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diff --git a/old/67490-0.txt b/old/67490-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 146ef7e..0000000 --- a/old/67490-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4349 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The old frontier: Te Awamutu, the -story of the Waipa Valley, by James Cowan - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The old frontier: Te Awamutu, the story of the Waipa Valley - -Author: James Cowan - -Release Date: February 24, 2022 [eBook #67490] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ for Project Gutenberg (This - file was produced from images generously made available by - The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OLD FRONTIER: TE AWAMUTU, -THE STORY OF THE WAIPA VALLEY *** - - - - - - THE OLD FRONTIER - TE AWAMUTU - THE STORY OF THE WAIPA VALLEY - - The Missionary The War in Waikato - Early Colonization The Pioneer Farmer - The Soldier Life on the Maori Border - and Later-Day Settlement - - - By - JAMES COWAN, F.R.G.S. - - - Published by The Waipa Post Printing and Publishing Company, Limited - Te Awamutu, New Zealand - 1922 - - - - - - - - -PREFACE - - -This sketch of the history of the Waipa district centreing in Te -Awamutu has been written especially with a view to interesting the -younger generation of colonists, and the now large population on both -sides of the old Maori border, in the uncommonly dramatic story of the -beautiful country in which their homes are set. The original settlers -to whom many of the events here described were matters of personal -knowledge are fast passing away, and a generation has arisen which has -but a vague idea of the local history and of the old heroic life on the -Waipa plains. The book is designed to convey accurate pictures of this -pioneer life and the successive eras of the missionary and the soldier, -and to invest with a new interest for many the familiar home -landscapes. - -Much of the information given herein is published for the first time, -and therefore should be of special value to students of New Zealand -history. For the story of missionary enterprise the writer has drawn on -a MS. journal written by the Rev. John Morgan, the first civiliser of -the Waipa country; for the military history use has been made of an -exceedingly readable MS. narrative left by the celebrated Major Von -Tempsky, of the Forest Rangers. For the rest, it has been a peculiar -pleasure to the writer, as one bred on the old Aukati border, to recall -scenes in a phase of life which has passed away for ever. - - J. C. - - Wellington, N.Z., - September, 1922. - - - - - - - - -CONTENTS - - - Page -CHAPTER I.—TOPOGRAPHICAL AND LEGENDARY 7 - - The beautiful Waipa country. The garden lands of Te Awamutu and - Rangiaowhia. Hills of the Maori border. The cone of Kakepuku. - Ancient fortresses. Maori tribes of the Waipa basin. - -CHAPTER II.—THE MISSIONARY ERA 11 - - In cannibal days. Rev. B. Y. Ashwell the first missionary in Te - Awamutu. A feast on human flesh in Otawhao pa. End of the - inter-tribal wars. Rev. John Morgan comes to Te Awamutu. His useful - mission work. How Mr Morgan sowed the good seed. - -CHAPTER III.—PLOUGH AND FLOUR-MILL 14 - - Mr Morgan introduces English methods of agriculture. Maori tribes - become industrious farmers. The coming of the wheat. Large - cultivations at Te Awamutu, Rangiaowhia, Kihikihi, and Orakau. - Grinding the wheat. The first flour-mills. Mr Morgan’s narrative. - Clatter of the water-mill in many Maori settlements. Exporting - wheat and flour to Auckland. Rangiaowhia flour sent to England. Sir - George Grey’s practical sympathy with the Maori. - -CHAPTER IV.—THE GOLDEN AGE BEFORE THE WAR 18 - - Te Awamutu and Rangiaowhia in 1852. Mr Heywood Crispe’s - description. A land of corn-fields and fruit-groves. The - peach-groves of Rangiaowhia. Visit to the large Maori village. Old - King Potatau. Hochstetter’s view in 1859. - -CHAPTER V.—JOHN GORST AT TE AWAMUTU 23 - - Mr Gorst as Magistrate and Commissioner. The educational - institution at Te Awamutu. A newspaper established. Rewi’s raid on - the “Pihoihoi Mokemoke.” Mr Gorst leaves Waikato. Te Awamutu - re-visited. The last canoe voyage. - -CHAPTER VI.—THE WAIKATO WAR, 1863–64 35 - - Fighting on the Waikato. British and Colonial troops invade the - Waipa country. Paterangi and Waiari. The Forest Rangers. Von - Tempsky’s narrative of the war. Bishop Selwyn at the Front. - -CHAPTER VII.—THE CAPTURE OF RANGIAOWHIA 40 - - Von Tempsky’s story. A summer morning invasion. Skirmishing through - the village. Siege of a Maori whare. Colonel Nixon shot. Dramatic - death of an old warrior. Heroic little garrison annihilated. - -CHAPTER VIII.—THE ENGAGEMENT AT HAIRINI 48 - - Sharp action at Hairini Hill. Field Artillery shells the Maori - lines. A great bayonet charge. Defeat of the Maoris. Work of the - Forest Rangers. Looting Rangiaowhia village. Comedy at the Catholic - Church. Von Tempsky and an Imperial Colonel. The return to Te - Awamutu. A curious spectacle. “Those rascally Rangers have got all - the loot!” - -CHAPTER IX.—THE INVASION OF KIHIKIHI 55 - - Rewi Maniapoto’s headquarters. British force occupies Kihikihi - village. Burning of the council house. Von Tempsky’s night - expedition. A fruitless march. Harmless skirmishing. Redoubt built - at Kihikihi. Te Awamutu the army’s headquarters. The first - expedition to Orakau. - -CHAPTER X.—THE BATTLE OF ORAKAU 59 - - Most memorable battle in New Zealand’s history. Brigadier-General - Carey’s expedition. Von Tempsky’s narrative. Animated description - of the siege. Work of the Forest Rangers. Heroism of the Maori - garrison. The last day. A break for freedom. The soldiers in - pursuit. Maori narratives. The reply to General Cameron’s message. - Incidents of the siege. - -CHAPTER XI.—CAMP LIFE AT TE AWAMUTU 79 - - The troops in winter quarters. Description of camp life. The - soldiers’ whares. The house-opening dance. Sawyers near - Rangiaowhia. The 65th, a model regiment. Soldiers become - capitalists. Looting the Maori horses. The romance of Ariana. The - hunchback and his flute. A militiaman’s heart and hand, and - Ariana’s scorn. - -CHAPTER XII.—PIONEER LIFE ON THE OLD FRONTIER 84 - - Perils of the King Country border. An unknown, sullen land. Picture - from the north side of the Puniu. The pioneer settlers’ life in the - Seventies. The peach-groves of Orakau. A chain of blockhouses and - redoubts. The murder of Timothy Sullivan. Grave danger of another - war. Te Awamutu Cavalry Volunteers. Patrolling the out-settlements. - The return of peace. When Tawhiao came out. “The King of the - Cannibal Islands.” The peace-making dance in Kihikihi. The capture - of Winiata. Mahuki’s raid on Alexandra. Peaceful pakeha conquest of - the King Country. - -CHAPTER XIII.—KIHAROA THE GIANT 96 - - A Folk-Tale of the Maori Border. The “Giant’s Grave” at Tokanui. - Fortified hills of “The Three Sisters.” The story of an invasion. - An army in ambush. The battle of Whenuahou. The death of Kiharoa. - Matau, the Giant of the Wairaka. - -APPENDICES 101 - - Maori place names. The capture of Winiata. Mr Hursthouse’s - adventure in the King Country. Mahuki’s raid on Alexandra, and his - capture. The King Country railway. - - - - - - - - -THE OLD FRONTIER - - -CHAPTER I. - -TOPOGRAPHICAL AND LEGENDARY. - - -For landscape interest conjoined to the traditional and historic I know -of no part of New Zealand more attractive than the zone along the old -frontier line of the Waipa country of which Te Awamutu may be described -as the metropolis to-day. Beauty of physical configuration! fertility -of soil, poetic Maori folklore, memories of the heroic pioneer days, -tales of sadness and glory of the war years—all these elements combine -to invest the border line of the Waipa and the Rohepotae with a -singular value, above all to those who have had the fortune to be -reared on this well-favoured land. The physiographic charm of the -country on the north side of the Puniu and the east side of the Waipa -River is produced by the gently-rolling lie of the land with its -countless sheltered valleys and its well-sunned slopes, with its -leisurely-winding streams, with here and there a small lake; the old -Maori garden lands of Te Awamutu, Rangiaowhia, Kihikihi, and Orakau, -now covered with pakeha farms and tree-groves, with fat flocks and -herds, and wearing all the aspect of a comfortable countryside enriched -by the tillage of two generations of white farmers. The south side of -the old Aukati line, more recently broken in from the wilderness of -fern and tutu, is even more promising as a land of fat stock and good -crops, of dairy herds and meat; and it is singularly interesting to the -physiographer and the geologist. Pirongia, Kakepuku, the tattooed cone -of Kawa, the fort-scarped “Three Sisters” of Tokanui, Tauranga-Kohu and -its neighbour hills, the Maunga-tautari Ranges, curve sicklewise along -the old-time frontier, a romantically-shaped ceinture of volcanic -saliencies which seem to mount guard like giant sentries over the -Rohepotae, just as they formed a belt of fiery lava mouths and cones in -the remote geological past. Kakepuku, a Ngauruhoe in miniature, is a -peak to hold the eye for many a mile. I came to look on that lone -mountain with very much the kind of affection in which it is held by -the Maori people who live around its base, whose local folklore and -poetry enshrine many a reference to Kakepuku. The fair blue hills of -boyhood! Once upon a time when we rode in daily from the other side of -Kihikihi to school at Te Awamutu the uplift of Kakepuku, looming a few -miles across the valley to the westward, seemed an enchanted mountain, -holding infinite suggestion of mystery and adventure. Pirongia is twice -its altitude, building up a noble rugged western skyline, but -Kakepuku’s indigo-blue cone, with the crater hollow scooped out of its -top, was the peak to capture the imagination. On clear days as we -viewed it from the Kihikihi hills every line of the deep ravines which -scored its sides stood up as bold and sharp as the singularly scarped -terraces of Kawa’s nippled hill. Kakepuku almost seemed shaped and hewn -from the landscape by the hands of veritable mountain gods, so regular -and symmetrical its outline. Truly a picture mountain. Moreover, it was -our weather glass. When Kakepuku put on his fog-cap, and the mists -filled the long-dead crater of the volcano and crept down the upper -slopes, the countryside knew that rain was at hand. The other -mountains, such as Pirongia, might cloud themselves with mist and the -sign go unheeded, but Kakepuku’s tohu-ua never failed. Then there is -the curious nature-myth which tells how gently-rounded Kawa was -Kakepuku’s wife, a story told with much circumstantial detail by the -old Maoris of the Waipa and the Puniu, a story over-long to be told -here with its tale of battle between the jealous Kakepuku and that -mountain Lothario Karewa—now Gannet Island, off Kawhia; one which seems -dimly to reveal the geological past of these volcanic peaks. [1] - -This singular beauty of landscape setting cannot but enhance the love -of one’s native land in those whose lives are cast within sight of the -mountains and hills of the border. The Maori loved the country, albeit -he made comparatively little use of it, with an intensity which not -many pakehas realise. There is a song of Ngati-Maniapoto often chanted -in the old days when a fighting column paraded in the village marae -before setting out on the warpath. The chief, facing the parade of -warriors, uplifted his taiaha and shouted as he pointed to the blue -mountain looming near: - - - Ko whea, ko whea— - Ko whea tera maunga - E tu mai ra ra? - - (“What is yonder mountain soaring high above us?”) - - -And with one voice the warriors yelled, as they burst into the -ferocious stamp and weapon-thrusting of the tutu-ngarahu or peruperu -dance: - - - ’Tis Kakepuku! - ’Tis Pirongia! - Ah, ’tis Kakepuku! - Ah, draw close to me, - Draw close to me, - That I may embrace thee, - That I may hold thee to my breast! - A—a—ah! - - -A similar chant, applying to Mount Egmont, was used by the Taranaki -Maoris. In each case the mountain was regarded as a lover, and -symbolised nationality and clanship, and a reference to it never failed -as a patriotic stimulus. - -Now the ancient owners of the Waipa and Puniu plains are but a remnant -and their tales and songs are but the faintest memory; but the old -volcano-gods remain, graceful nature-carved monuments, and their poetry -no less than their beauty of form should inspire even the -matter-of-fact pakeha with something of the Maori love and veneration -for the high places of the land. - -The ancient Maori story of the Waipa plains and downs, as preserved by -the word-of-mouth historians, the old men of the tribes, is a record of -land-seeking, exploration, and place-naming by the chiefs who came in -the Tainui canoe, and by Rakataura the priest; then a succession of -tribal feuds and wars, raids, pa-buildings and pa-stormings, ambush, -massacre, slave-taking, and man-eating. That warrior tale need not be -gone into here; we take up our story of Te Awamutu with the first -introduction of the pakeha interest, and in truth the place was savage -and rough enough then. Here and there, on the well-settled lands -to-day, one finds relics of the old cannibal era, when every tribe’s -hand, and often every little hapu’s, was against its neighbours. Round -about Te Awamutu, even, the lines of ancient trenched forts remain, -particularly on the banks of the Mangapiko, where the numerous crooks -and elbows of the river provided pa sites readily made formidable -strongholds. The celebrated Waiari, a few miles from Te Awamutu and a -mile from Paterangi, is an example. Another excellent specimen of Maori -military engineering is an old earthwork called Tauwhare, on the -Mangapiko, a mile south of Mr Harry Rhodes’ “Parekura” homestead; this -is distinguished by a series of enormously deep trenches and high -parapets, on the cliffy verge of the river. These forts on the -Mangapiko belonged to the Ngati-Apakura tribe. But the King Country, on -the south side of the Puniu River, is the land for hill-forts. Every -cone, big or little, is trenched and scarped; every eligible -river-elbow has its double or triple earthwork. Even on the very top of -Mount Kakepuku, crowning the ancient crater rim, are the ruins of two -fortresses of the Ngati-Unu tribe. - -Te Awamutu was inhabited, when the first pakeha ventured into these -parts, by the Ngati-Ruru, a section of the great Waikato tribe. -Rangiaowhia was peopled by two other large Waikato clans, Ngati-Apakura -and Ngati-Hinetu. Ngati-Maniapoto held all the Puniu country and the -land to the southward; their northern outpost was Kihikihi. The Orakau -district was held by the Ngati-Raukawa and a hapu of Waikato called -Ngati-Koura. - - - - -NOTES. - -The terms “King Country,” “Rohepotae,” and “Aukati” require a little -explanation for those who are unacquainted with the origin of the -phrases. - -The King Country, embracing a vast area of territory south of the Puniu -River and west of the Upper Waikato, with the Tasman Sea as the western -boundary, was so called because the Maori King Tawhiao with his -adherents took refuge there in 1864 after being dispossessed of -Waikato. For some years Tawhiao’s headquarters were at Tokangamutu, -close to the site of the present town of Te Kuiti. The name Te Kuiti is -an abbreviation of Te Kuititanga, meaning “the narrowing in,” a -designation given by the Kingites in reference to the conquest of -Waikato and the consequent hemming in of the Maoris in the country -south of the Puniu. - -“Rohe-potae” means a circular boundary line, literally a boundary -resembling a head-covering. The term was applied to the King Country in -the early Eighties by Wahanui and his fellow-chiefs, when defining the -area within which no pakeha surveys or land-buying or leasing would be -permitted. - -“Aukati” means a line which may not be passed; a frontier or pale. It -was particularly applied by the Kingites to the northern border of the -King Country, the Government’s confiscation boundary; pakeha trespass -over this line was forbidden. