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HISTORICAL NOTES ON THE OFFSHORE ISLANDS RECENTLY VISITED BY A. U. FIELD CLUB.

by P. D. G. Skegg.

In the past century a great amount of h i s t o r i c a l information concerning the offshore i s l a n d s of Northern New Zealand has been l o s t through not being recorded. This paper gathers together some remaining scraps of information concerning those i s l a n d s most recen t l y v i s i t e d by F i e l d Club, i n the hope that i t may encourage others to do l i k e w i s e and that i t may provide a s t a r t i n g point f o r f u r t h e r s t u d i e s .

THE CHICKEN ISLANDS

Maori t r a d i t i o n has i t that these i s l a n d s were occupied long before the main i n f l u x of Maori settlement to New Zealand. Paratene te Manu, an ancient c h i e f from L i t t l e B a r r i e r was presumably speaking of the same t r a d i t i o n i n the Native Land Court at Auckland i n 1886. He claimed h i s people had occupied L i t t l e B a r r i e r from a period "when men were stones", to which the learned judge d r y l y remarked was "a period unknown to the Court and modern science". Very l i t t l e i s known of the long Maori occupation. The main settlement was on Big Chicken ( M a r o - t i r i ) , and there were c u l t i v a t i o n s on Middle Chicken (Whakahau) and (probably) on Eastern Chicken. The summit of Big Chicken was the f o r t i f i e d and parapeted e y r i e of a p i r a t i c a l Maori t r i b e . The trenches s t i l l remain, with p e t r e l s burrowing i n them, but the Maoris l e f t i n 1821.

In 1840 the c u l t i v a t i o n s were s t i l l f a i r l y f r e s h . About t h i s time an emigrant s h i p , on which was the body of a c h i l d that had died as the ship passed North Cape was becalmed of Big Chicken. Some of the ship's company rowed ashore and buried the corpse at the sandy c r e s c e n t i c bay at the western end of the i s l a n d , which received the name of Grave Bay.

Explorers soon found native copper on Eastern Chicken. In 1849 Isaac Merrick was granted a lease of Eastern Chicken f o r mining purposes, and three years l a t e r h i s reports caused quite a s t i r i n Auckland. A reward had beer offered f o r the f i r s t person to discover " an a v a i l a b l e Gold F i e l d i n the Province of New U l s t e r " , and Merrick claimed to have discovered i t on h i s i s l a n d . The steamer "Governor Wynyard" was dispatched with a Mr. Percy of the Resident Magistrates O f f i c e and two policemen aboard. They c a l l e d f o r a g e o l o g i s t from the mines at Kawau, and then proceeded to the Chickens. Many g e o l o g i c a l specimens were taken by the party, who were wind-bound f o r s e v e r a l days, but the Merrick report turned out to have been f a l s e . An Auckland newspaper denounced Merrick as "an imposter".

In 1880 Andreas Reischek found B i g , Middle and Eastern Chicken "covered with bush, with the exception of a few abandoned Maori p l a n t a t i o n s , now overgrown with f l a x and scrub". Late i n the 1880's fishermen l i t f i r e s on Big Chicken which burnt the vegetation. The McDonalds, McLeods and McGregors of Waipu began using Grave Bay as a base f o r t h e i r f i s h i n g operations, and f o r se v e r a l years spent long periods ashore. McGregor put

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c a t t l e on the Isl a n d about 1890, and planted a branch of a w i l l o w from h i s family farm, which explains the stand of willows now present.

About 1896, mining operations commenced on Eastern Chicken. A company was formed, and the three workers had a 25 f t . x 12 f t . corrugated i r o n hut i n the southern bay. In the two or three months they spent on the i s l a n d they dug a twenty or t h i r t y foot d r i v e i n the r i g h t hand side of the bay. Operations were not very s u c c e s s f u l , and some of the shareholders from Auckland came out and s a i d they wanted to reorganise thi n g s . One of the men, MacKay, remained on the i s l a n d while the others l e f t to negotiate the matter f u r t h e r . A f t e r some weeks the men had not returned, and MacKay's stores ran out. For a time he was unsuccessful i n a t t r a c t i n g the a t t e n t i o n of a passing boat but eventually he stopped the "Whakapara", one of the f i r s t power boats i n the Whangarei Harbour, only to be t o l d the mining Company had wound up some time ago. He was taken on to Auckland, where a s o l i c i t o r confirmed the s t o r y .

