troops were camped in tents and farm buildings without any protection, hence we have no defensive works on which to remark. The attack of the 16th May, 1846, was the natural sequence of establishing this singular form of military post. The site of it was near the spot marked on the map issued by the Lands Department, and entitled, ‘ Wellington Country District : showing Native Names.”
The Tata Post.
As this place is always called ‘ Taitai,” which, accordmg to Mr. Buck, a surveyor, of Hutt, is its correct name, our early settlers must have formed their own ideas of how it should be spelt. The name of Nainai appears to have suffered in a similar way.
The Wellington Spectator of the 28th February, 1846, remarks, “‘ The stockade and barracks to be erected in the Hutt district will be 90 ft. square, and will be composed of trees 12 im. in diameter placed closely together and loopholed all round; the stockade is to be splinter-proof. When com- pleted it will be capable of accommodating eighty men and two officers. The site fixed upon for the stockade is near Mr. Mason’s house, or rather beyond the present encampment. It is intended to have it completed in a month’s time.”
The post was, however, established a considerable distance above Mr. Mason’s place, its site bemg on the western side of the present hotel at Taita. A local paper remarked in May, 1846, after the attack on Boulcott’s Farm (see New Zealand Journal of the 10th October, 1846), “ After getting rid of the Maoris on the Hutt, His Excellency decided on building a block- house, and maintaining a post of a hundred men somewhere about Mason’s section, considerably in advance of the picquets surprised by the natives (i.e., Boulcott’s Farm). Instead of this being done, the Superintendent and his coadjutors objected to the amount of the tenders for building the blockhouse, and, the Governor yielding to them, the soldiers fell back to Boulcott’s barn, where they were attacked.”
Shortly after the above appeared we find the following in a local paper (see New Zealand Journal, 2ist November, 1846): “* The troops and the native allies in the Hutt have been forming an entrenched camp at Taita in the shape of two squares connected at an angle of each, and having a communication from one to the other.”
It would appear, however, that a number of Militia were stationed at Taita when the attack on Boulcott’s Farm took place, 16th May, 1846.
In Captain Collinson’s report we find several statements concerning this post: “ The flat part of the Hutt Valley is about eight miles long and two broad, covered with forest. About two miles up it the New Zealand Com- pany’s road crosses the river; here a small stockade called Fort Richmond had been erected some time before, and was occupied by a party of 58th under Lieutenant Rush. ‘Two miles farther on was a settler’s house called Boulcott’s, in a clearing of some twenty acres, and two miles farther was another house called the Taita.” (See Plate I.)
Collinson tells us that Maori depredations caused the Governor to take action: ‘‘ He proclaimed martial law, and (under the usual fiction of con- sidering the natives as rebels) he sent a herald to inform them of it, and at the same time ordered the Taita farm to be occupied by a company of the 96th. . . . In March, 1846, there were three detachments occupy- ing this little valley, fifty men at Fort Richmond, fifty men at Boulcott’s,
20 Transactions.
and about a dozen militia at the Taita.” Wellington papers of October, 1846, reported, “ A sergeant and ten men of the Hutt Militia have been kept on by His Honour Major Richmond, and stationed at the Taita, so that the settlers may have some little force to fall back on in case of accident.”
Portrua District Minitary Posts oF THE “ FortTIEs.”
Quite a number of military posts were established in the Porirua district. These were to serve three purposes : the protection of settlers, as at Johnson- ville ; defensible camps for military roadmakers ; and, in the case of the Paremata and Paua-tahanui posts, the keeping of a watchful eye on the turbulent Ngati-Toa folk, and to act as an outpost for the defence of the Hutt Valley. Fort Strode seems to have been a small police post, page being situated at Waikanae. All these posts pertained to the lively “ forties ”’ in the disturbed times of the “ sixties”’ no posts were established in this district, though some troopers were stationed for a while at Paua-tahanui.
Clifford’s Stockade at Johnsonville.
In the journal kept by Captains Wilmot and Nugent during their walking-tour from Wellington to Auckland, via Taupo, Galatea, and Rotorua, in 1846, occurs the following entry: “ March 17, 1846. Started from W ellington i in company with the Reverend G. on our road to Whanga- nul. At about 11 a.m. arrived at Jobnson’s Clearing on the Porirua Road, where about forty of the Volunteer Militia were stationed, under the command of Captain Clifford, and were constructing a stockade as a pro- tection to the few settlers in the neighbourhood. The road thus far is good ; afterwards there is a mere bush path to Jackson’s Ferry.”
The Spectutor of the 7th March, 1846, remarks, ““On Thursday His Excellency, attended by a guard of thirty men under Major Last, proceeded on the Porirua Road to examine the stockade erecting under the direction of C. Clifferd, Esq., and returned to town again in the evening.” Other statements in local papers of that month inform us that the Porirua settlers had been armed and placed under the command of Mr. Clifford, under whose direction a stockade had been commenced on Mr. Johnson’s section. The site was a hillock on the north side of Ames’s accommodation-house at Johnsonville, east of the main road and railway, and on the south side of the road running eastward to the old Petherick farm. We are told that this post was “‘ for the defence of the settlers, and for the purpose of preventing any predatory incursions of the natives, and a company of sixty men has been formed for the protection of the district.” For some time sentries were kept on Sentry Hill and Mount Misery to guard against a surprise by Maori. Lieutenant L. R. Elliott, of the 99th Regiment, was in charge of Clifford’s Stockade in October, 1846.
Middleton’s Stockade.
When the military roadmakers pushed on beyond Johnsonville each of their camps was surrounded by a stockade, in case of any attack being made by Maori. The men also carried their arms every day they proceeded to work. It is not stated whether they worked under covering-parties or not, as we did in the Taranaki District in later years.
The first defensive post or camp north of Johnsonville was Middleton’s Stockade, named after Ensign F'. Middleton, of the 58th Regiment: it was situated on Section 26, west of the main road and about half a mile north
Prats I.
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Fia. 1.—Remains of Paremata Blockhouse still standing in 1920
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Fig. 2.—Old blockhouse near Wallaceville, built in 1860-61. Photo by J. McDonald, 1916, taken from a point near the bastion, and within the area originally stockaded. The timber lying in the foreground covers the mouth of the well.
Best.—Old Redoubts. dc., of the Wellington District. 21
of the old Half-way House. It stood on the spur just above the road-line at the corner and rock-cut formerly known as “ Pyebald’s Corner,” “ Byass’s Corner,” and “Gibraltar Corner.’ This post was built and occupied by men of the 58th Regiment. Each of these stockades from Johnsonville to the Ferry (or Jackson’s Ferry), just north of the Porirua Railway-station, was named after the officer in charge of the post.
McCoy’s Stockade.
Named after Lieutenant F. R. McCoy, of the 65th Regiment. It was situated on Section 36, on the eastern side of the main road, about where the house of the late Mz. James Taylor stands, on the left bank of the Kenepuru Stream, just below its junction with the Takapu Creek.
Leigh's Stockade.
Also known as “ Fort Leigh.” Named aiter Lieutenant C. E. Leigh, 99th Regiment. It was situated on the west side of the road, about where the northern boundary-line of Section 41 cuts the road. The short road extending past the school is a part of the road-line as origina!ly surveyed.
Eiliott’s Stockade.
Also known as “Fort Elliott.” The original stockade stood on the flat on the left bank of the Kenepuru Stream, about 7 or 8 chains scuth of the hotel (now closed) near Porirue Railway-station. Late in 1846 flood- waters overflowed this flat and rendered the post untenable, destroying 4,000 rounds of ball cartridge. A new stockade was built on the bluff or low hill on the western side of the road, Section 62—a much better site.
In October, 1846, two officers and twenty-four men of the 58th Regiment and two non-commissioned officers and thirty-four men of the 99th Regiment were stationed here under Captain A. H. Russell (father of the late Sir William Russell, and grandfather of the present General Russell who served in the Great War) and Ensign F. Middleton.
Paremata Redoubt.
This post consisted of a stone blockhouse (or barrack, as it was usually called) surrounded by a stockade. It was situated at Paremata proper, at Porirua Harbour. The name cf “ Paremata”’ applies properly only to the flat north of the railway-bridge ; the railway folk are to blame for having transferred the name to the railway-station across the water. The station should have been named ‘ Whitianga ’’ or ‘“ Horopaki,’’ both names of places within a few chains of the station. The remains of this stone blockhouse at Paremata are still to be seen at Paremata Point, west ef the railway-line (Plate II, fig. 1), and it was here, at the narrow channel between the outer bay and the inner arm, that the first ferry was established at Thoms’ whaling-station.
