562 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



In 1852 the river had broken itself a fresh course straight out 

 to sea, leaving the accommodation-house so far from the river's 

 mouth that it was very difficult to attract the ferryman's 

 attention by shouting. On inquiry, I learned that the drifting 

 of the sand had left a hollow opposite the point at which the 

 river bent northward, and that consequently a flood had 

 broken through. On this same journey, I observed that the 

 mouths of the Ohau and Waikawa Elvers had also shifted, so 

 as to be farther apart than in the previous year ; and that 

 the track leading from the beach to Putiki Pa (in those 

 days we had to follow the beach nearly to the mouth of the 

 "Wanganui Pviver) had also changed materially in appearance, 

 though I could hardly describe the change, further than that 

 the hollows through which it ran had shifted their position. 



At Waikanae, at the dates which I have mentioned, there 

 was a constabulary station a short distance from the river's 

 mouth, on the south side. A nice grassy flat served as a 

 parade-ground, and the men lived in whares on both sides of 

 it, while the commanding officer's house faced the upper end. 

 I did not pass the spot again till I went to Wellington by 

 coach in 1868. I was only there for the few minutes that 

 were occupied in changing horses; but the pla-^e seemed 

 entirely changed. The station was gone, and, though there 

 was a small hotel, it did not seem to stand on the site of the 

 former officer's resideiace. I have since learned that I was 

 right in all this. The river by this time had entirely changed 

 its course for a considerable distance inland ; the new channel 

 had cut right through the old parade-ground ; and the only 

 trace of the officer's house consisted of some narcissus 

 roots which had been planted in the garden, and which 

 still struggle up through the sand year after year. Since 

 1880 the hotel, as such, has ceased to exist, and has been 

 occupied as a residence by my eldest son, whom I have visited 

 once or twice in each year, and so have observed the changes 

 that have latterly taken place. A sandhill 30ft. to 40ft. high, 

 which formerly stood almost behind the hotel, and which, 

 from the immense amount of pipi-shells which it contained, 

 formed a very conspicuous landmark for entering the river, 

 has been entirely blown away, and its contents are now 

 scattered over nearly flat ground. An isolated hill nearly as 

 high, which stood close to the beach on the south side of the 

 river, and behind which there was a hollow through which 

 the coach was sometimes driven, has also almost been blown 

 ~ away ; and where the track passed there is now a damp sand- 

 flat, some eight or ten chains wide, arising from the other 

 sandhills behind it being blown further inland. A very 

 appreciable portion of this flat occupies the site of a shallow 

 lagoon, the size of which has been proportionately reduced. 