In 1898, when Mr. Frank Holman made h i s f i r s t v i s i t to the Chickens, as a young boy accompanying Cheeseman, the b o t a n i s t , he found the boats, blacksmiths gear, blankets and c u t l e r y of the mining party l e f t untouched, but i n the succeeding years i t was a l l removed. Tuataras were abundant on the i s l a n d at t h i s time, and the party soon c o l l e c t e d h a l f a sugar bag f u l l , twenty-six i n a l l . While s e r v i c i n g the lighthouse Captain Bollons of the "Hinemoa" used to d i g a p i t and retu r n on l a t e r v i s i t s to c o l l e c t the Tuataras which had f a l l e n i n t o i t i n the i n t e r i m .

In 1902 or 1903 a f i r e swept the slopes of Grave Bay, reputedly destroying a small stand of red kowhai once present. This f i r e , which was observed from the mainland, was the l a s t major one on these i s l a n d s . In l a t e r years the burnt land eroded badly.

S h o r t l y before daybreak on 27 May 1908 the 225 ton steamer"Muritaf ran i n t o the northern coast of Big Chicken. Had the ship struck twenty yards away i n e i t h e r d i r e c t i o n i t would have q u i c k l y s l i p p e d back i n t o deep water, and the heavy s w e l l would have made taking to the boats d i f f i c u l t . As i t was the bow ran between two rocks, wedging the v e s s e l i n p o s i t i o n . There was only a s l i g h t shock: " I t was almost as i f she were running up on to a sandy beach", s a i d one man. A l l the passengers and crew had to do was walk down a ladder of the bow of the ves s e l on to the rocky coast of the i s l a n d . At d a y l i g h t they were conveyed i n boats to Grave Bay. Here they erected a tent of hatch covers and s a i l s , l i t a f i r e , and breakfasted. The Chief O f f i c e r ' s boat put o f f f o r the Whangarei Heads, and that afternoon the whole party was taken o f f . Three steamers salvaged much of the equipment, i n c l u d i n g a l l the engine room, saloon, steerage and deck compartments; and at l e a s t a dozen boats put out from Whangarei to get what they could.

Since the shipwreck l i t t l e has happened on the Chickens. Fortunely the M u r i t a i ' s cat d i d not get ashore, and the c a t t l e were not recorded a f t e r 1925. Today the peace of the i s l a n d i s only o c c a s i o n a l l y disturbed by the v i s i t s of p a r t i e s of fishermen and n a t u r a l i s t s , and the nine-monthly v i s i t s f o r the r e f u e l l i n g of the automatic n a v i g a t i o n a l l i g h t on Eastern

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Chicken.

SOURCES

CHEESEMAN, T. F. 1890. Further Notes on the Three Kings Islands. Trans. N. Z. I n s t . 2 3 : p. 408.

CRANWELL, L. M. & MOORE, L. B. 1935. B o t a n i c a l Notes on the Hen & Chicken Islands. Rec. Auck. I n s t . Mus. 1(6): p. 301.

PARK, J . B. 1866. Geography & H i s t o r y of Oceania. L i v i n g s t o n .

REISCHEK, A. 1881. Notes on Z o o l o g i c a l Researches made on the Chicken Islands. Trans. N. Z. Inst 1 4 : p. 274.

SKEGG, P. D. G. 1964. Birds of the Hen and Chicken Islands. Notornis 11(3): p. 159.

THE AUCKLAND STAR. 1908. 28, 29 & 30 May.

THE NEW ZEALANDER. 1852. 10, 13 & 17 March.

THE NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT GAZETTE 1849. 11(15): p. 89.

Mr. F. S. Holman, also gave much u s e f u l information.