In Collinson’s report on the Wellington Military District (published in the papers of the Corps of Royal Engineers, 1855) appears the following : “On April 8 [1846] 220 men under Major Last were sent round to Porirua, and, after lving a week under Mana Island from stress of weather, they landed and pitched their tents on Paremata Point.” The Wellington Independent of the 15th April, 1846, mentions this movement. On landing at the point tents were erected, and a large whare near Thoms’ whaling- station was also occupied. Men were set to work to form a trench and
29, Transactions.
rampart defence, of which some signs may still be seen. The building of the blockhouse was a slow affair. Wellington papers of October, 1846, stated that “‘ The first stone of this building was laid on Friday, the 23rd instant, by Captain Armstrong, the officer in command at Porirua. As usual on such occasions, various coins of the present reign were deposited in the stone.” The Spectator of the 14th August, 1847, remarks, “‘ Last Saturday [7th] the new stone barracks at Porirua were delivered over by Mr. Wilson, contractor to the Ordnance Department.”
A plan of this post made by V. D. McManaway in 1852 (fig. 2) shows the blockhouse almost surrounded by a five-angled stockade, the water-front being left open. Within the stockaded enclosure are shown a number of huts, mcluding a sergeant’s hut, three men’s huts, a hospital, guard-room, and commissariat. A well is also marked inside the enclosure, while outside are the canteen, bakery, and two other huts.
The walls of the blockhouse were built of undressed stones laid in cement. Many are waterworn boulders apparently obtained from a pit near by, and a few bricks are worked into the walls. The portions of wall still standing are about 30 in. in thickness and up to 10 ft. in height. The dimensions
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Fig. 2.—Plan of Paremata Redoubt.
of the building are about 60 ft. by 36 ft. inside, and the ground-floor was divided into two rooms. The men’s quarters were in the upper story, to which access was gained by means of an outside stairway. The place is only about 35 yards from high-water mark. The earthquake of 1848 so shattered the upper parts that the men were moved out into huts, and the shake of 1855 brought down the upper story. The post had been abandoned before the latter date. Turrets had been built on it, apparently to accommodate cannon of sorts, but the first shot fired at a passing canoe manned by hostiles so shook the fabric that the gun was not used again. Powers tells us that the stockade was a very inferior one.
The Wellington Spectator of the 27th May, 1846, gives the strength of the force stationed at Paremata as follows: 58th Regiment—-seventy-eight men, under Captain Laye and Lieutenant Pedder ; 99th Regiment—seventy- four men, under Captain Armstrong and Lieutenant Elliott; Royal Artillery—nine men, under Lieutenant the Hon. A. Yelverton ; also twenty- five Royal Marines from H.M.S. “ Calliope,’ under Lieutenant Fosbrooke.
Paua-tahanui Post.*
This post was established at the Matai-taua pa at Paua-tahanui after its evacuation by the hostile Maori on the approach of the force of
* Mis-spelt ‘‘ Paua-tananui ” on map.
Brest.—Old Redoubts, de., of the Wellington District. 23
Militia and Maori auxiliaries from the Hutt in August, 1846. This force occupied the pa on the Ist August, Governor Grey arriving there in the afternoon of the same day, accompanied by Captain Stanley, of the “ Calliope.”
The post was situated on the spur on which the church stands at Paua-tahanui, just above the creek, and above the bridge. A rude sketch of the Maori pa appeared in a Wellington paper of that time, but the reproduction of the stockade is decidedly eccentric. A sketch in the writer’s possession is much more reliable. The name Matai-taua is one of the few local names of which we know the origin. This pa was built by Te Rangihaeata when he retired from Motu-karaka some months before. When the Imperial troops advanced from Paremata fortress to join the Militia and Maori contingent in the advance up the Horokin Valley Lieutenant De Winton occupied the pa as a military post. On the 10th August he was reinforced by a detachment of police under Sub-Inspector Strode. In October, 1846, we find that the post was garrisoned by three officers and one hundred men of the 65th Regiment. These officers were Captain R. Newenham, Lieutenant T. F. Turner, and Assistant Surgeon T. E. White.
In 1848 Captain Russell and a detachment of the 58th occupied the post. They were engaged in roadmaking. The post was finally abandoned in 1850. Apparently the 58th advanced to this post in 1847, for a traveller passing down the coast in that year describes it as follows :—
“The strong pa of Pawhatanui (?) belonging to Rangihaeata, Rau- paraha’s fighting- -man, had been seized the year before by our forces, and was now occupied by a detachment of the 58th. I stopped at the blacksmith’s outside the pa to have the horse shod, before taking him on the hard metalled road into Wellington, During the process an ” officer happened to pass. We entered into conversation, and the result was that Captain R., the officer in command of the detachment (for he it was), invited me to pass the night at the pa. Mounting the hill on which it stood, we entered the gate.
“The strong palisade, about 15 ft. high, which surrounded the original pa, remained undisturbed, but nearly the entire space within was now occupied by neat wooden huts, painted blue and shingled. Captain R., with his wife, a heutenant and the assistant surgeon, with their wives, and an ensign, formed the society of the pa, and a very lively and agreeable society it was. The ladies were all young and pretty, and on the best terms with each other; Mrs. R., with her frank gaiety, being the life and soul of the little party. As for the officers, they did not, with the exception of Captain R., get through their time so easily—in fact they were mortally bored. What, indeed, had they to do? The doctor, in that provokingly salubrious climate, had no patients to cure, and the subalterns, since the Maori war was over, had none but routine duties to perform, which on detachment service are usually light enough. There was no hunting, and nothing to shoot but parrots, pigeons, and tuis. However, they did what they could; they fished and boated, pulled down almost daily to Paremata Point, where there was a detachment of the 65th, to compare notes with the major and the ensign, the latter of whom ingeniously contrived to kill a good many hours in the education of a talking tui, and’ laid schemes for obtaining leave to go to Wellington, which was another London or Paris to an unfortunate subaltern buried in the bush at Pawhatanui.”
24 Transactions.
Fort Strode.*
In Wakefield’s Handbook, published in 1848, is a short description of the eastern or Paua-tahanui arm of Porirua Harbour, in which occurs the statement, “‘ Two stockades, one of which is called Fort Strode, at different points of this north arm, have been occupied by small military detachments.”
One of these posts was that described above ; the other, Fort Strode, named after Sub-Inspector A. C. Strode, of the Police Force, was situated on the terrace-like point of Motu-karaka, on the northern shore of this eastern arm of the harbour. The earthworks of the post are still to be seen near the point, which on some old maps is marked “ Police Point,’ on account of some police having been stationed there, under, I believe, Mr. Tandy, This post was built on the site of the position occupied by Te Rangihaeata after he left Taupo (Pliimmerton) and prior to his removal to Paua-tahanui. His sojourn at Motu-karaka was rendered uncomfortable by young McKillop, a midshipman of H.M.S. “Calliope” (afterwards McKillop Pasha), who mounted a gun on the long-boat of the “* Tyne ” (wrecked shortly before at Island Bay), and strolled up and down the harbour bombarding hapless hostiles, and puncturing the atmosphere with cannon-balls.
In those days of the “forties” the ferry charge from Paremata to Jackson’s Ferry was 1s. 6d., to Paua-tahanui the same, to Fort Strode 9d., and to Cooper’s, at. Whitireia, 9d.
We have now enumerated all the posts established in the Wellington District in the “forties,” and explained their situations. Other details and remarks concerning some of them, as Fort Richmond, Paremata, and Paua-tahanui, are not given here, not being necessary to a paper that is designed merely to draw attention to these places of interest. Further notes on some of them were published in a series of papers on “ Porirua and They Who Settled it” in the Canterbury Times of 1914.
NATIVE DISTURBANCES OF THE “ SIXTIES.”
Two Blockhouses erected in the Huit Valley in 1860-61,
When these troubles arose in the land public uneasiness caused the erection of two blockhouses in the Hutt Valley, one at McHardy’s clear- ing, Upper Hutt district, and the other near the Hutt Bridge, where the Post-office now stands. The latter has disappeared, but the former still stands (1918). The old post at the Taita seems to have disappeared about twenty years ago.