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE MISSIONARY ERA. - - -It was the Rev. B. Y. Ashwell who chose the site of the mission station -at Te Awamutu. This was in 1839. He had made a missionary -reconnaissance of Upper Waikato with a view to establishing a station -among the savage cannibals of the district, great warriors and -apparently irreclaimable man-eaters, and in July of 1839 he returned to -Otawhao to carry on the mission. Among Ngati-Ruru there were some who -had already gained an inkling of the Rongo-Pai, the Good News, from -native teachers, but the majority were pagan. Shortly after his arrival -a war party of Ngati-Ruru, who had been away with Ngati-Haua and other -tribes raiding the Arawa country, returned from the Maketu and Rotorua -districts, under their chiefs Puata and Te Mokorou. The party was laden -with human flesh; there were, as Mr Ashwell recorded, sixty pikau or -flax baskets packed with the cut-up remains of their slaughtered foes. -Then came a fearful feast on cooked man (kai-tangata). - -Mr Ashwell induced many of Ngati-Ruru to leave Otawhao and establish a -Christian pa, which was built on the ground now occupied by the old -mission station and the Church of St. John’s. - -Mr Ashwell’s establishment of the mission station at Te Awamutu marked -the end of the cannibal wars and the periodical fighting expeditions of -Waikato in the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty districts. The grim old -warrior Mokorou became a follower of the missionary, and was baptised -by the name of Riwai (Levi). Most of the people by this time had become -tired of wars; there was a general longing for a more settled state of -life and a desire to obtain pakeha commodities other than weapons and -munitions of war. So Mr Ashwell soon had large and eager congregations, -and his preaching of the Rongo-Pai fell on willing ears. - -But it was Mr Ashwell’s successor, the Rev. John Morgan, who truly -civilised this Upper Waikato. Mr Ashwell had confined his teachings to -the spiritual side. Mr Morgan took a more expansive view of his mission -and his responsibilities. He introduced English methods of agriculture, -brought in English fruit trees, taught the natives to grow wheat, and -to grind it in their own water-mills. He it was who by his precepts and -personal example made the natives of Te Awamutu, Rangiaowhia, Kihikihi, -and Orakau a farming and fruit-growing people, with the result that -long before the Waikato War adventurous travellers to this district -found to their astonishment a series of eye-delighting oases in the -wilds, with great fields of wheat, potatoes, and maize, and dwellings -arranged in neat streets and shaded by groves of peach and apple-trees; -each settlement with its water-driven flour-mill procured by the -community and busily grinding into flour the abundant yield of the -cornfields. - -Mr John Morgan was a missionary of the London Mission Society, and had -had some years’ experience of the hazards of Christianising work on the -Waihou, at Matamata, and at Rotorua. He and his brave wife lived in the -midst of alarms, and more than once had to abandon their stations. In -the most dangerous period of their life at Rotorua they had to take -refuge, with the Rev. Thomas Chapman, of Te Ngae, on Mokoia Island, in -the middle of the lake. After this sort of missionary pioneering it -must have been a vast relief to Mr Morgan to receive orders in 1841 to -take over the newly-established station at Te Awamutu. Here he carried -on for more than twenty years, the religious teacher and counsellor and -technical instructor for half a score of tribes in the Waipa basin. “Te -Mokena” was in an infinite variety of ways the benefactor of his Maori -flock; never did a missionary take a more liberal view of his duty to -the native. In the later troubled days, when the war was looming and it -was desirable that the Government authorities should be informed of the -exact political conditions among the Maoris, he kept Governor Grey -correctly advised of the views and intentions of the Kingites, and so -came to be called “the watchman of the Waikato.” - -At Wharepapa, the site of a one-time large Maori village on the south -side of the Puniu, a few miles from Waikeria, I heard the story of -“Mokena” and the “missionary grass.” Here Mr Morgan had a little native -church in the days before the war, and on his travels from Te Awamutu -through the Maori country he did not confine his sowing of the good -seed to the Gospel brand. On his rides from kainga to kainga he took -his dog, and to the dog’s neck was tied a little bag filled with -English clover-seed and grass-seed, which was allowed to drop out a -seed at a time by a tiny hole. - -In this way the pioneer missionary scattered seeds of civilisation -which spread over many a part of this wild countryside. To this day in -some of these old villages there is a beautiful sward that goes back to -the good parson of Te Awamutu, and to Wharepapa not many years since -the natives used to go for the seed of the “mission grass,” esteemed -alike by Maori and pakeha for its making of pasture. - -“Mokena’s” fame hereabouts rests more, perhaps, on his thoughtful -grass-sowing for future generations and on his practical teaching of -English agriculture than on his preaching of the Faith to the -Ngati-Maniapoto and Ngati-Ruru of the days before the War. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -PLOUGH AND FLOUR-MILL. - - -An illuminating account of the growth of agricultural enterprise among -these Upper Waikato people and the position about 1850 is contained in -an unpublished manuscript journal written by the Rev. John Morgan. [2] -The missionary prefaces the narrative of the temporal side of his -labours at Te Awamutu with the statement that wheat was introduced -among the natives chiefly by the missionaries. The Ven. Archdeacon -Williams encouraged its cultivation in his district of Waiapu, East -Coast. “It was small in quantity,” said Mr Morgan, “for it was -contained in a stocking, but it was sown and re-sown, and at the -present time the increase from the little seed contained in a stocking -is being sent by the natives to the Auckland market. Much is also -ground by the Maoris in steel mills for their own use. - -“Shortly after the formation of the Otawhao (Te Awamutu) station,” the -missionary’s story continued, “in consequence of the difficulty of -obtaining supplies of flour from the coast I procured some seed wheat. -After the reaping of the first crop I sent Pungarehu, of Rangiaowhia, a -few quarts of seed. This he sowed and reaped. The second year he had a -good-sized field. Other natives now desired to share in the benefit, -and the applications for seed became so numerous that I could not -supply them all, and many obtained seed from Kawhia and Aotea (West -Coast), where wheat had been introduced either by the Wesleyan -missionaries or the settlers. - -“As a large quantity of wheat was now grown at Rangiaowhia, and the -natives had not purchased steel mills, I recommended them to erect a -water-mill. At the request of Kimi Hori, I went to the millwright who -was then building a mill at Aotea. In March, 1846, the millwright -arrived, and I drew up a contract for the erection of a mill at a cost -of £200, not including the carriage of timber, building of the mill -dam, and the formation of the watercourse, all of which were performed -by the natives themselves. Seven men were set to work, the natives -promising to pay the first £50 instalment within a very short time. -Instead of leaving immediately for Auckland with pigs to raise the -required amount, they began to take up their potatoes and then the -kumara to store them for winter use. They then promised to leave for -town as soon as the crops were secured. An invitation, however, arrived -from Maketu, and the entire tribe left Rangiaowhia to partake of a -feast at that place, the millwright threatening to give up the -contract. On their return they accepted a second invitation, and went -to another distant village. It was with the greatest difficulty that I -now detained the millwright. In this manner four months passed away. -The millwright demanded compensation for loss of time, and a chief -agreed to give him a piece of land of about 200 acres, but for which no -Government grant has as yet been made. Still the natives delayed. The -required sum (£200) was large for a tribe of New Zealanders to raise. -The Aotea mill was now useless, and many feared that this (Rangiaowhia) -would also be a failure, and there were several Europeans who had come -up to trade in pigs who from interested motives freely gave their -opinion that the whole scheme would fail. In this way two months passed -away, and it required many personal visits to Rangiaowhia—first, to -persuade the millwright, who was several times on the point of leaving, -to remain, and, secondly, to urge the natives to take their pigs to -town. At length they started. In a few weeks the £50 was raised, and -paid into my hands to be paid to the millwright. After this I had no -more trouble. The work went forward while the money was being -collected, and the last instalment of £50 being paid into my hands, I -had the pleasure of handing it to the millwright the day the work was -completed.” - -This water-driven flour-mill, it may be explained here, was built at -Pekapeka-rau, the lower part of the swampy valley between Hairini Hill -and Rangiaowhia, through which a watercourse flows toward the -Mangapiko. Here a dam was constructed, and a lagoon was formed; the -water collected here turned the mill-wheel. - -Later, another mill was constructed, on the watercourse called Te -Rua-o-Tawhiwhi, on the eastern side of Rangiaowhia village. - -Mr Morgan, continuing his story of the new flour-mills, wrote: - -“The Rangiaowhia mill was not completed before other tribes became -jealous and wished for mills. I drew up two more contracts, one for the -erection of a mill at Maunga-tautari, and the other at Otawhao, at the -cost respectively of £110 and £120, not including native labour. Both -of these mills have been erected. A new difficulty now arose at -Rangiaowhia, that of finding a miller to take charge of the mill. In -the arrangement I experienced more vexations and difficulty than in the -erection of the mills. There was a person ready to take charge, but the -natives, not knowing the value of European labour, refused to give him -a proper remuneration. One old chief offered one quart of wheat per -day! At length, after two months, this knotty point was settled. On the -following day the miller commenced work. In the year 1848 the natives -of Rangiaowhia took down some flour to Auckland, which they sold for -about £70. The neighbouring tribes, seeing the benefit likely to arise -from the erection of mills, began earnestly to desire them. One was -contracted for at Kawhia, and the sum of about £315 has been paid on -account. About 1850 a contract was entered into for the erection at -Mohoaonui [near Otorohanga], on the Waipa, of the largest mill yet -built, at a cost of £300. The natives of Kawhia are anxious for the -erection of a second mill, and the natives at Whatawhata and two other -villages on the Waipa, and of Kirikiriroa and Maungapa, on the Waikato, -and also Matamata, propose to erect mills; at several of these places -the funds are being collected. - -“Wheat is very extensively grown in the Waikato district. At -Rangiaowhia the wheat fields cover about 450 acres of land. I have also -introduced barley and oats at that place. Many of the people at various -villages are now forming orchards, and they possess many hundreds of -trees budded or grafted by themselves, consisting of peach, apple, -pear, plum, quince, and almond; also gooseberry bushes in abundance. -For flowers or ornamental trees they have no taste; as they do not bear -fruit, it is, in their opinion, loss of time to cultivate them.” - -The missionary, concluding his interesting narrative, described a visit -paid to the district by Sir George Grey, Governor. - -“His Excellency,” wrote the missionary, “spent half a day at -Rangiaowhia, and expressed himself much pleased with the progress of -the natives at that place. He visited the mill, which was working at -the time. Two bags of flour were presented to him for Her Majesty the -Queen, and they have since been forwarded to London. The Governor has -since that time presented the Rangiaowhia natives with a pair of fine -horses, a dray and harness, and a plough and harness. He also requested -me to engage a farm servant to instruct the natives in the use of the -plough, etc. [3] The value of the flour sent down this year from -Rangiaowhia and now ready for the Auckland market may be estimated at -about £330. Of this sum upward of £240 was, or will be, spent in the -purchase of horses, drays, and ploughs. Each little tribe is now -endeavouring to procure a plough and a pair of horses, and the people -expect during the next year to have at least ten ploughs at work. The -rapid advancement in cultivation is the fruit of Sir George Grey’s kind -present to introduce the plough at those places. One of the chiefs at -Rangiaowhia has erected a small boarded house. He has also several -cows, one of which he generally milks in the morning.” - - - -Such is the story of the very practical missionary work in this -district. “Te Mokena” truly tamed the people; old cannibals followed -the plough and spent days in discussing the Auckland market prices of -wheat and flour. Distant white communities, too, came to depend largely -on the Maori farmers of the Upper Waikato for their breadstuffs; and -when the great gold rushes began in California and Victoria, in -1849–52, the cargoes of New Zealand produce sent to far-away San -Francisco and to Melbourne often contained shipments from Rangiaowhia -and other Maori farm-villages. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THE GOLDEN AGE BEFORE THE WAR. - - -The period from about 1845 to 1860 was the era of peaceful progress and -industry among Waikato and Ngati-Maniapoto. It was not until the latter -year that the outbreak of the Taranaki War, the forerunner of that in -Waikato, interrupted the new and profitable era of wheat-growing and -flour-milling and the pleasures of the annual canoeing expeditions down -the Waipa and Waikato to the city markets. - -These farm-settlements of Morgan’s making were in what may be called -their zenith of prosperity in the year 1852, when prices for produce -were high. In February of that year a visit was paid to Te Awamutu and -Rangiaowhia by a party of travellers from Auckland and Onehunga, among -whom was young Heywood Crispe, later a well-known Mauku settler and -volunteer rifleman. Describing long afterwards this memorable Waikato -expedition, Mr Crispe said, after narrating that the canoe voyage ended -at Te Rore, on the Waipa: - -“I can well remember the first sight we got in the distance of the -steeple of the church at the Rev. Mr Morgan’s mission station at Te -Awamutu, for some of the party were getting a bit tired when it came -into sight, and it seemed to put new life into them. The natives at -Rangiaowhia had made preparations for a goodly party, as they had two -days’ racing in hand. They allotted to us a large, newly-erected whare, -the floor being covered with native mats, and it was on them that we -indulged in sweet sleep. There was a line of whares erected on the -crown of Rangiaowhia Hill, from which we could obtain a fine view of -the surrounding country, and it all had a grand appearance in our eyes. -There was a long grove of large peach trees and very fine fruit on -them. Such a waste of fruit it seemed to us, but of course they were of -no value there. One never sees such trees of peaches now. We, the -Europeans, must be the cause by the importation of pests from other -countries. A large portion of the ground round the hill was carrying a -very good crop of wheat, for the Maoris believed in that as a crop, and -they used to convert it into flour at the various flour-mills they had. -It was of a very good quality, and some of the Waikato mills had a name -for the flour they produced, a good deal of which was put on the -Auckland market, being taken down the Waikato, via Waiuku and Onehunga. -It had taken our canoe party about three weeks to reach this, our -journey’s end, but there was no iron horse then by which to make a -rapid journey. Now it is only part of a day’s journey to get to the -same spot. - -“We spent several days in our camp on the Rangiaowhia Hill, taking -walks and viewing the country. We attended the races, which afforded -some good sport, all being managed by the natives, assisted by some -pakeha-Maoris of the neighbourhood. They were white men living a Maori -life. Some of them had been well-brought-up young men, rather wild -perhaps, who had drifted away from home and had taken up an idle life -among the natives, getting regular remittances from their people at -Home. - -“The Maoris provided all their pakeha friends with a most excellent -meal on the ground, and peaches galore, as well as horses to ride. We -rode some distance round to view the country, the Maori flour-mills, -and cultivation. There were a lot of good cattle and horses about, and -the crops of wheat and patches of potatoes were particularly good, -although no bonedust was used in those days. The Roman Catholics had a -very nice place of worship at Rangiaowhia, where regular worship was -conducted. There were mission stations all up the Waikato and Waipa -Rivers in those days, and as far as Te Awamutu.” - -Everywhere the Maoris of those days showed the travellers on their six -weeks’ trip the greatest hospitality. On the canoe voyage the pakehas -called in here and there at native settlements and got a supply of -pork, potatoes, and peaches. - -When the aged Potatau te Wherowhero was made Maori King (1858) there -were great gatherings at Ngaruawahia and Rangiaowhia. At the latter -place the Europeans in the district—the mission people, the traders, -and artisans—were invited to the festivities. The abundance of food at -Rangiaowhia was probably the reason why that large village of -Ngati-Apakura was selected as one of the principal gathering places of -the Waikato in 1858–60. Rangiaowhia in those days was a beautiful -place, with its comfortable thatched houses, shaded by groves of peach -and apple trees, dotted along the crown of a gently-sloping hill, among -the fields of wheat, maize, potatoes, and kumara, and its flour-mills -in the valley. On the most commanding mound was the Roman Catholic -Church in front of Hoani Papita’s home; a few hundred yards to the -south was the English Church, locally greatly admired because of its -large stained-glass window, sent out from England by Bishop Selwyn. The -Maori congregations have vanished long ago, and the pre-war -wharekarakia are used by the white settlers. - -A pioneer colonist, Mrs B. A. Crispe, widow of the late Heywood Crispe, -the only survivor of the Europeans who witnessed the gathering, recalls -some of the scenes in the Rangiaowhia of 1858, when she was a girl at -school at Mr Morgan’s mission station at Te Awamutu. She describes the -venerable Potatau as a feeble old man with his face completely -tattooed; he wore a long black coat and a dark cloth cap with a gold -band round it. - -Mrs Crispe has memories of the Upper Waikato district as it was toward -the end of the Fifties, before the Kingite war had destroyed the -prosperous agricultural life of the Maoris, who then constituted the -whole population of the interior with the exception of a few -missionaries and their families and several traders and other -pakeha-Maoris. Mrs Crispe, who was the daughter of Mr Mellsop, a -pioneer settler of the Mauku district, was taken up by her father to -the Rev. John Morgan’s mission station at Te Awamutu—in those days -usually called Otawhao, after the old pa. She was then a young girl, -and she was placed with the Morgans to be educated; schooling for -children was a difficult problem with the back-blocks settlers in those -days. All communication with the Waikato and Waipa country was carried -on by canoe, for