(1868–1918).

Bibliophile, and founder, Alexander Turnbull Library.

A new biography of Turnbull, Alexander Horsburgh appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull, son of Walter Turnbull (1823–97), was born in Wellington on 14 September 1868. His father was one of the originators of the general merchant firm of W. and G. Turnbull. Alexander was educated locally and, from 1882 to 1884, at Dulwich College, London. After leaving school he worked in his father's London office until 1892, interrupted by a short visit to New Zealand in 1886. Alexander's letters to his brother Robert show that much of this time in London was spent under considerable strain caring for his parents, particularly his father, who had become addicted to drink. In 1892 the family returned to New Zealand, Alexander apprehensive beforehand that his father would “keep all right on board ship”. Back in Wellington the family lived at “Elibank”, Bowen Street, and Alexander worked in the offices of W. and G. Turnbull, where “instead of being ordered about, I order, and I find that the latter is much the harder office to perform satisfactorily and wisely”. In 1897, after his father's death, he assumed full control of the firm until his retirement, owing to failing health, in 1917, when the firm was bought out by Wright Stephenson and Co.

Although Turnbull did not marry he led a busy social life, always wearing clothes specially tailored for him in England. He was active in a number of sports, particularly yachting. In 1892 he had built in Auckland a “5 rater” which he called the Rona. It was his interest in sailing that gave rise to Turnbull's only published work, a stilted, privately printed account of a cruise to Queen Charlotte Sound in 1902. His historical interest was reflected in the few notes he included on Captain Cook. He also contributed notes to the publication of a manuscript in his library dealing with Vancouver's discovery of Puget Sound and edited by E. S. Meany (Seattle, 1915). Although he published only the one slight work, Turnbull belonged to a number of learned societies. He was a fellow of the Linnean Society and of the Royal Geographical Society, honorary corresponding secretary of the Royal Colonial Institute, and a member of the New Zealand Institute and of the Polynesian Society. From 1900 to 1913 he was honorary vice-consular representative for Spain, in Wellington.

From the age of 17, Turnbull started to collect books. The inheritance of ample means both from his father's and, in 1901, from his uncle Robert's estates, enabled him to indulge this interest for the remainder of his life. He also built up good collections of Maori artefacts and coins; but books were his main delight, and in 1913 he donated the artefacts to the Dominion Museum to provide much-needed space in his home for the library. Three years later he moved out of the wooden “Elibank” to the nearby Victorian-Tudor brick building in Bowen Street which he had built, and which now, remodelled, still houses the Alexander Turnbull Library. In his will, Turnbull had bequeathed his “library” to the Crown and expressed the hope that it would form “the nucleus of a New Zealand National Collection”. A later Court action determined that “library” did not include the building. Consequently the Government bought the former residence.

The Library, now administered by the Department of Internal Affairs, retains its original character, but has trebled in size from the roughly 55,000 volumes and many maps, pictures, and manuscripts that it comprised on its founder's death. Turnbull's interests had been in the history and ethnology of his own country and its oceanic setting and in certain aspects of English literature and literary history. For convenience the Library is now divided into Pacific and non-Pacific collections, each with its own catalogue, and at present regrettably housed in widely separated buildings.

The Pacific section has as its foundation a comprehensive collection of early voyages. The great collected editions of Linschoten (1598), Hakluyt (1599–1600), De Bry (1590–1634) and others are notable. The printed accounts of practically every voyage of note since Magellan (1523) are to be found, together with many manuscript records. The earliest of these is a copy of the journal of Gallego, master pilot on Mendana's voyage of 1565, when he discovered the Solomon Islands. There is a fairly exhaustive gathering of printed literature relating to Captain James Cook, as well as his original manuscript log kept on board HMS Eagle, 1755-56. The presence of other manuscripts and of photocopies of many of the logs and journals relating to Captain Cook's voyages of discovery which are in libraries throughout the world, makes this a particularly strong section of the Library. There is also a fine collection of Antarctic expedition reports and manuscripts.

