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Settlement 1853–78
Waihao River and the ‘Waimatemate forest’ nearby. On the outward journey he, too, kept to the coast. He spent three weeks chiefly in estimating the area and value of the more accessible forest resources. On his return he was held up for twelve days (27 March–7 April) by the swollen Rangitata and when crossing it was almost drowned. Two days later he walked some three miles upstream, camped on the ‘River Wakara or Hekeau’ (Hekeao, Hinds) and the North Ashburton near Alford Forest and then, after hurrying on in pouring rain, was again held up by the flooded Rakaia. His discomfort did not prevent his noticing and commenting on the ‘good soil, better than average of the plain’. While waiting for the level of the river to fall he turned back to examine Alford Forest and to look for game. Though hindered by renewed rain and thick growths of ‘kalo and talamea’ (matagouri and Spaniard) he was able to report that the bush consisted of ‘black pine forest with an occasional red pine’ but he overestimated its size as 40,000 acres. Finally, on 16 April, ‘with some risk’, he managed to ford the river.[1]
The experiences of a fifth traveller illustrate the nature of the coastal area. About three years later, in mid-May 1852, W. H. Valpy, son of a prominent Otago settler, rode south through the region with a companion. They were recommended to follow an inland route, forded the Rakaia near the hills and, after reaching the ‘summit’ of the high right bank, ‘took a S.W. course . . . by the compass’. Unluckily they changed direction for no apparent reason. As a result they ended the day, after passing the Ashburton River in ‘very rough swampy ground, thickly covered with flax and toi-toi’. They ‘could find no water [and] mixed a little brandy and oatmeal for . . . supper’. Remounting at daybreak, they were soon lost among ‘large swamps’ and only reached the Hinds River by twelve o’clock. That afternoon they tried to find a way to the beach but were obliged to return to their starting point ‘having been entirely beaten by the swamps’. On the third day they made a further fruitless attempt. Then, thoroughly disgusted with their lack of success, they rode a couple of miles inland, came out on a ‘hard and dry’ plain and, in about two hours, were at the Rangitata River. The account of their misadventures was published and should have served as a warning to all who later ventured into that region.[2]
Unfortunately, a year later, a man lost his life in this wilderness. Dr William Draper, a Canterbury settler, was stranded on an