Report of a journey from the Upper part of the Wairarapa Valley, through the Valley of the Kopuaranga to the river Mangatainoka, and back through a part of the Forty-mile Bush into Wairarapa.
November 10th 1853

Wairarapa – Report of journey in that district

Having completed my preparation for the journey on the 26th October, I pitched my tent at Akura a small native settlement on the north side of Koangawareware for the night. On the following morning I proceeded with five Natives to Kaikokirikiri; we were accompanied by Ropiha and several others who were desirous of pointing out the boundaries of the land they wished to reserve. I made notes of these boundaries, and although it appeared to me that their notions were some what extravagant, I would not delay my journey by entering into any discussion on the matter, at that moment, but wait until my return, which I did. On my return I went to Akura to see Ropiha and the others, and after some discussion, very considerable and important alterations were made. I need not stop here to say what those alterations were, since still further changes may be made before the Deeds of Sale are signed.

From Kaikokirikiri I proceeded across the plain of Opaki, which is stony, and dry to the Westward, but covered with grass flax and anise; to the Eastward up the hill called Owhaka the ground is wet, and covered principally with flax. From this plain I observed what I had seen before from the high range of Pairoa, that to the Eastward of Pukaha (a high hill about N N E from where I stood) that the hills were much lower than those on the Western side, and it appeared to me that, that would be the best way, to lead a road hereafter to the Manawatu and to Ahuriri, in their opinion I was confirmed by information received from the Natives who journeyed with me, some days afterwards while passing through the valley of the Kopuaranga, when I was told, that, by that route we might get a good road, without any hills, to the head of the Manawatu, to Waipukerau, Ahuriri and to the Heretaunga. Now if the geographical position of these places be considered, a road in that direction will be shorter, and very much less expensive, then one carried through the Forty-mile Bush, it will moreover avoid three large rivers, the Mangawhinau, the Makakahi and the Mangatainoka all rivers in the Tararua and tributaries to the Manawatu. It will avoid also the sharp and severe hills at Kotukutuku and Kauwharatakahia. A road into the Forty-mile bush, could not follow the line of the present path, but a considerable elevation must be reached and that could not be done without incurring a heavy expense. The road through the Valley of the Kopuaranga would also I think open up a much larger quality of good land, and metal for the road can be got in many places at us great distance from the surface.

From the Plain of Opaki we ascended on steep gravel track called Mokonui to an elevated plain Whakauma which is very stony covered with fern and a small quality of grass, it is bounded on the North by three clumps of trees, that on the N W is called Paerau, through this we passed, it is about a quarter of a mile through. The clump in the centre is called Matuharangi and that on the Eastern side near the Ruamahanga, Hawaeki. The land in and near the bush Paerau appears to be very good, and part of it has been cultivated by the Natives. We now came out on another plain, Puwai, with the hill called Tirohanga nearly due East, the Ruamahanga flowing at its base on the Western side, the Kopuaranga at a short distance from its base on the Eastern side. We crossed the plain Puwai in a direction nearly N N E till we reached a dry water course called Te rongo te Koro here we found another bank about 20 feet high bounding our elevated plain Ahirau, we passed between this bank and the river for a little more than a mile and reached a small Native Settlement called Rua Taniwha. This was the last settlement we should see and as I had a good deal of work to do in the neighbourhood I determined to encamp there till Monday. On Friday I was employed all day in examining and sketching the neighbouring country on the Western side of the Ruamahanga. On Saturday I was occupied in a similar manner with the ground on the Eastern side.

The plains of Puwai and Ahirau I found to be similar in character to those lower down the valley of Wairarapa, that is, that in part they were very stoney, producing much Fern and Tutu, in other parts, the soil more free from stones, covered with grass, flax, anise and toetoe. I may say here that the plains from Kaikokirikiri up to the head of the valley, are bounded on the East by one continuous chain of bush which extends back to the Tararua; through this bush at a short distance from its edge, the river Waipoua flows having on course from N to S till it gets near to Kaikokirikiri, when it turns to the Eastward and falls into the Ruamahanga. There is a large quantity of level, or nearly level land between the Waipoua, and the roots of the Tararua, the timber is very good and the Natives told me that the land is excellent, from what I saw I believe this to be a true report.

