OCR Text |
Show j lj denson's Travels. I I Itlll-K Mi, M W, J Wednesday. Jnury ill, iS, found i m nnmt-rr of I. Idem front 'on hit' ' Maori Saint In the city of Au klnm., New fjland, anxiously waiting to the their drparture lor the distant town ol Te Arnha, where ft Rt-neral ronlerrnre ! for nil the northern cIMtirts ot the New ea.ni.d mission had hcen appointed for i the following Friday, Saturday and Sun- ! day. As the people ot New -.dand i are great observers ol both Chrisiltn t and national holidays thut is they oh , nerve them alter a f.i-hion no train left Ilur the south that day So we waitr-d Ull the Thursday (January and) when thirteen l-.ldrra and Mxtren native Saints lett Auckland per Milway tiain in a 1 pecial car un a one hundred and Minn , mile ride to Te Aroha. Our number wai augmented by mote Ciders and 1 native Saints as we passed through the . Waikato district; and when we arrived I at our destination wf numbered ixiy ' souls, beside several non-Mormon-, ( who swing that there wirt plenty of i room in our nparlntrnt, while the test '. of the ram were crowded, insntcd upon coming in to us. A a punishment lor their persistency they were made them victims of (iospet convetsaliuiiH, as the 1 young I Klers with which the car abounded nre anxious and ready at alt , limes and at divers places to declare 1 the principles of truth that they have been sent out in the world to preach. Most of the strangers took their nicdi-1 nicdi-1 cine in good part, and several of tln-ni un lakitiK Irave expressed themselves as tomj, highly ilvtiKhtrd with what they had heard, and one or two even Invited the Killers to call on them il I convenient. On our arrival at Te Aroha, which U the Maori word for love, we were met by still more Kldert and Saints; uml , during our three days, conference, the inimitei ol which have already been sent to the Nitws lor publication, twenty-eif.ht twenty-eif.ht l.lueri from ion were present, besides about uu native Saints and strangers. The conference was held in a new meet trie house, which had Just been erected in the litttc native village, which 1 la situated about one and a half nnli up the river Iroin Te Aroha- lluth hldersand the otucr conference visitors were well cared lor by the local Samis. who had raised trnt over a long table ; ut whK.li one hundred could sit down ' and eat at on e. This number alto , represented the visitors present; only t about hlty local Saints being in atten dance, as the llnuraki dittrict ot which Te Aroha, is one ut the hram lies, is 1 only a small one. The lUuruki iha- 1 trict eon-tint ol three branches and i I buptixed members, or 174 suul includ ing 51 children, ol whom 17 are l-.uro (pi-an. The district embraces a country bordering on the cast coast of the North Island, including the Luromandcl peninsula which tetminatea in Cape Colville, It extend southward on the east coast as lar us Katikali; west and inland it extendi to and iucludea the Kuropean town ol IIannlton,situatrU on the Watkato river. The names ol the branches arr Te Aroha. Kirkiri and Whuianga. Udc-rs Joseph M. Kolknian u and Moiont licnby are the two l.'t.ili ' Klders laboting in the dUtritt ut j present, Te Aroha branch consists of native Saints residing in and near a small village which lies between Die la Aroha mountain and the Waihou river, about one and a half miles north ot tlu Kuropean town of Tc Aioha, which is uiS miles by rail or about hs miles by water from Auckland, Keha Aperhumn J 1 re tides over the branch, which was irst oryanixed December 1 iih, by lilders William I'axujaii uud William Gardner. The Kirikirl branch comprises the Saints residing in and fihout a native viIIjkc ol that name which is situated admit six mile south ol the European town ot Thames, and nearly halt u mile cast of the Waihou or Thames riter; " S it is also about thirty-live miles north ut Te Aroha. The branch was urauied September juth, iN. The Whiuanga branch, organized hy Klder William Gardner October J JnJ, ibStt, consuls