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Reminiscences of The First Five Years.

It has been previously related that a Mr. Green resided, when the French colonists arrived, at the point near Mrs. J. C. Buckland's, where the British flag was seen flying by the new arrivals. Mr. Green was in charge of some six or eight head of cattle belonging, to Mr W B. Rhodes. Mr Rhodes was well acquainted with New Zealand, and had numerous transactions, both with the earliest settlers and the Natives. Some six months before the French arrived he had been in Wellington, and from thence he went to Sydney, then the most settled part of Australasia, and had purchased a number of the best cattle he could procure, which be brought over in a vessel belonging to him, and placed in various localities under the charge of persons in his employment. Mr Rhodes was one of those who, at a very early period, recognised the vast capabilities of these islands, and foresaw in the time to come they would support a large population, and his foresight was deservedly rewarded later on by the amassing of a very large fortune. These cattle were not allowed to be sold at any price, and were simply allowed to increase as fast as possible. The cows were not milked, the calves running with them, and one can imagine with what great longing for milk, beef and butter they were viewed by the colonists, who at that time had not a single bead of their own, Mr. Green did something else besides looking after the cattle—he used to purchase any grog he could from the whaling vessels that visited the port, and, as there was no hotel, it was a standing Joke with the colonists to say that they were going to have a drink of milk at Mr. Green's, when they went there searching for something far more exhilarating, In a couple of years Mr. Green left Mr. Rhodes to start an hotel, and was succeeded by Mr. Reid, and a short time after Mr. Joseph Rhodes came to superintend the place, and also another in Flea Bay, where some cattle had been placed. He sold the first cow, which realised the enormous sum (for an ordinary milker) of £43. Such was the first start of dairy farming in page 93Akaroa. Cows were, however, soon to become more plentiful.

In 1841, M. St. Croix de Belligny went to Wellington about matters connected with the new settlement, and to get a supply of money. Towards the end of the following year he went to Sydney, and brought back a bull and ten or twelve cows, and also one little entire horse, the first that ever set foot in Akaroa. This last excited the extreme admiration of the Maoris, and they coveted him exceedingly. This was rather a good thing for the French Association, for the third and last payment for the land was then due to the Natives, and the horse was made a part of it. It may here be mentioned that the payment for the land was nearly all in kind, very little money passing. The Comte de Paris brought out a large number of gaudy old faded uniforms, gold lace, cocked hats, and other trumpery rubbish, which was eagerly accepted as "utu" for the land by ihe unsophiscated" aboriginals. One must not forget to mention, however, that in this last payment was included a small schooner, built by Mr. Sinclair, for which the Association gave that gentleman two hundred acres in Pigeon Bay, in that inlet now known as Holmes Bay, where the property of Mr. Holmes is at present situated. M. de Belligny, like Mr Rhodes, let his cattle go on increasing at first, but on leaving the Colony in 1845, he sold them at the lowest price he could possibly afford, which was from £20 to £25 per head, and very glad indeed were the settlers to get them. The colonists, however, had had both milk, butter and beef before this, though they had to pay a good price for them. The first steer calved in Akaroa by M. de Belligny's cows was killed in 1844, some eighteen months after the cattle arrived from Sydney. Mr. Waeckerle was the butcher, and every pound of the beef brought 2s 6d per pound, and more would have been gladly given, for fresh beef is never so well appreciated as by those who have been years without it. The first milk and butter came from Pigeon Bay. Messrs Hay and Sinclair came over to that place in 1841 from Wellington, and brought some cattle with them, and page 94they found a market for all the butter they could make, at from 2s 6d to 3s per pound. The price was afterwards lowered to 2s, and Mr Hay used to walk over about once a week with twenty or thirty pounds, which he always disposed of at that price.

Mr. Green was the first hotelkeeper. After he left Mr. Rhodes he built a commodious hotel at Green Point, and procured a license, The building was a substantial one, 40 feet x 30 feet, and the timber for it was cut by Mr. Waeckerle. It was only one storey high, but most conveniently arranged, and was very well patronised, more especially when a whaler came in, when there were" high jinks" indeed. The building was afterwards bought by Mr. George Tribe, and taken by him to Lyttelton, and placed on Norwich Quay, where it was burnt down in 1854 or 1855. After selling the building, Mr Green purchased a piece of land from M. Belligny, agent for the French Association, and put up another and larger hotel in the more central position now occupied by T. E. Taylor's Buildings, just opposite the present Government wharf. As soon, however, as circumstances warranted it, there was a French hotel, M. de Belligny's servant being the proprietor. The building he put up for that purpose was on Mr. Louis Vangioni's section behind the Akaroa Mail office, end, like Mr. Green's, his enterprise was a most successful one.