Opposite to Rua Taniwha and to the Eastward of it, the hill called Rerenga rises abruptly from the river, it consists chiefly of light blue clay, its Southern and Eastern slopes are covered with excellent timber. Between Rerenga and Pirohanga, which is about three miles S E of it, the land is open and of the same character at that on the other side of the Ruamahanga, but the soil on the low lands near the river is very good, and there have been many Native cultivations hereabouts. I walked to the top of Tirohanga, the slopes on the north side are long and gentle, the vegetation very luxurious and the soil free from stones. On the Eastern side there is a fine piece of level or nearly level land covered with bush, continuing Totara, Matai, Kahikatea and other kinds of valuable timber; through this bush the river Kopuaranga flows, till it falls into the Ruamahanga. The hills beyond it rise in moderate slopes to the summit of the range of which Rangitumau forest is part; there have been extensive Native cultivations on these hills, and the soil is said to be excellent. While on the Tirohanga I was met by Wi Waka and a number of Natives from Kaikokirikiri and Te Ore Ore; we had a long conversation, and some voluntary concessions were made with regard to the boundaries of the block offered for sale and then under inspection. I returned to Rua Taniwha in the afternoon.

On Monday morning we struck our tents and proceeded on our journey. We forded the Ruamahanaga and climbed a high steep gravel bank and reached the elevated plain called Taumata o ngarongowaia over which I had passed on Saturday. On this plain we walked through high ferns along the edge of the bush on the south side of Rereupa, for about a mile and a half, our course Easterly, we then struck into the bush still keeping our Easterly direction for sometime and then turned more to the north till we came to the banks of the Kopuaranga which we crossed here for the first time. As we crossed the river nine times afterwards and saw it frequently near our route, I may here give a general description of the river. It is a slow sluggish stream, flowing in a deep bed, the banks over generally from ten to twenty feet high, the bottom in those places where we forded was gravely, the stones not large; several times however we crossed over fallen trees, the water there was four or five feet deep. The general breadth of the river from thirty to forty feet. I could not discover any symptoms of its ever overflowing its banks and I made enquiries on their subject, of one of my guides, who was one of the proprietors of the land bordering on that river, and he assured me that it never did overflow. In getting out of the river, I found the banks sandy, but this character did not extend more then those four or five yards from the edge. The one place however I observed as curious change in the character of the banks, it was at a place called Ngatahora, here I observed that the right bank of the river was about eighty feet high, steep but not perpendicular, it consisted of a coraline rock full of broken shells; from exposure to the weather the surface was dark coloured, but on being broken it was of a cream colour. This rock extended along the river for about a quarter of a mile, and I did not observe it elsewhere. I was told that sea shells were frequently found in the river. Though the river is sluggish I found the water good though not quite so good clear as that of the numerous little streams running into it, they run more rapidly, one only excepted, the little stream called Paekako, the water in that is slightly turbid and decidedly brackish.

We travelled about nine miles up the valley of the Kopuaranga and I found the soil throughout to be of an excellent quality; of this I had many opportunities of judging, for the country swarms with pigs and the ground was much rooted by then. The character of the soil however is not uniform, any more than its productions, for though the most valuable timbers such as Totara, Matai, Kahikatea and Rimu and Miro are found everywhere, there are places in which the Tawa prevails.

Our path up the valley for the first five miles was that which is sometimes, though rarely, used by Natives going to Ahuriri, but on approaching a small stream called Teawhahanui, a spot was pointed out to me from whence a new road should trend more to the Eastward. From hence forward, till on our return from the banks of the Mangatainoka we reached the path through the Forty mile bush; we were on an old war track of the Rangitane, we found it extremely difficult to follow through underwood and supplejack, it was frequently lost, delays of half an hour at a time often occurred, and our progress was proportionately slow.

We crossed the Kopuaranga for the last time near a small stream called Tapuia, we were now going more to the Westward, and found the country more broken, but the soil very good; this character lasted for about a mile and a half or two miles when we reached the stream Taraongaonga. This stream was crossed three times, it is tributary to the Makakahi and we found the country more level again and so it continued till we reached the Makakahi; here we found ourselves on the edge of a high bank, the river running below us and we soon emerged from the bush onto a piece of open land nearly square in form, containing from ten to twelve acres covered with fern and koromiko. This place is called Eketahuna from hence it appears that we are almost surrounded by a large block of level or nearly level land, the nearest hill being to the Westward on the opposite side of the river. The bank of the river on which we now stood is about sixty feet high, nearly perpendicular, under the surface soil is a bed of gravel ten to twelve feet thick, resting on the blue clay below; the river here is from thirty to forty feet wide. The boundary line passes through Eketahuna and a post was put up to mark the point of crossing; to the Eastward the line bears (from the post) 105° to the Westward 254°. A little further down the river we crossed to the opposite side where we encamped for the night.