The Library today endeavours to cover exhaustively all aspects of the Pacific region, which is broadly defined as Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia. Special attention is paid to acquiring New Zealand material. The encircling continental lands–Australia, Asia, and the Americas–are, in general, covered only in those aspects that impinge on Pacific studies, although rather more attention is paid to Australia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. As well as printed works, increasing attention has been paid to the collection of manuscripts and, where the originals are not available, to photocopies of them. Thus the Library has on microfilm many series of documents from the Public Record Office and the Archives Nationales, Paris, as well as the relevant archives of the Church Missionary Society, London Missionary Society, and Methodist Missionary Society. Complementing these written and printed records is a collection of photographs of about 200,000 negatives and prints (especially strong in shipping), 5,000 maps, and 5,000 pictures and prints.

The non-Pacific collection is strongest in the field of English literature, with many first and rare editions of the major poets, novelists, and dramatists. Ranked among the finest in the world, the Milton collection is notable both for editions of Milton and for biographical and critical works. Good collections of seventeenth-century poetical miscellanies and of Dryden material are also to be found, along with fine sets of literary periodicals.

The development of the book and its precursors is a subject for collection. The study of paper, binding, illustration, and typography are well covered, and examples of fine printing range from such early notable presses as Aldus and Elzevir to the Nonesuch and Golden Cockerel.

Naval affairs and biography, folklore and witchcraft, Italian statecraft of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and early Scottish and Irish history form other good sections of this part of the library.

Alexander Turnbull died on 28 June 1918, and is buried in the Bolton Street Cemetery, Wellington.

by Michael Garnstone Hitchings, B.A., DIP.N.Z.L.S., Librarian, Hocken Library, Dunedin.

• Papers, 1871-1946, Turnbull, A. H. (MSS), Alexander Turnbull Library
• The Fascinating Folly, McCormick, E. H. (1961)
• New Zealand Official Yearbook, 1918, “The Alexander Turnbull Library–a Brief Description”, Taylor, C. R. H.

Captain of Aotea canoe.

Turi, the son of Ronga-tea-tai-marama and of Hina-rau-renga, was born at Mahaena on the north-east coast of Tahiti about 600 years ago. He left Tahiti with his people, the Ngati-Rongotea, and sailed to Raiatea Island in the Society (Tahiti) Group where he married Rongorongo, the daughter of the local chief Toto.

Turi became involved in a local conflict against the god Uenuku and decided to flee by sea. Toto had just felled a large tree growing by the banks of the Waiharakeke in Raiatea and half of this tree was hewn into the canoe Aotea. Kupe, who had made the voyage earlier, advised Turi to seek the river mouth near the Patea district. In about A.D. 1350 the Aotea with 33 passengers from three families set out for Aotearoa. They touched at Raoul Island (Kermadec Group) for repairs and were joined by some of the Kurahaupo's complement. They finally landed on the Taranaki coast at the mouth of the Patea River where they became the ancestors of the Taranaki, Ngati Ruanui, Nga Rauru, and Wanganui tribes of the West Coast.

by Robert Ritchie Alexander, M.A., DIP.ED.(N.Z.), B.T.(CALCUTTA), PH.D.(MINNESOTA), Teachers' Training College, Christchurch.

• Takitimu, Mitchell, J. H. (1944)
• Hawaiki–The Whence of the Maori, Smith, S. P. (1898)
• Turi of the Aotea Canoe, Houston, J. (1933).

The Kaimai Railway Tunnel, which is to be driven through the heavily forested Kaimai Range as part of a new 15 ½-mile railway deviation linking the eastern Waikato district with the Bay of Plenty, will have a completed length of 29,000 ft. It will be the longest tunnel in New Zealand, exceeding the length of the 28,864-ft Rimutaka Tunnel by 136 ft. Work on the earthworks as part of the construction of the tunnel approaches had already begun by October 1965. The tunnelling contract is to be let at the end of 1966, and it is hoped that the whole deviation will be ready for use about July 1970.

