Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies, Volume 1, Issue 4, October 1984

Rafts and Canoes

Rafts and Canoes

Near the mouth of a wide river it was advisable to cross by raft or canoe. Here again the Maoris were the experts. Heaphy wrote the diary of the trip made by himself, Brunner, the faithful Kehu and another Maori down the West Coast from West Wanganui to Kawatiri and Aruara (the mouth of the Buller and Arahura). They set out from Nelson on March 17, 1846, and from West Wanganui on the 27th. By April 20th they were at the mouth of the Karamea River. The diary continues:

"21st (April 1846): Heavy rain; the river much flooded. Constructed a raft of flax stalks of korari, in length about 22 feet and in breadth about 4 feet 6 inches. A raft of this kind is now seldom seen. I will therefore give a description of its construction.

"A sufficient quantity of the dry flower-stalk of the flax being collected, which is not done without considerable labour, it is lashed tightly into bundles, each about 10 inches in diameter and 20 to 24 feet long. Two of these bundles are then placed side by side and are equivalent to the garboard strakes or planking next to the keel in a boat. They are left with square butts aft and, the natural bend of the stalk being taken advantage of, the bundle is formed convex in its length towards the water; the top or slender part of the stalk is placed forward, and the pointed end of the bundle becomes the head or cutwater of the craft. Two other bundles similar to the first are now lashed outside and slightly above them, and the four form the bottom. Projecting gunwales are now formed of two additional bundles, which are placed over the sightly outward of the last; the inner hollow is filled with the refuse stalk, with a pole placed lengthwise to give it strength, the vessel page 49is complete. Paddles have then to be cut and a mast with a blanket sail may be rigged if the wind is fair.

"Our raft, or moki – could be carried by the four of us. With our weight upon it of some 700 pounds it floated with its upper surface about an inch above the water. It was sufficiently strong to rise over a considerable swell without working loose and might be paddled at the rate of about two miles an hour.

"22nd: About noon the state of the river permitted our crossing, and, carrying the raft down the bank, we soon had it launched, and paddled away briskly for the opposite shore. The flax stalk is, however, of an absorbent nature, and before we had far passed the middle of the stream we found, by the decreasing buoyancy of the craft, that it was necessary to throw overboard the dog. This being done and not lightening her sufficiently, I followed into the water and swam the remainder of the distance; we all accomplished the passage of this large river safely and with the provisions and clothes dry and in good order."

"Early Travellers in New Zealand", Edited by Nancy M. Taylor.

When Brunner and four natives set out on the mammoth journey of 1846–8 along the Buller River and on to Paringa, he used a more primitive form of raft to cross the flooded Buller River. They had difficulty in finding material for a raft but constructed a small one.

Feb. 18th 1847: "Placed our kits of provisions on raft, and again crossed the river, and proceeded onwards. Fine day. In order to cross the river we had to resort to a new method. The fresh prevented us from fording, and we could not find enough timber for a raft to carry us, and the river runs too rapidly to admit of rafts re-crossing, so we made a small one on which we placed all our clothes, etc. The two fastest swimmers attached a small flax line to the raft, and commenced swimming across; the remaining three swam behind, pushing the raft forward with one hand. For this method you must choose a reach of at least a mile long to cross the Buller when swollen."

Early Travellers in New Zealand", Edited by Nancy M. Taylor.

There were times when crossing by moki or by canoe was not so fortunate. It was quite usual in the early days for a hotel proprietor to be required to ferry passengers across a river as part of a condition of his licence. This incident recorded by Charles L. Money occurred in the early sixties.

"My mate and I had arrived one afternoon on the south bank of the Buller and hoisted an old pair of trousers on the Maori flagstaff, as a signal for the canoe to come over for us from the township. It was during the vernal equinox and there was a high spring tide. There had been a vast amount of rain falling for some days so that the river was higher than I had yet seen it. A perfect hurricane was blowing in from the sea, bringing the tide, which was already near its full, far up from the swollen waters of the river. While we were waiting we heard a 'coing' to our left, in the direction from which we had originally come from the Grey River, and presently a number of men appeared coming towards us in twos and threes; one with no trousers, another with only a shirt and trousers and all more or less deficient as to wardrobe. They proved to be the passengers and crew of the 'Gypsy', a small vessel that had for some time been running between Nelson and the Buller River, and which had just been wrecked a few miles to the south. They soon joined us, and as we all stood waiting on the beach we saw Mr Skete and others launching from the opposite shore the little canoe in which Rowley and I had so often worked. It was a small boat, so that with those already in it there was scarcely room safely for more than two or three, but so anxious were those shipwrecked men to get to the township, that five got into the canoe besides taking some of the baggage they had brought with them. Rowley and I stayed behind with the rest and watched the voyage of the canoe. A heavy sea was running – when half way over, a bigger wave than usual broke into the canoe, but she righted again page 50and went on a lew yards further, when a second wave knocked her clean over and sent all hands into the water. We could see Mr Skete's long body clinging to one end of the canoe, and one or two others doing the same, but the rest we could not distinguish. When we went over a short time afterwards, we found they had all been saved with the exception of two."

Knocking About in New Zealand" – Charles L. Money.