Research Article |
Corresponding author: Hugh R. Grenfell ( h.grenfell@orcon.net.nz ) Academic editor: Jennifer Hale
© 2024 Sascha Nolden, Hugh R. Grenfell.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Nolden S, Grenfell HR (2024) Ferdinand Hochstetter’s trip to Coromandel and Waiheke Island, 7–13 June 1859. Papahou: Records of the Auckland Museum 58: 3-25. https://doi.org/10.32912/papahou.58.143694
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This paper presents an annotated English translation of Ferdinand Hochstetter’s handwritten German-language manuscript diary from the period 7-13 June 1859 when he travelled on Captain John Grundy’s cutter Maid of the Mill to Coromandel and Waiheke Island in the company of Charles Heaphy and Julius Haast. Heaphy, explorer, surveyor, landscape artist and expert on the Coromandel goldfields, furnished Hochstetter with valuable information, and his maps, watercolours and pencil sketches from the excursion add visual evidence to the text. The diary is complemented by Auckland War Memorial Museum’s archival volume (MS-18) of receipts from Hochstetter’s visit and geological survey commissioned by the Auckland Provincial Government.
Kei roto i tēnei tuhinga ko tētahi whakapākehātanga o tētahi tuhinga a Ferdinand Hochstetter i tuhia ā-ringahia rā i tana rātaka i te takiwā o te 7-13 o Hune 1859, mō tāna haere mā runga i te kaipuke o Kāpene John Grundy e kīia ana ko Maid of the Mill, i tāna haerenga ki Te Tara-o-te-ika, ki Waiheke hoki ki te taha o Charles Heaphy rāua ko Julius Haast. He kaimātoro, he kairūri, he ringatoi taiao, he mātanga ki ngā wāhi koura hoki a Heaphy, i tāpiri ia i ētahi kōrero whakahirahira, i ētahi mapi, i ētahi whakaahua wai, i ētahi tuhinga hoki nō te haerenga hei whakaniko ataata mō ngā kupu. Ka noho tahi te rātaka ki te huānga (MS-18) e mau ana ngā whiwhinga nō te haerenga mai me te rūri mātai aronuku o Hochstetter, i tonoa ai e te Kāwanatanga ā-Rohe o Tāmaki Makaurau.
Auckland Museum, diaries, Charles Heaphy, Coromandel, Ferdinand Hochstetter, geology, goldfields, manuscript maps, pencil sketches, Waiheke Island, watercolours
This paper presents an annotated English translation of the manuscript German-language field diary of Ferdinand von Hochstetter (1829–1884) (Fig.
The original diary entries are found on the initial 14 pages
Hochstetter’s observations, commentary, and description of his visit provide an historical record of the knowledge of geology and state of the goldfields in 1859 and adds valuable insight into the relationship between Hochstetter and Heaphy (
Heaphy provided Hochstetter with a map of the area (
Hochstetter provided a first-hand account of a voyage on the Maid of the Mill captained by John William Grundy (1819–1883), in the Hauraki Gulf and Firth of Thames with descriptions of geological features and references to numerous islands. He also met people residing at Kawakawa Bay and Coromandel, stayed at George Beeson’s Coromandel Hotel, visited the property of James Preece (1801–1870), the sawmill of Charles Ring (1822–1906), and made reference to Frederick Septimus Peppercorne (1813–1882).
The important contribution of Heaphy is also most evident in the detailed summary of the history and state of the goldfields, the role of government in managing and licensing the field, and the manuscript maps and sketches in both pencil and watercolour, reproduced as figures in this paper. Other figures include three original sketches by Hochstetter in the diary, and printed and manuscript maps relating to the area provided by Heaphy with annotations and geological colouring by Hochstetter.
Hochstetter went on to publish a number of books and papers on New Zealand after his visit, and the geological exploratory excursion to Coromandel, and engraved illustrations based on Heaphy’s sketches are featured in his books on New Zealand, published in German (
The diary forms part of the Hochstetter Collection Basel, first documented and digitised by Sascha Nolden with the assistance of Sandy B Nolden from 2010 (
The diary is complemented as an historical primary source by the Auckland War Memorial Museum’s archival volume of financial records (correspondence, invoices, and receipts) relating to the Auckland Provincial Government commissioned Geological Survey. The volume with the reference number MS-18 is titled Expenses of the Geological Survey of the Auckland Province. Dr Ferdinand von Hochstetter. 1859–1860 (Auckland War Memorial Museum AWMM MS-18) (Fig.