ol Saints residing- in u distrit t ol country known as Whitianga, nio-t of them in a village called Ku.iu- tunu, which is situated on Mercury hay on the eaitt coast ol the Coromamlel ' . peninsula, about twenty miles e.iM of I th town of i.oronunde.1, ami about 113 miles northeast ol Te Aroha. The I uropcan town of Te A rutin is claimed to be on of the most favorite health resorts in tlx- world. It is a town ol about too inhabitants, prettily situated on the kit bank of the Waihuu or Thames river and at the foot ol u noble mountain, which rises to u height of over three thousand tret immediately . back of the town. Thuie tire eighteen hpnngs within the town limiiH under tlie control ol the lioinain Hoard; tiiteen ol the t-pr.tit are hot or tepid, and there lire seven lare bath nouses. The waters ate, with the exception ol the sulphur springs, saline and leehly alkaline, mid sttongly charged with aibouic ucid .is, which is t oiiMantiy est aping I10111 the bptings in lare o,u.uilities. I tn conference being held so cbf-e to this European town, some ut the l'.ld. rs Huggfsted that a hill be rented and a meeting held there, which was accoid-iiiK.y accoid-iiiK.y done in the evening. Saturday, J 'unary 4th. l.Uler K. l.ro Mini u;.d riioiiias l Crow mug were the pcaker 1; hut only u lew atiiiuh-d, and mo t ol tlutsc who did re iu.se d to becomei:,-tiMCited. becomei:,-tiMCited. While the ineeiini; w . in progress, I steppi'd ipiictly 111. aaMiic pained hy another l.hkr, and we boih took our seal nniong the 1 mj-rc.tion, acting strangers. Alter the herv.es were closed, I unv.e uml nsKed lor permission per-mission to propound a lew 'ue-liiis, winch of course was granted; ami then followed tpnte a dialogue in w Iih II tue congregation seemed to lake consider-1 consider-1 able interest. Wnliotit any previous understanding the brethren c.mglu on, and ttiLiti ipnte unuuiher ol ilttuul points were cleared up whu h had not been lullv explamed during ttiu meeting, t.elling Mlung sowed un the inside, I continued my observatiuns alter g-King , out uii the street, where a niiii.hei o people were hngeung arouiid discusaui'-the discusaui'-the merits of the meeting, hut a yuunJ nun who might have pushed lor u tanketi anywheie so lar as chtek wis concerned, stepped up with an air ut importance and asked me il I was nut out ul them. I told him I bulunged to the Latter -d.n Siints. The same thing hippid in anotlier; and lie w as about right. And mi the convocation took another lurn- Tl-.r clieekv man ollcred some nbir;e, rd iu.t anwewerr ready-to ready-to reply, nnoth'T vourig man stepped to the trout ami championed our raii.e 111 a most rant'-M and spiriteil nianurr, until the other IcHow went away confounded ami beaten. I complimented our unknown un-known fnrnd tor standing up fur truth and rij ht as he had done, and said he was evidently a genuine 1 mdidiman who hdirw d in fair piny I le said Ik-did, Ik-did, and that he h id ernived the meet-it meet-it g, and would as soon hear the Gospel pie.i.licd by Monii'.ns as by any other. , S icti is the Hie ol Mormon iiiissmnarie' How dmrMtie l is trie etp- rienrf ol an KUh r m a foreign land' I Ml untile unti-le o m doing whit I !:d allrr the meet-ing, meet-ing, ax the only thing I could think ol .it the rm m-nt to counteract t'ic sic pines-and pines-and mditl-.Tcnce winch seemed to p.rtv s the little Hudi-uce. Ihlt tlie I uiope;n popu'ition of Te Aroha cares more fur l.tinb-h gold than heavenly truths II ;i struily a business plac, and nearly all the inhabitants get a liv.n e.iner direct or mdireci trom toi.mts w i'O lrci;ucnt the place as a health 11-sort. On M0nd.1v, ami try ''h,the da after coiil.