there were no roads into the interior until the troops -opened up the country in the Waikato War. In about 1858 the Mellsops -embarked at Waiuku and passed through the narrow and crooked Awaroa -Creek in kopapa, or small canoes, the only craft which could navigate -this stream, connecting the Manukau harbour with the Waikato River. In -the Waikato they transferred to a large canoe, about sixty feet long, -well loaded with goods from Auckland for the mission station and the -Maori settlements. Their Maori crew paddled them up to Te Rore, on the -Waipa; the voyage occupied three days. Two nights were spent in camp on -the Waikato banks; the third day was spent in working up the Waipa -River from its junction with the Waikato at Ngaruawahia. From Te Rore -the party rode across the plain to Te Awamutu. Here Mrs Crispe spent -two years at school. - -The farming missionary had succeeded in giving the wilds of Te Awamutu -a thoroughly settled and home-like appearance, with wheat fields -enclosed by hedges of hawthorn. The wheat grown by the natives in the -Rangiaowhia-Te Awamutu district was ground at the mills, bagged, and -sent down to the white settlements for sale. The flour-bags were sewn -by the native girls in Mrs Morgan’s sewing class at the mission -boarding school; and when the flour was being ground there would be -sewing-bees at the mills, where the girls stitched up the bags as they -were filled. The flour was carted in bullock drays to Te Rore, where it -was loaded into canoes. The cargoes were paddled down the Waipa and -Waikato, along the Awaroa to Waiuku, there loaded into a cutter for -Onehunga, and finally carted across the isthmus to Auckland town, a -journey of over a hundred miles from the Rangiaowhia water-mills. The -Maoris would invest the proceeds in clothes, blankets, tea, sugar, and -all kinds of European goods, and then begin their homeward journey. -Time was no object in those golden years, and a marketing party from -Rangiaowhia and Te Awamutu would sometimes spend several weeks on the -trip, returning with pakeha commodities to delight the hearts of their -families and endless tales of all the sights they had seen in the -distant town. - -An incident of the visits to Rangiaowhia over sixty years ago is -recalled by Mrs Crispe. She and the Morgan girls noticed a peach tree -loaded with great white korako in an enclosure near the English Church, -and presently they were enjoying a feast of fruit. A Maori woman came -up to them in great alarm and told them that they must not touch the -peaches; the tree was tapu, and she was afraid that the fruit would -kill them as it assuredly would have killed any Maori who ate it. It -often happened that the choicest fruit trees were under the ban of tapu -for some reason, such as the recent death of the owner. - -In front of Mr Morgan’s mission house at Te Awamutu there was a row of -almond trees. These almonds—so seldom seen in a New Zealand orchard -now—were widely distributed among the natives; hence the remarkably -large trees, up to about thirty feet in height, which grew on the old -Maori cultivations at Orakau and elsewhere, and survived long after the -land had been confiscated by the Crown and settled by white farmers. - -Dr Ferdinand von Hochstetter, the famous Austrian geologist, on his -expedition through the interior of the North Island in 1859, admired -the settled aspect of Te Awamutu and the neighbouring country. He made -an ascent of Mount Kakepuku, setting out from the Rev. Alexander Reid’s -Wesleyan mission station at Te Kopua, and from the summit viewed the -valley of the Waipa: “The beautiful, richly-cultivated country about -Rangiaowhia and Otawhao lay spread out before us like a map. I counted -ten small lakes and ponds scattered about the plains. The church -steeples of three places were seen rising from among orchards and -fields. Verily I could hardly realise that I was in the interior of New -Zealand.” - -Now the scene has vastly changed. A far more richly-cultivated country -than that which the wandering geologist saw in 1859 stretches in all -directions, and the railway engine trails the smoke-banner of the -pakeha past Kakepuku’s foot, between him and his hill-wife Kawa. But -some relics of Hochstetter’s day remain. The picture-like spires of the -English mission church at Te Awamutu and the English and Roman Catholic -Churches at Rangiaowhia still rise above the tree-groves, -heaven-pointing fingers that carry a suggestion of antiquity all too -rare in man’s work in New Zealand. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -JOHN GORST AT TE AWAMUTU. - - -The determination of the Maori tribes to establish a King was not in -the beginning hostile to the white Government. On the contrary, Wiremu -Tamehana, of Ngati-Haua, a man of lofty ideals and altogether admirable -character, continually emphasised the fact that the kingdom must be on -a footing of friendship with the pakeha; it was simply to govern the -Maoris within their own district and to ensure a measure of peace and -order which the Queen’s Government could not maintain. The King -movement was originated in 1851–52 by Tamehana te Rauparaha—son of the -great Rauparaha—who had been on a voyage to England and returned with -ideas for the betterment of his race, and by Matene te Whiwhi, of -Otaki. The difficulty was to select a suitable chief as King, and one -man after another declined the honour, until at last Matene and his -fellow-chiefs persuaded the aged warrior Potatau te Wherowhero, of -Waikato, to take the position. Potatau, like Tawhiao his son after him, -was merely a figurehead; the destinies of the native confederation were -decided by the runangas or tribal councils at Ngaruawahia and Kihikihi. -Tawhiao succeeded Potatau on the latter’s death in 1860. - -A variety of elements, social and political, combined to produce a war -feeling in Waikato. Iwikau te Heuheu, of Taupo, on his way to a great -Waikato meeting in 1857, stayed at the mission station and gave Mr -Morgan his reasons for supporting the King. He contrasted the uncouth -and inhospitable treatment of Maori chiefs when visiting the towns with -the kindness shown by the Maoris to even the lowest grade of pakeha who -came to their settlements. Tamehana pointed to the inability of the -Government to preserve peace and order among the tribes; this could -only be done by means of a native king, and he quoted Scripture and -modern history in support of his argument. The blundering of the -Government in offering civil institutions and then withdrawing them -without a fair trial, the construction of the military road from Drury -to the Mangatawhiri River, and finally the heavy losses of the -Ngati-Haua and Ngati-Maniapoto in the Taranaki War had a cumulative -effect in hastening the outbreak in Waikato. It was when this feeling -was simmering in the Waikato that Mr John Gorst—as he was then—was -induced by the Government to undertake the difficult task of staying -the growing tide of anti-pakeha agitation and of diverting the energies -of the Kingite tribes to peaceful industries and crafts. He came -several years too late. The institutions and the measure of home rule -which Sir George Grey offered to the Kingites in 1863 only to have them -rejected would have met with a cordial acceptance had they been put -forward five or six years previously. But Grey was in South Africa -then, and his predecessor, Governor Gore-Browne, and his advisers went -from blunder to blunder in their determination to stifle the natives’ -legitimate desire for local self-government. - -Mr John Gorst arrived at Auckland from England in 1860, and, being a -young man of brilliant University attainments, he attracted the -attention and friendship of Bishop Selwyn, Sir George Grey, and other -notable people of the day. It was Mr (afterwards Sir William) Fox, then -Premier of the Colony, who determined to establish him as resident -magistrate in the Upper Waikato, and a house was procured for him at Te -Tomo, about half a mile from the centre of the present town of Te -Awamutu. (Te Tomo is now marked by an acacia grove in a field south of -Te Awamutu, near the Kihikihi Road.) This establishment was built on -thirty acres of grass land which had been sold to the Crown many years -before the war began. Here Mr Gorst set up his home in the beginning of -1861; later he removed to the mission house opposite the church. - -During the first part of his residence in Te Awamutu district Mr Gorst -was a magistrate and a kind of intelligence officer for the Government. -During the latter part he was styled Commissioner of Upper Waikato, and -lived at the mission station in charge of a technical school and -hospital. In the early period, as Gorst narrated in after years, he was -rather the officer of Mr Fox’s Ministry than of the Government. He was -a magistrate, but as a matter of fact his jurisdiction was derided by -the Maoris, and he found none except a few pakehas to obey him. “The -Maori from the first,” he said, “refused to consent to my exercising -any kind of authority among them.” Even his great friend Wiremu -Tamehana, though anxious to receive advice and instruction, objected to -the admission into the Kingite district of a magistrate who received -his authority from the Queen. - -In 1862–63 Mr Gorst was rather the officer of Sir George Grey than of -the Ministry (then Mr Domett’s). The Church Mission estate of about 200 -acres, with school buildings and dwelling-house, was lent to the -Governor for Maori educational purposes. Describing the establishment -then formed, Gorst wrote: - -“Everyone in the school was clothed, lodged, and fed in plain but -wholesome and civilised style. Clothes and bedding were regularly -inspected and kept scrupulously clean. A schoolmaster was appointed, -who taught reading, writing, and arithmetic to all, and besides this -each young man was employed for five hours daily in one of the various -mechanical trades carried out within the school. Thus each had an -opportunity, not only of acquiring a sound elementary education, but of -fitting himself to gain a livelihood by practising some handicraft -taught at the school. The trades carried on were those of carpenter, -blacksmith, wheelwright, shoemaker, tailor, and, later on, printer. A -few were employed in agriculture and in tending cattle and sheep upon -the school estate, some as regular occupations and others as an -occasional change from indoor employment. English artisans employed as -teachers were chiefly men who had been living in the neighbourhood and -were familiar with the Maoris and their language. Most had previously -been exercising their trades for the benefit of the district, and the -only difference was that they were now more systematically at work and -were instructing native apprentices. The Maoris of the district had -therefore to resort to the Government establishment for the repair of -their ploughs and carts and for their shoes and clothes. The demand for -all these services was far greater than the supply, so there was a -prospect of being able to supply a great number of Maori apprentices in -every department with certain profit. Even Rewi and Tamehana themselves -visited the school. The latter extended his patronage so far as to be -measured for a pair of trousers, for which he paid £1 in advance, but -Te Oriori intercepted them on their way to Matamata, and was so charmed -with the fit that he refused to part with them, and told Tamehana he -would agree to take them as a present.” - -The school establishment certainly did very useful work, and thus far -was appreciated by the Maoris; but they could never forget that Gorst -was a Government official. - -It was presently decided by the Government that a native hospital -should be erected on an area of Crown land about three-quarters of a -mile from Te Awamutu. The position of Medical Commissioner of the -Waikato was offered to and accepted by the Rev. A. Purchas, of -Onehunga. At the same time Sir George Grey sanctioned the establishment -of a Maori newspaper to reply to the “Hokioi,” the Kingite print issued -at Ngaruawahia. Mr E. J. von Dadelszen [4] (afterwards -Registrar-General of New Zealand) was appointed printer; he had learned -the trade on Bishop Selwyn’s printing-press in Auckland. - -A press and type were bought in Sydney, and set up in Te Awamutu early -in 1863. This was the beginning of the end for Mr Gorst’s -establishment. - -The Government Maori newspaper was called “Te Pihoihoi Mokemoke i Runga -i te Tuanui” (“The Lonely Lark on the House-top”—the Maori having no -word for sparrow), and it set about briskly replying to the Kingite -propaganda of “Te Hokioi e Rere Atu Na” (“The Soaring War Bird”), which -was edited and printed by Patara te Tuhi, afterwards a great friend of -Sir John Gorst. The first number of the “Pihoihoi” was published at Te -Awamutu on 2nd February, 1863, and was widely distributed over Waikato, -arousing intense interest among the Kingites. - -The “copy” for the first issue was revised by Sir George Grey himself, -and was published under his authority. It contained an article which -greatly excited the resentment of Rewi and the more truculent section -of the Kingite natives. The article was entitled, “The Evil of the King -Movement,” and it criticised a letter from King Tawhiao—or Matutaera -(Methusaleh), as he was then generally known—to the Governor, dated 8th -December, 1862, which had been printed in the “Hokioi,” and which -inquired what evil had been done by the King and on what account he was -blamed. The “Pihoihoi” gave an answer to these inquiries from the -pakeha Government point of view; Gorst’s leader was translated into -forceful and idiomatic Maori by Miss Ashwell, daughter of the -missionary at Kaitotehe, opposite Taupiri. The strong criticism of the -Kingite aspirations quickly provoked action among Mr Gorst’s -neighbours, who asked, “Why is this troublesome printing-press allowed -in our midst?” Only five numbers of the “Pihoihoi” were printed before -the indignant Rewi intervened with his war-party. - -The coup planned by Ngati-Maniapoto in the tribal council-house -“Hui-te-Rangiora” at Kihikihi was executed on 24th March, 1863. A -war-party of eighty men and lads, most of them armed with guns, marched -into Te Awamutu that afternoon, led by Aporo Taratutu, and accompanied -by Rewi Maniapoto, and also by the old Taranaki chief Wiremu Kingi te -Rangitaake. (The unjustifiable seizure of Kingi’s land at Waitara by -the Government had been the cause of the first Taranaki War.) Rewi and -Wiremu Kingi remained at Porokoru’s house, which stood in the middle of -the present town of Te Awamutu, while Aporo led his taua down to the -mission station, halted them there, and had prayers by way of -sanctifying the afternoon’s operations. Young von Dadelszen and a Maori -youth were busy at the time in the little printing-office printing the -fifth number of the “Pihoihoi Mokemoke.” Mr Gorst was absent; he had -ridden over to the mission station at Te Kopua, on the Waipa, to -inquire about some bullocks which were being purchased for the -Government station. A report had reached him that a taua from Kihikihi -would visit Te Awamutu that day, but he treated it as an idle rumour. - -The actions of Ngati-Maniapoto are described by Mr von Dadelszen in the -following report which Mr Gorst sent to Sir George Grey with his own -account of the breaking-up of the station: - -“About 3 o’clock in the afternoon of Tuesday, 24th March, while the -newspapers for that day were being printed, a number of natives -arrived, about 50 of them armed with guns, and the remainder with -native weapons, and stationed themselves in front of the -printing-office. I locked the door before their faces, put the key in -my pocket, and went a little distance off. After a short prayer, they -broke the door open, and proceeded to take the press down, and carry it -outside to some drays they had there. While they were doing this, -Patene, the Ngaruawahia chief, arrived, and partly succeeded in -stopping them, turning about six out of the printing-office (it being -then quite full of natives). After some time, however, he came away, -and the work went on. Everything connected with the printing was taken -away, together with a port-manteau belonging to Mr Mainwaring, and a -box containing some of my clothes. When all was gone, they stationed -sentinels at the door, and allowed no one inside. Before breaking open -the door they had a scuffle with the native teacher, who placed himself -before it, and was dragged away after some resistance. They also broke -down about twenty yards of the fence between the printing-office and -the road. They camped all round the house, but about 6 o’clock allowed -us to enter and take our clothes from the little bedroom at the back. -They did not attempt to touch anything in the main building. In the -evening they stationed their soldiers all round the house. About 8 -o’clock, Mr Gorst, Mr White, and Mr Mainwaring arrived. There was some -talk of setting fire to the place, and one or two fire-sticks were -brought, but they determined not to do it in the end. A good many guns -were loaded with ball, but none fired. A great many slept in the -printing-office that night. During the remainder of the afternoon, -Taati, Patene, and Te Oriori on one side, and the leaders of the -soldiers on the other, talked a great deal in the road. William King -[Wiremu Kingi], Rewi, and a few others stayed some distance off, and -gave their orders from there. The mail box, etc., were also taken, with -the mail money.