Sir Thomas Mackenzie, who was one of the early pupils at the latter school, has forwarded to us the following reminiscences:
‘‘In the high country which we crossed, there were many sweet-scented plants covering the wilds. There was only one plant of spear grass — an exceedingly ugly, rigid one — which grew near our path, and whenever in foggy or misty weather we struck this plant we knew we were on the track. My father called it the aristocracy. It usually took us two hours each way to walk
the distance. This did not trouble us so much as the total absence of water all the way, and even after we reached the school the water procurable there was horrid and undrinkable. In summer time we went barefooted, which was really a great relief; had we worn shoes on these hot days they would have quite tired us out.
‘‘In winter we were well booted. My mother made us leggings out of sacks, and I was asked “wha pit me in the pokes?” Broad Scotch was the general speech of the school. I was much amused one day by the reply given by a boy to the teacher when asked why his brother was absent. ‘He’s at hame watching the wean’.
‘‘I liked Mr Allan very much. He was always kind and considerate, yet a man of strong character, and a good disciplinarian. The schoolhouse was situated just a short way in the bush’’.
Tiriti rumour quashed
Wellington, February 5: In a letter published in the Evening Post a correspondent stated that the original document of the Treaty of Waitangi had been stored in the Dominion Museum and had been destroyed by rats. An inquiry made today shows that this is not the case, as the original Treaty is now stored in the strongroom of the Government Buildings, Lambton Quay.
When the late Dr Hocken, of Dunedin, was searching for material for his historical notes on New Zealand he obtained permission to examine the documents stored in the basement of the Government Buildings, and among the papers was the original Treaty. It was found that some of the sheets had been damaged, mainly on the edges and had evidently been nibbled by rats.
Prior to the storing of the document a facsimile had been made. When it was discovered that some of the sheets had been damaged, the document was sent to the late Mr A. Hamilton, then director of the Dominion Museum, and the original papers were remounted by Mr J. McDonald, at present assistant director of the museum, on specially selected canvas, which will ensure
their preservation for all time. The original historic document is contained in a strong zinc case. There are six or seven sheets containing the signatures of the principal Maori chiefs in different parts of the country. Two of these sheets had been rather nibbled by rats, but with the aid of the facsimile the original has been practically restored to the state when it was signed. — by ODT Wellington correspondent
— ODT, 6.2.1926