-ieti.e lad tlovd, most of the I .Men and visiting Saints took then departure lor their different fields of labors and respective homes. I.lder Gardner returned to Auckland, accompanied accom-panied by others of the hrelhren, among uhom were I Mcis I h.irh-n It. lunl-tt, Christian iVterson. Joseph I', (orgen-sen, (orgen-sen, Lewis G. ILvigUnd, WiUurd 1 Nciiekcr and )an:e .s. AbiHitt, whu return re-turn to their homes in ion alter per forming good missions in New : a hi ml. I iie next day more I .hler and Stmti It-It, but I still remained to finish up my historical labors in the llauraki district, being well taken caie ol by Ueha A eta-bama.the eta-bama.the (iresideut of Te Aroha branch, in whose house i hter Gardner ami my slf had occupied a comtoriable room all the time during our suiourn tn Tc Aroha. On Wednesday, January Xh, I finished my labors in I c Ar hi, and at 10 a. m. Liilcr Joseph W. I.inlord and mysell gave the parting hand to l .lders oseph M. l olkman and Moroni Latently ami the n dive Saints, who still remaim-d at the village; and llrotlier K-'wi Mokena took us in a cart drawn by two horses, fourteen miles over the lowlands to Morinsville, hIkti- we took ti c train tor the famous hewltli resort Kotoiua, whidi ts brautiluliy situated at the toot of the mountains and un the west shore ut lake Koiorua. New Zealand is siuguarl-ly siuguarl-ly rub in springs of water holding mineral in solution, uud nunc ul ttu-ftc are already noted I t their valuable valu-able medical propertied lluth hot and cold springs arc tuuud.ihe former beiu;, with lew exceptions, confined to the North Island, where nupeihcial volcanic forces have teen active since the so-called so-called tertiary period, and ate not yet altogether dormant. The tlurmnll springs ilistrict ul New Zealand comprises com-prises an atua of upwards ol ojoojo acres, or close to i.ojo sipiarc miles. The Iviirth ul the ilntricl i about h ty nubs, witli an average breatllh ul twenty miles, lis .dtilude vanes lruin uju to i.ooo feet above sea level. Ihcmost striking physical features (.if this region are the extensive pumice plains, intersected inter-sected in various directions by high ranges ol igneoui formation, which are relieved licit and there by enormous trachyiic cones Lores is ul extraordinary extraordi-nary luxuriance nml beauty clothe the mountains and border the extensive plateaus, while hut lakes, boiling geytters, and thermal nptingsare dotted far uud wide over the country. These springs are of the most varied ihcmic.il character, and of every degree ul temperature tem-perature from inj" to aw 1-. The New Zealand government bus chosen llie western snore ol Luke Kotorua as the basis of operation lur opening up this wonderlul district as a snmiaiium and bathing establishment. '1 ne sanitarium reserve uete comprises an area ol ume hlty acrea burilenug on Lake Kotorua-Twelve Kotorua-Twelve years ago this was a howling wilderness, coveted with manuka scrub, and diveisihed only by clcids ol steam ri-iug from the various nut springs, litre the adventurous invalid ul years ago pitched his tent and derived what usfuctiun he could from digging a hole in the ground lor a bath lu many instances ho liuniortahed himself hy giving his name to the spring, and thus the visitor ul the present day has pointed point-ed out to him such as "Cameron's Hath,'' "McHugh's liath," "The Lnesl s Huh," eic. 1 lie ucid waters in the latter nre said to have nothing tipialno them in any part ol the wot Id. Odier spunks have received their names from some real or imaginary tpiality, and thus wu hear ol the Madam Rachel. '1 he Kam Killer, The Cofh-e I'ut, blue liath etc. Now the former desolation has been changed, a garden intersected by walks and dtives lined with evergreens and grasses, fountains nud flower bet Is also delight the eye, uud commodious bathing pavilions ule built over the principal pruigs, Thursday, January ,th. Having enjoyed en-joyed a cotniortabte night's ret at a private boarding house at Kotorua, w here j we put up, hitler Lintord and I urose ' caily in the morning uml walked two miles houth to the renowned Maori village Whakarewarewa, where we spent the totenoon taking in the sights and admiiiug the natural wonders winch are grouped together here un a lew acres ol land. There are numerous small lakes, in some ol which the water is boiling hot, in otlieis tepid, uud in some culil. 