The Spectator of the 21st March, 1860, gives an account of the balloting for the first draft of the Militia at Mount Cook Barracks in the presence of Major Trafford.
Old Blockhouse at Upper Hutt.
Half-hidden by tree-growth, this old refuge of sixty years ago stands lone and unknown in a paddock half a mile from the Wallaceville Railway- station, in the Upper Hutt district, some twenty miles from Wellington City. Of the few who know of its existence some have curiously erroneous ideas as to its origm and age. It was built in the latter part of the year 1860 as a refuge and rallying-place for the settlers of the district, im case of a Maori raid; for at that time many of the Maori of the Otaki district were hostile to Europeans, and the King flag was hoisted in the village
* Not shown on map, but situated on the point immediately west of Paua-tahanui, north-east of Paremata.
Bust.—Old Redoubts, &c, of the Wellington District. 25
at the Roman Catholic end of the settlement. The Wairarapa Maori were also disturbed, and some of the settlers in that district had asked that blockhouses be- erected there, though curiously enough the sheep- run men, the most isolated and exposed of the settlers, did not sign the petition. The Wairarapa Maori strongly objected to soldiers being sent to their district, and, as a matter of fact, none were sent.
Rumours of Maori raids in 1860 led to the erection of two blockhouses near Wellington, the one herein described and another near the bridge at the Lower Hutt. A number of Volunteer corps were also formed, and these became numerous in the land. The blockhouses were not actually utilized as refuges, simply because those raids never came off. The Wairarapa Maori never became openly hostile. They probably remembered the answer given by a local chief to Te Rangihaeata in 1846, when the latter wanted Wairarapa to join him in a raid on Wellington—“ Kei a wai he tahurangi maku ?”’? (With whom is a tahurangi for me?) Tahurangi was the Maori name of the old-fashioned red blankets. The wise chief knew that to slay the pakeha would be to cut off the supply of European products, hence the red blanket saved Wellington. The memory of those old-time fears and dangers has passed away now, and no one worries about Maori raids.
The following is taken from the New Zealand Spectator, of Wellington, for the 5th September. 1860 :—
Engineer’s Office, Lower Hutt, 18th August, 1860. SEALED tenders in duplicate will be received at this office until Wednesday at noon of the 5th September next for the erection of STocKADE AND BLocKHOUSE
at the Upper Hutt, on McHardy’s Clearing, according to plans and _ specifications No. 1 and 2.
Further particulars can be obtained upon application to Corporal Tapp, Royal Engineers, at this office.
Persons may tender for either Plan No. 1 and No. 2, or both. The lowest tender will not necessarily be accepted of.
W. Rawson TRAFFORD, Commanding Wellington Militia and Volunteers.
The defences consisted of a stockade and trench, with a two-storied blockhouse in one corner. The stockade, which has long been pulled down, was 9 ft. high and bullet-proof, as described below, though its form of loop- holes is not given. The hlockhouse projected outside two faces of the stockade so as to act as a flanking angle, the opposite corner being provided with a bastion as shown on the plan: thus each covered two curtains or faces. The northern and western curtains were each commanded by eight loopholes in the blockhouse, four on each floor. The western and southern sides of the stockaded area still show a parapet on the outer side of the fosse, or trench. Presumably the stockade occupied this low parapet, while the defenders would occupy the fosse inside it.
The space enclosed inside the trench, is 30 yards east and west, and somewhat more north and south. The measurements given in the report would doubtless be those of the line of stockade. The trenches now contain a considerable amount of debris, but were probably 24 ft. or 3 ft. deep originally, the width being about 5 ft. at the bottom. The spoil from these trenches was evidently used to form the parapet, of which, however, we now see no sign on the north and east sides. The entrance to the enclosure was probably at the side of the blockhouse where for a space of 18 ft. no signs of a trench are to be seen.
26 Transactions.
The blockhouse is in a good state of preservation, the timber sound and still showing in places the marks of the circular saw ; it was probably cut in Cruickshank’s mill, the first to be erected in this vicinity, which produced some fine totara timber, The ground floor is divided into two rooms, the larger one containing the staircase, as also a small room in the south-west corner, like the sergeant’s cubby-hole in a military barrack-room. Four sides of the ground floor present loopholed walls, the two interior walls being blank, save for the doorway and two windows as shown. There are twenty-four loopholes, as marked, not including three higher up to be occupied by persons stationed on the staircase. These loopholes are rect- angular, formed with | in. timber, with the smaller end outward, the inner and larger orifice being 8in. by 6in. Some are still plugged with the original tompions—solid blocks of timber. The walls are flush-lned with 1 in. boards, and the outside weatherboarded with the same; studs, 6in. The interior space is filled with fine gravel.
The upper floor is im one reom, and is pierced with loopholes all round, on all six faces. The southern end has but two loopholes, but the two windows there are probably modern and not a part of the original plan. The west and north faces have each eight loopholes. The two interior walls have three each, two long vertical ones and a small square one between them. Two of these appear in the illustration. Not being a disciple of Vauban, the writer is unable to explain why these elongated loopholes should appear in two walls only, and those both interior faces. On the outer side these loopholes are 36 in. by 3in., but the inner part is wider.
The blockhouse is built on piles, and roofed with corrugated iron ; height of walls, 18 ft.
The magazine was a small building, 9 ft. by 5 ft. in size, originally lined, and probably with gravel-filled walls. Outside the blockhouse is a small ditch of unknown use, for presumably the stockade did not extend along outside the north and west sides of the blockhouse. The place seems to have been used as a residence at some time, and a stove has been used in the upper floor. Again, the place seems to have been utilized as a chicken- ranch at no distant period.
The well was covered over with timber, as it appears in the photograph (Plate II, fig. 2). The bastion shows no signs of having contained any small flanking blockhouse, such as we constructed in Taranaki as late as the “seventies.” From the trench outside the bastion a covered drain runs to a stream-channel, evidently designed to carry off storm-waters from the trench. A part of the outer scarp of the trench at the south corner of the bastion has been neatly faced with stones, reminding one of the Koru pa at Oakura.
No trace of a parapet is seen on the eastern and northern faces of the defence ; the interior of the defended area is level ground, which extends far out on all sides.
(An outpost of singular form was erected at Taita in 1846, and was occupied by Militia for some time. The following appeared in the Welling- ton Independent at the time: ‘“‘ The troops and native alles in the Hutt have been forming an entrenched camp at Taita, in the shape of two squares connected at an angle of each, and having a communication from one to the other.”” The main post of that period was Fort Richmond, at the Bridge, Lower Hutt.)
The Australian and New Zealand Gazette of the 17th October, 1860, contains the following: ‘“ The natives in the Wellington district still con- tinue quiet, but the settlers are, as they ought to be, on the alert. The
Best.—Old Redoubts, &c., of the Wellington District. 27
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Scare of Teer
28 Transactions.
Militia has been called out both in Wellington and Whanganui, all the dis- posable rifles have been distributed, and two stockades are being erected in the Hutt district.”
The same publication in its issue of the 24th November, 1860, giving Wellington news up to the 7th September, quotes the following from the Wellington Independent: ‘‘ A stockade is about to be erected at the Upper Hutt, and the one now erecting at the Lower Hutt is rapidly progressing. Recently, at the request of several gentlemen of the Hutt, the contractor supplied them with a target made the exact thickness of the sides of the stockades and filled with screened gravel, which was carted to a suitable place under the superintendence of Captain Carlyon, Lieutenant Ludlam, and Corporal Tapp, of the Royal Engineers. The firing commenced at 120 yards, shortening the distance until within five paces, when several rounds were fired from three different descriptions of rifles, likewise from one of the percussion muskets. On examination of the target the result proved very satisfactory, sixteen having struck the centre, but not one had passed through, the balls flattening as soon as they come in contact with the gravel, thus proving the efficiency of the present works.”
‘‘ A memorial for the erection of stockades has been sent to the Governor from about sixty of the residents in the small-farm neighbourhood of the Wairarapa. It is worthy of note that none of the sheep-farmers whose homesteads are scattered over the valley, and whose property would have to be abandoned should an outbreak occur, have consented to sign it.”
