ANOTHER JOURNEY TO BAY OF ISLANDS.
As there were two roads across to the Bay of Islands, and I was anxious
to see as much of the country as possible, I determined that my second
journey should be by the longest route. I set off, accompanied only by a
native boy to carry a small portmanteau and to serve me as a guide. As,
on my former journey, we travelled many miles through thick tangled
forests, fatiguing beyond description. In the midst of our toilsome
progress, night frequently overtook us; then, by means of my
fowling-piece, I procured a light, the boy made a fire, and we passed the
night in this vast wilderness, far from the habitation of any human
being! At daybreak we resumed our journey, and at length (about ten
o'clock) we emerged from the wood, and entered upon extensive plains.
These were not naked deserts, similar to the ones I had passed through on
my former route, but were diversified with bush and brake, with a number
of small villages scattered in various directions. At mid-day we arrived
at what in New Zealand is considered a town of great size and importance,
called Ty-a-my. It is situated on the sides of a beautiful hill, the top
surmounted by a pa, in the midst of a lonely and extensive plain, covered
with plantations of Indian corn, Kumara and potatoes. This is the
principal inland settlement, and, in point of quiet beauty and
fertility, it equalled any place I had ever seen in the various countries
I have visited. Its situation brought forcibly to my remembrance the
scenery around Canterbury.
We found the village totally deserted, all the inhabitants being employed
in their various plantations; they shouted to us as we passed, thus
bidding us welcome, but did not leave their occupations to receive us. To
view the cultivated parts of this country from an eminence a person might
easily imagine himself in a civilised land; for miles around the village
of Ty-a-my nothing but beautiful green fields present themselves to the
eye. The exact rows in which they plant their Indian corn would do credit
to a first-rate English farmer, and the way in which they prepare the
soil is admirable. The greatest deficiency which I observed in the
country around me was the total absence of fences; and this defect
occasions the natives a great deal of trouble, which might very easily be
avoided. Hogs are the principal part of their wealth, with which, at all
times, they can traffic with vessels touching at their ports. These
animals, consequently, are of the utmost importance to them; but during
the growth of their crops, the constant watching the hogs require to keep
them out of the plantations consumes more time than would effectually
fence in their whole country; but I have no doubt, as they already begin
to follow our advice and adopt our plans, they will soon see the utility
of fencing in their land. I have at various times held many conversations
with different chiefs on this subject, all of whom have acknowledged the
propriety of so doing.
A few miles after leaving this beautiful village we came to a spot
covered with heaps of cinders and hillocks of volcanic matter. I found
all these hillocks small craters, but none of them, burning; and for
miles our road lay through ashes and lava. These fires must have been
extinguished many ages since, as there is not the slightest tradition
among any of the natives of their ever having been burning.
After passing over this lava, our journey lay through a very swampy
country, intersected with streams. I got completely wearied with
stripping to wade through them, so that at length I plunged in clothes
and all. At the close of a most fatiguing day's march, we arrived in
sight of the bay, having travelled over an extent of about fifty miles
since the morning! No canoe being in sight, and we being too distant to
make signals to our brig, we had to pass another night in bivouac on a
part of the beach called Waitangi; and as it did not rain we slept pretty
comfortably. The next morning I procured a canoe, and went on board our
vessel.
The day following the brig took her final departure from New Zealand, and
we bade farewell to Captain Kent. We now formally placed ourselves under
the protection of King George, who seemed highly pleased with his charge;
and in a few days three good houses were ready for our reception--one for
ourselves, a second for our stores, and a third for our servants. But our
pleasant prospects were soon obscured by a circumstance totally
unexpected, which placed us in a most critical situation, and which we
had every reason to fear would lead to our total destruction.