Shortly after leaving the banks of the Mangakahi, we ascended what appeared to me to be the steepest part of the hill called Paerata: when we reached the top we found ourselves in a small patch of high fern, from hence towards the N E, there were no hills of any consequence visible; our course was now more Westerly, and we passed over some gentle slopes lightly timbered, the soil very good. Today we examined the state of our magazines, and found that we had not sufficient provisions to last more than 4 days unless we could obtain fresh supplies, but eels and pigs were abundant, so that we had little to fear on that account. We passed several small hills and came to the banks of a stream called Tahihiporoporo, a tributary to the Makakahi, the banks nearly perpendicular and about 80 or 90 feet high, we had some difficulty in getting down to the river and ascending the opposite bank; the land on both sides was level, but covered with White Birch (Tawhio); this timber is not, I believe generally found on good land and the clay which I observed in the banks of the river must I think reach very nearly to the surface. At about a mile from the river Tahihiporoporo the soil was wetter than we had seen it and a number of larger fuchsia trees and supple jack were growing there. From a hill here which was rather steep, I obtained a glimpse through the trees and there appeared to be a large tract of level land to the N W which I believe was near the river Mangatainoka and beyond it extending towards the Manawatu. After some bad travelling we again got on to more level land with good soil, we now saw more Rata trees and fewer Kahikatea. Passing the stream called Ngatahaki which runs in a northerly direction into the Makakahi we again found ourselves among the White Birch mixed with Tawa and Rimu, here we stopped to dine, having only come three miles since the morning. At a little more than half a mile from the Ngatahaki we reached the track through the Forty-mile bush, crossing our route nearly at right angles, and running nearly N and S before reaching this track one of the party missed our trail and we lost him for more than half an hour. We walked up this track to the northward for about eight hundred yards and arrived at a spot through which the boundary line from Eketahuna runs; a large Tawa tree was marked and some underwood cut down in the direction of the line to the Westward, its bearing was now 265°. We continued our route to the Westward for about a mile over bush land lightly timbered and easily cleared, we then reached a hill called Haumia, from hence to the banks of the Mangatainoka a distance of about one mile; we found the country broken, and the travelling extremely bad; large Rata trees and supple jack very numerous.

The Mangatainoka at the point at which we saw it is about equal to the Hutt near the Mungaroa; here we found the banks perpendicular about twenty feet high, but I could see nothing of the country, except towards the north and N W directions there appeared to be a great deal of level country. We passed up the river for nearly half a mile but the supple jacks were so thick and difficult to get through that it took us a full hour or more to accomplish that distance; we then reached the bed of the river and breakfasted. From near this place, towards the West, the Mangatainoka forms the northern boundary of the block, the line running through its course to the Tararua in which it rises on the same hill and close to the source of the River Ohou, which run Westerly into Cooks Strait.

From the Mangatainoka we turned our heads towards the Forty mile bush, our course being about E by S; we passed over some hilly land, and in some places the timber did not indicate good soil, but the character of the country improved as we approached the old road, which we reached in the afternoon of this day (5th November) the distance from Mangatainoka being a little more than four miles. Once more on a beaten track though a very indifferent one we were able to proceed a little more rapidly and after walking a little more than two miles we reached the banks of a small stream Tahekaretu tributary to the Makakahi. It now began to rain heavily and as it was too late to reach the Makakahi before dark I determined to encamp here till Monday.

On Monday 7th November we started early and after walking nearly a mile we again crossed the Makakahi, here we found that the land was stony. At about a quarter of a mile further we came to another river, the Mangawhinau, it falls into the Mangakahi but rises in the Tararua close to the source of the Ruamahanga. Within a little more than two miles, we crossed the Mangawhinau five times besides numerous water courses and small streams. Further past the forest was generally open but nearly all white birch, the land level but stony in some places. In less than half a mile from the bush crossing of the Mangawhinau we descended into a deep gully and soon commenced the ascent of a hill Arataua; after going about three quarters of a mile we reached the top; we were now on nearly level land for about a quarter of a mile and then descended the hill at Kotukutuku which is steep and bad. At the foot of the hill we crossed the Ruamahanga and passing through a bush for about quarter of a mile came out on the open fern lands at the head of the Wairarapa and in the evening reached the settlement of Rua Taniwha once more.

On the following morning I proceeded by the Eastern side of the plains and the hill Owhaka to Te Ore Ore from thence to Koangawareware and Akura where I held the conference with Rophia and others mentioned in the early part of my report. I reached home on 9th November.

I have made the best sketch maps of the country that I could under all the difficult circumstances of such a journey, but imperfectly as it necessarily must be, I hope it will be of some assistance in enabling you to found a tolerable estimate of the extent and value of the block.

Mr Smith
Government Surveyor

To Donald McLean Esq
Commissioner of Crown Lands