This major construction project, including the tunnel, station facilities, bridges, track, signalling, communications, and other equipment, is estimated to cost some £5,700,000. It is expected that more than 1,000,000 tons of railway freight will pass through the tunnel during the first year after it has been completed. Ministry of Works engineers are making extensive use of modern technology in their preparatory work, including helicopters to check surveys and to place trigometrical stations at various points in the ranges. To measure distances, they are using a tellurometer, which is an electronic measuring device worked by radar impulses.

by R.W.S.

New Zealand's ubiquitous hills and mountains have made tunnels a normal part of railway construction. Thus the Auckland-Wellington Main Trunk line of 426 miles includes 7¾ miles of tunnels. Few of the 25 tunnels are in really stable country. Full support has had to be given to the ground by timbering as excavation proceeded, and a substantial, permanent, concrete lining placed to “hold” the country.

*Curved

One of the first tunnels built in New Zealand connected Christchurch with its port of Lyttelton by single-track railway. It was begun in 1861 and cost £200,000 for a total length of 1 ½ miles. A two-lane road tunnel has now been built only a few chains away and almost parallel to the rail tunnel. It cost £3 million for 1 ? miles (with ancillary works) and was completed in February 1964. The construction entailed precise surveying and levelling, drilling and blasting of rock, earthmoving, draining, concrete lining, lighting and ventilation – this last a most important consideration in road tunnels. This tunnel is fully ventilated using the “cross-ventilation” system with inlet and outlet exhaust fans, each capable of moving 320,000 cu. ft. of air per minute. Electric monitoring and measuring devices will quickly detect noxious gases (especially carbon monoxide) and, by remote control of ventilating machinery, will keep them below danger level. The tunnel is lined throughout with ceramic tiles and has special lighting installed. There are 2 ½ miles of special approach roading, with bridges, toll plaza, traffic stations, and roundabout. The tunnel itself and its buildings contain interesting (and for New Zealand entirely novel) uses of precast, pre-stressed concrete. The breakthrough took 12 months; an average of 23 ft of completed tunnel was driven each day (800 cu. yd. of rock excavated) by a three-shift construction team.

The construction of the Otira Tunnel through the Southern Alps has had possibly a greater influence than any other single factor on the development of the West Coast of the South Island. This singletrack railway tunnel is 5 ? miles long. It was begun in 1908 and, after many difficulties, finished in 1921. It is 15 ft 6 in. high and 15 ft wide. There are no lights in the tunnel. Natural ventilation has proved sufficient, as the railway is electric.

The Tawa Tunnels, giving better railway access from the west coast of the North Island to Wellington, were excavated only with great difficulty. The two tunnels aggregate 3 ½ miles in length and are on a grade of about 1 in 120. The finished dimensions of the tunnel inside the 2 ft-thick concrete lining are width, 26 ft and height, 20 ft. The dangerously unstable and variable nature of the ground made it necessary to “timber” the whole tunnel immediately after excavation. Each of the 8-ft long arch segments making up a “set” was cut from 10 in. × 10 in. timber; the spacing of these sets was generally at 5 ft 3 in. centres, but at times it was necessary to place them at 1 ft 4 in. centres–almost touching. These tunnels were completed in 1937.

The 5·46-mile railway tunnel through the Rimutaka Ranges 30 miles north of Wellington was driven through better country. The contractor was therefore able to use “full face” mechanised excavation techniques throughout, the maximum progress being 425 ft of excavation in a week. The tunnel was begun in October 1953 and completed in November 1955. It is 15 ft 4 in. wide and 17 ft high.

