History
The upper reaches of the river once abounded in flightless Moa, predated upon by the Haast's Eagle. The river was known by the Māori as Mata-au, meaning current or eddy in an expanse of water. This name, now more frequently rendered as Matau, is still used for one of the two main channels of the Clutha delta. In the early days of European exploration there was at least one settlement of some 250-300 Māori close to the river's banks. The river takes its European name from Cluaidh, the Scots Gaelic name for the River Clyde in Scotland which runs through Glasgow. During New Zealand's early colonial history it was known as the Molyneux, that name given to it by Captain Cook. During early European settlement, a whaling station was established close to the river's mouth, and during this period the sea was the source of almost all of the area's economy.
Read more about this topic: Clutha River
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“If you look at the 150 years of modern China’s history since the Opium Wars, then you can’t avoid the conclusion that the last 15 years are the best 15 years in China’s modern history.”
—J. Stapleton Roy (b. 1935)
“Boys forget what their country means by just reading “the land of the free” in history books. Then they get to be men, they forget even more. Liberty’s too precious a thing to be buried in books.”
—Sidney Buchman (1902–1975)
“What has history to do with me? Mine is the first and only world! I want to report how I find the world. What others have told me about the world is a very small and incidental part of my experience. I have to judge the world, to measure things.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)