Page:Hokitika NZ Evans 1921.pdf/23

17 appropriate, and the one he would have chosen himself

Whitcombe Square.—Whitcombe is named as a tribute to the discoverer of the Whitcombe’s Pass who had both a passion and a genius for exploration, and found in the rugged mountains by the great “Divide” a wide and congenial field for the gratification of his bent. Whitcombe was unhappily drowned during one of his journeys, and his remains lie in the Greymouth cemetery, side by side with those of Townsend, one of his fellow explorers, and George Dobson, one of the victims of the Burgess-Kelly gang of bush rangers.



Mr W. Evans writes:—“Having read the newspaper article in the Hokitika “Guardian” by Mr D. J. Evans entitled “The Birth of Hokitika,” no doubt some early reminiscences of the town will be of interest to readers and to those of the early settlers still alive, who may read them. Strange to say I was in Hokitika in business at the corner of Camp and Wharf streets for a number of years as a wine, spirit and provision merchant, from 1866 to 1874—and well remember Mr D. J. Evans’ father coming into my office the morning after the now Mr D. J. Evans was born, to acquaint me of the event, and to say mother and child were both doing well. Mr Evans was a pleased man that morning—as the present D. J. Evans was their first and so far as I remember, their only child. I heartily congratulated him—he and I did business together up to the time I left Hokitika—we were always good friends. His wife was an exceptionally clever business woman; they were both much respected as honest, straight-forward family hotel keepers.

I arrived in Hokitika roadstead in 1865, the first year of the gold rush—by the steamer “City of Dunedin.” (This steamer was lost after coming through the Wellington Heads the folowing trip. All aboard, both passengers and crew were lost, as she was supposed to have turned turtle in the heavy sea running at the time.) The day we reached Hokitika roadstead, the s.s. “Alhambra,” Capt. John McLean, was there before us, and there were supposed to be about 1000 passengers on board the two vessels—all of whom were landed that day—being transhipped to the s.s. Maori, Capt. Malcolm. At that time there was not any steam tug for towing vessels over the bar, and the class of ships then in use were mostly small sailing craft and very small steamers, many of which were lying wrecks on the beach at the time of our arrival.

“I well remember our crossing the bar on a fine afternoon in 1865, and the s.s. Maori coming alongside the river bank which was lined with trees and supplejacks, which took some time to clear before we could land the passengers. We had the new Collector of Customs aboard, and he lost no time in collecting revenue from the owners of any goods landing in Hokitika at that time. I forget his name now, but he preceded Mr Patten who for so many years represented H.M. Customs