The Hutt Stockade.
The following particulars of the blockhouse and stockade erected at the Lower Hutt at the same time is culled from the Spectator :-—
“Through the courtesy of Corporal Tapp, of the Royal Engineers, who has been sent down to superintend the works, we have been favoured with an inspection of the plan for the stockade and blockhouse to be erected at the Hutt. The site selected is a paddock opposite Jillet’s Hotel, known as Plowman’s land. The stockade will be 95 ft. square, with walls 9 ft. high, rendered bullet-proof to 6 ft. by the interstice between the inside and outside planking being filled with shingle. The blockhouse, which will be in the south-west corner, the nearest the bridge, will be two stories high, with galvanized-iron roof, and rendered bullet-proof throughout by the same means as that used for the stockade. Its dimensions will be 30 ft. by 30 ft., with outside flanks of 15 ft., with loopholes on all sides and in both stories. In the opposite cr north-east corner will be corresponding flanks or loophcles. The magazine will be 8 ft. by 4 ft., by 7 ft. high. The blockhouse will be built so as to protect the Wairarapa and Waiwhetu Roads, the bridge, and the ferry. Mr. W. Taylor’s tender, £725, has been accepted, and the works will be commenced next week, the contract time for their completion being three months from the acceptance of the tender.”
In this extract we see what the nature of the stockade was at the Upper Hutt, the two being constructed on the same plan. Some of the loopholes are plainly seen, while those blocked with tompions are scarcely discernible.
BarttuigE.—Vhe First New Zealand Navy. 29
Art. II.—The First New Zealand Navy; with some Episodes of the Maori War in connection with the British Navy.
By Herpert BaI.uie.
[ Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 21st October, 1919 ; received by Editor, 21st September, 1920 ; issued separately, 27th June, 1921.)
Piates ITI-VI.
THE early volumes of the Illustrated London News contain many illustra- tions of New Zealand scenes and incidents. I was particularly interested in those shown in the issue of the 30th January, 1864, among which was one of “the gunboat * Pioneer’ at anchor off Meremere, on the Waikato, reconnoitring the native position.” On looking into the subject of New Zealand’s first navy I found that New Zealand had about that time quite an imposing fleet, which was manned from ships of the British Navy then on the station. On further search I found that the colony possessed a gun- boat as far back as 1846. In the early days of settlement many requests had been made to the Mother-country to provide the colony with one or two armed vessels, but without success. It has been difficult to piece together the story of New Zealand’s first navy from newspaper and official records and personal narratives, the censor having apparently been at work even in those far-off days.
An official statement of ““ Revenue and Expenditure for 1846 ”’ contains the item, “ Purchase, &c., gunboat for Porirua Harbour, £100 17s. 11d.” A newspaper records the information that H.M.S. “ Calliope’s ’’ pinnace and two whaleboats had been sent to Porirua, and in a later issue it is mentioned that the “ Tyne’s”’ long-boat had been lengthened for service. The “ Tyne” was a barque which had ended her voyage from London to Wellington on the rocks off Sinclair Head, Cook Strait, on the 3rd July, 1845. McKillop in his Reminiscences says, ““ A ship’s boat had been purchased and converted into a gunboat by the carpenters of the ‘ Calliope,’ mounting a 12-pounder carronade.”’ A brass gun was also placed aboard. (Plate III, fig. 2.) The “Calliope” took the boat to Porirua on the 11th July, 1846. Midshipman McKillop was installed in command. He says that he secured the addition of six more bluejackets and two gunners lent by the officer in command of the Royal Artillery detachment then stationed at Wellington. McKillop came into contact with the Maori at the Paua- tahanui head of the harbour on the 17th July; shots were exchanged, but, as he had “ taken the precaution of lashing the men’s beds up in their hammocks and fastening them round the boat, making a bullet-proof breast- work, which afforded great protection to the crew,” no damage was sus- tained, except that the brass gun burst at the first shot. For meritorious work at Porirua Midshipman McKillop received great praise from Lieut.- Governor Grey, and was promoted to be mate of H.M.S. ‘“ Driver.”
The gunboat was used for some time at Porirua on patrol duty, and was then taken early in 1847 to Wanganui, where it was commanded by Lieutenant Edward Holmes, H.M.S. “ Calliope,’’ who was assisted by Naval Cadet H. E. Crozier, of the same ship. Crozier accidentally wounded a native chief with a pistol, and this was the direct cause of the Gilfillan
30 Transactions.
murders. The natives demanded the surrender of the youth, which, of course, was refused. Crozier was replaced by Midshipman John Carnegie. During the months of April and May, 1847, good work was done by the gunboat. On the 19th May, in consequence of the gunboat being injured from its own firing, Lieutenant Holmes moved his 12-pounder on board the ‘“‘ Governor Grey” (Plate IV, fig. 1), a Wanganui-built schooner of 35 tons, from whose unbarricaded deck he continued to fight until the enemy retired.
Captain J. H. Laye, 58th Regiment, who commanded the forces at that time, reported to the Governor, “ To Lieutenant Holmes I am exceedingly obliged ; the efficiency of the gunboat under his command (which was exposed to the fire of the enemy the whole of the day), his alertness with her at all times, and cordial co-operation, I am only too happy to bear testimony to.”
In a despatch from Wanganui dated the 21st February, 1848, Major Wyatt, O.C., states, “ The repairs to the gunboat are progressing.”
On the outbreak of hostilities in the Taranaki Province in 1860 the Government advertised for two vessels suitable for gunboat service. In April the schooner “ Ruby,” 24 tons, recently launched from a shipbuilder’s yard, was purchased by the Defence authorities, renamed “‘ Caroline ” (Plate IV, fig. 2), and armed with a 32-pounder gun, and a supply of ammu- nition from H.M.S. ‘“‘ Elk.” The cost of the schooner was £630; the cost of stores, fittings, and the cannon, £300. Mr. Smyth, of H.M.S. “ Niger,” who had distinguished himself at the attack on Waireka, near New Plymouth, was appointed to the charge of the gunboat. He hoisted the pennant on the 14th April, 1860, and sailed from Auckland for Manukau on the 17th April. Mr. Hannibal Marks, “an old, experienced, and dauntless seaman, who knew every nook and inlet of the coast,” was appointed pilot and sailing- master, being later appointed to command. The vessel acted as guard- ship on the Manukau Harbour, also being used as a despatch-boat between that port and New Plymouth. Later, she was transferred to Auckland, where she was chiefly used as a despatch-boat. I can find no record of her being engaged in any action. Her commission ended on the 12th October, 1863, and she was sold out of the service, the purchaser being Captain Davidson. Her name was changed back to “ Ruby,” and for many years she traded between Wellington and Kaikoura. She was wrecked off Jackson Head in 1879.
An urgent call for help had been sent to Australia, and in reply the Government of Victoria had lent its warship, the steam-sloop “ Victoria,” Captain Norman, which arrived at New Plymouth on the 3rd August, 1860, bringing Major-General Pratt, C.B., Commander of the Forces in Australia, and his staff. General Pratt took command of the troops in Taranaki until the arrival of Lieut.-General Cameron in May, 1861, when he returned to Australia in the “ Victoria.”” The “ Victoria” also brought a detach- ment of troops from Australia during this period, and was engaged on the coast on various duties, including the transferring of refugees from New Plymouth to other ports. Officers and men from this vessel took part in some of the Taranaki land engagements.
On the 28th March, 1860, Captain Peter Cracroft, H.M.S. “ Niger,” - with a force of sixty men and a 24-pounder rocket-tube, landed and captured the Maori pa at Waireka, Taranaki, incidentally relieving a party of Volunteers who weve in difficulties. This is the action in which Seaman William Odgers won the first Victoria Cross to be awarded for service in New Zealand. He was the first man to enter the pa, and he hauled down
Baituin.—lhe First New Zealand Navy. 31
the Maori flag. He was promoted to be a warrant officer by the Admiralty on the 26th June, 1860, and the Cross was presented to him on parade at Devonport, England, July, 1862. Lieutenant Blake, who, with some men of the ‘ Niger,” took an active part in the military operations, was pro- moted to be commander for his services, later taking command of H.MLS. ‘Falcon? on the New Zealand station. The “ Niger” had shelled the Warea Pa on the 20th March.
