Westland

“ At last we triumphantly reached the summit and stood looking over into Westland. It was the loveliest view in my mountaineering experience. With the exception of the panorama from the summit of Mount Cook, I had never obtained a perfect view of Westland. Glorious as is that view, one is really too high up to take in its full beauty; the mere fact that there is nothing but the blue of the skies above you tends to flatten everything somewhat, although you realize its loneliness and grandeur ”

“ A keen observer and a humorist in the full sense of the word, his contribution, long since out of print, to literature pertaining to the golden days of Westland, entitled, “Banking Under Difficulties or Life on the Goldfields,” is a most valuable one, and is, in fact, the only authentic record existent of the days immediately prior to the great rush. This being so, the next few pages are devoted entirely to his description of Westland from the date of his arrival to the coming of the Christmas Party to Hokitika on December 20th, 1864. ”

“ History tells us that Abel Janszoon Tasman, the famous Dutch navigator, discovered New Zealand, sighting the coast of Westland on December 13th, 1642, and it is this Province, therefore, that first stands sharply silhouetted on the horizon of Dominion history. Tasman quaintly described Westland as “a great land uplifted high, not unlike the island of Formosa with its piles of rugged mountains.” ”

“ The name of Seddon is written indelibly in the history of Westland, as it is in the annals of New Zealand, and the records of the Empire. Truly an outstanding leader, and one who had the power to sway a people and to bend them to his progressive ideas. From a tireless advocate of ideals and aspirations to one with the power to implement his thoughts and remedies for the ills of the masses, he passed into the highest sphere of his unique record—a humanist. ”

“ But while the spirit has been willing on the part of Westlanders, in regard both to the discovery and development of its hidden resources, the wherewithal to carry out their desires has been of an exceedingly limited character. More particularly does this apply to the southern portion of Westland. There can be no question that, from Hokitika southwards to the boundary line between Westland and Otago, there is a vast estate, the value of which is mainly dependent upon the development of its mineral deposits. ”

“ My people, in common with their fellow Pioneers, suffered many hardships and privations, of which they often told me, and in so doing inspired the writing of this work, wherein it has been my constant endeavour, to place upon permanent record, at least some of the wonderful achievements of the sterling men and women who pioneered Old Westland. ”

“ Known as West Canterbury, prior to attaining the dignity of being made a separate Province, Westland is bounded on the north by the Province of Nelson, on the south by the Province of Otago, on the east by the mighty Southern Alps, and on the west by the tempestuous Tasman Sea. It has an area of about 4,500 square miles, the greater part of which is high mountainous country, and bush clad to the snow line. In consequence of this the rainfall is profuse, heavy at times, but by no means continuous, periods of fine calm weather with bright sunshine being frequently experienced. ”

“ As we surmounted the next ridge above a sunny pool with shingly bottom, the streams were still all running west, but beyond the ridge, lo! they ran east, down to a wide valley where Ted told us the Fish river ran. The beech forest had finally conquered, and the hills rolled away, evenly furred with dark, monotonous green. A stake by the track marked the junction of Westland with Otago. ”

“ Thomas Brunner and Charles Heaphy, who were connected with the New Zealand Land Company, set out to explore the country we now know as Westland, with a view “to report on its resources and potentialities as a field for further settlement.” They left Nelson on March 17th, 1846, with the Arahura River, in the heart of the greenstone country, as their objective. They were accompanied on this important expedition by a Maori named Ekehu who had previously visited the locality, and had been engaged as guide. ”

“ Visiting here is different work to that in Westland, open country, scattered population, but excellent roads, which would do credit to a much older place, the result of a system by which the Board of Works receives a proportion of all money acquired by Government by sale of Crown lands. The Board's affairs have been well cared for by its chairman, Philip Luxmoore, whom you may recollect at Eton, nephew of Dr. Pusey. I do a great deal of walking, with some riding and driving; there is no river trouble to be faced, and the difference between the rainfall here and Westland is immense. ”

“ The pioneers of Westland, in common with the pioneers of the whole of the Dominion, put service before personal safety, be the cost of that service what it may . . . . even life itself.
Proceeding, the parties kept together until they reached the Otira Stream, where Rochfort commenced his surveying operations, traversing the Taramakau to the Pakihi Plain, thence to Lake Brunner and then down the River Arnold to the Mawhera Pa. ”

“ But the track was hot and dry, and the yellow clay along the sides, was cracked with heat. Under the beeches was but “a ragged penury of shade”; their little evergreen leaves looked so parched and leathery after the cool, damp forest, and I was glad to get down to the horses waiting at the ford.
Not thus had I walked down many a descent in Westland—where the great trees made a shadowy tunnel, and waters sprayed one from among the ferns. We cantered fast over stretches of grass by the river till we came to a real road. Then the hills fell back, and the forest gradually came to an end. ”

“ Hudson, pioneer prospector, storekeeper, licensee and Government servant, was a man of many parts, who died in 1919, aged 78 years, and rests in the burial ground of Hokitika, the town he founded seventy-five years ago.
As will be seen from the increased number of men who rushed the Totara River and Donnelly’s Creek diggings, Westland was now attracting more attention, and in consequence more men. ”

“ Westland from the Grey River southwards presented, in 1863, a very different aspect from what it does at the present time. The whole of the country up to the snow line and down to the water’s edge was covered with thick forest. Every flood brought down to the sea great quantities of timber, which were thrown up on the beaches, and excepting where the Coast was rock bound the timber piled up in such vast masses that it was quite a climb to get over it into the bush beyond. ”

“ Here is a description of this celebrity, culled from the files of the West Coast Times, Westland’s first newspaper: “A short, thick-set, muscular man, strong of will and resolute of purpose with a weakness for Nelson ale, and massive greenstone pendants to his watch chain, was Blake. A man who was more at home on a vessel’s deck than behind a counter, and could handle a steer-oar better than a steel pen. ”

