Show f TRAVELS LETTER NO bif october 1895 we t a pleasant time at ruatangata at brother going and family by we were treated with much kind js ha brother going and wife are people ae having tour four nice little chi children adren susa are also young in the church but the spirit ot ol the gospel martha a young unmarried sister stops em at io 10 a m elders gainer goulf off and myself left eft ata 0 on n horseback and rode nineteen jofs by way of kamo and hikurangi to a ne known as opual haaga to to the residence of elder thomas fiu ayson president of the f branch cb who with his large and interest jag family iby is about t to 0 emigrate T i rate to the off tad at the saints in far off america gehad me bad quite recently sold his farm at a tan wrice price and rejoiced very much at the prospects acts of gathering with the saints spending a short time in pleasant oam with brother finlayson and a we took a three mile walk into flie abe bush baish piloted by elder finlayson to eerme of the largest kauri trees in new lea zealand ladd it stands on the farm of mr G foden formerly a member of the church and on the immediate borders orthe great puhi buei puei forest its circum clerence is about forty five feet with a gigantic stem ot of nearly sixty feet below the branches and seventy five fit for lu lumber exclusive of the top it is estimated mated that its top is about feet above its roots As to its age nobody ov odd guess it one enthusiastic writer wao io visited the tree six years ago uses llie following language in describing it i aai jets one stands beneath this monarch of ab aar m forest listening to the perpetual sough ugh of the wind through its gigantic brandies elles and reflects that its life history spes back into the mystic jq post 4 that a thousand years have seen it ia W we a now see it that probably before or rome was it burst into life h hov all that is human is mini minimized minimised sed so far is as can be seen this magnificent tree JA is still in its youth and that its future lowy tetory if protected may be as lengthened as its past and that it will still con amae to live when present scenes shall bare passed away and are forgotten we INN experienced considerable difficulty in lr reaching ing this interesting specimen of aares rat production ro not only was it it climbing but the road or path lead to ft it ft was very miry and wet in places 1 1 to the recent rains it also led 4 through a thick undergrowth through which we bad to grope our way with care we were quite tired when we returned to brother Finlay sons house about sundown and after spending a pleasant evening with the family we er joyed enjoyed a good nights rest the kaui is the finest tree in new zealand and affords the most valuable timber it varies from eighty feet to one hundred feet and upwards in height with a trunk from three feet to eight feet in diameter but specimens have been measured with a diameter of fully twenty two feet the bark is smooth and ot of a dark grey color and falls away in large flat flakes and the handsome globular cone is nearly three inches in diameter the timber is of the highest value and combines a larger number of good qualities in a high degree of perfection than any other pine timber in general use many logs are beautia beautifully u ily clouded I 1 feathered or mottled and are highly valued for ornamental cabinet work panelling etc realizing from xa 7 to 0 10 o per one hundred feet superficial ordinary kauri wood without figure is used for wharves bridges and construction work generally it is exported to a greater extent than adv other new zealand timber and affords employment to nearly one third of the entire persons engaged in timber conversion in the colony thursday october I 1 spent the day at brother Finlay sous perusing Oe a number of records pertaining to the district brother Finlay sons home being the district headquarters headquarter sat at present about 3 p m elders gardver gardner and goff started on horseback for takahiwai iwai leaving me to follow the next day in company with elder finlay son and others friday october we arose early and at 7 a ra I 1 bid brother Finlay sons family good bye and started in his company for mai inai we walked two miles across some lowlands beyond which we were overtaken by two of brother Finlay sons boys with horses which they had brought around the swamps that we bad crossed on foot we mounted the animals and rode four miles to waro a coal mine and railway Ur terminus minus after examining the mines and the ac jacent lime stone quarries we walked along the track one mile to I hikurangi a neat little town with inhabitants where we boarded the tram train at 9 45 a m and rode ten miles to whangarei having been joined at kamo by brother percy L C going his nephew and hoane pita a native elder while they continued by rail to the wharf brother finlayson and I 1 got off at whangarei to attend to some business business bp siness and we afterwards walked two miles to the wharf soon afterwards young robert going from grahams town came across tw the water with a little boat to take us to his fathers house but there being too many of us to be accommodated at once three of us ual got in first and had a pleasant two mile sail down the tidal river we landed at the foot ot of some hills on the left