The Homer Tunnel, which links Milford Sound and the Hollyford Valley, had many unusual construction difficulties. The Hollyford portal, at an elevation of 3,000 ft, is at the foot of vertical rock faces 2,000 ft high, at the head of a glaciated valley. Destructive snow avalanches, accompanied by tremendous air blasts, caused several fatal accidents and often damaged outside installations, including the destruction of the substantial reinforced concrete shelter which extended some 10 ch out from the portal. The air blasts have been known to shear off 12-in. hardwood poles 4 ft above ground level, blow over a crawler tractor weighing 4 tons, and shear off 20-in-diameter beech trees without uprooting them. The tunnel, 20 ft by 12 ft in cross section, had to be driven down hill on a grade of 1 in 10 through some 3,500 ft of extremely hard granite-type rock. When the tunnel was completed, the rock continued to “pop” in places, and so regular scaling of loose rock had to be carried out. Rock bolting was also used.

Tuna are fast-swimming, torpedo-shaped fish found in all warm tropical and subtropical seas. Each species ranges widely, its distribution controlled by the water temperature, ocean currents, and available food (small fishes). Tuna tend to be most abundant in areas of upwelling and along current boundaries, particularly where there are local eddies. There are four such areas of upwelling off the New Zealand coast, which may prove to be productive fishing grounds: the subtropical convergence, which extends eastwards from the coast between Banks Peninsula and East Cape, according to the season; the Southland – sub-Antarctic convergence, about or south of Stewart Island; the Westland – west Auckland convergence, north of Cape Egmont; and some areas located off East Cape, Fishing Industry). Various methods are used in other countries to catch tuna commercially: trolling, with a feathered lure; pole fishing, using barbless hooks on short lines and attracting the tuna to the boat with small live fish thrown into the sea; long lining, with drifting mid-water setlines; purse seining, with large encircling nets; or arranging enormous traps (madragues) to intercept the tuna on their seasonal migrations.

At least four species of tuna are known from New Zealand waters: the southern tunny (or southern bluefin tuna), Thunnus maccoyi; the yellowfin tuna, Neothunnus macropterus; the long-finned albacore, Thunnus alalunga; and the striped bonito, Katsuwonus pelamis. Others which may occur are the northern tunny (northern bluefin tuna), Kishinoella tonggol; and the frigate mackerel, Auxis thazard. In view of the importance of tuna fishing in some overseas countries, attempts are now being made to develop the industry in New Zealand.

Closely related to the tunas are the mackerels (represented in New Zealand by the southern mackerel, Pneumatophorus japonicus), the marlins, and the broadbill swordfish.

by Lawrence James Paul, B.SC., Fisheries Division, Marine Department, Wellington.

The Tukituki River drains the eastern part of the central Ruahine Range. Its catchment (area, 955 sq. miles) lies between those of the Manawatu River in the south and Ngaruroro River in the north. It is made up of a number of separate rivers rising mostly in the main range, and all flowing across the Ruataniwha Depression. Of these, the Makaretu, Tukipo, and Tukituki have a confluence above Waipukurau, the Mangaonuku and Waipawa join above Waipawa, and the resulting two large rivers joining two miles down stream from Waipawa. In the first half of their courses the rivers flow nearly east-west across the grain of the country. After the confluence the Tukituki swings north-north-eastwards along the grain to flow into the sea on the southern shores of Hawke Bay.

Although in the early days of settlement the river was used by barges to transport goods as far as Waipawa, increased erosion in the headwaters has now made it very shallow right to the mouth.

The minimum measured flow was 150 cu. ft. per second in 1948, and the highest measured flood flow was 200,000 in 1938. In 1893 floods on the Tukituki River washed away the bridges at Tamumu and Patangata, as well as spans of the railway bridge at Waipawa. The river also flooded the township of Clive.

According to a legend two taniwha lived in a lake situated somewhere in the upper basin of the present Tukituki River. They fought for possession of a boy who fell accidentally into the lake and their struggles formed the Waipawa and Tukituki Rivers which drained the lake. Tukituki means “to demolish” and it is thought that this refers to the destruction of the lake mentioned in the story.

by Thomas Ludovic Grant-Taylor, M.SC., New Zealand Geological Survey, Lower Hutt.