This volume provides many pertinent details on all aspects of the geological survey, including names of persons contracted to assist, transport hired, freight costs incurred, provisions ordered, beverages consumed, equipment, photographs, books, maps and charts purchased, and surveys completed (e.g., Fig.
1. Ferdinand Hochstetter (1829–1884). Studio portrait by Bruno Lancel Hamel, 1859. Auckland War Memorial Museum, PH-ALB-84-p5-1. 2. Julius Haast (1822–1887). Studio portrait attributed to Bruno Lancel Hamel, 1859. John Webster Collection, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 881-01. 3. Charles Heaphy (1820–1881). Cabinet card studio portrait of Heaphy in military uniform wearing his Victoria Cross medal, c. 1867. Auckland War Memorial Museum, PH-2007-12-1.
4. Hochstetter’s fourth New Zealand diary, which opens with the entries describing the trip to Coromandel and Waiheke Island. Hochstetter Collection Basel. 5. Auckland Museum’s archival volume, Expenses of the Geological Survey of the Auckland Province. Dr Ferdinand von
7 June
At 12 o’clock the 18-ton cutter Maid of the Mill, Captain J Grundy
Waiheke is a romantic island with numerous bays, half belonging to the government, half to Māori; low hill country, still partly forested; much firewood is shipped from there to Auckland. Pukeokai
The shores of Matuku Bay (Fig.
Copper ore is also said to occur further north on the east coast of the island. Red jasper is said to be the main rock of the island, and also predominant on Pakihi Island
Regarding the rest of the terrain we passed today, the following notes:
Motutapu
Taylor’s Island
Brown’s Island
All the other islands east of here are of the primary formation.
The tuff crater at Tamaki Creek Point
Tuff | Faults where tuff craters! [page 3]
Charles Heaphy, ‘Te Matuku Waiheke’, 1859, with the Maid of the Mill (right). Pencil on paper, 121 × 213 mm. Hochstetter Collection Basel, HCB 1.4.5;
Charles Heaphy, ‘Vom Manganese Point, Waiheke aus’ [From Manganese Point, Waiheke Island], June 1859. The Maid of the Mill in centre. Pencil on paper, 234 × 381 mm. Hochstetter Collection Basel, HCB 1.4.6;
Wednesday, 8 June
We had made ourselves as comfortable as possible in our tents on Waiheke Island. At night a fresh wind blew from the south, and in the morning clear skies, fine weather, like the most beautiful summer day. We had to load the cutter with ballast in order to be safe for the crossing of the Firth of Thames, in which the sea is usually extraordinarily high. The boat was also set; then breakfast.
All this kept us for so long that we were not able to lift anchor before 10 o’clock. Unfortunately the southerly breeze died just as we were about to pass south of Ponui Island in the Sandspit Passage to sail out into the open Firth of Thames, we lay there becalmed for two hours before a strong tide carried us back. Around 1 o’clock the breeze rose again, a light breeze from the east, a sea breeze, as usual when the weather is very fine. As the wind was blowing straight from Coromandel, we unfortunately had no prospect of reaching Coromandel and preferred to anchor in Taupo Bay
Taupo is a pretty bay surrounded by hills, in which there are several Māori settlements. The main settlement bears the name Taupo
Untitled map of Auckland, the Firth of Thames, and Coromandel Peninsula, showing Great South Road and the route of the journey from Auckland to Waiheke Island and Kawakawa Bay. Watercolour, ink and pencil on linen-backed paper, ca 240 × 560 mm. Hochstetter Collection Basel, HCB 3.2.12;
A closer examination, however, shows that the diorite-like boulders are only weathered core material, which are surrounded by iron-rusty crusts in the bedrock. The rock is completely devoid of fossils and without clear stratification, a strongly metamorphosed greywacke-like sandstone, which sometimes has a very fine-grained crystalline diorite appearance and which I have to attribute to the same formation as the jasper and more argillaceous rocks. The same rocks are on the opposite side, on the shores of Ponui Island.