A Naval Brigade under Captain (later Commodore) F. Beauchamp Seymour, afterwards Lord Alcester, was stationed at Waitara, where Captain Seymour was wounded, June, 1860, at the attack on the Puketakauere Pa. The brigade, which was in service 1860-61, was composed of men and officers from H.M. ships “ Niger,”’ “‘ Pelorus,” “‘ Cordelia,” “ Iris,” “ Elk,” and the Victorian steam-sloop “ Victoria.”
In 1862 the Government purchased the paddle-steamer “* Avon” for £2,000. This steamer, which was 60 ft. in length, 14 horse-power, 27 tons register, and drawing 3ft. of water, had been brought from England in sections and put together at Lyttelton in 1861. She had been engaged in the trade between Lyttelton, Heathcote, and Kaiapoi. On the 22nd November she left Lyttelton in charge of Lieutenant Hasther with a crew of fifteen men from H.M.S. ‘“‘ Harrier,” in tow of that vessel. Lieutenant Easther retained command until the close of the Waikato War. Mr. Ellis, who is still living (1920) m Auckland, was engineer. The vessels arrived on the 26th November at Onehunga, where the ““ Avon” was refitted and armoured for service on the Waikato River. She assisted in the rescue of survivors from the wreck of H.M.S. “‘ Orpheus,” on the Manukau bar, 7th February, 1863, the men being transferred from the steamer ‘‘ Wonga Wonga,”’ which happened to be crossing the bar at the time of the disaster.
The ‘‘ Avon’ was towed to the Waikato Heads on the 25th July, 1863, by H.M.S. ‘‘ Eclipse,” Commander Richard C. Mayne (Plate V, fig. 1). Thirty men were transferred from the “‘ Eclipse,” and Commander Mayne took the “‘ Avon” up the river to the Blufi—a little below where Mercer now stands. On the 6th August Captain Sullivan, H.M.S. “‘ Harrier,” senior naval officer in New Zealand, took the vessel on a reconnaissance as far as Meremere, where the Maori opened fire, which, on completion of observa- tions, was replied to from the ‘‘ Avon’s ” 12-pounder Armstrong gun and a 12-pounder rocket-tube.
While the “Avon” was being fitted at Onehunga four large barges were brought overland from Auckland. These were also armoured with an iron-plate covering, and pierced for rifles and sweeps, or oars, this work being done under the superintendence of Captain Mercer, R.A., who was later killed at Rangiriri.
The “Avon” was on service during the course of the Waikato War. On the 18th February, 1864, through striking a snag in the Waipa River, she became partly submerged. She was used for a time as a coal-hulk at Port Waikato, which in those days was a busy place, with building and repairing shops. Later the “Avon” was renamed “Clyde,” and was occupied in mercantile trading in the run between Tamaki and the Thames. In 1876 her paddles were dismantled and twin screws substituted. She was broken up in Auckland about 1883.
In 1860 a small paddle-steamer, the “Tasmanian Maid,” 53 tons register, 36 horse-power, which had been trading between Nelson, Wairau, and Wellington, was sent over by the Nelson people to bring the women and children from New Plymouth if necessary. She was then used as a
32 Transactions.
despatch-boat between New Plymouth, Waitara, and Onehunga. In 1862 she was engaged in trade from Auckland to Coromandel, and about Auckland Harbour. In June, 1863, she was purchased by the Government for £4,000. She was renamed “Sandfly,” and armoured, being also armed with two 12-pounder Armstrong guns. Lieutenant Hunt, H.M.S. “ Harrier,” hoisted the pennant on the 23rd June, 1863, and his crew consisted of twenty-two men from the warships. On the 12th October Captain Marks, of the gunboat “ Caroline,” was transferred to the “‘ Sandfly,” while Lieutenant Hunt was transferred to the paddle-steamer ‘“‘ Lady Barkly,’ which had been purchased by the Government and partially plated, when it was decided that she was unfit for service, as intended, on the Waikato River. She was used for transport work in and from the Manukau Harbour. The ‘“ Lady Barkly ” is still (1920) running on the coast as a screw-steamer under the name “Hina.” The “Sandfily”’ was stationed on the east coast of the North Island, her headquarters being Auckland. She took part in the blockade of the Firth of Thames and the Tauranga campaign. She captured on the 3lst October the cutter “ Eclair,” a vessel of about 20 tons, owned by the Maori, and loaded with provisions. In 1865 the “Sandfly ’ was sold by the Government, after a short service about Cook Strait transporting troops to Wanganui, and doing a little survey work for the Cook Strait submarine cable. The new owners changed her name back to “Tasmanian Maid,” and she was wrecked off New Plymouth on the 16th January, 1868.
In 1863 the Imperial Commissariat Department purchased the 80-horse- power steamer “ Alexandra” for transport work. She cost £13,000, and was also wrecked somewhere near New Plymouth, 9th August, 1865. In 1863 the Government owned a sailing gunboat, “* Midnight,” but I have not been able to trace her commission, except that she appears to have been on service on the east coast, north of Auckland.
In a memorandum dated 20th October, 1863, the Minister of Defence stated, ““ Towards the end of 1862 the Government determined to place a small steamer on the Waikato, and after some inquiry the ‘ Avon’ was purchased for the purpose. Her draught of water is too great to be available as is desirable; but, notwithstanding this disadvantage, the vessel has been of great service. The importance of having a suitable steamer for the navigation of the Waikato determined the Government to have such a vessel constructed in Sydney, and after many delays and much anxiety the gunboat ‘ Pioneer’ (Pilate VI, fig. 1) has been obtained—a vessel, it is believed, well adapted for the purpose.” The “ Pioneer” was launched from the shipyard of the Australian Steam Navigation Company, Pyrmont, Sydney, on the 16th July, 1863, having been under construction for a period of about seventeen weeks, the super- intending engineer of the work being Mr. T. Macarthur, of the com- pany’s staff. A report in a local paper, the Empire, says, “‘ Yesterday morning there was launched from the A.S.N. Co.’s patent slip, Pyrmont, a rifle gunboat for the New Zealand Government, and intended for the service of the inland waters of the Waikato district. She is intended to carry 300 men, on a light draft of water. Her dimensions are 140 ft. in length, 20 ft. beam, 8 ft. 6in. depth of hold, and draws only 2it. 6in. of water. She will be propelled by an overhang- ing stern wheel, 12ft. diameter, 7ft. broad, driven by two engines, each - 30 horse-power. She is constructed of Zin. iron, which is pierced for rifles, and which will render her ball-proof. She is fitted with watertight
Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vou. LILI
Prate IIt.
ye to
Fig. 1.—Putataka, Port Waikato.
From a sketch by 8. Percy Smith.
>
~ : aid = ys oe biomes : . 4D oN os fee) Sieeats Os ‘ at ame Lime crayjverl 4 Aarstile ahies Sy se - i : TAUPO QUAY NVHANGANU Yow motes Ste Plante, 4,4 % ae Brae Rie Fic, 2.—The “Calliope” gunboat.
From a sketch by John A. Gilfillan.
Face p. 32.
Trans. N.Z. [nst., Vou. LILI. Puate LV.
Fie. 1.—The ‘“‘Governor Grey.” From a painting by Major Heaphy.
>
From a painting by W. Forster.
Fig. 2.—The “ Caroline.’
TRA INeZe INST) Viola oii: PrATEH We
Fie. 1.—H.M.S. “Eclipse.” From a photograph supplied by Admiral Sir E. F. Fremantle, G.C.B.
Fig. 2.—The ‘ Pioneer,” off Meremere
Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vou. LILI. Prana Vvale
Fic. 1.—The ‘‘ Pioneer.’? The mainmast was removed when the boat was in use on the Waikato.
Fic. 2.—The “ Rangiriri.”” The “Koheroa” was a sister boat.