MAYOR ISLAND

Mayor Island has long been known f o r i t s notable deposits of obsidian, or v o l c a n i c g l a s s . Since Maori c u l t u r e was noted f o r i t s lack of metals the hard sharp obsidian was a particularly valuable commodity, and i t i s hardly s u r p r i s i n g that the i s l a n d was known as Tuhua (the Maori name f o r o b s i d i a n ) , that legends grew up about i t , and that more than a few wars were waged over i t .

A l o c a l version of a well-known Maori legend represents obsidian and greenstone by the mythical beings Te Ika Mata Tuhua and Te Ika-a-Ngahue r e s p e c t i v e l y and i n a legendary sense associates them with events leading up to the t r a d i t i o n a l "Great M i g r a t i o n " . Some held that the c l i f f - b a n d s of obsidian and the huge c r a t e r were the l a s t w rithings of the f i r e god, who had t r a v e l l e d from Hawaiki to warm the tohunga of the Arawas as he sat among the snows of Tongariro. S t i l l more novel was the story recorded by the rather g u l l i b l e European explorer, Ferdinand von Hochstetter, who stated i n a l l apparent seriousness that a Captain had shipped a whole load of obsidian to Auckland, mistaking i t f o r c o a l .

Mayor Island once sustained a large Maori population, and today there are few commanding h i l l s or vantage points where signs of Maori occupation cannot s t i l l be found. The main v i l l a g e was Te Panui, at Opo (Sou'-East) Bay; and the second l a r g e s t was located on the headland between Oira

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(Nor'-West) Bay and O t i o r a (Honeymoon) Bay. But i t was the rocky and impregnable Toumou pa, to which the i s l a n d e r s retreated i n time of attack, that was most notable.

Of the many attacks of e a r l i e r days l i t t l e i s known, but more t a l e s remain of those of l a t e r days. In 1832 a Ngapuhi war party s a i l e d south from t h e i r Northland haunts. En route they c a l l e d at Great Mercury I s l a n d , slaughtering a l l but one i n h a b i t a n t , and then headed f o r Mayor I s l a n d . Here they s u r p r i s e d , k i l l e d and ate many of the Whanau-O-Ngaitaiwhao, but others took refuge i n the Toumou pa and contrived to send n o t i c e of the Ngapuhis v i s i t to t h e i r Ngaiterangi t r i b e at Tauranga. The Ngapuhi remained on Mayor Is l a n d f o r s e v e r a l days. Almost to a man they were ready to return home, but t h e i r leader Te Haramiti assured them t h e i r Atua (God) was not yet s a t i s f i e d . He l e d them on to M o t i t i I s l a n d , where they found the i n h a b i t ­ants had f l e d . The next day they saw what were assumed to be t h e i r reinforcements, but turned out to be about a thousand Ngaiterangi w a r r i o r s from Tauranga. They had gone to Mayor I s l a n d , and on being informed that the Ngapuhi had headed f o r M o t i t i , followed behind. Only two of the Ngapuhi w a r r i o r s escaped massacre.

Six years l a t e r , i n June 1838, the notorious and brave Whakatane c h i e f , T a u t a r i , l e d another s u r p r i s e attack on the i s l a n d . The i s l a n d e r s , seeing h i s canoes approaching at sunset, retreated to t h e i r t r a d i t i o n a l stronghold. The ascent to the pa i s d i f f i c u l t . Broken v o l c a n i c rocks to east and west render these approaches impossible, while to the north side the c l i f f s drop sheer to the sea. The approach must therefore be made from the low ground of the c r a t e r . Even having mounted the steep slope, the track to the a c t u a l entrance to the pa runs along a narrow ridge of s l i p p e r y rock, over which only one man can approach at a time. Tautari's force was climbing up t h i s steep southern slope under cover of darkness when they were heard by the watch. An enormous rock, estimated at 7 cwt. was already i n place, with levers beneath i t . Upon the word being given i t was edged over the battlement and l e t loose on the advancing mass, k i l l i n g some and wounding others. What with the thundering noise of the rock, and the war y e l l s and musket shots from the summit, the invaders q u i c k l y gathered t h e i r dead and wounded and made o f f .