—E. J. von Dadelszen.” - -The printing-press, the Kingites’ bete noir, was carried out, with all -the type, reams of paper, and printed copies of the fifth number of the -“Pihoihoi,” and the whole plant was loaded on to bullock drays and -carted off to Kihikihi. Nothing else, however, was taken; some private -belongings, such as boxes of clothes, were scrupulously returned as -soon as it was discovered that they were not part of the printing -plant. Then the leader of the war-party surrounded the mission -buildings with a cordon of sentries, and awaited Mr Gorst’s return. The -Maoris camped on the road and in the adjacent field opposite the -church, and their watch-fires blazed as evening came down. - -Mr Gorst rode in after dark, and was permitted to pass unmolested. A -message was sent in to him that if he refused to go away in the morning -he would be shot. Resistance was impossible, for although the youths in -the school establishment declared that they would stand by “Te Kohi” -there were no arms, and in any case a conflict could only have ended in -the victory of Rewi’s veterans of the Taranaki war and in the slaughter -of the Government people. - -Next morning there were scenes of intense excitement on the gathering -road between the mission station and the church where the present main -road runs. Mr Gorst was ordered to depart. He replied that nothing -would induce him to leave his post but orders from the Governor. Rewi -for his part declared that he and his men would not stir from the spot -until his object was accomplished. - -Presently, through the intervention of the Rev. A. Reid, the Wesleyan -missionary at Te Kopua, Rewi, at a personal interview with Mr Gorst, -agreed to withdraw his men and give the Commissioner three weeks in -which to communicate with Sir George Grey. Rewi then in a speech gave -his reasons for raiding the station. The Governor, he said, had shown -himself hostile to the Maori King movement, and had been ceaseless in -his machinations against the confederation of the tribes. Sir George -Grey had begun to make a military road to the Waikato, and finally at -Taupiri he had made a speech in which he said he “would dig around the -King until he fell.” They looked round to see where the spades were at -work, and they saw “Te Kohi”; they were resolved to have no digging of -that kind in Waikato, and so they had determined to remove him from the -land of the Maori. - -Rewi then, at Mr Gorst’s invitation, went into the house and wrote the -following letter for transmission to the Governor: - - - (Translation.) - - “Te Awamutu, - “March 25, 1863. - - “Friend Governor Grey: - - “Greeting. This is my word to you. Mr Gorst has been killed [has - suffered] through me. I have taken away the press. These are my men - who took it—eighty, armed with guns. The object of this is to expel - Mr Gorst, so that he may return to town; it is on account of the - great trouble occasioned by his being sent here to stay and beguile - us, and also on account of your words, ‘I shall dig at the sides, - and your kingdom will fall.’ Friend, take Mr Gorst back to the - town; do not leave him to stay with me at Te Awamutu. Enough; if - you say he is to stay, he will die. Enough; send speedily your - letter to fetch him in three weeks. It is ended. - - “From your friend, - “From REWI MANIAPOTO.” - - -Mr Gorst also wrote a letter, informing Sir George Grey of the -occurrences, and saying that the natives had beaten him utterly, and -that Rewi said if the Governor left him it would be to certain death. -The letters were sent off to the Governor, who was then in Taranaki. -While an answer was awaited, Wiremu Tamehana came to see Mr Gorst, and -sorrowfully told him that he and others of the friendly-disposed party -could not protect him now. The Governor did not answer Rewi’s letter, -but sent instructions to Mr Gorst that in the event of there being any -danger whatever to life he was to return at once to Auckland, with the -other Europeans in the employment of the Government. - -As the Upper Waikato was now inflamed with the war feeling, Mr Gorst -realised that the evacuation of Te Awamutu was the only possible -course. He left the station on 18th April, 1863. It was more than forty -years before he set eyes again on the olden scene of his labours for -the Maori. - -The after-history of the “Pihoihoi Mokemoke” press has been cleared up -by dint of many inquiries. Practically the whole of the plant was -restored to the Government after Mr Gorst’s departure. It was placed in -a canoe and taken down the Waipa and Waikato to Te Iaroa, just below -the mouth of the Mangatawhiri River, near Mercer; there Mr Andrew -Kay—later of Orakau—had a trading store. The press and other material -were handed over to Mr Kay, who sent word to the Government, and carts -were sent to take it to Auckland. The press was afterwards used for a -time in printing the Government “Gazette.” A legend gained currency, -and was repeated by writer after writer, each copying his equally -ill-informed predecessor, that the Kingites melted the type into -bullets to use in the war. The fact, however, is that the plant was -returned to the Government very nearly complete. Sir John Gorst told me -(1906) that some of Rewi’s young men helped themselves to a little of -the type as curiosities, but there could have been very little missing -in that way. As for the “Hokioi” press, the Ngati-Maniapoto informed me -that it was taken up from Ngaruawahia to Te Kopua for safe-keeping when -the war began, and there it was lying, rusted and broken, when I last -heard of it; some of the scattered type was now and again ploughed up -on the bank of the Waipa. - -Sir John Gorst, re-visiting New Zealand after forty-three years, set -foot once more in Te Awamutu on 3rd December, 1906, and renewed his -acquaintance with some of his old native pupils and travelled over the -old familiar ground. He was welcomed with immense enthusiasm by pakeha -and Maori alike, and there was a peculiarly pathetic touch in the -speeches made by the few Maori survivors of the old regime in Waikato. -Sir John, with Miss Gorst, visited Captain D. Bockett, one of the -original military settlers of Rangiaowhia, who occupied the historic -mission-house. He went through the old buildings and the -well-remembered church. Then, with a large party, he visited Mr Andrew -Kay at his farm at Otautahanga, and talked over the old Waikato days; -and on the day’s drive passed over the battlefields of Hairini, -Rangiaowhia, and Orakau. At a great gathering at Te Awamutu to welcome -“Te Kohi” one of the speakers was the veteran Tupotahi, one of the -heroes of the Orakau defence; he had been a member of Aporo’s war-party -which invaded the Government station in 1863. Ngati-Maniapoto greeted -with a quite extraordinary enthusiasm the distinguished manuhiri whom -they had driven from their midst in the days of the racial quarrels, -now happily buried for ever. - -There was more than a touch of the poetic in the farewell to “Te Kohi” -and his daughter at the railway station, Te Awamutu, when the venerable -man bade good-bye for ever to his friends old and new. Two pretty -native girls, Victoria and Ngahuia Kahu Hughes, daughters of William -Hughes, of Kakepuku—one of Mr Gorst’s old pupils at the mission station -before the debacle of 1863—stood hand-in-hand on the platform and sang -very sweetly this parting waiata: - - - Hoki hoki tonu mai - Te wairua a Te Kohi. - Kia awhi-reinga - Ki tenei kiri—ee—ii! - - Ka huri koe i Te Awamutu - Ka tahuri whakamuri; - Mokemoke rere a te aroha—ee—ii! - - Ka eke ki tereina, - Ka tahuri whakamuri; - Mokemoke te rere a te auahi—ee—ii! - - Ka pinea korua - Ki te pine o te aroha, - Ki te pine e kore nei e waikura—ee—ii! - - - (Translation.) - - Return, return, the spirit of Te Kohi, - To greet me once again - In the shadowy land of dreams. - - When you look your last on Te Awamutu - Send back your love to us, - To the lonely ones you ne’er will see again! - - And as the railway bears you far away, - O backward turn your gaze; - Like the smoke that backward drifts—ah, me! - Farewell, a fond farewell! - - We will pin you both to our hearts - With the pin of love, - The pin that will never rust! - - -It was a pathetic little song with something of the sentiment breathed -in Tom Moore’s beautiful old Irish melody: - - - As slow our ship her foamy track - Against the wind was cleaving, - Her trembling pennant still looked back - To that dear isle ‘twas leaving. - So loth we part from all we love, - From all the links that bind us; - So turn our hearts, where’er we rove, - To those we’ve left behind us. - - - - -THE LAST CANOE VOYAGE. - -Of a picturesque quality, too, was “Te Kohi’s” passage to Auckland down -the Waikato River. It had been arranged with Mahuta, the King of -Waikato—son of Tawhiao—that Sir John should be taken down the river -from Ngaruawahia to Waahi, near Huntly, by Maori canoe, passing the -scenes once familiar to him in his before-the-war journeyings and -reviving memories of the primitive old days. Ngaruawahia in his era in -the Waikato was the capital of the Maori King, and no craft but dug-out -canoes floated on the great river. It was a glorious summer morning -when Sir John Gorst and his daughter and their party embarked at the -green delta in a fine, roomy, white-pine canoe, the “Tangi-te-Kiwi,” 70 -feet in length, with a crew of fifteen Maori paddlers, for the voyage -down the Waikato to Waahi. The sun drove away the early mists, and the -bush-clad range of the Hakarimata “stood up and took the morning,” high -above the willows that fringed the low banks of the shining river. Down -the long curving reaches the big waka swept with the powerful current -aiding the paddles, and the canoe captain, old Hori te Ngongo, standing -amidships, gave the time to his crew with voice and gesture, now and -again breaking into a high chanted song of the ancient days. One of -Hori’s songs was peculiarly appropriate, for it had been composed in -1863 with special reference to Gorst and the Mangatawhiri River, the -frontier line of those days. Thus chanted old Hori, the kai-hau-tu, in -a long-drawn high song to which the paddlers kept time as they dipped -and lifted their blades: - - - Koia e Te Kohi, - Purua i Mangatawhiri, - Kia puta ai ona pokohiwi, - Kia whato tou - E hi na wa! - - -In this waiata the Commissioner of Waikato was requested to “plug up” -the boundary river between pakeha and Maori lands and make it a close -frontier, and thus prevent the King’s followers passing below its mouth -to trade in Auckland, so that presently, for want of European clothing, -their naked bodies might be seen protruding from their scanty native -garments. - -Now and again as the “Tangi-te-Kiwi” approached a native hamlet on the -west bank of the river the crew would redouble their strokes and the -captain would chant in a louder, wilder key the old-time song for “Te -Kohi,” and from the village women would come a shrill reply and long, -wailing cries of “Haere-mai! Haere mai!” The canoe swept past the sites -of the old mission station and mission schools at Hopuhopu and at -Kaitotehe (opposite Taupiri)—the latter was Mr Ashwell’s station before -the war—and Sir John’s eyes lingered with a pathetic interest on the -scenes he knew in 1861–63 until a change of course or bend in the river -hid them from his view. - -High-peaked Taupiri, beloved of the old-time Maori, tapu and -legend-haunted, was passed on the right; and then, as the canoe glided -down the broad, glimmering reach, willow-walled, toward Huntly town, we -saw another long Maori waka appear in the distance ahead, its two rows -of paddles flashing in the sun with beautiful regularity. In a few -moments the two canoes met. The stranger was the royal canoe, “Te -Wao-nui-a Tane” (“The Great Forest of Tane”—the Maori god of the -woods), which had been sent up by Mahuta to meet Sir John Gorst’s -canoe, challenge us in true Maori style, and escort us down to the -meeting-place at Waahi. A splendid picture the “Wao-nui-a Tane” made as -she swept up under the strong strokes of twenty-six paddlers, all -stripped to the waist, their brown shoulders bowing and rising as one. -Amidships stood a red-capped captain, the chief Te Paki, giving the -time to his crew and chanting the old war-time songs. The crew were all -picked men of the Ngati-Whawhakia tribe of Waahi, the best canoe-men on -the Waikato. The canoe itself was about 70 feet in length, like our -waka, the “Tangi-te-Kiwi.” As the King’s canoe came alongside, Miss -Gorst and the Minister of the Crown (the Hon. George Fowlds) who -accompanied the Dominion’s guests were transferred to her, and away -down the glistening river shot the “Wao-nui-a Tane,” easily distancing -our canoe. Down the river she flashed at racing speed, her paddles -glinting like wet wings in the sun. Ngati-Whawhakia gave an exhibition -of faultless time and paddling that day as they swept down far ahead of -us to Waahi, their old kai-hau-tu yelling himself hoarse with his -boat-songs. It was a perfect picture of old Maoridom revived, bringing -once more to the honoured guest’s mind the romantic and adventurous -scenes in the days before the war, when hundreds of canoes, large and -small, made lively this noble waterway; the days before ever a pakeha -steamboat’s paddle-wheel startled the Waikato. - -And after the great welcome chants of the powhiri at the crowded marae -of Waahi, “Te Kohi” gripped hands once again with the venerable and -benevolent-looking veteran Patara te Tuhi, the chivalrous Kingite who -edited and printed the “Hokioi” at Ngaruawahia in the Sixties, and who, -when Mr Gorst had been ejected from Te Awamutu, gave him shelter one -night—the ironical humour of fate!—in the raupo-thatched -printing-office of the rebel “War Bird.” - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -THE WAIKATO WAR. - - We broke a King and we built a road— - A courthouse stands where the reg’ment goed, - And the river’s clean where the raw blood flowed, - When the Widow give the party. - - —“Barrack-Room Ballads.” - - -The eviction of Mr Gorst from Te Awamutu served to precipitate the -Waikato War, but in truth a conflict had become inevitable. There was a -widespread feeling that the time had come for a racial trial of -strength, and the conflict was due as much to the aggressive policy of -the Government and the anti-Maori tone of the newspapers and the -politicians as to the martial preparations of the Kingites. - -The construction of the military road and the establishment of military -posts in obvious readiness for an advance into the Waikato confirmed -the natives in their belief that the Government meant to force a way -into the interior and shatter their home-rule plans. - -The first definite act of war was Lieutenant-General Cameron’s despatch -of troops across the frontier, the Mangatawhiri River, on 12th July, -1863. - -Te Huirama, with a body of Waikato, barred the way with rifle-pits on -the Koheroa ridge, near Mercer, and on 17th July the first engagement -took place. The troops under Cameron charged the Maori position with -the bayonet, and the Kingites were driven out with the loss of their -leader and about thirty others. Numerous skirmishes followed in the -South Auckland country on the northern side of the Mangatawhiri; the -Lower Waikato and Wairoa and Hauraki war-parties carried gun and -tomahawk into their enemy’s country, following their favourite tactics -of ambuscade and plunder. There were many bush fights, in which the -Forest Rangers and the Forest Rifle Volunteers, as well as Imperial -troops and militia, were engaged. - -The three principal fortified posts of the Kingites in the early stages -of the war were Paparata, Meremere, and Pukekawa. These positions were -designed to stop the southward progress of the troops and enable the -Maoris to levy war on the frontier settlements. Pukekawa is the -beautiful round green hill on the west side of the great elbow of the -Waikato, where the river bends westward below Mercer; anciently a -fortified pa of the Ngati-Tamaoho stood on its summit. When the Waikato -War began the Ngati-Maniapoto came down the river in their canoes and -selected it as their headquarters, and from Pukekawa as a convenient -base they made raids on Patumahoe, Mauku, Camerontown, and other -frontier districts. They expected to be attacked there, and entrenched -themselves, but General Cameron did not carry the war to the west side -of the Waikato. - -Presently the arrival of gunboats specially adapted for the river war -enabled Cameron to outflank and capture the strongholds on the east -bank of the Waikato and to occupy Ngaruawahia, the Maori King’s -headquarters, unopposed. His only serious check was at Rangiriri, where -in disastrous frontal attacks the Imperial naval and military forces -sustained heavy casualties—47 dead and 85 wounded. The pa surrendered -next day, and 183 prisoners were taken. The Lower Waikato was -conquered, and the General with his steam flotilla shifted the army to -the Waikato-Waipa delta for the final blows to the Kingite cause. - - - - -PATERANGI AND WAIARI. - -Falling back from pa to pa, Waikato and Ngati-Maniapoto at last -concentrated their forces in the great series of entrenchments at -Pikopiko, Paterangi, and Rangiatea, defensive works intended to block -the march of the Imperial and Colonial troops on the principal Kingite -cultivations and food stores at Rangiaowhia. The chief fortification -was Paterangi; the traces of this elaborate system of earthworks can be -seen to-day close to Mr Harry Rhodes’ farmhouse on Paterangi Hill. - -General Cameron’s headquarters were at Te Rore, on the Waipa, and there -he camped for several weeks early in 1864. The principal engagement -during this period of waiting—for Paterangi was too strong for frontal -attack—was a lively skirmish at Waiari, on the Mangapiko River. Forty -Maoris fell that day (14th February, 1864), and six British soldiers -lost their lives. - -Here, at Waiari, that free-roving and adventurous colonial corps the -Forest Rangers had their first taste of sharp fighting in the Waipa -country. We shall hear a good deal of those Rangers in the succeeding -chapters. There were two companies of them, each fifty strong. No. 1 -Company was commanded by Captain William Jackson—afterwards Major -Jackson and M.H.R. for Waipa—and No. 2 Company by Captain G. F. Von -Tempsky, who as Major of Armed Constabulary fell in the bush battle of -Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu, in Taranaki, in 1868. The Rangers were armed with -Terry and Calisher breech-loading carbines and five-shot revolvers, and -Von Tempsky’s men also used bowie-knives, made in Auckland from a -pattern supplied by him, somewhat on the model of the bowie-knife of -Arkansas and Texan fame. - -The Rangers at Waiari were ordered to clear the Maoris out of the scrub -which covered the old pa in the river-loop. They dived into the -thickets, and soon killed or dispersed the Kingite warriors, and then -covered the retreat of the main body of troops to Te Rore and Colonel -Waddy’s advanced camp. The Rangers enjoyed the work so much that it was -difficult to get them home to camp at Te Rore for their tea. The -British dead and wounded had been removed, and as many as possible of -the Maori dead were brought across to the north bank of the Mangapiko. -General Cameron had ridden up from the main camp at Te Rore in time to -witness the defeat of the Maoris in Waiari. The Rangers, covering the -return of the troops, came under a heavy fire in front and from both -flanks, and returned it with coolness and accuracy from the cover of -the manuka and fern. - -A veteran corporal of No. 1 Company (Jackson’s) recalls Colonel -Havelock’s ire at the indifference of the frontiersmen to the bugle -calls. “It was getting dusk,” he says, “and still all our Rangers had -not come out of the scrub, and we could hear their carbines cracking in -reply to the heavy banging of the double-barrel guns. Captain Jackson -was standing alongside Colonel Havelock, A.D.C.