There was, of course, no grain of any kind grown the first year or two, and the colonists were dependent on their supplies from outside sources. They were supplied in this manner. Once a year the French man of war on the station visited either Valparaiso or Sydney, and came back with what was required. On the first of these trips, in 1841. the vessel was delayed by contrary winds, and the colonists were in consequence reduced to sore straits for flour, rice and other farinaceous food, Tea, too, was at a premium, but the latter was certainly a luxury, and many supplied its place with the outawhai or manuka. Their potatoes, too, were not yet fit for digging, so that they really were inconvenienced, though, of course, there page 95was no danger of starvation, with the bush teeming with birds' and the harbour with fish, in addition to their own stores. However, news came that a whaler was in at Port Cooper, and it was immediately determined to procure the much-longed for flour, M. Fluery took command, and manned a whaleboat with five or six men and started for Port Cooper. The winds were, however, peculiarly adverse, and he never got any further than the Long Lookout Point, for the sea was too heavy and threatening, and he was afraid the boat would be swamped. After making the most persevering attempts for two or three days, the party had to take their boat into the nearest bay, and walk home to Akaroa. Very weary indeed were the adventurers when they started, and the walk through the then almost unexplored country was a rough one, so that on their arrival back they were nearly dead with fatigue. No one ever saw or heard anything after that of the whaler in Port Cooper, but a few days afterwards the man-of-war arrived, bringing abundance of the much coveted stores to the Colony. From that time the supply of flour never ran short, for in 1843 and 1844 everyone began to grow their own wheat. Little patches were sown in the clearings, and gave the most enormous returns, eighty bushels per acre being considered only an ordinary crop. One piece of five acres, on the spur between Akaroa and German Bay, gave a most enormous yield, and from what was then considered its vast size and extraordinary prolificness, it was the admiration of the colonists. Potatoes, too, did exceedingly well, and soon became very plentiful.

The same frigate did not always stop on the station. Two years after another frigate, commanded by Captain du Boissy, arrived to relieve the L'Aube. It was optional with Commodore Lavaud whether he should go Home in his own or take charge of the new arrival, but he liked Akaroa, and chose the latter course. Two years later, in 1844, Commodore Berard arrived in another vessel, He was the senior officer to Commodore Lavaud, and so could do as he pleased, and, although Lavaud wished to remain, he sent him Home. Commodore Lavaud does not appear page 96to have been at all well liked. He was too much of a martinet, and his decisions were in many cases too arbitary. His successor was a very different man, and by his great kindness and general ability soon won the goodwill of the settlers. Mr. Robinson, the English Magistrate, too, left in 1842 or 1843, and was succeeded by Mr. John Watson. Mr. Robinson's house was where Mr E. E. Lelievre's house now stands. He bought 5 acres from the French Association there, and put up a dwelling, which was used as a R M. Court. Mr. Robinson was not at all liked by the colonists, but his successor, Mr. Watson, was universally esteemed both by English and French for his great impartiality in the administration of justice, and his general kindliness.

When the settlers arrived. there were not many Maoris in the neighbourhood of Akaroa. It is true there were pahs at Onuku, Wainui and Tikao Bay, but these had only some fifty or sixty inhabitants altogether, and they were a most weak harmless lot, whose leading vice appeared to be the habit of begging incessantly for everything they saw. In 1843, however, there were a good number in Port Levy, Pigeon Bay, Little River and Kaiapoi, and it was then first reported that they were going to unite and make an attack upon the infant Colony during the absence of the frigate at Valparaiso for stores. Of course, with the man of war in harbour, the colonists knew they were quite safe, but they did not by any means like the idea of being attacked whilst she was absent. However, one thing was certain, the vessel must go for stores, and so the best possible arrangements were made for defence in case of an attack being made. A garden had been established at French Farm by Commodore Lavaud for the growth of vegetables for bis crew, and here fifteen or sixteen sailors were left under the command of a quartermaster. Some five or six more men, all that could possibly be spared from the ship, were stationed at Akaroa. Their precautions, however, were not confined to this, for it was determined to erect three blockhouses as places of retreat in case the Maoris came. The sites for these page 97blockhouses were selected as follows:—Where the Bruce Hotel now stands, near the beach just at the back of the present police station, and in German Bay. They were very strongly built, the upright timbers being 8 feet x 8 feet, while the planking was of black pine four inches thick. They were two storeys high, the upper storey overlapping the lower, as we see in the old English houses in Chester and elsewhere, in order that those above could fire down on any Maoris who attempted to fire she building below. A ditch four feet wide at the bottom and eight feet at top was also dug round the walls, the earth out of which was made into a sloping bank against the sides of the house, and the ditch was filled with water. The only admittance to these houses was by a drawbridge acroes the moat, and thence by a ladder to a door in the upper storey, there being no entrance at all from below. When the drawbridge was up and the ladder raised, those within were nearly perlectly safe from any attack the Maoris could have made, for the four inch boards would stop any bullet from an ordinary gun. As a matter of course there were loopholes here and there for the defenders to fire from if the place were besieged.