The d i a r y of a Church Missionary Society c a t e c h i s t records a subsequent v i s i t of three missionaries to the i s l a n d . Intending to give warning of Tautari's r a i d , they a r r i v e d at Opo Bay only to be informed by the three armed Maoris who met them, that the attack had been made some days before, and the invaders repulsed. However, before leaving the invaders had plundered and removed whatever they could i n the way of canoes and food, and had burnt a l l they could not transport. The people were s t i l l assembled i n t h e i r stronghold, and were to remain there f o r s e v e r a l days yet.

The next day, a Sunday, the missionaries trekked over to the f o r t r e s s , and received a warm welcome from almost two hundred Maoris assembled there. Although none of the Maoris were C h r i s t i a n b e l i e v e r s the miss i o n a r i e s held a morning s e r v i c e . "Mr. Fairburn addressed them, e x p l a i n i n g the leading doctrines and precepts of the C h r i s t i a n f a i t h , exhorting them 'while i t i s

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c a l l e d today' to consider t h e i r end. "

Rough weather marooned the missionaries on the i s l a n d f o r almost a f o r t n i g h t , during which time they experienced an acute shortage of food, eventually having to buy "at a great p r i c e " one of the only pigs on the i s l a n d . On t h e i r f i r s t attempt to leave they were forced to return to Oira Bay, where they sheltered f o r some days more. When f i n a l l y they l e f t "There was yet a good deal of sea, but i t was necessary to brave that or meet s t a r v a t i o n . "

The l a s t r a i d at Mayor I s l a n d , and indeed the l a s t act of organised cannibalism i n the Bay of Pl e n t y , took place i n November 1842. A mainland party from Maketu were seeking utu (revenge). On nearing the i s l a n d they cast anchor, and a l l went below except f o r one Maori dressed i n European c l o t h i n g . A canoe put out, and p u l l e d alongside only to discover the man they had taken to be a European was a Maori. The concealed Maoris now rushed on deck, shot three of the i s l a n d e r s and wounded others, and took two boys pri s o n e r s . The remainder escaped by swimming, but the s l a i n were taken to the mainland where they were duly consumed.

The years f o l l o w i n g were r e l a t i v e l y q u i e t , European crops and u t e n s i l s coming i n t o general use, and passing whalers sometimes c a l l i n g i n f o r pr o v i s i o n s . Many of the inhabitants migrated to the mainland, but the major d i s a s t e r was an epidemic i n 1862, when s i x t y died w i t h i n the space of a few days.

In 1876 the Maoris b u i l t two weather-boarded sheds near the centre of Opo Bay, where they were to act as the nucleus of a whaling s t a t i o n . Whaleboats and a l l the necessary gear were purchased, but the enterprise was a f a i l u r e . As one Maori explained "the whales would not stop to be caught".

By 1884 only nine Maoris remained, a l l of them at Opo Bay. The small v i l l a g e of Te Panui was s t i l l s i t u a t e d i n the south-west corner of the bay. On the f l a t on the south side were twenty-five acres of c u l t i v a t i o n , i n c l u d i n g kumara, corn, tobacco, strawberries and ra s p b e r r i e s . Three hundred yards in l a n d were a few banana t r e e s , Cape gooseberries, and many peach trees - the l a t t e r at t h i s time growing over much of the i s l a n d . Cats, dogs and ra t s were present, along with "one horse, a few p i g s , fowls and pea fowls".

In Mawai Bay, the boulder beach north of Oira Bay, the surveyor Goldsmith found some f i n e peach trees and signs that the small glens had a l l been under c u l t i v a t i o n , as had a l l the land at Oira (Nor'-West) Bay i t s e l f . On the headland between Oira and Ot i o r a Bay, where the second most important settlement had been lo c a t e d , the ruins of old whares remained. Along the coast towards Opo Bay he found ruins of o l d houses i n every favourable spot. Close to the spring at Waikawa, a short distance from Opo Bay, bananas, grapes, apples, f i g s and peaches were growing, and f l a x was s t i l l c u l t i v a t e d .