across i which we walked during a heavy fall of I 1 rain while the boat returned for the other passengers passengers geri after aeto r first paying a visit to limestone island we held an interesting te little meeting at the house of mr henry H going at grahams town at which I 1 over an hour and after partaking of the hospitality of mr going he furnished us with boats in which brother finlayson and son brother going and nephew the native elder and myself embarked at set out for takahiwai iwai some eight miles away and across the wide tidal river 0 our ur object in starting starling at this late hour of the night was to take advantage of high water as the river is very shallow in many places there being no wind we rowed all the way the night was dark and cloudy and several times we e lost our reckoning being unable to see either the shore or the mangroves man groves which are growing very thick in the shallow parts of the river and in fact lines it all the way at length we lost our way in sailing up through an inlet or narrow opening in the mangroves man groves through which we were to reach the village of takahiwai iwai we ran aground again and again unable to see or keep in the channel at last we could get no farther which ever way we turned and so we decided to leave our crafts and make ashore though we did not know where the village was it was now 2 in the morning stripping ourselves of part of our cloth ing and picking up our baggage we started in single file on our wading expedition edition tion though the water was not beep deep enough to float our boats we found both water and mud in many places much deeper than we thought necessary for wading purposes but none complained as we were all brave fellows and would not show the white feather by re ferri g to the cold the mud and rocks and shells which cut our bare feet or the deep holes in the sand or clay into which we plunged periodically at length we found ourselves on higher ground where we could feel the green grass under our muddy feet but where were we we hallooed hallowed hallo oed long loud and often and called out in english danish and maori but for a long time all our signals of distress were unheeded heeded in at length the friendly response of a dor dog was faintly v heard i in n the distance and we immedi immediately atily stood off in the direction ot of the sound and soon found our selves climbing a hill more dogs began to how bowl I 1 and finally a whole regiment a small one of canines met us then we saw a light and next we counci the village oh these blessed dogal the friendly act on the martof part ot the takahiwai iwai canines on this occasion made me tor for give all the dogs in new zealand all their former trespasses against me and I 1 have never kicked a dog since while our good brethren and sisters slept the sleep that would have known no awaking till morning had we not disturbed them by our actual presence these uneducated dogs instinctively responded to our calls and saved sa vedus us from the unpleasant experience of wandering in the mud all night on our arrival in the village we found elders gardner goff bartlett Bart leit and markham together with a number of natives who had accompanied the bay of Is lands elders from te horo sleeping in the meeting house room was also made for us and after shaking bands all around for all the natives as well as ao the elders awoke to hear the hurried report r f our midnight adventure we retired to obtain a little rest before assuming the responsibilities of another day which was about to dawn upon us when we laid down saturday october we commenced our conference at lo 10 a ni elder goal was the first speaker folio followed by myself and te the president of the takahiwai iwai branch brother goff interpreted for me while I 1 greeted the saints from their co religionists in zion the hawaiian saints badts and others and gave them some items of church history in the afternoon meeting elder charles BB artlett and te tailua tairua were the speakers and ham biera toki joseph markham and kaio duhani spoke in the evening bunday october 27 in the conference was continued and closed three well attended meetings being held benari te percy S C going through interpreter eru and myself through elder goff as and hial B hales spoke in the forenoon in the afternoon elder gardner was the principal speaker and in the evening Hon etana make te dyben through E der goff as translator hu tana Epa raima and elder gardner were the speakers the spirit of god was poured out in rich measure both upon speakers and hearers and we all had a season oi of rejoicing the natives seemed to be in the best of spirits and manifested much interest in the spirit of our conference during our stay we were treated to the best the village afforded four meals a day being served the food was prepared in a neighboring cook house and the meals spread and par taken of on the flor of the meeting house only the visitors who had in creased to about thirty five before the conference closed ate and slept in the meeting house among the visitors was eider peter J nordstrand who has been a member of the church since 1876 and took an active part in the affairs of the mission on the south wand island years ago he gave me important information about the early doings of the missionaries