We were back on board at sunset. The expected southerly land breeze sprang up slowly after sunset and at 8 o’clock in the evening we sailed at 5 knots on a glorious moonlit night across the Firth of Thames. By 9.30 pm we were at the small island of Tuhuia:
But now near land the wind left us, and partly with the tide, partly by light breezes, we slowly advanced 3 miles to within the Heads of Coromandel Harbour, where we anchored about 2 o’clock in the morning near the southern land.
Thursday, 9 June
Glorious morning after a dewy, starry night. Only then could I fully see where we were. To the right and left steep cliff shores rising to sharply defined forestless hills, in the background wooded jagged mountain peaks = Castle Hill
Charles Heaphy, ‘Coromandel Harbour’. The Maid of the Mill left of centre. Pencil on paper, 125 × 217 mm. Hochstetter Collection Basel, HCB 1.4.12;
The heads on both sides at the harbour entrance consist of trachytic tuffs and conglomerates just like in the Patetere Plateau
Many mistakes in the spelling of the names on the English nautical chart of Auckland Harbour.
Read instead of:
Pakii – Pakihi
Hieh – Ihi
Rakino – Urakino
Maidedea – Mateatea
Waroa Bay – Awawaroa
Shouraka – Hauraki
Ponoui – Ponui (also called Motuna)
Rotaro – Tarataroa
Pakatoa – Pakatua
Tarekeh – Tarakihi
Tapu – Motu tapu
Koreho – Korea
Also on the southeast side of Waiheke two bays cut much deeper than shown on the chart, Matuku Bay where we anchored is one of those bays (Fig.
‘Map of the Auckland District. 1852.’ Published by Smith, Elder & Co. London, & J. Williamson, Auckland, 1853. Watercolour, ink and pencil on printed map, 327 × 407 mm. Fragment with annotations by Hochstetter. Hochstetter Collection Basel, HCB 3.2.14;
We were lying in complete calm just inside the harbour entrance, which gave me the opportunity to examine the cliffs on both banks – all trachyte breccia, as at Manukau North Head, only a little more weathered and decomposed, and in the breccia-forming rocks predominantly trachyte with lighter colours, white with hornblende crystals or red with brown mica and sanidine, very similar to porphyry.
We cooked our breakfast and a very light sea breeze that came in slowly took us deeper into the harbour. But now the boat was deballasted again and we rowed along the north-west shore of the harbour.
The Māori call the Coromandel Harbour Waiau, one of the most beautiful and best harbours in New Zealand, surrounded by small neat bays separated by projecting rocky headlands. The outer islands and peninsula surrounding the harbour are owned by the government, [page 6] but the interior of the mainland is all in the hands of the Māori. Here the pā of the Māori, and there in small bays the first settlements of European settlers. We landed at Aropawa Bay
We had a glass of beer here.
Patapata Point
Charles Heaphy, ‘Trachyt-Breccie. Patapata Point am Coromandel-Hafen, Prov. Auckland’ [Trachyte breccia at Patapata Point in Coromandel Harbour, Auckland Province], [1859]. Watercolour and pencil on paper, 213 × 122 mm. Hochstetter Collection Basel, HCB 1.4.9;
From there we crossed to Kowhai Point
The next day Heaphy brought me a large quantity of such quartz crusts with kidney-like surfaces from Teteka Point
Silica extrusions in the form of chalcedony, carnelian, agate, jasper are very characteristic of the trachyte tuffs and trachyte breccia, sometimes in the form of thin veins running through, sometimes in kidney-shaped, almond-shaped extrusions. In addition, there are large blocks of silicified wood found all over the Coromandel coast, which also belong to the trachytic tuff rocks. All these are the same occurrences like those in the trachyte breccias and tuffs on the west coast north of Manukau Harbour. These silica extrusions belonging to the volcanic sedimentary rock outcrops must be strictly distinguished from the gold-bearing quartz outcrops associated with the primary rock.