The tui is the largest of the honeyeaters (family Meliphagidae) which are native to New Zealand. The other two representatives are the bellbird and stitchbird.

The tui is rather bigger than the introduced European blackbird. Its plumage is predominantly a shining bluish and greenish black with silver-grey neck filaments and with two dangling tufts of white curved feathers at the throat. Males are slightly larger than females. There are two subspecies – one belongs to the Chatham Islands, where it is now rather scarce; the other is found on North, South, and Stewart Islands, a number of off-shore islands, and also on the Kermadec and Aucklands groups. It is a little smaller and less blue in sheen than the former race. This subspecies is common on the outskirts of most areas of native forest, occurs about plantations of introduced trees, and may often be found in towns and cities if nectar-bearing trees and shrubs are abundant.

Tuis have a loud undulating flight and frequently indulge in aerial acrobatics – twisting, falling, and audibly opening and shutting their wings. When feeding on nectar they use their brush-tipped tongue, and in this process they pollinate a number of native trees and shrubs by virtue of the pollen that clings to the plumage of their head. In autumn and winter they eat berries and insects.

Their song is rich and varied – musical phrases are interspersed with noisy janglings, hissings, mewings, and gurglings. It is frequently difficult to distinguish between the song of the tui and bellbird on the one hand, and of the tui and kokako on the other. The species is also an accomplished mimic. Occasionally a quiet subsong may be heard, and females have been reported to sing while incubating.

Breeding occurs between September and early January and nests are wide, shallow structures made of sticks and usually built well up in trees and tall shrubs. The average clutch is three eggs.

The scientific name for the species is Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae.

by Gordon Roy Williams, B.SC.(HONS.)(SYDNEY), Lecturer in Agricultural Zoology, Lincoln Agricultural College.

(1805?–44).

Paramount chief of the South Island.

A new biography of Tuhawaiki, Hone appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Tuhawaiki (ancestral war god) was born about 1805 at Inchclutha, South Otago, the son of Cairo and Kura, and the nephew of Whakataupuka (Taboca), the principal chief of the Murihiku Maoris. The whalers and traders dubbed him “Bloody Jack” because of his fondness for that expletive, but on being converted to Christianity, he learned to be ashamed of his nickname. He first came to prominence in 1831 as the leader of a commando group who ambushed Te Rauparaha near Cape Campbell, the wily Ngati Toa chief being fortunate to escape. In 1835 Taiaroa and Tuhawaiki (now paramount chief of the Ngai Tahu) led a strong party who again inflicted severe losses on the Ngati Toa, and in retaliation Te Puoho led a war party in the summer of 1836 in an amazing journey down the West Coast, over the Haast Pass and through central Otago to Tuturau (near Mataura) where Tuhawaiki overwhelmed them.

On 29 April 1840, in the splendid regalia and uniform of a British aide-de-camp, Tuhawaiki boarded HMS Herald and signed the Treaty of Waitangi. Four years later, having been converted to Christianity, Tuhawaiki sailed his own ship – the Perseverance – to Ruapuke Island with Bishop Selwyn on board as a guest. On his return to Wellington he met the Governor and was made welcome by many of the officials.

Tuhawaiki had already made many smaller land sales in the South Island when, on 26 July 1844, he, with other Otago chiefs, negotiated the sale of the Otago Block to Tuckett, Symonds, and Clarke. The price paid was £2,400 and Tuhawaiki signed the deeds as “Towack, King of the Bluff”. In the spring of the same year Tuhawaiki was drowned off Timaru.

The highly intelligent Tuhawaiki was praised almost to excess by Europeans who came into contact with him. Monro was impressed by the extent of his knowledge and his natural shrewdness. Dr Edward Shortland regarded him as a piece of living evidence of the whalers' civilising work, while Watkin, the missionary, recorded in his diary: “Tuhovaiki has a splendid Captain's uniform and when he appears in it might not be ashamed to stand alongside the first military dandy or he of him. He has got quite a military air”.

by Robert Ritchie Alexander, M.A., DIP.ED.(N.Z.), B.T.(CALCUTTA), PH.D.(MINNESOTA), Teachers' Training College, Christchurch.