in christ church and vicinity the district embraces embrace sall au that part of the north island of new zealand which lies south of the bay oi of islands on the east coast and of Teka ritu on the west coast its southern boundary is the kaipara kaibara harbor on the west coast and the town of the wade on the east coast the baptized membership of the district is is or souls in eluding children under beigh 41 of these are europeans the rest moans two elders from zion are laboring in the district which comprises six branches of the church namely whang arburu opuawhanga hora hora te kahihi and great barrier the two elders laboring in the district make their present headquarters with brother finlayson at opuawhanga and receive their at kamo the latter place being about one hundred miles by steamer and rail north of auckland the branch eth embraces braces the saints residing in a village of that name situated on the peninsula south of the bay of islands and near the historical town of russell twenty miles east of karakawa kawakawa Kaw akawa and about fifty miles north of whangarei the branch was organ ailed december irth 1887 by eders elias johnson and george romney jun with mita as president he still presides and is one of the ablest and most faithful elders in the mission the whangaruru branch embraces the maori saints residing in the villages of mokau lokau oakura bakura and other neighboring villages all situa situate tei 1 on the east coast and constituting a district of country known as the southernmost of the village is about nine miles south of waikare Wai kare this branch embraces what was formerly the mokau lokau branch organized early in 1888 and the branch organized october aist 1888 the present branch organization was effected november 1898 1893 with hoani hoane taupaki pita as president the opuawhanga branch is a continuation ot the Manga pui branch which was organized by elder eider william gard ner about 1886 the branch embraces all the european Euro pern saints in the whan barei district and elder thomas finlayson who resides at opuawhanga presides his house lies in a country district about sixteen miles north of whangarei the horo horo branch formerly known as the waipa branch consists of the saints reiding reading in the villages of horo huro and waipa which are situated on the east coast about thirty miles northeast of whangarei on the Ngan guru river near its mouth T the he branch dates back to november 1889 when it was organized by elders angus T wright and ceorge W davis the kahiwat branch first organized by elders william and william gardner in november 1887 is the oldest native branch north ot of auckland it embraces the saints residing in the village of takahiwai iwai which is situated near the whangarei river or sound about twelve miles by water or thirty miles by road south of whangarei and about three miles in a straight line northwest of marsden point the great barrier branch also called aeki jaaria consists ot of the saints residing ot the great barrier island which lies far out in the ocean about sixty miles northeast of auckland the branch was organized by elders angus T wright and george W davis december ath 1889 another branch called whananaki Whan anaki organized november has lately gone out of existence monday october brother finlayson and son brother going and nephew and hoani hoane piti took their departure early in the morning soon afterwards the bell rang for morning devotion and after prayer we ordained Hon etana to the office of a priest ane next on the pro gramme were speeches of greeir greet i g by a number of the leading native brethren present to which elders aders gardner bartlett gon and myself responded the nadye native speakers speaker sall all expressed their appreciation of our visit and the good conference conle rence just ended and their great love and respect for us as the servants of god both the takahiwai iwai and te horo brethren desired another conference held at their respective places in the near future after all these proceedings breakfast was served and at 1130 p m eider gardner and myself took leave of the elders and native saints mounted our horses and rode seven miles to marsden point where we boarded the steamer wellington and sailed for auckland at 4 p m arriving there at ii p m we remained on board tilt till morning enjoying a good nights rest tuesday october we landed at auckland and found elders john johson johnson and chomas S browning await awaiting ing our arrival I 1 now spent the remainder of the week in auckland busily engaged in historical labors assisted by elder johnson on the thursday evening we attended a lecture given by a preacher of the persuasion As his bis lecture was characteristic i many truths and correct principles principal f pro preached ached him after the meeting 8 complimented him on his lecture at once became all attention and doubt thinking I 1 would be a good s eject f r conversion to his creed gavel favl pressing invitations to attend the bainder of his lectures and even 0 me special private instruct ions S when I 1 told him that I 1 was an elde the church of jesus christ of latter F saints his interest in me suddenly f way to a spirit of contention and some time we bad a warm nd so what hot tempered debate which en ec in the preacher taking |