The characteristics of the trachyte tuffs and breccias are as follows:
In the vicinity of the sawmill
Upper: Charles Heaphy, ‘Motu roa an der Mercury Bay Nordinsel’ [Moturoa at Mercury Bay, North Island]. Pencil on paper, 235 × 292 mm. Hochstetter Collection Basel, HCB 1.4.11;
A peculiar occurrence in the trachyte breccia is the carbonaceous layers, in the bed of the Hinau Creek
Trachyte breccia clayey decomposed:
Sandy clay 1 foot
Carbonaceous layer ½ foot
Trachyte breccia 2½ feet
Coal ½ foot
Trachyte breccia 1 foot
Coal 2 inches
Trachyte breccia
The strata strike h 8–9 and dip at 30° towards North East.
The coal is a good black glance coal, but so contaminated with pyrites and clayey components that one [page 9] can hardly speak of coal, but only of very thin veins of coal, one inch thick. Besides, there is no coal formation here, hence no hope that a coal seam worth mining will ever be found.
Under the trachytic tuffs and breccias in the deep creek gorges, primary phyllite slate rocks soon emerge, such as in the Mataawai Creek
Charles Heaphy, No. 7. Black Boulder Peak. Castle Hill. Coromandel Harbour. [1859]. Ink and watercolour on paper, 320 × 460 mm. LDGSL/209 Geological Society of London. Note: This watercolour was one of seven Heaphy sent to the Geological Society of London together with a manuscript map to illustrate his paper on the Auckland volcanic field in 1859 (
Friday, 10 June
Gold diggings
When we arrived at Kapanga Creek
Fine fertile soil, a fertile alluvial bed about one mile wide and four miles long. On the east side of the port, from which small streams and river valleys run into the forest mountains. All vacant undeveloped land, the best location for a town on the shore of a fine harbour, but the Māori have only sold the hills that form the outer arms of the harbour and are now stubbornly refusing to sell any more, since the tribe, consisting of about 30 people, actually owns very little land. The Māori have only given the European sawmillers permission to exploit the kauri forests, and expect to be paid about 15 shillings to £1 for each kauri trunk.
After half an hour of walking we came to Mr Ring’s sawmill. Mr Ring
Charles Heaphy, ‘Coromandel gold district: Distinguishing the apparent geological formations’, 1857. Manuscript map, pencil, ink and watercolour on paper, 700 × 760 mm, with later annotations by Hochstetter. Universitätsbibliothek der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Historische Geographische Sammlung: AG 72-1.
The people couldn’t make a profit due to the high taxes, and so the matter came to an end, the gold deposits were said to be too poor, and the promised reward to the discoverer
So the matter is now in complete hiatus. – Two tribes, Peter in Kapanga, and Kitahi on the Waiau gave permission to dig for gold, but the land where the gold was dug belonged to Paul’s tribe and Paul wanted 30 shillings per month for everyone who came either for prospecting or digging. The resistance of Paul mainly a result of the influence of the missionaries, stopped the matter
A. Charles Heaphy, ‘Waitapu (holy water) Coromandel-Chief’. Watercolour and pencil on paper, ca 440 × 290 mm. Hochstetter Collection Basel, HCB 1.4.7;
Most of the gold is always found in the narrow valleys, where one can dig 4–5 feet deep through boulders onto the rock. Where the valleys extend in broader alluvial plains, there is always little and very light gold found. On the Kapanga the gold is always unrolled in flakes. But heavy gold and more tumbled at the Waiau.
We went to a small side stream of the Kapanga Creek to work (Fig.
The following points are characteristic of the gold deposits in Coromandel:
Saturday, 11 June
Visited Mr Preece62. I had met the old gentleman in Auckland. He had promised to collect for me. Unfortunately I did not find him at home, but I did find various shells and stones ready for me, which I took with me. His farm
Addendum to the Gold diggings:
At the point where we washed were the following circumstances:
poor | kauri | Ring’s | Coolahan’s
The gold-bearing alluvial is very superficial and was found richest up-stream of a large kauri tree. A gravel bed of quartz mixed with rotten vegetable matter on top and below large blocks of quartz 2–3 feet in diameter embedded in yellow or white clay. Down-stream of the kauri tree the gravel bed disappeared, that above only had a thickness of 4–5 feet overall, but the gold-bearing layer at most 6–18 inches. There were attempts [page 14] made to a depth 20 feet in one place, 27 feet in another, but nothing was found at depth except decomposed trachyte breccia.