The last permanent inhabitants lef t in the next two or three years. When J. M. Bell visited the island early in the present century he found two parties there. "One consisted of two old Maoris, dignified and of impressive mien, who had come thither from a native mainland settlement to dry their winter's store of fish and to tend the kumara crops which, like their forefathers of old, they grew in the f e r t i l e s o i l . Western civilisation was represented by a number of Auckland youths who, on a boating tour along the coast, had landed for a day to desecrate a paradise with their debauchery, bad language and irresponsible devilry "

At Opo Bay the remains of the whaling settlement lay in ruins, while on the c l i f f s above "the decaying timbers of many collapsed Maori whares, and the overgrown orchards, testified sadly to a s t i l l older habitation". Bell crossed to the inland lakes where he found the remains of Maori huts "near which degenerate peach trees, small scattered gladioli and roses grow as monuments of a cultivation long since passed away".

During the 1920's a new era began, for the island became a base for fishing operations. But this i s another story.

SOURCES

BELL, J. M. 1914. The Wilds of Maoriland. MacMlllans.

COWAN, J. 1928, The Story of Auckland. XI. Episodes of the Young Forties. Auckland Star. 2 Oct,

DIEFFENBACH, E. 1843. Travels in New Zealand. Vol. 1. Murray.

GIFFORD, W. H. & WILLIAMS, H. B, 1940. A Centennial History of Tauranga. Reed.

GOLDSMITH, E. C. 1885, Description of Mayor Island. Trans. N. Z. Inst. XVII: p. 417.

HOCHSTETTER, F. VAN. 1867. New Zealand. Trans, by E. Sauter & J. G. Cotta.

SLADDEN, B. 1926. Tahua, or Mayor Island. N. Z. Jour. Sci. Tech. 8(4): p. 193.

SPENCER, C. 1885. Spencers Illustrated Guide to the Hot Springs of Rotorua and Taupo and other places of interest in the Lake District in the County of Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. Murray & Spencer.

STEVENSON, R. A. 1954. Ethnology of Mayor Island. Tane 6: p. 165.

WILSON, REV. J. A. 1889. Missionary Life and Work in New Zealand 1833 - 1862. The Private Journal of the Late Rev. John Alexander Wilson. Edited by C. J. Wilson. Printed for Private Circulation only. Star Office. Auckland,

WILSON, JUDGE J. A, 1907. The Story of Te Waharoa 1866. 2nd edition. Whitcombe & Tombs.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1 8 9 0 . Early History of New Zealand. Brett's.

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REQUEST FOR RECORDS OF NEW ZEALAND LIZARDS

I. Information is sought concerning the altitudinal distribution of any New Zealand lizards, particularly as records of sightings relative to tree and snow lines, rather than absolute altitudes, though the latter information would also be very valuable*

II. Specimens, preferably alive, of any lizards which seem to be at a l l unusual or uncommon from any part of New Zealand, but particularly from bush, forest, and high country areas, and from the South Island, would be greatly appreciated. Live specimens travel well i f sent by air-freight in small firm boxes, suitably ventilated. Cost of air-freight would be gladly refunded. Date of collection and locality data should be given. Records or specimens should be sent to: - Miss J. Robb, Department of Zoology.

REQUEST FOR TRICHOPTERA (CADDIS-FLIES)

Studies on the immature stages of the New Zealand Trichoptera are being carried out by Mr D. R. Cowley of the Zoology Department. The larvae of these insects are common in stony and mossy parts of streams, but are also found in s t i l l waters such as ponds and lakes. They are caterpillar-like and usually live in stony or secreted cases they drag around behind them. At the end of the larval stage the case is firmly attached to a rock, and here pupation occurs. The adults are moth-like insects with hairy wings and are usually found in the vegetation around the margins of streams, ponds and lakes.

Specimens of larvae pupae and adults from any part of New Zealand would be welcomed. These specimens should be preserved in spirits. Details of the locality, who collected the specimens and the date of collection would be appreciated.