Baiture.—The First New Zealand Navy. 33
compartments. ‘ihe boilers were placed 54 it. forward of the engines for the purpose of keeping the vessel on an even kee].”” . The Hmpire of the 15th September further reports, ““ On the vessel’s trial trip her speed was tested from Fort Denison to Bradley’s Heads, a distance of 1 mile and 150 yards A smart N.H. breeze prevailed, but with this disadvantage the distance was run down in 8 minutes 12 seconds, and up in 6 minutes 53 seconds, giving a speed of nearly 9 knots, with 52 revolutions per minute, with 6U lb. on pressure of gauge, and a very small consumption of coal. Her speed exceeded the builder’s expectations by one mile per hour. She is fitted with two sliding keels—one forward, one aft. The officers’ cabins are situated ait, and the soldiers’ apartments forward ; they are very large and lofty. She has a flush deck, on which are placed two cupolas, 12 ft. in diameter and 8 ft. high, each pierced for rifles and 24-pounder howitzers. The commander’s station was in a turret above the engime-room, which vas also shot-proof and placed aft.” She was provided with space for the storage of 20 tons of coal, and it is interesting to note that while on the Waikato she used local coal, being the first steamer to do so. The Hon. (iater Sir) Francis Dillon Bell, a member of the Ministry, represented the New Zealand Government on the occasion of the “‘ Pioneer’s”’ trial. For the trip to New Zealand the stern wheel was removed, and three masts provided to carry sail. The cost of construction was £9,500.
After shipping a supply of ammunition, consisting of 60 cases shot and shell, 600 cartridges for 24-pounders, 1,000 tubes, 10,000 Terry’s rifle cartridges, 12,000 caps, and 18,000 revolver-cartridges, the ‘‘ Pioneer,” in tow of H.M.S. “ Eclipse,” left Sydney on the 22nd September, reaching Onehunga on the 3rd October, after a rough trip. The officers attached to the vessel for the trip were Lieutenant G. R. Breton, late of H.M.S. “Tris”; Lieutenant O’Callaghan, H.M.S. “Miranda”; and Mr. Jeffrey, engineer; with a crew of twenty-five men. On the 24th October the “ Pioneer,’ with two companies of seamen from H.M.S. “‘ Curacoa,” was towed by H.ML.S. “ Helipse”’ to the Waikato. At the same time the four armoured barges, or gunboats, were also taken to the river. While on active service each of the gunboats was in charge of an officer from H.M.S. “ Curacgoa.” I am informed by Admiral Hammick (then a sub- lieutenant), who was in charge of one, which was named the ‘‘ Ant,” that one was commanded by Midshipman C. 8. Hunt, who had been saved from H.M.S. “ Orpheus’? when that vessel was wrecked on the Manukau bar ; another was in charge of Midshipman F. Hudson. The fourth, which was named the “ Midge,” was commanded by Midshipman Foljambe. Mr. Foljambe in his Three Years on the Australian Station (1868) tells us that the boat was armed with a 12-pounder gun and a 4:4 in. brass Cohorn mortar, and carried a complement of seven men. ‘These boats were used in the different operations on the Waikato and its branches, and also in carrying stores. Mr. Foljambe was the father of the late Governor-General of New Zealand, Lord Liverpool.
On the 29th October the “ Pioneer,” piloted by Mr. Chandeler, and flying the broad pennant of Commodore Sir William Wiseman (‘‘ Curacoa ’’), atter landing at Whangamarino, which commanded the Maori position at Meremere, two 40-pounder Armstrong guns, brought by the “ Curagoa”’ from Sydney, conveyed Lieut.-General Cameron, commander of the troops in New Zealand, on a reconnaissance. (Plate V, fig. 2.) Shots were exchanged, but no damage was sustained by the vessel, which returned to headquarters. On the 31st October the “ Pioneer” again proceeded up the river as far as Rangiriri, the Maori stronghold. A spot about six
2—Trans.
34 Transactions.
miles above Meremere was selected as a landing-place for a force of 640 men and twenty-one officers, with two 12-pounder Armstrong guns This force was embarked on the “ Pioneer” on the Ist November, and landed without opposition During the afternoon it was found that the Maori had abandoned their position at Meremere, which was then occupied by a party of 250 seamen, under Commander Mayne (‘“ Kclipse’’), and 250 men of the 12th and 14th Regiments, under Colonel Austin, from Koheroa. This force was reinforced next day by detachments from the 12th, 14th, 18th, and 70th Regiments, amounting to 500 men.
On the 20th November General Cameron, with a force of 860 men, attacked Rangiriri. To assist in the operations an additional 300 men of the 40th Regiment were embarked on the steamers, to be landed at a selected point, so that they might make an attack on the rear of the main line of the Maori entrenchments while the main body attacked in front. Owing to the wind and current the “‘ Pioneer’ and ‘“‘ Avon,” with two of the gunboats, were not able to reach the landing-place decided upon. After a preliminary barrage by the Royal Artillery 12-pounders, under Captain Mercer, and the naval 6-pounder, under Lieutenant Alexander ( Curagoa’”’), the main body attacked the main line of entrenchments and drove the enemy to the centre redoubt, while the party of the 40th Regiment, who had been landed sufficiently near to reach their position, were able to pour a heavy fire on a body of Maori, who were driven from their position and fled towards the Waikare Lake, where a number of them were drowned. The centre redoubt, still holding out against the troops, was attacked by a party of thirty-six men of the Royal Artillery, under Captain Mercer, who was mortally wounded, then by a party of ninety seamen under Commander Mayne, who was wounded. Both attempts were unsuccessful, as was another by a party of seamen under Commander Phillimore (“ Curacgoa’’), who used hand-grenades. As it was now nearly dark, the General decided to wait until daylight, when it was found that the white flag had been hoisted, and 183 Maori surrendered. Midshipman Watkins (“ Curacoa’’) and five men of the Naval Brigade were killed ; while, in addition to Commander Mayne, Lieutenants Downs (‘‘ Miranda ’”’) and Hotham (“ Curacoa’’) (afterwards Admiral Sir C. F. Hotham) and five men were wounded.
In a letter from Negaruawahia dated the 4th December Wiremu Tame- hana (William Thompson), the Maori leader, said that he had lost all his guns and powder. ‘It is your side alone which is still in arms—that is to say, the steamer which is at work in the Waikato, making pas as it goes on; when they finish one, they come a little farther and make another. Now, then, let the steamer stay away; do not let it come hither. That is all.” But, as the Maori king’s flag had been hoisted at Ngaruawahia in the first place, it was decided that the Queen’s flag should fly there.
On the 2nd December General Cameron moved on from Rangiriri. As the outlets from Lake Waikare were not fordable, the troops, with their tents and baggage, were conveyed up the river in boats manned by seamen of the Royal Navy, under Commander Phillimore. The following day the troops again moved on, and encamped abreast of the island of Taipori. Here General Cameron was delayed, waiting for provisions, until the 7th, when he moved the camp about five miles farther up the river, and met the ‘“‘ Pioneer,” which had safely passed the last shoal below Ngaruawahia. Next day he went with Commodore Wiseman in the “ Pioneer’ to Ngarua- wahia, which he found to be deserted. He immediately returned to the camp, and, after embarking 500 men of the 40th and 60th Regiments,
Barturn.—The First New Zealand Navy. 35
again proceeded up the river, and landed at Ngaruawahia, where he established headquarters. On the 26th December 300 men of the 50th Regiment leit Onehunga on the transport “ Alexandra” and the chartered steamer “ Kangaroo” for Raglan. On the 28th, 250 men of the Waikato Militia, under Colonel Haultain, embarked on the steamer “ Lady Barkly ”’ for the same destination.
The memorandum of the Defence Minister, dated the 20th October, 1863, stated, “ But so strongly has the necessity been felt for providing means for commanding the navigation of this important artery of the country, and for preparing means of communication with the military settlers to be located in the Waikato country, and of transporting the necessary supplies, that two smaller steamboats of very light draft of water have been ordered to be constructed in Sydney. These vessels are being constructed of iron. They will be brought from Sydney in sections, on board a vessel laden with coal, direct to the Waikato River, and put together at the Waikato Heads. These two boats are also specially designed of great power, so as to be used as tugs, and thus provide means _ of transporting supplies up the river.”’
These two boats were named “ Koheroa” and “ Rangiriri,” probably after the two actions fought on the Waikato. (Plate VI, fig. 2.) The builders were Messrs. P. Russell and Co. A Sydney newspaper, in describing one of the boats, said, “‘ This boat, which can easily turn in the space of a little more than her own length, may follow the bendings of such a river as the Waikato in its narrowest part, and may either be used as a steam-tug, towing flats for the conveyance of troops, or may be armed with a gun at each of the singular-looking portholes, which are closed with folding doors, in the middle of the lower deck; while the bulwarks on each side are pierced with twenty or thirty loopholes for rifle shooting.” The “ Koheroa ”’ was built in less than six weeks from the time the contract was received from Mr. James Stewart, C.E., who had been sent to Sydney by the New Zealand Government to superintend the construction. The sections of the “ Koheroa” were brought from Sydney to Port Waikato by the steamer “ Beautiful Star.” The first bolt was riveted on the 4th January, 1864, and the vessel was launched on the 15th. I can find no record of these boats being engaged in hostilities, but they were used for transport work for some time.