Sunday, 12 June
The glorious weather, which has favoured us so much up to now, seemed changed today. After sunrise a southeasterly wind started, the mountains covered with clouds, it started to rain and the intended tour up the mountains to the quartz reefs could not be carried out. So we decided to return to Auckland after having breakfast at Mr Ring’s, before bad weather set in, a real easterly seemed to be on the way, the barometer had fallen low. Unfortunately we had to wait for the tide to get our boat out of the Kapanga Creek and only got on board at 3 o’clock. Our little boat was ready, it looked very menacingly windy and rainy, but we had a good quick crossing, across the usually stormy Firth of Thames and anchored at 7 o’clock in Waroa Bay
Monday, 13 June
Rainy and stormy, we set sail again at 7 am, the weather improved to our great joy, we went to Auckland with a fair wind from southeast at 5 miles per hour, and arrived there safely at 10.30 am. Satisfying feeling of having completed a task. Thereby my forays in the province of Auckland have happily ended.
[end of diary entries]
Hochstetter was obviously highly satisfied by the end of this excursion, which although affected by the weather, something that might have been expected in winter, the overall outcome was first-hand experience of panning for gold in New Zealand and gaining a better understanding of the Coromandel goldfields, including their history. Also Hochstetter showed that the local coal was of little value. The outing was well managed by Heaphy who used his local knowledge and contacts, including diplomatic skills to facilitate access. Captain Grundy provided safe passage in his fine cutter, and made the most of weather-dependent situations, by ensuring Hochstetter was able to visit two bays on Waiheke Island for overnight stays, and to meet the local people at Kawakawa Bay as stopovers during the journey. Haast and others are not mentioned, but no doubt all played their parts and the provincial government kept everyone well accommodated and provisioned, as is evident from the invoices and receipts (Fig.
Following Hochstetter’s return to Auckland the following brief summary of the trip was published in the New Zealander newspaper:
Dr. Hochstetter’s Geological Exploration in Auckland.
Dr. Hochstetter, who left town in the “Maid of the Mill,” cutter, for Coromandel Harbour, on the 7th, returned on the 13th instant.
He was accompanied by Mr. Haast, and, on the part of the Provincial Government, by Mr. Heaphy, Provincial Surveyor. Mr. Kirkwood, the owner of the “White Swan” steamer, also accompanied the expedition, in order to ascertain personally the value of the coal recently found near Coromandel.
The islands of Waiheki and Ponui were examined, and the mainland at Taupo, near the Sand-spit Island, visited. The Manganese vein at Te Matuku was inspected, and specimens obtained of the various rocks and minerals.
At Coromandel Harbour the coal was examined and both gold fields explored. Mr. Heaphy and Mr. Ring pointed out a locality where a thin bed of auriferous quartz grit was known to exist, and the first shovel-ful washed yielded the usual show of grain and scale gold. Dr. Hochstetter then dug and washed a dish-ful, which yielded a quartz specimen, with a streak of gold through it of about the size of a hazel-nut, together with a considerable quantity of large scale gold – a most favourable “prospect;” and in every pan-ful washed, the gold scales abounded. We are not in possession of a knowledge of Dr. Hochstetter’s matured opinions on the subject, but we believe we may state that he considers the coal at Coromandel Harbour to be of insignificant extent, and that there exists a great quantity of gold not far from the locality where the specimens were obtained, but that the search should be carefully prosecuted amongst the quartz veins in the mountains rather than by digging in the al[l]uvial deposits. (New Zealander 18 June 1859)
At the end of his excursion to Coromandel (Fig.
The authors would like to thank John Early at Auckland War Memorial Museum for editorial advice, Mike Johnston of Nelson for reviewing the manuscript, Sandy B Nolden of Wellington for image processing, Caroline Lam Archivist & Records Manager at Geological Society of London, and Martin Collett and Elizabeth Lorimer at Auckland War Memorial Museum Library for their knowledge and assistance. Acknowledgement is also due to Auckland War Memorial Museum for providing a digital research copy of MS-18, and Geological Society of London for permission to reproduce Heaphy’s watercolour in Fig.