—the son of the famous -hero of the Indian Mutiny—who asked why the Rangers had not returned. -Jackson replied in his blunt fashion that he didn’t know; he supposed -they’d come out when they had finished their job. The ‘Retire’ was -sounded again, but still our fellows kept popping away in the dusk. At -last, Colonel Havelock, swearing that he would turn out the 40th -Regiment and fire on the Rangers if they did not obey orders, called up -all the buglers that could be found and told them to sound the ‘Retire’ -all together. Presently our boys came out of the manuka and joined us, -as pleased as kings with their afternoon’s hot work.” - -A very few of those hard-fighting Rangers are left to recall the -incidents of a vanished phase of New Zealand life. Some—like Major -Jackson—settled down to pioneer farming, but for others the warpath had -attractions irresistible, and long after the battle of Orakau many of -the young veterans strapped on their fighting gear again and followed -“old Von” to Wanganui and Taranaki to do battle against the Hauhaus. -The corps ceased to bear its distinctive name; most of its members -returned to their sections of land in the military settlements on the -confiscated Waikato land; some joined the Armed Constabulary. And when -Von Tempsky fell to a Hauhau bullet before the stockade of Te -Ngutu-o-te-Manu it was a young officer who had been his subaltern in -1863–64, J. M. Roberts—now Colonel, and holder of the New Zealand Cross -for valour—who coolly and competently extracted the rearguard after a -terrible night in the forest of death. He had learnt his work well in -Von Tempsky’s practical school in many a scout and in many a skirmish -in a country where the name of the Forest Rangers is already but a dim -legend, so quickly has the work of nation-making marched in New -Zealand. - -Von Tempsky was a clever artist in water-colours, and had a gift of -writing animated narrative. He wrote a journal of events covering his -service in the Waikato War, and his story of the fighting at -Rangiaowhia, Hairini, and Orakau will be given in the chapters which -follow. His account has the merit of being a participant’s direct -description of the engagements; moreover, it now sees print for the -first time. [5] - -Among the notable figures of that day whom Von Tempsky describes in his -journal was Bishop George Augustus Selwyn. There is a word-vignette of -the great Bishop, riding unostentatiously with the army, his old -pack-horse ambling along laden with his tent and simple camp gear. -“What comfort the wounded and sick derived from his presence may be -imagined,” wrote Von Tempsky. “Often have I followed with my eye his -fine, manly figure wending its way on errands for the good of others; -and the study of that man’s character, strongly impressed in a face -where hard work has stamped its signet on high-bred features, would -yield materials for an epic poem. How that man’s being has clung to a -preconceived idea of his work in this country! How every fibre of his -existence has wrapped itself round that one object, the improvement of -the aboriginal! Through good and evil times he has stood by his work, -strong, fresh, after years of disappointment, unalterable in his -purpose, even if in opposition to the good of his own race. There -perhaps we find the one flaw in an otherwise almost perfect character.” - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE CAPTURE OF RANGIAOWHIA. - - -The first British soldiers to reach Te Awamutu marched in early on the -morning of 21st February, 1864. This was General Cameron’s force, which -outflanked the Maori defences at Paterangi and Rangiatea in a surprise -night march, and invaded the chief source of food -supplies—Rangiaowhia—the decisive strategic movement in the Waikato -War. - -The following is Von Tempsky’s MS. narrative of the night march and the -morning’s hot work at Rangiaowhia:— - -“On 20th February, 1864, the bugle at headquarters, Te Rore camp, -sounded, ‘Come for orders.’ Everyone, almost, knew what these orders -were going to be; and great excitement consequently prevailed. The -orders were that about half of the troops were to be under arms, in -heavy marching order, at half past ten that night. The rest, with the -luggage and so forth, were to follow in the day-time, leaving a -sufficient garrison for Te Rore. At half past ten the dense columns of -our force were drawn up in silence near headquarters. No bugle had -sounded; the tents were to remain standing, and the cover of a moonless -night was to hide our circumvention of the wily foe. I had the honour -to command the advanced guard, composed of my Rangers and 100 men of -the 65th under Lieutenant Tabuteau. Next followed the Defence Force -under Colonel Nixon, and the Mounted Artillery, doing troopers’ -service, under Lieutenant Rait, an active and energetic officer. The -rest of the 65th, 70th, some of the 50th, and other detachments -followed, Westrupp, with No. 1 Company, Forest Rangers, bringing up the -rear, as Captain Jackson had not yet returned from Auckland. As far as -Waiari the road enabled us to march in fours. Thence, however, Indian -file had to be the order of the march. The importance of our redoubt at -Waiari became now apparent to me, as its existence there served to mask -our start. On that point alone was discovery from Paterangi to be -apprehended. Once past it, our detour of the fern ridges made us nearly -safe until we came close on to Te Awamutu. Mr James Edwards (half-caste -guide) rode ahead of us, Captain Greaves, of the staff (70th) by his -side, and a better combination of local knowledge and military sagacity -never led troops on a difficult march. The high fern had to be trodden -down, principally by the advanced guard, but we were used to it and -knew that honour of position had to be paid for. Ridge after ridge was -passed, now and then a gully, but never very steep, so that packhorses -and even bullock drays could easily follow our tracks on the morrow.” - -At dawn (to summarise Von Tempsky’s story) the troops neared Te -Awamutu. It was known that at the entrance, by the pass, there was -situated an old pa. It was not known whether it was now occupied or had -been put into repair. The Rangers scouted on ahead and found it empty. -The cocks at Te Awamutu mission station were now crowing, and the -steeple of the church came into sight. Bishop Selwyn, and Mr Mainwaring -as his aide, galloped along ahead to the mission station, whose native -inhabitants “were under a theocratic flag of truce.” The column pushed -on to Rangiaowhia. The young troopers of the Colonial Defence Force -Cavalry now dashed forward in advance to their first serious work. - -“Rangiaowhia,” narrated Von Tempsky, “came soon into sight with a blue -ridge of mountains at the back, its straggling houses between peach -groves crowning cultivated ridges, with two prominent churches at a -short distance from one another. Kahikatea forests straggled up to the -village, here and there, and when we approached it nearer a succession -of ridges with some swamp intervening showed us that we had been -somewhat deceived in the distance. The rapid crack, crack of revolvers -and carbines announced to us now that the troopers had not forgotten -their spurs in getting ahead of us. We listened eagerly for the sound -of double-barrel guns, and that sound also was soon heard. So the -conflict had commenced, and that idea lifted our feet with the power of -galvanism. We probably got there considerably ahead of the main body, -but our blood was up, and we wanted to support our troopers in the -arduous task of riding through streets lined with houses whence a -desperate foe might have great advantage over mounted men. When, -however, we got nearer to the thick of the firing, a mounted civilian, -with some artillery troopers, met me and said that in that direction -there was nothing for us to do; if we wanted to see a good body of men -we should go to the Catholic Church, which was crammed full of armed -Maoris. I at once took his advice, particularly as I had heard but few -double-barrels lately in the direction of the Defence Corps. In -extended order, with 100 of the 65th Regiment in support, we advanced -past several rows of deserted whares, from which, however, now and then -some balls whistled past us. The church being our main object, we paid -no attention to these minor matters. I sent Lieutenant Roberts with -some men round the right flank of the church, and our circle gradually -drew closer. I could see already some black heads at the windows—but of -a sudden a white flag went up. - -“‘Very well, lads,’ I thought, ‘then I shall take you prisoner.’ We -advanced still nearer. Roberts’ signal announced to me that the church -was surrounded, when I heard Captain Greaves’ voice calling to me from -the rear: - -“‘The General does not want you to press the Maoris any further.’ - -“‘Not take them prisoner, even?’ - -“‘No.’ - -“ * * * I obeyed, though I was fast consuming my tongue by merciless -mastication. But honour is due to the order of a man like General -Cameron, so I ordered my men off and marched to where the firing still -continued. [6] - -“The two churches lay more towards the left flank of the village. The -firing continued more to our right near the centre of the village. As -we approached that point we got a few long-range shots from distant -whares, but took no notice of them. - -“In passing a boarded house, however, one more like the building of a -European than a Maori, two shots were rapidly fired at us from its -verandah. I did not believe my eyes when I saw there a woman coolly -sitting on the verandah and hiding a still smoking double-barrel -underneath it. She was decently dressed in the semi-European style -adopted by influential Maoris. She was oldish, and not very fair to -look at, particularly as her time-worn features were bent into one -concentrated expression of hatred—such a hatred as Johnson revered and -you read of occasionally in old plays. - -“I went up to her and had the gun taken away, looking at her all the -time, not knowing whether I should laugh or feel pathetic—the coolness, -the ugliness, and reckless hatred of this specimen of Maoridom puzzling -my choice of sentiment exceedingly. I thought of passing on, just with -a warning for future good behaviour, when some officers shouted to me -that ‘the old wretch’ had also fired at them, wounded a man of the -65th, and been warned already, and that I had better take her prisoner. - -“Reluctantly I gave her in charge of one of my men, but accompanied the -order with a Freemason’s sign which my man understood, the result of -which was that the woman afterwards quietly slipped away unnoticed. - -“Just as we started again we heard another couple of shots from the -same house, and now thinking that some men might be inside I had the -house surrounded. - -“Just as Roberts got to the back part, another fairy burst from its -door, and, running with the fleetness of a deer, dropped her gun just -in time to have her sex recognised and respected. I was glad that her -fleetness saved me from another female responsibility, and proceeded -onward. - -“I met Captain Bower, Adjutant of the Defence Corps, one of the Six -Hundred at Balaklava. He looked fearfully excited, and hurriedly told -me that Colonel Nixon had just been shot, and that the bullet had gone -through his lung.” - -Von Tempsky, describing what he then saw, says that a circle of -soldiers of all regiments surrounded at some distance a nearly solitary -whare with a very narrow and low door; in the open doorway lay the body -of a soldier of the 65th, shot through the head. A constant firing of -rifles into the house was carried on with little regard to the effects -of cross-fire, and the narrator formed his men in a half-circle, in the -safe radius of the “dead angle” of the house. It seemed that after the -house had been first surrounded Colonel Nixon sent Lieut. T. McDonnell -and Mr Mair, the interpreter, to ask the Maoris in it to surrender, -assuring them of good treatment. A volley was the concise answer. Then -the firing into the house commenced, but as the floor was below the -level of the outside ground the Maoris were comparatively secure for -some time. Then of a sudden an excited trooper of the Defence Corps -dismounted, and dashed, sword and revolver in hand, into the whare. -Some quick shots were heard, and nothing more was seen or heard of him. -A man of the 65th rushed forward to ascertain the fate of the trooper, -but, being covered and hampered by his roll of blankets and other -paraphernalia, he stuck in the door and was shot in the head. The -firing into the whare now became a perfect cannonade, and even Colonel -Nixon could not abstain from firing with his revolver at the open door. -Stepping incautiously from behind the corner of a neighbouring whare, -he received a bullet, fired from that open door. - -“When we arrived,” resumes Von Tempsky, “some neighbouring whares had -been set fire to with the view to communicating the fire to the -all-dreaded one. But somehow this seemed to me an uncertain process, -and unfair. So, looking round at my nearest men, I said, ‘We will rush -the whare, boys.’ - -“‘Aye! Rush it, rush it!’ was echoed, and with one ‘Forward!’ about a -dozen of us were round the door in an instant. Sergeant Carron had got -ahead of me, and had poked his head into the low doorway. I stood -impatiently behind him, just on one side of the door, thinking that we -ought to take the body of the 65th man out of the way first. Carron -then drew back his head and said to me: - -“‘There is only one dead man inside, sir.’ - -“I could not quite understand this, though I could see that it was -pitch dark inside, and so Carron might have been mistaken. - -“At this moment Corporal Alexander, of the Defence Corps, had pushed -his way between myself and Carron, and, squatting down in the low -doorway, commenced to arrange his carbine for taking aim, evidently -puzzled by the darkness—I urging him either to make room for us or jump -in. - -“A double-barrel thunders, discharged from the interior of the house, a -bullet knocks through Alexander’s brain, and he drops backward. The -doorway was now completely chocked with the two bodies. My men dragged -away Alexander, and, after firing five shots of my revolver quickly -into the corner from which I had heard the last report, I dragged the -65th man out of the door myself. At that moment, also, one of my men -got shot in the hip—a fine young fellow, John Ballender. He staggered -forward and dropped, never more to rise, though he lingered for months -in hospital. (Note.—A Canadian by birth, by profession a surgeon, he -served as a private with me. An excellent shot, and brave to a fault. I -had known him first at Mauku. His comrades have erected a handsome -marble slab over his grave at Queen’s Redoubt.) - -“I now debated within myself whether the rush might not be renewed, as -the door was clear now; but I saw that my men, even, had had enough of -it, and were pointing significantly and triumphantly to the flames that -now commenced to lap over from the nearest burning whare to the fatal -and now fated house. What the feelings of the inmates of that doomed -fortress must have been passes almost the power of imagination. They -must have heard by this time the crackling of the approaching fire; -they must have felt the heat already. Could human nature hold out any -longer in resistance? - -“No! Behold, one man, in a white blanket, quickly steps from the door -and approaches the fatal circle at some distance from us. He holds up -his arms to show himself unarmed; he makes a gesture of surrender; he -is an old-looking man. - -“‘Spare him! Spare him!’ is shouted by all the officers and most of my -men. But some ruffians—and some men blinded by rage at the loss of -comrades, perhaps—fired at the Maori. - -“The expression of that Maori’s face, his attitude on receiving the -first bullet, is now as vivid before my mind’s eye as when my heart -first sickened over that sight. When the first shots struck him he -smiled a sort of sad and disappointed smile; then, bowing his head, and -staggering already, he wrapped his blanket over his face, and, -receiving his death bullets without a groan, dropped quietly to the -ground. (Note.