• Pioneering on South Otago, Waite, F. (1948)
• The History of Otago, McLintock, A. H. (1949)
• Southland Times, 4 Dec 1937, “The Tuturau Maori Road”, Beattie, H.

(1807-76).

New Zealand Company surveyor.

A new biography of Tuckett, Frederick appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Frederick Tuckett was born in 1807 of Quaker parents at Frenchay, near Bristol, where he was educated before being apprenticed to a tanner. From 1829 to 1831 he travelled in the United States and, on returning to England, studied civil engineering. He worked under Brunel, supervising the construction of the Great Western Railway, and while thus employed was appointed on 22 April 1841 principal surveyor and civil engineer to the New Zealand Company's Nelson settlement. On his arrival, Tuckett disagreed with Captain Arthur Wakefield over the siting of the town, but eventually he surveyed the allotments. In November 1842 he sent S. J. Cotterell to explore the Wairau, visiting the district himself in March 1843. On the basis of Tuckett's favourable report, Wakefield decided to proceed with the Wairau Plains survey, thus precipitating the fatal Wairau Affray on 17 June 1843. Tuckett, who strongly disagreed with the Company's action, was one of the party, but escaped in the brig Victoria.Colonel William Wakefield, the Company's principal agent in New Zealand, appointed Tuckett Acting Resident at Nelson during the stormy months following Arthur Wakefield's death.

In 1844, Colonel Wakefield instructed Tuckett to find a suitable South Island site for the Company's projected Scottish Free Church colony of New Edinburgh. Although the Company favoured Port Cooper (Lyttelton), Tuckett was not impressed, and after a cursory examination, decided to look further south, landing at Moeraki (Otago) on 18 April 1844. He travelled overland to Waikouaiti, and thence through almost impenetrable forests to Otakou (Otago) Harbour. He sent his brig Deborah to the Molyneux (Clutha), while he and David Monro followed Dr Shortland's overland route. They skirted the wide South Otago plain and noted a large coal deposit near Kaitangata. On the completion of his inspection of the South Otago district, he sailed for Foveaux Strait, calling at Tautuku Bay and Waikawa, and satisfying himself that there were insufficient lands in these areas. On 1 June 1844 he returned to the Clutha and proceeded overland via Lake Kaitangata, the Tokomairiro plains, and Lake Waihola, to the Taieri and thence along the coast to Otago harbour. On 20 June 1844, having decided that this site was ideal, he purchased the 400,000-acre Otago Block from Tuhawaiki and other southern Maori chiefs. Before this could be surveyed, Tuckett learned of the New Zealand Company's financial difficulties and took the opportunity to quit its service. Tuckett returned to England in 1847, where he took a keen interest in the Aborigines Protection Society, in immigration, and in the temperance movement. He died in April 1876.

A man of firm principles and stalwart in every sense, including a preference for his own opinions, Tuckett was always difficult to work with. This notwithstanding, he was an extremely competent engineer and surveyor, and richly deserves an honoured place among the “fathers” of the Nelson, Marlborough, and Otago settlements. Sir David Monro, who knew Tuckett well, warmly praised his efforts at advancing the colonisation of New Zealand.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• History of Otago, McLintock, A. H. (1949)
• Marlborough – A Provincial History, McIntosh, A. D. (1940).

(Amphidesma subtriangulatum).

A shellfish abundant at about half tide on coastal sandy beaches of the northern half of the North Island, it is white and solid, from 1 ½ to 3 in. in length, and can be distinguished from the common pipi by the position of the apex of the shell which is not central. It resembles the toheroa in shape, but is smaller and more solid, and the valves fit tightly all round. In the toheroa the shell gapes slightly at each end. Tuatua has an excellent flavour, but is rather sweeter than the toheroa.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.