'the geysers, which were (lie greatest altr.n tion.s years ago, ure not so active now, and hem e nut so interesting in-teresting iu btioie. line that used to send boiling waters a hundred feet tip tn the air ut regular intervals is uliuust dormant now. 1 nly by putting un ie v-I bais of soap and utlur stull -.sing explosive ipulitics, can it he I IoktJ to play and luei. only mice or ! twice a d.tv. 'lot ;tfdin emetges from , ;l;c i-!H;iii;s 11. id lissures in tnr ro, kv and wlu icver one walks u hollow sound is produce I, which Conveys the idea that only a tniii mint ul curtli intervenes between tlie pedestrian and the hot bulling tiiar-s underneath him. In several pl.ee., the ciUst is so thin that consuleial'le caution has to be exriost 1 011 the part ol the ,'imIom, no are nd vised never to venture out on their lust expedition heie without a guide. One native woman fell intoa hoi pjols jme linn- nv.t, and was immediately scalded to dcii.n. i-.vil tongueM wuu.d have it that lu r husband, who was wuh hrr at the time, pushed her in, as he was titeii ul her. '1 ue volcanic mud lakes, winch ahuiind, is another interesting feature O! th'- p. ace. Immediately hi hunt ot the 1 , Maori vdiiigo la the hut pool 1'urekuhiiru I I in which the natives cotk neaily alii the.r luoJ. They also bake Uiut breud m skiUrls which they buiy in the hot soil ai'-arenl to lhepKil. If is cook the bread without making any crust what-ever, what-ever, and we truly riuuved the eating of some bread cooked in Hits manner. While taking dinner widi 1 ru"ru Wiki-nwhi, Wiki-nwhi, who together with his family nre the ot.lv members fd the Church at Whak .rewarewa lit- also act-d as our guid'. Hi w ife is ft daughter of Sophia, an inrlligvnt woman who is well and xtpiilulv known t toimsta as a gu de. Afn r eni ,vini; a buh m one ut tne tepid springs, L.Uler Lintord and I returned re-turned to Kotorua where we tried to lure a ouple ol horses and ride to the site o the once famous village Wairoa, Aitustrd shout ten miles away, across a range or several ranges of mountains; but the s'aMe man assured us that it w as ton lae in the day m start on so long a i itirnev, as it would be impossible to get their before dark. Now we were both anxious to see the scene ol the ternhic eiupiion and earthquake of ten yean ago. and our only cuance perhaps In a iih'time wa to see Mount 1 arawern that afternoon, as we were compelled ;hrougli force i t 1 ift umstam es t return nor-h-waM;iie lodowing day, n unirr to fill other upfHinimvnu. So I told Lluet Lmford that I could walk to Lake Tarawa-r.i nnd Imi k that night it he could Without h'-sitation he expressed the upinon th at he could walk any distance that I would attempt to tramp. So, after taking a good peep at the sun, in order to mark its exact position and distance dis-tance from the western horizon, off we st ruled at ; o'clock p. ni. hir road led over mountains and through gorget, over ravines and dugways, and through fore Is and hush. We also passed two gootl v -d lakes, namely, Tikiupu and Kotokat.alu, m winch the water was nearly as wt i:e as milk, on account of the great (pi intuy ol pumice stone which was thrown into it at the time of the eruption. At length we reached the rums of Wairoa, which ho In what was ome a beautiful hut now a desolate val-Ity val-Ity through whi.h the Wairtia river courses its way from Lake Kotukakahi to (he celebrated Wairoa Falls, where the stream takes a leap over a precipice about two hundred feet high into Lake 1 arawern below. The eruption of Mount Taruwer.it which took place une loth. i.WS. covered tins valley with vol canic stonesi nnd ashes to the depth of something like live teet on an averuge. It , destroyed everything; and one hundred 1 Mauris, besides a number ol white people peo-ple lott ihf ir lives. The whole country within a radius ot over li'leen miles was changed hum a beuuiihil tract to absolute dcsolat'MU. When