—Had all the men been with their regiments—that is to -say, had had their own officers near them—this would not have happened. -In that promiscuous crowd no one knew who one belonged to.) - -“The flames now caught the roof. Could there be another being yet in -that house of death? The roaring sound of approaching destruction -inside the house, the certainty of death outside! What man can bear -such wrath of fate? - -“Behold! There is one such man! Like an apparition he suddenly stands -in front of the door—stands bolt upright—and fires his last two shots -at us. Defiance flashes from his eyes even as he sinks under a shower -of bullets. - -‘The house is one mass of flame—it is near falling—when another Maori -bursts from it, gun in hand, and drops pierced by bullets while -dauntlessly aiming at the foe. As he fell the timbers of the roof bent -inward, the house tottered, and with a crash crumbled to pieces on the -well-fought ground. - -“Seven charred bodies of Maoris and the first Defence Corps man were -found among the blackened ruins. That fortress had held ten defenders. -What would not ten hundred of such defenders do when properly armed and -commanded? Yet I am sorry to say that much of this unyielding desperate -disposition is based upon one of the worst if the strongest features in -Maori character. - -“After the fall of the house there remained nothing to do at -Rangiaowhia. The General, fearing the results of straggling in such a -rambling, extensive community as this, together with the presumed -absence of water in the most important military points, decided on -returning to Te Awamutu. - -“On our way to Te Awamutu I had occasion to observe the peculiar -insensibility to wounds in Maoris; the same that I had previously -observed in North American Indians. I had seen an immense, brawny Maori -lying on the ground covered with blood, Dr. Mouat, V.C., of the Staff, -attending him with his usual skill and celerity. I thought that kindly -attention but thrown away, for the Maori had a sabre cut over the head, -a revolver bullet in his mouth, a shot through the liver, and a sabre -cut over the back. He was carried in a stretcher half way to Te -Awamutu, when he insisted on getting out, and walked the remainder of -the way. I saw him the following day in hospital, sitting up among the -female prisoners, chatting in such an unconcerned way and with such -equanimity of expression in his features that I doubted the evidence of -my eyes that this could be the same man I had seen on the previous day -with four wounds, each of which would have prostrated for some time a -European.” - -A veteran of No. 1 Company of Forest Rangers, Mr Wm. Johns, of Auckland -(formerly of Te Rahu), gives the following account of his experiences -at Rangiaowhia: - -“About a dozen whares were burned in the village. The fight extended -from the head of the swamp, where Colonel Nixon was shot, right up to -the Catholic Church, whence we drove the Maoris over the crest into the -swamps, next the native racecourse. Some shots were fired at us from -the English Church; some Maoris were inside the building. It was an -open skirmish from then right along. There were not more than 200 -Maoris altogether in Rangiaowhia that day, but they fought well, and -had plenty of ammunition. After one of our fellows had been shot, my -commanding officer said to me, ‘Corporal, take two men and see if there -are any Maoris in the whare there,’ pointing to a house about twenty -yards away. I posted the two men outside and stooped to enter the -house, which was sunk in the ground, with a low entrance. As I entered -I was felled by a terrific blow on the side of the neck, but deflected -somewhat by the edge of the doorway. I lay there stunned for some -moments, and when I recovered I saw a Maori weapon, a long taiaha, -lying beside me. [It is now in the Old Colonists’ Museum in Auckland; a -small piece was nicked out of the blade of it by the doorway edge.] My -men told me that the inmates of the whare had escaped by bursting -through the thatch at the back, and got clear away. It was a very -narrow escape for me, and I took the taiaha as a memento of it. I took -no further share in the fight that day, but I was able to march back to -Te Awamutu.” - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE ENGAGEMENT AT HAIRINI. - - -On the afternoon of 22nd February, 1864—the day following the capture -of Rangiaowhia—the British and Colonial forces were involved in a much -sharper affair, a heavy engagement in which all three arms—horse, foot, -and artillery—were used. This was the battle of Hairini Hill, a steep -elevation about half way between Te Awamutu and Rangiaowhia; the name -has since been transferred mistakenly to Rangiaowhia village. The -present road follows exactly the military route of 1864. - -Here the Maoris who came pouring out of Paterangi immediately they -discovered that their works had been outflanked had hastily fortified -themselves, burning to avenge the surprise capture of Rangiaowhia and -the killing of their comrades. An incident of the day’s work was a -sabre charge by the Colonial Defence Force Cavalry; this was one of the -very few occasions on which cavalry charges were practicable in the -Maori Wars. - -Von Tempsky wrote the following narrative of his Rangers’ share in the -afternoon’s fighting: - -“At last about 1 o’clock orders came (to Te Awamutu camp), and away -went the Rangers. I had received no order relative to my position or -further operations; so, calculating to commit any errors on the safe -side, I hurried my men past as many detachments as I could, and got -them well in front by the time we had reached a commanding fern ridge, -on which line of battle was formed. The firing had been going on -already for some time between our skirmishers and the Maoris. I could -now see their position plainly. There is a considerable rise just at -the entrance to Rangiaowhia proper; the first considerable whares are -on that hill; the brow of the same was crowned with a long stake fence, -ditch, and low parapet, having been the common enclosure of a large -field. It had been strengthened during the night and morning, and a -very respectable length of line of black heads was bobbing up and down -behind it. A swamp was at the foot of this hill, the main road avoiding -it and turning more to our right flank. The right flank of the Maoris -was covered by a still more impassable swamp [Pekapeka-rau], so that -their left flank was the only point needing much defence, a dense -forest on that side giving them also contingent advantages. - -“The 50th, under their brave old Colonel Waddy, and the Defence Cavalry -Corps, under Captain Walmsley, as staunch an officer as ever put spurs -to a horse, were on our extreme right; and were destined to do the work -of that day, General Cameron and Staff personally superintending this -particular work. - -“We saw the 50th fix bayonets, and as they advanced on the main road -the Maoris commenced a perfect feu d’enfer, and I, looking in vain for -directions, led my men against the right flank of the Maoris. - -“We had to cross several little gullies and rises; at each place -affording the least shelter I breathed my men for a moment, and then -dashed them again over the next exposed space. Three severe instalments -of a lead shower rattled, thumped, and whistled round us; each time I -put the men under shelter till the shower passed, and then rushed on -again. As yet I had seen only one of my men hit. - -“As we got into the swamp we just saw the gleam of the bayonets of the -50th close upon the left flank of the Maoris. We heard the British -cheer, echoed it, and rushed on to the right of the position, where I -also saw a peach-grove that might be of use to us. - -“Of a sudden, while panting up the hillside, with an upper stratum of -lead travelling over our heads towards our friends we had left behind -us, I saw that long black line of heads waver. I heard confused cries -and shouts presaging disorder—and lo!—it broke and fled—some to the -right, where I saw the Defence Corps after them; and some to the left; -to these we lent our company. Maoris have a natural affinity to swamp; -there is a strong amphibious tendency in the brown man. Ducks are no -more at home in the swamps than Maoris. Only in this instance the -‘being at home’ was extended perhaps beyond the wish of many by our -carbines. So soon as we had reached the peach-grove which commanded the -swamp to our left, we had a fine play upon the greater part of the -Maoris who were trying to make their escape. I had some soldiers of the -70th with me who, seduced by the example of my men, had followed my -fortunes faithfully that day. They were, however, despatched back to -their regiment by the arrival of Colonel Carey of the Staff. - -“Some skirmishers still lurked between us and that part of Rangiaowhia -where the two churches stood; so we took our way in that direction, -getting now and then a sight of a Maori and a hearing of their bullets. -I was just directing one of my foremost skirmishers to aim at a figure -of a man which I could see behind a bush, when something struck me in -the attitude as being nerveless like that of a wounded man. I gave the -word to stop firing, and, surrounding the Maori carefully, as some sham -being dead and then blaze into you, then approached him. Resting on his -right elbow, his back against a stump, the left leg stretched from him -with a large pool of blood around it, the Maori surveyed our approach -without a start or a movement of a muscle in his face, even. Now, let -me tell you that my men in the day of battle are not very -confidence-inspiring objects to look at. What with dust, smoke, their -wild dress, their armament, and faces wild with excitement of the hour, -a man would be quite justified in hesitating to trust his life -altogether to their keeping, not being able to see the golden -sub-stratum of that desperado exterior. A calm, steady, almost -indifferent look was fixed on me by the dark eye of the Maori. I made -to him a gesture of friendship, and proceeded to examine his wound. An -Enfield bullet had shattered his left leg below the calf, and he was -rapidly bleeding to death. A boot-lace twisted under the knee had to do -duty as a tourniquet, and the Maori’s shirt had to supply the bandages. -One of our men who spoke a little Maori told him we would come back for -him, and left him with water and some rum; the latter he refused -taking. - -“I had an idea that as the Catholic Church had proved once an asylum to -the Maori, it might be occupied the same way to-day. I was determined -to be beforehand with the Staff to-day at least, and pushed on by -short-cut. Everything seemed quiet about the neighbourhood. The church -door was locked, but as it might have been locked from the inside I had -a carbine pointed into the lock, which pass-key proved to fit our -requirements. I entered the church, found it empty, turned my men out -again, and re-fastened the door to the best of my ability. - -“Colonel Carey, of the Staff, then arrived, and gave me orders to guard -the adjoining dwelling-house of the priest and permit no one to enter -it. My men had by my permission gone to plunder the nearest whares. -Their whole plunder was then put into the verandah of the priest’s -house, and, putting a sentry over it, I dispersed my men once more for -‘loot,’ as they now deserved to have a pull at Rangiaowhia. I remained -to guard the priest’s house myself and ruminate over the day’s work. - -“Colonel Weare, of the 50th, then made his appearance, and informed me -that he had received orders to take charge of this house and grounds. I -had no great objection to a transfer of responsibility, but when I was -informed that nothing was to be removed from the ground, not even the -loot my men had taken from the neighbourhood, now lying piled in the -verandah, I most decidedly objected to such an unfair arrangement. A -picket under a subaltern was then put over the premises, and Colonel -Weare departed. I recalled my Rangers by my whistle, drew them up -outside, and carried out myself every individual article belonging to -them, not forgetting one or two articles of loot belonging to Colonel -Weare, accidentally mixed with ours, considered already as safely -acquired by right of seniority. It was to me about as interesting an -interlude as could be found amongst the sad realities of higher -interests around me. And I look back to my struggle with Colonel Weare -for the loot of my men probably with the same amount of amusement as he -does himself by this time. He put me under arrest. I took no notice of -it, nor did General Cameron, who joked me the next day about it.” - -The Forest Rangers’ entry into Te Awamutu that evening must have been a -grotesquely picturesque spectacle. Von Tempsky wrote: - -“An advanced guard under myself surrounded the stretcher of the chief -Paul, whom we had picked up on the way back according to promise. This -was serious and respectable, but the main body of the two companies -that followed, borne down with the most promiscuous loot ever gathered, -were a sight fit for the pencil of Hogarth. There were men representing -a walking museum of fowls strung and hung all over their persons. There -were men having the carcases of pigs strapped to their bodies; one even -carried a live young sow, baby-wise in his arms, restraining its -desperate struggles and screams by the strength of a powerful arm. -There were men mounted on Maori horses, one of them my half-caste -Sergeant Southee, decorated with feathers used at the Maori war dance. -The whole two companies bristled with Maori spears, tomahawks, -double-barrel guns, and so forth. I myself had a magnificent -long-handled tomahawk, given to me by one of my men, who picked it up -on the battlefield. I gave it to General Cameron. - -“I have since heard that our entry into Te Awamutu created not only -admiration but envy, loot being such a scarce article in this war that -even Commodore Wiseman could not help saying to a friend of mine, -‘Those rascally Rangers have got all the loot.’ In former days the -Naval Brigade generally got ahead of the soldiers in that business, but -now the agility of the Rangers had put the long-armed Jack Tar into the -shade. - -“In dismissing my men that evening, I could not but testify to their -gallant conduct, particularly No. 1 Company, under Lieutenant Westrupp, -who had followed me when I went a considerable pace, and when my own -men, being in high fern, could not keep up with me. General Cameron, in -acknowledging the good behaviour of the men, had another ration of rum -served out to them that night, so that at the camp-fire our battles -were fought over again with even more gusto and less risk.” - -Another old-timer, an ex-Ranger in the Waikato, thus described to the -present writer that triumphal march back from Rangiaowhia: - -“We had found great stores of potatoes, pigs, and fowls lying ready to -be carted to the big pa at Paterangi. The stuff was stacked here and -there along the middle of the village between the two churches. When we -marched back to Te Awamutu that night one of our fellows, Johnny Reddy, -was leading, or rather driving, a pig by a rope. As we came near the -mission station gate at Te Awamutu we saw General Cameron standing -there with Bishop Selwyn. Reddy called out, ‘Make way for the Maori -prisoner!’ The General ordered, ‘Arrest that man!’ But Johnny dropped -his rope, left the pig, and bolted. All the same, he had a fair whack -of that porker for his supper.” - -The Royal Navy men, as a veteran recalls, did not come home from the -battle quite empty-handed, for when they hauled their six-pounder -field-piece in that evening it was loaded with Maori pigs and potatoes. - -The day’s casualties numbered two soldiers killed, one of the Defence -Force Cavalry mortally wounded, and fifteen others wounded, including -Ensign Doveton, of the 50th. The Maoris lost about a score killed, -beside many wounded, some of whom were captured and treated in the -field hospital at Te Awamutu. - - - - -THE RANGIAOWHIA BLOCKHOUSE. - -A veteran Forest Ranger (Mr Wm. Johns, of Auckland) says: - -“About 1870 the Rangiaowhia blockhouse, designed exactly like that at -Orakau, was built close to where the Hairini school now stands. It was -constructed of four-inch planks. We used it as a refuge place in the -panic times. Being doubtful of its strength, I proposed to my -fellow-settlers one day that I would test whether it was really -bullet-proof. We all went out, and with an Enfleld rifle at fifty yards -I put a bullet not only through the front wall of four-inch planks but -also nearly through the rear wall. Then I took one of the solid plugs -of the floor-loopholes in the overhanging upper storey, a piece of -timber seven inches thick, set it up, and drilled it through with a -bullet. We decided that we could not stay in the blockhouse, as it -would only be a death-trap in case of attack; so we represented its -condition to Major Jackson, our commanding officer. Then the blockhouse -was made really bullet-proof by giving it a plank lining and filling -the intervening space, four inches or so, with sand and gravel.” - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE INVASION OF KIHIKIHI. - - -Rewi Maniapoto’s headquarters were at Kihikihi, three miles from Te -Awamutu, and General Cameron made no delay in paying his adversary a -military call. Rewi had not fought at Hairini; the fact is that he was -a more sagacious soldier than most of his fellow-countrymen, and -perceived the impossibility of making a successful stand at such a -vulnerable spot. No doubt he fully realised that with the bloodless -fall of Paterangi the pakeha conquest of the Waipa was practically -complete. - -On 23rd February, 1864, a mixed force of troops marched from Te -Awamutu, and without resistance entered the large village of Kihikihi, -an attractive sight with its cultivations of root and grain crops and -its peach and apple orchards. The Ngati-Maniapoto retired to the Puniu -River without firing a shot. - -After burning the large carved council-house (which stood at the south -end of the present township) and destroying the tall flagstaff, the -force returned to Te Awamutu. The troops were now well established in -encampments around the mission station, and several redoubts were soon -built. The principal redoubt, occupied by Imperial troops during -1864–65, was built in the middle of the present town, in rear of the -post office, as shown on the plan here given. The site of this -earthwork can still be traced, although it is intersected by a road. -There were also British garrisons in occupation of Pikopiko, Paterangi, -and Rangiaowhia. - -The soldiers in the various camps revelled in an abundance of fruit and -potatoes, and the horses of the cavalry and field artillery throve on -the maize that grew in every settlement. - -A few days after the first expedition to Kihikihi a scouting party of -the Colonial Defence Force Cavalry brought news that the Maoris had -returned to the neighbourhood of the settlement. It was decided, -therefore, that a redoubt should be built at Kihikihi, and an -expedition made a start from Te Awamutu before daylight one morning, in -an attempt to surprise Ngati-Maniapoto. Colonel Waddy, of the 50th, was -in command. The two companies of Forest Rangers composed the advance -guard. - -Von Tempsky, describing this expedition, wrote: - -“As we approached Kihikihi I went somewhat in advance, and seeing some -Maoris near a bush adjoining the village, we gave chase, and sent word -back to that effect. We skirmished through some maize-fields, with a -dense bush to our left, to which bush I gave a wide berth. But we could -not get well at them as they had the start of us, and we were suddenly -brought up by a swamp. We skirmished with them across the swamp, but -got little good out of it. I saw them retreating into some distant -whares, and making themselves quite comfortable, proving to me thereby -that they were now supported, and that their position was strong. As we -found the swamp altogether impassable without making a detour of miles, -I returned, having formed, however, my plan already to look after these -gentlemen. - -“That night I entered the bush which I had skirted the previous day, -thinking of heading the swamp by these means, and surprising the -whares. We had a fearful march of it. It was a kahikatea bush, with -swamp inside, and night to add to the difficulties. However, we -persevered, and by the time it was morning we were opposite the whares. -With one ‘Hurrah!’ we rushed across the open space on to one, then to -the other, whare, but found both empty and everything in them smashed -to atoms—to the very cats of the domicile. The houses belonged to Mr -Gage, a half-caste, who had not joined the Maori cause. - -“While my men were overhauling the premises for anything useful, I -surveyed the neighbourhood, and saw that between us and the bush, which -formed a perfect bight around us, there was still another swamp to -cross if we wanted to get into the bush. Also, I saw that if there were -any Maoris lurking there we presented a fair target for their pleasure, -without even the chance of retaliation. - -“At that moment Sergeant Carron, who had been sniffing around with his -usual acuteness, reported to me that there were Maoris in the bush. -This decided me in relinquishing my position at once, as we could do no -harm to our antagonists if they persisted in remaining in the bush. I -had hardly drawn my men down the knoll on which the dwelling-house -stood when down came a volley over the heads of the last men -disappearing behind the hill. I took up a better position within 300 -yards of it, where logs and fern gave good cover to the ground in our -favour. But the Maoris would no more cross that swamp in front of us -than we would in front of them; so, looking at one another wrathfully, -and shaking a figurative fist, we parted at last without much harm done -to either side.” - -The redoubt now built on the highest part of the Kihikihi village (the -spot is just behind the present police station) was garrisoned by -Imperial troops for a time, and then by Waikato Militia. In the -Seventies, and, in fact, until about 1883, it was occupied by the Armed -Constabulary. Unfortunately it was demolished in the Eighties by the -townspeople, who did not realise the value of this large and -picturesquely-set earthwork as a place of future historic interest. - -The Forest Rangers now camped at Kihikihi for some time. On 29th -February, 1864, the first expedition was made to Orakau village. Von -Tempsky, describing this bit of work, wrote: - -“The Maoris at Orakau kept hanging about, irresolute what to do, till -we saw them commencing to dig rifle-pits, and then it was high time to -give them notice to quit. Colonel Waddy mustered his whole strength, -and away we went under the firm impression that we would have a warm -afternoon of it. The Forest Rangers were in the advance. There was much -scrub on each side of the road, and we had also orders to break down -any fence that might impede the action of the cavalry. We had broken -down one or two across our road already, when the Maoris commenced with -some desultory shots at cannon range. But suddenly I saw a peculiar -sort of fence across the road—a stake fence bound with new flax, -therefore a new work—a rising bank behind it, with a suspicious look -about the crown. - -“‘Listen, men,’ I said. ‘We must make one broad rush at that place—one -long, strong, all-together push—and that fence must go down. Then up -the bank like lightning.’ - -“Thus arranged—thus it was done. With a cheer a wave of sprightly -fellows dashed against that fence. Down it went—up the bank we flew. -There were the masked rifle-pits just dug and just deserted. They had -stuck sprigs and branches of tea-tree into the newly-thrown-up earth to -hide the presence of those pits. - -“Thence we entered the village, still with considerable precaution, as -we would not believe that the Maoris would make no resistance whatever, -particularly in such broken ground as the village, straggling amongst -gullies and ridges covered with peach-groves, afforded. Thus, however, -it was. We went right through the village, and seeing the fugitives in -the far-off distance making for an old pa [probably Otautahanga], I -gave chase, but was soon recalled, as the orders of Colonel Waddy were -to confine himself strictly to Orakau. The next time I entered that -village a few weeks after we did not complain about the reluctance of -fighting in the Maoris.” - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -THE BATTLE OF ORAKAU. - - And how can man die better - Than facing fearful odds, - For the ashes of his fathers, - And the temples of his gods? - - —“Horatius” (“Lays of Ancient Rome.”) - - -The defence of Orakau Pa by the three hundred Maoris who deserve -lasting fame as surely as the three hundred of Thermopylæ has passed -into imperishable history as an inspiring example of heroism and -devotion to a national cause. Many and many a story of that three days’ -siege has been written, and yet new narratives with much that is -thrilling are still to be gathered from the very few survivors. Far -away in the wild forest glens of the Urewera Country I have heard the -story of Orakau told in the meeting-houses at night by the old -warriors, and travelling over the Huiarau Mountains to Waikaremoana, my -companion, a Hauhau veteran, told me how his father fell at Orakau and -he himself escaped from the field with a severe wound, and proudly he -exhibited the deep scars. - -Orakau was one of those defeats and retreats that are grander than a -victory. The spirit of Bannockburn was in the defenders’ scornful -defiance of terrible odds; but even Bannockburn was outdone by the -Maori garrison’s indifference to the foe’s superiority in numbers and -arms and by the devotion of the women who remained to share the fall of -their husbands and brothers. The pakeha’s cattle graze over the -unfenced, unmarked trenches where scores of brave men were laid to -rest. Technically they were rebels, holding stubbornly to nationalism -and a broken cause, but the glory of Orakau rests with those rebels. -And now that the old racial animosities have disappeared Briton and -Maori join in fraternal worship of the men and women who died for a -sentiment. A Waikato Regiment has taken for its motto the war-cry of -the people whom Cameron defeated but could not conquer, and has -inscribed on its colours the words, “Ka whawhai tonu matou, ake, ake, -ake!” To New Zealanders of the blended races in the years to come that -slogan of the soil should carry as thrilling a call in battle-test as -the last words of Burns’s ode hold for the Scot: “Liberty’s in every -blow—let us do or die!” - - - -Of Ngati-Maniapoto themselves there were but fifty or so in Orakau; the -defence fell chiefly on the Urewera—who had come fully a hundred and -fifty miles to fight the pakeha—and on the Ngati-Raukawa and -Ngati-te-Kohera and other West Taupo hapus. - -Very nearly all those dogged heroes of Orakau have passed to the -Reinga; I know of only five now living—three Ngati-Maniapoto and two -Urewera. - -In this sketch of Waipa history I need not enter into the already -familiar military history of Orakau. There is, however, an immensely -interesting MS. narrative at my hand—Major Von Tempsky’s account of the -siege—and extracts from this animated description make a valuable -contribution to the story of the three days’ fighting. - -Von Tempsky, after describing his march with the Forest Rangers from Te -Awamutu, as advance guard of Major Blyth’s column, narrates that the -force crossed and re-crossed the Puniu and came out in rear of Orakau, -soon after the main body under Brigadier-General Carey had opened the -attack. His Rangers (No. 2 Company—No. 1 was in camp at Ohaupo) were -ordered to guard the east side of the Maori position. Von Tempsky then -goes on to describe the events of the first day (31st March, 1864): - -“For two hours we lay under what cover the inequalities of the ground -afforded, with a heavy and well-directed fire upon us. We could see the -Maoris strengthening their works as busy as bees, firing away also with -rifles from two or three small embrasures with most unpleasant -comparative accuracy. There was one gentleman in particular sending his -shots at me with a wonderful progression of skill. I had a hillock -somewhat bigger than my head to shelter the same; a gentle incline -thence afforded a philosophical resting-place for the trunk and limbs; -so that I lay in comparative security from direct shots, though not -from the leaden droppings of high descent. The first indication of the -notice taken of my insignificant presence was given me by a bullet -striking the ground in beautiful line with my head about eight or nine -yards in front. The next shot made the distance six, in the same -splendid line, the third five, the fourth four, and so on until—he did -not hit me after all. - -“I had had some hopes that the nearness of our circle to the pa -indicated an intention of a general assault, but nothing of the kind -took place. We could not even fire, as the danger of a cross-fire was -then too imminent, and I must confess that I was heartily glad when we -were removed at last from that uselessly-exposed position to a point -further back, where the sudden fall of the ridge gave a comparative -shelter from bullets. Here I was joined once more by the rest of my men -and Lieutenant Roberts, and got from him a full account of the -proceedings of the main column. - -“They were first fired upon from some peach-groves in the beginning of -the village. The advance guard under Captain Ring, accompanied by -Roberts and his Rangers, skirmished along the road, the natives -retiring before them. It became then apparent that the Maoris were -going to make a stand in a large peach-grove before them. There was an -old stock-yard fence visible, but as to the nature of any other -defences no one had any idea of what was before them. The word for -assault was then given, and, Captain Ring and Roberts leading -gallantly, they advanced in quick time. The Maoris held their fire -until our force was within fifty yards, and then gave them volley after -volley. Within a few yards from the ditch, and a parapet now becoming -visible, Captain Ring fell dead by the side of Roberts. A few Rangers -were trying to get into the ditch, but were not supported. Several men -had fallen, and the bugle from the main body sounded the Retire. -Another effort to lead the men on to the assault proved as ineffectual -as the first. Captains Fisher and Hinds, of the 40th, and Captain -Baker, of the Staff, most gallantly set the example, and urged the men -on—but the advance of the latter was this time even a milder affair -than the first. Captain Fisher was badly wounded, several men shared -the same fate, and only a few of my men got into the ditch. Roberts saw -that he was not sufficiently supported, and drew his men back. The two -pieces of artillery then commenced to play upon the pa. We arrived -about that time, and I witnessed the harmless flight of shells and -other equally ineffectual shots. A little dust, and a cheer from the -natives, were all the results that I could see. This firing of the -Armstrong even continued after we were in our encircling position, and -I had the pleasure of picking up nice pieces of shell dropped amongst -us, after the explosion had taken place over our heads.” - -Von Tempsky here comments on the failure to reconnoitre the pa before -the troops were rushed against it in premature assaults. - -“After we had taken up our position on the east side, closing the -circle that now surrounded the pa on all sides, everyone asked, ‘What -next?’ A sort of vague idea circulated that ‘the place was going to be -blown up that afternoon.’ I heard this myself from an officer of high -standing, wondering in myself how this wonderful feat was going to be -accomplished, and particularly in the space of time mentioned. However, -there was little Hurst of the 12th (acting engineer officer). He -suggested sapping. The idea was greedily seized and carried out. - -“About twelve o’clock we began to see natives trooping along the ranges -to the east, and making for the forest between us and Rangiaowhia [the -Manga-o-Hoi bush]. Their numbers increased at every moment. I was -stationed in a hollow where the main road from the pa [toward -Otautahanga and Parawera] crossed a swamp and led up an adjoining -ridge, on which stood a large weather-board house. I had previously put -a picket near that house, as the view from it commanded the very point -of the forest now that reinforcements were gathering. - -“The natives in the pa had seen the arrival of succour as well as we -had, and repeated cheers and volleys announced their appreciation of -the sight. From the forest responsive cheers soon established a -sympathetic intercourse between the two separated bodies, and I must -confess that as far as I was concerned at least the enthusiasm was all -on their side. Some Maori trumpeter in the pa now commenced one of -those high-pitched shouts, half song, half scream, that travel -distinctly over long distances, particularly from range to range. He -was giving the reinforcements some instructions. I never have been able -to find out what they were, though we had plenty of interpreters with -us. I went to the picket with reinforcements, and extended a line of -skirmishers along the brow of the hill in some tea-tree scrub. There -was open ground between us and the line of forest in which the -reinforcements were, and they had to cross that opening if they wanted -to come to us. - -“About this time the natives in the pa commenced a war dance. Of -course, we could see nothing of it, but we could hear it—the measured -chant—the time-keeping yell—the snort and roar—the hiss and scream—the -growl and bellowing—all coming from three hundred throats in measured -cadence, working up their fury into a state of maniacal, demoniacal -frenzy, till the stamping of their feet actually shook the ground. - -“There was soon an echo in the forest of this pandemoniacal concert. -Another chorus of three hundred or four hundred throats made the woods -tremble with their wrath of lung and the thundering stamp of feet. -Twice it subsided, and skirmishers appeared, firing lustily into us. I -must confess there was something impressive in these two savage hordes -linking their spirits over this distance into a bond of wrathful aid, -lashing one another’s fury into a higher heat by each succeeding yell -echoing responsive in each breast. Yet when the result of all this -volcanic wrath broke against us, when the simple crack of our carbines -sent line after line of their skirmishers back into the bush, then the -third war dance to get the steam up anew became a most laughable -affair, particularly as its result was equally pusillanimous with the -first two. No! that open ground under the muzzles of our carbines was -not at all to the liking of the war-dancers. There they remained in the -bush firing at us at long range, their bullets coming amongst us with -that asthmatic, overtravelled sound denoting exhaustion of strength. - -“The sap workers were now covered by a good number of Enfield rifles, -which dropped most of their bullets into our snug hollow. I must say -that as night came on I reflected upon its probable effects, and I -experienced a good deal of uneasiness. I was placed on the one point -where the Maoris from the pa, trying to effect a junction with the -forces in the bush, would have to pass or break through. I never for a -moment believed that they would allow the night to pass without making -the attempt, as they had no water in the pa. If the forces in the bush, -then, favoured by darkness, crossed the opening and attacked our rear -while we faced the Maoris from the pa, the chances were ten to one that -the junction would be effected, and that thus our prey would escape us -after having done irreparable damage. - -“I gave Roberts charge of the picket. It could not be in better hands. -That day his behaviour before the pa, and on many previous instances, -had borne me out in my preconceived idea of the young man that he was -as true as steel. I ranged all my men on one side of the road, lying -down close to one another in the fern, with strict orders not to stir -from their positions until I gave the word—to let the Maoris run the -gauntlet of their fire—and then, when Roberts had barred the narrow -pass across the swamp, to charge them, bowie-knife and revolver in -hand. - -“It was an anxious night—so much so, that I even forgot the want of -sleep of the night previous, and listened with little need of effort to -the firing from the pa on the sap and from the sap on the pa. * * * The -Maoris had now fought for more than twelve mortal hours; they had -wrought at the spade with marvellous rapidity and pluck; and last, not -least, they had hurrah’d and war-danced enough to supply all England -with consumption, and