“ It is not too much to hope that we may still have another book upon Old Westland wherein will be collected more intimate and detailed stories of these explorers, administrators and miners. Nor of these alone. Among those who remained and became its local governors, its pioneer cattle men, its coach drivers, among all those who helped to establish the West Coast, including the great Seddon himself, were men, big and adventurous, whose personalities and the incidents of whose lives are as worthy and as necessary of permanent recording as those described by Mr. ”

“ The blond Scandinavian to his logged-off lands, the Basque to his sheep herding; the man from Iowa dairies, and the Carolinian, who never before saw alfalfa, sets about raising it; the Connecticut Yankee, with an unconscionable instinct for wooden nutmegs, sells real estate; the college man with poor eyes or a damaged liver, as the case may be, becomes an orchardist at Hood River or Medford. Somehow, some place, there is room for each and every one, and the big Westland smiles and receives them all, the strong to prosper and the weak to fail, according to the inexorable way of life. ”

“ At the corner of Soper Lane he met one of those he was in search of, and told him his errand.
"It is thought likely that Friend Westland may be sent out to Jamaica or His Majesty's plantation of Virginia, or he may escape with a fine and the loss of his other ear, so that he may be able to maintain his family again by and by." ”

“ Two days later, March 21st, Revell opened his office (if a tent can be thus dignified) in Revell Street, and issued Westland’s first miner’s right to his brother John. Hokitika, which was already developing into what might be described as “a man-sized town,” was declared a port of entry early in April, and the 15th of the same month was marked by the arrival of Commissioner George Samuel Sale, better known as “King” Sale, who immediately took complete charge of the goldfield on behalf of the Canterbury Provincial Government. ”

“ Now, although the suspension of this work had caused such irreparable damage, and the blame was attributed to him alone, he shrunk not from the censure, but endured all the sarcasm and contumely then unjustly showered upon him; nor was it till long after that the whole truth was told; that he had been the constant (though often unavailing) advocate of Westland’s rights, whilst we were under the domination of Christchurch.
“After much agitation, a change was wrought in Westland’s favour. ”

“ Westland declared, rising. “It’s nonsense for you not to see that side of things. My dear fellow, it’s as respectable as the Royal Academy—or Madame Tussaud’s. Are you dining anywhere? Then I’ll run home and dress, and I’ll drive round here for you. We’ll dine together, and then look in at some of the halls. Shall I say seven? It gives us more time over our dinner.”
Christian accepted, with a rueful little smile, his committal to the enterprise. “You must not mind if I come away early,” he said, getting to his feet in turn. ”

“ John Hudson During September, 1864, the influx to Westland continued, and on the 12th of that month, Revell, reporting to the Provincial Council, stated that the diggers were earning from £2 to £5 per man per day, and that all was as it should be throughout the field; he, however, warned men from coming until a greater area of ground was proved, and more stores established, as supplies were still hard to obtain regularly.
About this time the Kapitea Creek, eleven miles south of the Grey, was rushed, and here Hudson and Price set up their first store. ”

“ Though the Maori occupation of Westland has been treated so far as though it were the first, there can be no doubt that the human occupation of New Zealand is of much greater antiquity than this. Discoveries have been made of stone implements far below the present level of the soil. The most careful and scientific description of such a discovery is given by Sir Julius von Haast. A partly finished chert adze and its sandstone sharpener were found by a party of gold miners at Bruce Bay, South Westland, a few days before he arrived on the spot in 1868. ”

“ The next outstanding incident in the story of Old Westland was the coming of what was known as the “Australian Invasion.” Anent this rush “Waratah,” in “Tales of the Golden West,” says: “Our neighbours in Victoria tried to check it, and said it was only a steamboat rush, which would turn out disastrous to the thousands of Victorian miners who were leaving a certainty on their own goldfields for an uncertainty in New Zealand, but all to no purpose. ”

“ N various parts of Westland there are proved to be resources which only require a continuance of the interest now being taken in them, to ensure their development, to create an influx of population, and to firmly establish large industries which should contribute much to the common wealth of the Colony. ”

“ Subsequent Explorers—The Oakes Expedition, 1857—James Mackay Explores Grey Valley—Harper and Locke Cross Southern Alps, 1857—James Mackay’s Second Visit, 1859—John Rochfort.
John Rochfort It was not until nine years after the departure of Brunner that Europeans again visited Westland, and then they came by way of the sea. These adventurous voyagers were the Oakes brothers, Thomas, John, and Joseph, who set out in March, 1857, from Port Cooper (Lyttelton) , in the schooner Emerald Isle, bound for the West Coast, in quest of gold. ”

“ The heavy seas continued until June 8th when the schooner managed to work the river entrance, after having a very narrow escape from being wrecked on the north beach. The Wild Wave was thus the third vessel to enter the Grey, not the first as generally stated. A start was at once made to erect the depôt, which was situated on the south bank of the river almost opposite Johnston Street, the actual site now being covered by twenty-five feet of water. This building was without doubt the first erected south of the Buller, and in Westland. ”

“ The col itself is an eerie spot, a narrow ridge which drops sheer into Westland on one side, and on the other is faced with a great schrund from which the snow slopes fall away steeply to the broken ice and the Muller Glacier beneath. ”

“ It is only a tiny track at present; when finished, however, it is to be good enough for a pack-horse, and there is to be a hut on the Westland side of the Copland Pass—luxury indeed for the climber of the future.
The opening up of the bush by this track not only gives a charming peep of the Copland River and snowy summits, but also allows a little more air to penetrate into the dank forest, taking off some of the feeling of being in an overheated glass-house, which is so distressing to people not accustomed to a warm, moist air. ”