By the end of January, 1864, General Cameron’s headquarters had been moved to Te Rore, on the River Waipa, from which, on the 20th February, with a force that included a naval detachment of 149 men and ten officers, he moved across the Mangapiko River to Te Awamutu, where headquarters were established. During the last few days of this campaign (February, 1864), while the “Avon” was patrolling the river, a shot reached the vessel and killed Lieutenant Mitchell, H.M.S. ‘‘ Esk.”
From Ngaruawahia Commodore Wiseman and a party of naval and military officers went up the Horotiu River a distance of twelve miles, then transferred to the “ Koheroa,” and, proceeding twenty-two miles farther on (to near the site of the present town of Cambridge), located the Maori position, and returned. This incident ends the story of the British Navy on the Waikato River, though the steamers were used for some time longer on transport duty. Colonial crews were placed on board, and the Naval Brigade’s operations were transferred to the Tauranga district.
General Cameron transferred his headquarters to Tauranga on the 21st April, 1864. Reinforcements, which had been sent from Auckland on
2%
=
36 Transactions.
H.M.S. ‘“ Harrier”? and “ Esk,” arrived at Tauranga on the 26th April. On the morning of the 27th the Maori had fired heavily on Fort Colville, but they were shelled out of their position by H.M.S. “ Falcon” and the colonial gunboat “ Sandfly.” Captain Jenkins (“ Miranda’’) took charge of the “‘ Sandfly,” which with the “ Falcon” pursued the Maori who were retreating along the beach. Two 12-pounder Armstrong guns had been placed aboard the * Sandfly ’; one, from the “ Falcon,” was manned by ‘“‘ Miranda” men, and the other, from the “ Esk,’ was manned by men from that ship. Both ships shelled the whares at Otamarakau. At 3 p.m. firing ceased, as the enemy had finally disappeared. Captain Hannibal Marks, of the “Sandfly,” and Senior Lieutenant Hope, in command of the ‘‘ Falcon,” were mentioned in despatches for “zeal and exertion.” The gunners from the “Miranda” and “Esk” were mentioned for the ‘ extraordinary precision of their fire from the 12-pounder Armstrongs.”’
On the 29th April General Cameron made the attack on Gate Pa, with a force of 1,700 of all ranks, including a Naval Brigade of four field officers, six captains, seven subalterns, thirty-six sergeants, five drummers, 371 rank and file. One hundred and fifty seamen and marines under Com- mander Hay (“ Harrier’), and an equal number of the 43rd Regiment under Lieut.-Colonel Booth, formed the assaulting party. Commander Hay and Lieut.-Colonel Booth fell mortally wounded. Captain Hamilton (‘‘ Esk’) was killed. The casualties of the Naval Brigade were: Killed or mortally wounded : ‘‘ Curagoa ”’—Lieutenant Hill and one man; “ Miranda” —one man; ‘ Esk”—Captain Hamilton and three men; “ Harrier ”’— Commander Hay and three men; “ Eclipse’”—one man. Wounded : ‘* Curacoa ’’—five men; ‘‘ Miranda ”’—Lieutenant Hammick and eight men ; “ Hsk ’’—Lieutenant Duff and ten men; ‘ Harrier’”—four men. Total dead, 12; wounded, 29. Most of the wounded cases were classed as ‘* severe’ or “ very severe.”
For bravery in carrying Commander Hay, when wounded, off the field, Samuel Mitchell, captain of foretop, and captain’s coxswain, was awarded the Victoria Cross, which was presented to him by Sir J. Young, Governor of New South Wales, in Sydney in October.
On the 2lst June Colonel Greer, commanding the Tauranga district, attacked the enemy at Te Ranga, and while this attack was being made a naval force from the “ Esk” and the “ Harrier’? was landed for the protection of the camp. Lieutenant Hotham was mentioned in despatches.
Lieut.-General Sir D. A. Cameron left Auckland in January, 1865, for Wanganui on H.M.S. “ Falcon,” calling at New Plymouth en route. He arrived at Wanganui on the 20th January, and on the 5th February moved camp to Waitotara, one and a half miles from the mouth of the river. The paddle-steamer “ Gundagai’’ entered the river during the evening, bringing provisions for several days. On the 16th February General Cameron marched to the Patea River, which had been entered by the ‘ Gundagai”’ and “ Sandfly” the day before. The General stated in his report, ‘‘ They crossed under the most favourable circumstances ; but as the latter [“ Sandfly ’’] had not more than a foot to spare at high water, it will not be prudent to bring her into the river again.”
This covers, as far as I can discover, the operations of our first naval adventures. The vessels seem to have done good work, and all that was expected of them. It is to be hoped that the “ Calliope’s”’ gunboat, the schooner “Caroline,” the paddle-steamers “‘ Avon” and “Sandfly,” and the river-steamers “ Pioneer,’ ‘‘ Koheroa,” and “ Rangiriri,” and the men of the British Navy who manned them, will not be forgotten in our histories.
SpricHT.—Geological Excursion to Lake Tekapo. 37
Art. IV.—Notes on a Geological Excursion to Lake Tekapo.
By R. Speicut, M.A., M.Sc.. F.G.S., F.N.Z.Inst., Curator of the Canter- bury Museum.
' Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 7th July, 1920 ; received by Editor, 31st December, 1920 ; issued separately, 27th June, 1921.]
Durine the Easter recess of the present year the author paid a visit of several days’ duration to the country lying to the east and north of Lake Tekapo, in the Mackenzie country, the visit being primarily to determine the stratigraphical relations of the coal reported to occur in Coal River, and its bearing on the origin of the Mackenzie intermontane basin. The question of the origin of this basin, the greatest in the alpine region of Canterbury, was discussed te some extent by Kitson and Thiele (1910, p. 431), when these authors concluded that it was of structural origin, a conclusion largely based on the observations of McKay on the Tertiary sedimentaries which occur near Lake Ohau and in the lower part of the area. This lower part, however, they do not appear to have visited; while the structural origin of the upper part in the vicinity of Lakes Pukaki and Tekapo, which they did examine, was stated ag a probability, without giving distinct evidence. Largely influenced by the great weight of Captain Hutton’s opinion, they concluded that the tectonic movements which initiated its formation dated from pre-Cainozoic times; that a depression of the land took place in mid-Cainozoic times, and that the sea then invaded the valleys and deposited marine sediments; that the area was raised at the close of the Cainozoic era with some slight deformation, and that the resulting surface was modified by glacier erosion and deposition. This is a brief summary of the position as far as the origin of the basin is concerned.
Since their paper appeared there has been a general swing of mature geological opinion in the direction of the hypothesis that the chief structural movements in the alpine region of the South Island took place in late Jurassic or early Cretaceous times, when the Alps were raised as a folded mountain-chain and during a subsequent period of stillstand of the land a peneplain was formed as the result of prolonged subaerial erosion ; that on lowering this surface below sea-level a mor? or less continuous veneer of Tertiary marine sedimentaries was laid down on it ; and that at the close of the Tertiary cra an epeirogenic movement ensued, with attendant faulting, warping, and, in some cases, of folding of the beds, which resulted in the formation of an elevated tract known as the Southern Alps. Included in this are several remarkable intermontane basins, of which the Mackenzie country is one. The second hypothesis is the one favoured by the author, and the visit to the district under consideration was made in order to ascertain if the facts furnished by it fitted in with this hypothesis.
38 Transactions.
GENERAL PHysioGRAPHY. (See map.)
