Description
Shows a still dark green river with a virgin kauri forest, low scrub and flax on its far bank. In the centre of the view is a row-boat, with Colonel William Wakefield in top hat seated in the stern, trailing an oar. The other occupants of the boat are a Maori named Te Whare, a Rotuman named Saturday, Dr George Robinson, Dr John Dorset and Charles Heaphy. Heaphy is thought to be the fourth from the right, the young man with brown hair and a moustache. There are several ducks on the river to the left.
The scene is almost certainly the upper Wairoa River, as described by Colonel William Wakefield ' Higher up, where the river narrows to the breadth of the Thames at Kew, both sides presented magnificent forest - some entirely of kauri in a state of the greatest profusion' (quoted in The unknown Kaipara by Brian Byrne, p. 166).
Shows an incident that occurred after the grounding of the Tory on 19 December 1839. Painted after the event and dated 1840. See Wakefield, E. J. Adventure in New Zealand, vol. 1 p. 156ff. The boat was being rowed from Te Kopuru up the Wairoa River.
Other Titles - Kauri forest Colonel Wakefield
Image Licence
All Rights Reserved
Image Credit
Alexander Turnbull Library
Location
Wairoa River, Northland, New Zealand
Country
New Zealand
Tags
Category
Travel & Transport
