Extracts from a Report on the Coast from Kaiapoi to Otago, BY Walter Mantell, Esq., Government Commissioner.
Wellington, May, 1849.
The first part of the purchase which came under my observation was the grand plain, extending from the 'Double Corner' to Te Aitarakihi (Timaru.) As the general features of the coast line of this magnificent district are pretty uniform, I shall speak of it as a whole, describing afterwards what local peculiarities struck me as most worthy attention.
Besides a gradual rise inland, the plain also ascends greatly towards the south; thus, at 'Te Taumutee' (the mouth of Lake Ellesmere) it is eight, and at Hakatere (the Ashburton river) from thirty to forty feet above the sea level. Along its junction with the peninsula, there are here and there isolated sand-hills, and further north the Waimakariri (Courtenay) near its mouth cuts through a bed of finely-laminated sand, beneath which, at a depth of ten feet, lies a deposit of wood of various kinds, probably drift-wood, brought down by the river when its embouchure was some miles inland of its present position, and the peninsula an island, and the plain covered by forests, of which so few vestiges now remain. A similar deposit is said to exist near to the spot where the 'Waikirikiri' (Selwyn) discharges itself into Waihora (Lake Ellesmere), the wood from both the above-mentioned localities is so little changed as to be used as fire-wood by the natives. The Maoris state that at a day and a half's journey inland from 'Te Taumutu,' there is coal constantly burning, and that they are in the habit of procuring fire from it when journeying near.
The rivers of this beautiful plain are, for the most part, too rapid and shallow for navigation; in an open country like this, where a dray could even now pass in almost any direction, they would, however, be little required for that purpose.
With the exception of belts where the gravel has been laid bare by denudation, (that is, by the action of water in ancient times,) the soil appears to be excellent, and where cultivated by the natives, the crops were most satisfactory. Wood, though generally distant, is nowhere out of reach, while grass, with frequent groves of Ti[1] (Codoline Australis), covering the plain in every direction, offer no impediments to the plough. As far as Kakannui (near Moerangi), grass is the usual growth, fern to any extent being rare. The whole country, from Timaru to Waikouaiti (seventeen miles north of Otago,) is admirably suited for immediate occupation with stock, the northern part being, perhaps, the best adapted for sheep.
In all the northern part of my journey,[2] I saw no district which was not highly fitted for settlement, and I feel confident that so fine a country will not much longer be allowed to remain in its present natural state. The above description of the country, I would emphatically remark, is rather underrated than overcharged; higher praise of its natural capabilities might have been given without violating truth.
- ↑ The natives of the Middle Island bake the young Ti trees in large ovens formed in the earth with hot stones, and they obtain a valuable article of food. The Ti contains much saccharine matter, the whalers formerly distilled a spirit from it, and the bishop states that the early missionaries brewed excellent beer from its roots.
- ↑ Mr. Mantell travelled from Kaiapoi, near the ' Double Corner,' to Otago. By 'the northern part of the journey' is therefore meant the plain of the Canterbury, from Double Corner southwards.