These blockhouses were never used but once, and that was during the absence of the ship, when the news was brought that some 250 Natives were coming from the north to attack them. The rumour spread rapidly, and the more cautious removed their wives and children and more precious goods into the blockhouses, and slept there at night. Sentinels were also posted to give notice of the Maoris' approach, and the men were drilled and armed with a carbine, cutlass and two pistols each At last the word came that from 60 to 100 strange Maoris were actually on their way from Pigeon Bay All the people then living in German Bay went into the blockhouse, and when the Maoris found them so well prepared, they of course announced that they came as friends only. they passed on and went into Akaroa, meeting the leaders of the colonists near the present site of the police station. They announced that they came not as foes, but as page 98friendly visitors, and were accordingly welcomed and had some food given them, after partaking of which they entertained their hosts by giving one of their war dances in grand style, and then went on to the Kaik at Onuku, As a whole the colonists behaved very well daring the trial; bat one gentleman caused much amusement. This was rather a diminutive Frenchman, whose counsels were of blood and thunder before the Maoris arrived. He argued that it was no good going in for half measures; that they must put their foot down and show the Natives what they could do. He scorned the idea of anything approaching a compromise, as degrading to a band of resolute Europeans, and said if they were only firm the savages must yield. When the Maoris really did come, however, a change came over the spirit of the heroic man, and as he gazed at the fierce tattoed faces, sinewy limbs and great bulk of the Native warriors, his face grew whiter and whiter, and at last he was unable to bear their terrible aspect any longer, and sneaked off into the blockhouse, much to the amusement of his comrades. He was the only man that showed the white feather; but the week the Maoris stopped was a time of anxiety, and the greatest possible precaution was exercised, for all feared that the least relaxation of watch fulness would be the signal for an attack. One night Mr. Green fired a shot, and producad quite a panic, every one fancying the struggle had come at last. However, after a week's peaceful sojourn at Onuku, Wainui and Tikao Bay, the strange Natives went away, most of them going back via Little River, Borne of the planking of the blockhouse behind the police station was used for the small building by the Akaroa Domain tennis courts, and the holes for the rifles may still be seen

There was one pleasant custom observed during these early days, which was, that every family gave a feast to the rest of the colonists annually. These meetings were pleasant ones indeed; whilst the older colonists related their experiences to each other, the younger danced and made love in just the same manner as they do now-a days. At the end of the five years the colonists all got their five page 99acres. Many of them had fulfilled the conditions laid down by the French Association, but that was not ailowed to stand in the way, and an English Crown grant was promised and given to all who applied.

There were sometimes disputes between the French officers, and one of these culminated in a duel, which was fought in the present Lavaud street, Akaroa, in the end of 1845 or beginning of 1846. The combatants were the Commissioner and Dr. Renaut. the doctor in chief of the French man of war Le Rhin, which Commodore Berard commanded. The people on shore were of opinion that something extraordinary must be going on, for the combatants, accompanied by their friends, went round the place early on the morning of the duel, discharging every little liability due to the townspeople. The duel was fought on the sandy beach where the Akaroa Recreation Ground has since been reclaimed. The distance (25 paces) was carefully and solemnly measured by the seconds in the presence of a group of officers, and the weapons, which were pistols, were carefully loaded and presented to the duellists. Lots were then drawn for the first fire, and the Commissioner won. Taking a steady aim, he fired, but; the cap was defective, and did not ignite the priming, Dr. Renaut then raised his pistol and fired low. The bullet cut the trousers and grazed the right thigh of the Commissioner, but did no further damage. No doubt irritated by his narrow escape, the Commissioner called out angrily to reload, but the seconds declared that wounded honour was fully satisfied, and refused to allow the combat to proceed further. There was another circumstance which also tended to stop further hostilities. The Commodore was, of course, as well aware of what was going to take place as any officer in the Le Rhin, but etiquette forced him to appear unconscious, During the time the preparations for the duel were being made, he was pacing in front of the ol 1 Roman Catholic Church, at the back of the site of Mr. Kerridge's stables, but before they fired he stepped behind, so as not to see the duel. Directly he heard the shot, however, he hastened to the scene of the page 100combat, and, of course, the mere fact of his presence prevented its being carried further. The causes leading to the duel are not known, but are believed to have arisen from a trivial disagreement.