the survivors emerged from u uler the rums ol their houses, such ar had nut time to get away, or those who succeeded in ouwunuing the volcanic showers, teiurned to look for their lurmer home, they lonnd nothing but black sand wtm h covered lull and dale everywhere. Mist of the smaller houses at Waitoa ami in other villages were crushed m under the heavy weight of the masses w hu h fell upon thi-m, and entirely buried; uut the roots ol several j buildings were seen protruding above the stuues and ashes. Thus the ruins of ! die hotel nnd a mill nre still vimle above I ground and ore examined with great interest in-terest by tourists and pili-n who visit I Ihe place. 1 hough the tree uml shrubs and all vegetation were also destroyed I during the eruption, some ul the inure I thriity trees whu were not hurled so very 1 deep commenced to grow ulrcsli, and j thus a number ol weeping willows uud several (run trees are now ornamenting j the old townsitc; among Ihe Utter wc lound three cherry trees liden w ith most delicious rtpe Iruii. Of this LI tier Lin 1 lord and 1 partook freely, as we hud brought no lunch along and were consequently conse-quently hungry-. I have eaten a treat cal ol Iruit in my litir:; hut I don't re-immlKr re-immlKr that I ever enjoyed a inral of fruit n I one so well as 1 did those 1 her lies growing on the sue ol that town which had been destroyed hy an earthquake. Having examined the ruim of Wairua, wc u:ccuded a lull from the. top ol wnich we hail a tine view of Lake luruweru; hut as we wanted a better view ol the mountain ol that name standing on the uppusiie side uf the lake and which we were prevented from seeing hy Intervening Interven-ing hi Is, we dtscen led tu the banks ol the lake to a point where the black old giant which Kent forth its ile.tthly messengers mes-sengers ol tlt-striu tiuu ten yearn ago was in clear sight, about twelve miles away across the lake. I he mountain, w hich is ;,.i;o feet high, was almost rent in twain at the time ol the eruption; and from our point ut observation the chasm thus formed could be seen tpiite distinctly, A thin covering of vegetation has giown out upon the noun l a in tropes, particularly par-ticularly near its base, hence the picture ol desolation is not so perlect now as it was lur some lime alter the eruption. While Mill gfuig upon the wonders ol nature the last lalung shades ol the hilts upou the placid and cream colored waters of i arawern re mi tided us that the day was spent, that the sun was disappearing dis-appearing bciow the western honruii; uud the overhanging clouds also gave us reason to believe that the night would be a dark one; and here we were In a strange, uninhabited, volcanic country, eleven miles away trom the nearest human hu-man habitations. So wc beat a retreat and started on uur return trip nt a time that we, at cording to the stable man's idea, ought to have Ixeuut uunpiailcrs, as he bad nssured us that it was 11 very "unpleuftaiu thing" to be found out 011 tlie steep mountain slopes ut Ihe Taru-wcra Taru-wcra country after night tall, Ketiacmg our steps, wc soon rea' hed the top ul the hill or divide, thence passed Ouwn tj the site ul the ruined vtllare, once more feasted on cherncs, and then walked briskly buck tu Kotorua, in the darkness ut the night, arriving at our destination at jo p. in. ! We met with no accident and had not sat down to rest once on our sample twenty two mile walk;hut uur soft J.uro-pean J.uro-pean bed teit unusually comlortiible thut night. J riday, linuary loth. Wo visited the government sanitarium and other points of interest. The country around Uuturua has been the scene ul several hot con- , tests and battles between dilierent tribes ! ul Muuhs; and hundretis of people have ! been slain at diH-reut times. Out to- 1 ward the centre ul Lake Kotorua is a good sued island called Mokata, which lor many geuerutions was the stroug-hold stroug-hold ut the Arawas, and where they gen crally were able to defend themselves