The district under special consideration lies to the north-east and north of Lake Tekapo, which occupies the most easterly of the three main valleys leading from the highest section of the Southern Alps out on to the sloping plain region of the Mackenzie country, which owes its formation largely to the aggrading action of the great rivers which formerly flowed from the fronts of glaciers issuing from those valleys. The basin is bounded on the east by the Two Thumb Range, which branches off the main divide of the Southern Alps in the vicinity of McClure Peak (8,192 ft.), and runs south without a break until it reaches the Ashwick Saddle and Burke’s Pass, whence it continues southward as the Hunters Hills. The range is highest at its northern end, where it is dominated by the great mass of Mount d’Archiac (9,279 ft.); but high peaks are found farther south, such as Mount Chevalier (7,910 ft.), the Thumbs (8,338 ft.), and Fox’s Peak (7,604 ft.) ; while for long distances it is over 7,000 ft., and rarely sinks below 6,000 ft. It. thus forms a thoroughly effective divide between the north-eastern part of the Mackenzie basin and the valleys of the Rangitata and Opihi, which lie to the east. From this range important ridges stretch down towards Lake Tekapo, such as the Sibbald Range, which divides the Godley Valley from that of the Macaulay, with Mounts Sibbald (9,181 ft.) and Erebus as its leading peaks, and the Richmond Range, which reaches south-west towards the middle of the eastern shore of Lake Tekapo. To the south of the Macaulay lies Mount Gerald, which, though not very high, is a note- worthy feature of the landscape.
The chief rivers feeding the lake are the Godley and the Macaulay, the former rising in the main divide and the latter draining the country between the Sibbald Range and the Two Thumb Range. On the western side of the lake the chief streams are the Cass River and Mistake River ; while on the eastern side the most important streams are Coal River and Boundary Creek, both of which flow first of all south-west and then west. The former follows along the northern flank of the Richmond Range and enters the lake at its extreme north-eastern corner, while the latter follows along the southern side of the range and enters the lake about the middle of the eastern shore.
The surface of Lake Tekapo is 2,321 ft. above sea-level, and it is there- fore the highest of the great lakes of New Zealand. It has a length of about fifteen miles and a breadth of about three and a half in its widest part, and is somewhat quadrangular in shape. Its general surroundings are monotonous, and the country is now treeless except for the plantations in the neighbourhood of station-homesteads. The shores, too, are flat and wanting in bold features Only on the western side, in the vicinity of Mount John and the Mistake Range, do hills closely approach the lake ; and in these cases they rise precipitously from the water’s edge, and exhibit all the features of vallev-walls whose bases have been sapped back by lateral glacial erosion.
On the eastern side the country rises gradually from just above lake- level to the foot of the spurs from the Two Thumb Range, such as Mount Gerald and the Richmond Range; and the profile of these slopes 1s evidently carried down to the bed of the lake, so that it has not the form of a true glacial trough, but rather of a widely open groove or depression. The lake is thus somewhat shallow—387 ft. was the maximum depth obtained by Ayson—and two small ice-scoured islands with outlying reefs near the lower end of the lake emphasize the fact that the solid bottom does not lie far below a large area of the water.
SpricHT.—Geological Excursion to Lake Tekapo. 39
TheThumbs
M'ROSS S 8338
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EXANDRIN_A
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40 Transactions.
The whole country in the vicinity of Lake Tekapo has been heavily glaciated. Extensive areas of the lower levels are masked by a veneer of moraine ; large travelled blocks everywhere dot the landscape, and some are exposed, partially submerged, along the shores of the lake. Owing to the completeness of this covering, exposures of rock a site are rare below the steep slopes of the mountains. Scoured and grooved surfaces and smoothed landscapes are visible at higher levels. Numerous shelves of comparatively sinall elevation are characteristically developed as the valley widens out, especially on the section between Coal River and the Macaulay. These are strongly reminiscent of those to be seen near the Potts River in the Rangitata Valley, and near Lake Heron in the valley of the Upper Ashburton. In these cases the type of sculpture is associated with the erosion of a valley which has been at one time filled with non-resistant Tertiary sediments. Farther up-stream, however, a modified form of this sculpture is apparent where the ice has overridden the end of the spur between the Macaulay and the main valley, the rock being entirely greywacke, so that it is not dependent altogether on the presence of easily eroded rocks. A feature similar to this is recorded by Park (1909, p. 19) as occurring near Ben More, in the Wakatipu district. In this case, however, he attributes the feature entirely to glacier erosion, whereas the Tekapo occurrence seems partly due to erosion and partly to the deposit of morainic matter on the shelves so formed.
The extreme freshness of the evidence of ice-action suggests that the retreat of the ice was comparatively recent, a fact which is emphasized by the modifications of the valley-sides. The youthful stage of the drainage of some of the tributary creeks, too, with their deep, narrow, rock-bouna gorges incised into the abraded surfaces, so smooth by contrast, strongly supports the hypothesis that the ice has but recently retreated from this region. This feature is specially well exhibited in the Waterfall Creeks, which enter the Macaulay from the east, just at the point where it is emerging from the rocky precipitous country on to the down area which lies on the flank of Mount Gerald.
One somewhat surprising feature is the absence of halting-stages in the retreat. There are no terminal moraines apart from the great one at the foot of the lake, and the coating of angular material seems to be somewhat thin. It is as if the ice disappeared simultaneously from long stretches of the valley and dropped the covering of moraine which then masked its surface. This loose material would be rapidly occupied by plants from the adjoining open spaces, so that the formation of a plant covering should not lag long behind the disappearance of the ice. The rapidity with which a bare shingle river-bed is covered with vegetation shows that no objection can be raised to the hypothesis of a recent rapid retreat of the ice on the ground that plants would not have had time or opportunity to spread and establish themselves on the glacier-swept areas. The evidence of rapid retreat with few or no halting-places is observable in the valleys of the other main rivers of Canterbury, especially the Rakaia and the Waimakariri.
On the higher country the usual forms resulting from glacial sculpture are to be seen, notably corries in all stages of complete and arrested development and of destruction by present-day ice anc frost. The cirques, originally heading them after the retreat of the ice, are attacked by these agencies, the clear-cut walls disappear, the hollows becoming filled with debris Especially is this the case when they are partially filled with snow. Rocks roll down its frozen surface, especially in winter, and accumulate
SpeicHur.—Geological Excursion to Lake Tekapo. 41
at the lower margins of the hollows, simulating terminal moraines of the glaciers which once filled them.
A most beautifully developed corrie, fully a mile broad, occurs at the head of Stony Creek, a western tributary of the Macaulay. This is headed by a well-marked amphitheatre or cirque with steep rock walls; at their base are hollows now occupied by small ponds or swamps, the remains of old corrie lakes. The lower part of the basin was once filled by a deposit of Tertiary sands and clays with coal, but a great part of these has been removed, so that now there is a double basin inside the limits of the corrie. On the lower side, too, below the spot where the coal has disappeared, there is the characteristic rock barrier, breached at one point, and through this opening, in a deep narrow notch, the stream draining the basin now flows. Before the coal-measures had been removed it must have presented a thoroughly typical example of a coomb or corrie.
STRATIGRAPHY.
The great mass of the mountains of this region consist of greywackes, argillites, and slates of the Maitai series, to which may be assigned a Trias-Jura age. This time classification is based almost entirely on the similarity of the lithological character of the rocks to those with undoubtedly Trias-Jura fossils. This is, however, supported bv the author’s finding a fragment of dark-coloured argillite in the high country between the Godley and Macaulay Rivers which shows the unmistakable sculpture of Monotis salinaria. Not only the primary and secondary ribs occur, but also the peculiar and regular cross-sculpturing, so that the author has no reasonable doubt but that it belongs to that important Triassic fossil, and the find thus confirms the age of the beds as deducted from their litho- logical character. The finding of this fossil, and other finds reported lately from Arthur’s Pass and the Hawdon River, suggest a wide extension of rocks of this age over the mountain region of Canterbury; but it must not be inferred that all the rocks of that area are of the same age. The presence of heavy bands of conglomerate containing pebbles of greywacke, in close proximity to beds with these fossils and in apparent conformable relations, suggests that there is an older set of beds ‘n the region of similar lithological character which have furnished these pebbles, and therefore lying unconformably under it. The contention of Hutton and others that two distinct series of rocks occur in the mountains of Canterbury is apparently correct, but much more field-work will have to be done before they are definitely separated.
On the east side of Lake Tekapo, especially in the Richmond Range, the rocks show a submetamorphic facies; and slaty shales with a somewhat lustrous surface occur, and in all probability they grade into the true phyllites exposed near Fairlie</