against iluir powerful enemies from the north whoweio 111 the halm ul evading the country in almost North Ameru a Indian fashion. On one occasion the gtt-al duel llongi from the North landed 111 the muds ol ine Arawas, on the east coast, uml alter beating the latter in a number of battles, they retreated to their island strong-hold, where they dehed thrir enemies to follow. Hut llongi, who was a great warnor at uuce gave urdtrs to have his war cat.ues brought over-landtioni over-landtioni the e-ast coast to Lake Kotuiu 1. ' crossed over to Muk.ua Hl(ll hl4 ; uiiny, and slew the Ar.uvas with an ex-ceetiilig ex-ceetiilig great hlau.hiei There tire ! also i.eveial beatuUul Maori legends ! luimccLrd with this ndund. TiieAiuwas I stdl dwell in this renowned lake country, coun-try, and some ol them have embraced I the fullness ol the Gospel, and consti. I tute part of the membership of the lauiaugu dtsliiu. Ihe Aruwui derive llu ir name Irotn a large canoe of that name, which was 0111 of Ihe seven traditional tradi-tional tailors on whtch the Maoris reached New "aland from their former home in llnwaika. I he Kotorua country is included in that missionary division of the North Island of New eobnd, which is known as the 1 mir.mga district. I his district comprises three brntirhes of the Chun b, called respectively 1'ukenmu, Puketa-rata Puketa-rata una 1 hakeikurnko, with a to'al membership of rt, or 1 i souls Deluding ( hiulre-n who have been hbsed but ru t biptieil, Two ire .uiotcfns, the rest Miotic Ll.'.r i'tvid II. l'ackard is now the president of the diitrict, succeeding suc-ceeding Lhler t hr sl an IVlcrsen in that capacity, nnd Lhler Willi on W. Mc-1 Mc-1 'ouald is histravehng companion. 'I he district embran s a tract of country bordering bor-dering on the if y of I'leniv, which is on the east coast of the North Island. The coast line extends from Opotiki on the southeast to kjtikati on the northwest. Inland it extends to and includes the country aurroundmg the great Taupo lake, the largest trcsh water sheet in New -.'aland; this lake is in a mountain . uus country near the centre of the North 1 Island. The I'ukerimii branch consists of the Saints residing in the native villages of I'ukerimu, ouMtmnin, Waitangi and llurcu (udea). riiKeiimu is situated ubuut one half mde southeast of the Luropeun settlement of Te l uke, whuh is eighteen miles southeast of the seaport sea-port town 01 Tawranga, and about thirty-seven links durth ol Kotorua, the fatuous government, health resort de scribed above. Ihe 1'ukenmu branch was first organised 111 September, isys, by Llders Charles t. Amlermm and 1 -'ram-is 11. Wright. In I. ft alsorbed the ncighluring Wa iangi branch and is now the largest and most important branch in the l auranga district; it 1 the headquarters of the l.lders laboring In that district. 1 he I'ukeiarala branch consists of the Saints residing m the village of I'ukeiarala I'ukeiar-ala and vicinity. Ihe village named is situated about twelve miles north of the tuwn of Taupo, on the road to Aleainuri, or about eighty miles Irum 1'ukenmu. The brand) was urgamed Scj temher Mill, i,ss7, by I hlers Wilhum Gurducr and Henry J, Mnmnng. 1'nu Urukeiuruku hranrh consists of some native Saints resitting in Ohaki, U aioiapu and a nunilwr of other villages. The village of Orakeikuraku is now defunct. de-funct. It was s tuated on ihe Waikato river alHiut eighteen mi r s below Ihe point where il leaves the laupo lake, or twelve miles up the river from Aieamurl, or thirty-three miles soutli ol Kotorua. The Orakeikoruko hruuch is an outgrowth out-growth of the 1'uketarata branch and w as orgamrd 1 ccmher nth, 1.7. ThisliHrthty is tel-htatett lor its boil-big boil-big spring-, iteyst rs ami leir icts which fvt ihai,i Hie liver ailiacent to the.Maoii vi l ie ami for it rrmarkuhte alum cave, which has been visited by a great many tourisiji. The Waikato river scenery is also very interesting. Anprkw Jknso.n. Ni.ARt ANaAiiiA, New Zealand, Jan. 1Mb, 1 ., |