all that with no adequate supply of water, as -their store of it inside must have been quickly exhausted. I believe -that night some daring and devoted slaves managed to creep through our -sentries and bring a few calabashes-full into the pa. But what was that -for the great number of parched throats? (Also, raw potatoes assuaged -their thirst considerably.) Still the roar of their guns did not cease, -and allow me to tell you that they had some old-fashioned barrels that -roared like the bulls of Bashan and threw balls as big as potatoes. -Hour after hour I listened to the firing and to the pinging of bullets -whistling over our heads and dropping amongst us the whole life-long -night; but the sounds I most listened for were footsteps and that -indescribable hum that precedes even the most silent body of men. I -went to the picket several times, and returned each time in great -haste, fearing the Maoris might break cover during my absence. But I -was not the only wakeful officer. I think nearly everyone with any -responsibility on him slept little that night, except those borne down -by fatigue. The artillery troopers under Rait had hardly ceased their -rounds along our whole circle throughout the night, and Rait and I had -a long chat about the certainty of the Maoris breaking cover that -night. Yet the night passed and nothing happened. - -“This is one convincing proof to me that the Maoris after all, with all -their cleverness, have not the true military sagacity in them to -distinguish when obstinacy of defence turns into stupid self-sacrifice. -Had they pushed through us that night we would have suffered at close -quarters with their guns quite as much in ten minutes as in the time -that the whole siege lasted, and their loss would have been -comparatively small, as up to that time I believe not half a dozen of -theirs had been hit. - - - - -THE SECOND DAY. - -“The morning of the first of April brought Jackson and his Rangers. I -was glad to see another half-hundred revolvers make their appearance -and strengthen my rather ticklish position. Some of Jackson’s men, on -passing by the sap, had volunteered to work therein. They did excellent -service, all having been diggers, and, being strong, daring fellows, -they pushed the sap in great style. They were under the direction of -George Whitfield, who had got his commission for his behaviour at -Mangapiko. At Orakau his services were quite as prominent, and should -have been recognised more than they were. - -“Another weary, weary day—wait, wait—nothing but waiting. There was not -even the fun of a war-dance—no water for boilers, so there could be no -steam. Now and then yet a hurrah or so of the natives, when someone got -prominently hit, but the strength of voice and lung displayed on the -first day had made us hypercritical, so that their performance in the -vocal department was not appreciated. They made, however, some very -good shooting, particularly at unconscious amateurs and spectators. -There was poor Major Hurford, of the 3rd Waikato Regiment. He came to -me and said that he had just had two very narrow escapes, one ball -contusing his breast, another his hip. ‘I am so glad,’ he said, ‘that -my wife will not hear of this until all is over.’ The following morning -it was all over with him. - -“That day the natives began running out a counter-sap to outflank ours, -and the firing from each covering party became exceedingly hot. We got -all our own lead from those musical Enfield messengers en masse. When -it comes to eating, drinking, and sleeping under an unceasing peppering -of lead, when it drops into your pannikin, or into the bowl of your -pipe—a man may be excused for losing his temper—if he has one to lose. - -“The natives in the bush showed again that afternoon, but their spirits -were not so high as the day previous. They would not treat us to any -more war-dances, and just fired their sullen shots to let their friends -in the pa know that they were there. That evening the sapping party of -Jackson brought home their first victim of the war—Private Coglan. -Having exposed himself rather imprudently in planting a gabion, he was -shot dead on the spot. - -“I felt a little less anxious that night. More than one hundred -revolvers were now in a row, which in half a minute would fire 600 -shots, and these at close quarters should tell. At night there is -nothing like a revolver for a struggle. - - - - -THE THIRD DAY. - -“The following morning (2nd April) General Cameron made his appearance -with a detachment of the Defence Corps and some packhorses with -hand-grenades. * * * Our sap was now so far advanced that it entered -the old stock-yard fence, which surrounded the pa at some distance. It -was in rashly jumping out of the sap and cutting down gallantly one of -these posts that Major Hurford received his death-wound in the head. He -rallied for a short space of time, long enough to receive the -attentions of his poor wife, but the ball, remaining in his head, -caused his death at last at Otahuhu. Many gallant deeds were done that -day in the sap, but the same being at the opposite extreme of the pa -from our position I was not an eye-witness to them. I only know from -good testimony that Captain Baker was amongst the foremost to urge the -work by word and example; Jackson’s Ensign Whitfield behaved with his -usual distinction; Ensign Harrison, of the Transport Corps, did good -service with his rifle en amateur; my Sergeant Southee later in the -day, still with the 65th detachment, was the first to change his -footing from our works into that of the Maoris. (Note.—Poor Whitfield -lost his life in one of my engagements in the Wanganui district. He was -one of the most gallant officers I have known.) - -“The weariness on our post on that third day was becoming to me almost -unbearable. There was no excitement to compensate for the constant -annoyance of bullets flying about you for three days and two nights, -and the constant false reports of the assault going to take place -sickened one at last of the whole affair. There had been a demand for -volunteers in the morning to go sapping. I knew it did not refer to me, -but I thought they might accept me after all when the hottest work -commenced, so I took sixteen volunteers from my company and marched -round to the sap. I was close to the sap when Baker met me and -instantly drove me back in spite of all my expostulations and pleas of -the morning’s order. ‘No, no! To your post! To your post!’ And as a -sweetener for this disagreeable treatment the cunning Staff Machiavelli -told me to come back at four o’clock in the afternoon, when I would be -allowed to sap, knowing himself perfectly well that by that time I -would have found other work to do. I went back crestfallen and -miserable. My return instantly enfranchised Jackson, who took the -opportunity of trying his rifle skill en amateur in the sap—and his -skill in this department is by no means contemptible. - -“ * * * what means that shout—that hurrah? ‘Stand to your arms, men!’ -Another truly British cheer! They must be assaulting the pa! ‘Forward, -men—forward!’ And away I dash with a promiscuous crowd of Rangers and -soldiers. But I know the way where we can go in reasonable security. -Along the slant of the hill the fern is high, and the level of the -ground scarce shows our heads. If we reach the angle of the pa in front -of us while attention is concentrated on the diagonally opposite angle -where our sap leads to we may get into the pa with little opposition, -or shoot down fugitives escaping thence, if there are any. - -“We had to go some distance. The Maoris saw us first just on cresting -the hill, and sent a heavy fire at us. But all those who followed my -guidance were soon safe from it. I saw some heaps of rubbish under some -trees, with a half-broken-down pig fence, at 30 yards from the pa. That -was a good halting place to breathe my men and count them. Alas! there -were not above a dozen. There were my two sergeants, Carron and Toovey, -Mogul, and little Keena, and a few of Jackson’s company—but we had lost -our tail by the velocity of our flight forward. Well, the place had a -very tenable look about it, so, seeing that every man lay well covered, -I sent Sergeant Carron back for reinforcements, and saw that my men -kept the Maoris’ heads well down the parapet. Our arrival there had in -the first instance driven back a few Maoris attempting to escape from -the angle I expected they would make use of. After that they kept up a -pretty close fire upon us, but we had very good cover, and gave it to -them better than they could. Carron returned in a little, and said that -Captain Baker wanted me immediately at my post, so nolens volens, I had -to return, seeing that a dozen men were not enough with which to -assault 300 Maoris behind a high parapet. During my return I was -informed by my men that one of those following me had been hit, and was -lying in the very path to the pa. This was the first intimation I had -of such mishap, for all the men close to me and following my guidance -had been untouched. This poor fellow had chosen the main track to walk -upon, probably scorning the fern, and had so come by his death. It was -Corporal Taylor, an old soldier of the 70th. Sadly we carried our -burden to our post, where I found my mentor Captain Baker charged to -the muzzle with military reprimands for me. While he and I and Major -Blyth were argumenting on this subject a tremendous shout arose from -the pa—a volley, and then such an incessant rattle of musketry that I -perceived at once what the matter was. At last the Maoris had broken -cover. - -“Leaving my interlocutors very unceremoniously, and calling on my men -to follow me, I rushed up to the picket house. On the other side of the -house, at a glance, I saw the state of things. A dense mass of Maoris -was rushing through the scrub at the bottom of the gully on the further -corner from our post. The ridge where the pa stood was enveloped in a -dense mass of powder-smoke, whence the incessant firing of our troops -issued as if there never would be a pause to it. - -“Giving hurried orders to Westrupp to watch the forest side of the -picket hill, and taking Roberts with me, we went off at full speed -along the ridge to cut off the Maoris whom we saw now ascending the -furthest extreme of that ridge. - -“‘Run, men, run! Cut them off! Cut them off!’ And the Rangers bounded -over the ground as if their feet had wings. - -“The Maoris had had a tremendous start of it, but the passage of the -swamp and scrub in the bottom of the gully had delayed them somewhat. -We came within shot of them, and as their long, irregular mass ascended -the next rise our fire began to tell. Still we had to use the utmost -exertion to keep within sight and shot of them, and would probably have -lost half had not Rait with his troopers and some of the Defence Corps -headed them by a daring break-neck ride across country. But the Maoris, -seeing only these troopers after them, suddenly turned upon them, and -from the other side of the swamp commenced to give them some ugly -shots, killing in a moment two horses and wounding some of the men. -Now, Rait’s troopers had only revolvers, which were utterly useless at -that distance, so they began to be rather doubtful what to do with -their Tartar, when the Rangers made their appearance, and the presence -of their carbines became soon painfully evident to the natives. Off -they started again, and now at a lesser distance they began to drop -under our fire very fast; also some of them had outrun their fleetness, -and, our wind and stamina beginning to tell after the first three -miles, many a laggard was shot down after giving us the last desperate -shot of his barrel. * * * The last natives we saw were three or four -trotting along the top of a distant ridge. Signs of declining day and a -bugle sounding the return made us relinquish further pursuit. On -re-crossing the river we found Colonel Havelock collecting the squads -of avengers. He marched them home in a body, myself remaining behind to -wait for some men of mine who had not yet made their appearance. When -these at last arrived I also turned my face Orakau-wards. - -“We followed pretty much the direction we had taken in the pursuit, and -soon came upon the silent marks of it. Amongst them, however, I found -one poor fellow still alive. We bandaged him the best we could, and -carried him along. After getting over the next mile he expired, and we -laid him to his rest. We found another one, not far off, and carried -him also some distance, when he, too, gave up the ghost and left us.” - -Other wounded men were carried into the camp, Von Tempsky continued, -but not until next day did the troops fully realise the terrible nature -of the blow they had inflicted on their foes. Probably fewer than fifty -out of little more than three hundred escaped death or wounds. Fully -160 Maoris were killed or died of wounds. The British loss was 17 -killed and 51 wounded. - -On 3rd April, 1864, the Forest Rangers were moved from Orakau, the main -body having left the previous day. Colonel MacNeil, A.D.C. to General -Cameron, had been ambuscaded near Ohaupo during the three days of -Orakau. It was therefore decided to have a permanent post about half -way between Pukerimu and Te Awamutu. Major Blyth (40th) and Von Tempsky -were despatched from Te Awamutu to a place a little beyond the native -pa of Ohaupo, and a redoubt was built on a commanding ridge. The 40th -built the redoubt, while Von Tempsky’s Rangers policed the road and -scouted the bush. - -“There is some lovely lake scenery,” wrote Von Tempsky, “between Te -Awamutu and Ohaupo. Among sombre patches of forest gleams a water -mirror every now and then, with a vivid green margin of waving grasses -and rushes; here and there a solitary cabbage-tree with its long, -irradiating leaves giving to the otherwise home-like scenery the New -Zealand character. By moonlight the lake scenery is quite a fairy -effect, and has often compensated me for the tediousness of repeated -night patrol.” - - - - -INCIDENTS OF THE SIEGE. - -THE MAORI DEFENCE. - -The Maoris’ reason for not building the Orakau pa in a more defensive -position is explained by the survivors. They say that it was not placed -where the native church stood, and where “Kawana” afterwards fixed his -homestead, because that situation was conspicuous, and would readily be -seen from the Kihikihi redoubt. This position certainly would have been -superior to that selected as the site of the fort on the Rangataua -rise, for on the western side of the Orakau Hill, just in rear of the -old homestead, the ground slopes steeply to the Tautoro gully and -swamp, and that side of the pa could easily have been scarped into an -insurmountable wall. On the southern side there is a quick incline to -the present road; on the east and north aspect the land slopes gently -from the hill crest. - -With regard to the famous cry of defiance associated with the defence -of Orakau, it is difficult to reconcile some of the Maori versions with -the popular story. From none of my Maori authorities, all of them men -who fought at Orakau, have I been able to obtain exact confirmation of -the reported ultimatum: “Ka whawhai tonu matou, ake, ake, ake!” (“We -will fight on for ever, and ever, and ever!”) The following is the -statement of Major W. G. Mair, who, when ensign in the Colonial Defence -Force Cavalry, acted as staff interpreter, and conveyed General -Cameron’s demand for the surrender of the pa and his promise of safety -for the garrison: “I could see the Maoris inclining their heads towards -each other in consultation, and in a few minutes came the answer in a -clear, firm tone: ‘E hoa, ka whawhai tonu ahau ki a koe, ake, ake!’ -(‘Friend, I shall fight against you for ever and ever!’)” Then Mair -made request for the women and children to come out. “There was a short -deliberation, and another voice made answer: ‘Ki te mate nga tane, me -mate ano nga wahine me nga tamariki.’ (‘If the men are to die, the -women and children must die also.’)” The difference between the popular -version and Mair’s narrative is obviously very slight. - -The Maori account, as given by Te Huia Raureti and Pou-Patate Huihi and -the late Te Wairoa Piripi is to the effect that the answer of Rewi and -his fellow-chiefs was that they would not make peace. Te Wairoa Piripi -said: “The General’s messenger came to us and called out: ‘Do not fire -at me. I have a message for you from the General to request that you -make peace, so that your women and children may be saved.’ This message -was made known by Raureti Paiaka to the whole pa, to Rewi, who was at -the northern section of the pa when the pakeha was speaking to Raureti. -The people in the western part of the pa were listening. Rewi Manga -made reply: ‘Kaore au e hohou te rongo’ (‘I shall not make peace.’) -Then all the people cried in chorus: ‘Kaore e mau te rongo, ake, ake, -ake!’ (‘Peace shall never be made—never, never, never!’) Then stood up -Karamoa Tumanako, of Ngati-Apakura, and said: ‘I shall make peace.’ To -this Rewi, Hone Teri, and Raureti replied: ‘We are not willing that the -people should be made prisoners, but if we leave the pa you make your -own peace.’ Some of the people having fired, the pakeha dropped down, -and the fighting began again. It was now that the rakete (rockets, -i.e., hand-grenades) were flung into our pa. They were not so bad at -first, but when the fuses were shortened many were the deaths. The sap -was now close up. The outer fence, or pekerangi, was thrown down on the -top of the soldiers, and some of them were killed or injured there. Two -shells from the big gun on Karaponia [the hill on which the blockhouse -was afterwards built] burst in the Manga-o-Hoi swamp, and the tribes in -that direction were scattered. The explosion of a third shell slightly -damaged the end of the pa where Te Huia and certain others were. The -sun was declining, and now the pa was broken at the south-east angle, -and the people jumped out from all parts of the work. The line of -soldiers below the pa in the south-eastern direction was broken through -by Paiaka, Te Whakatapu, and Te Makaka te Taaepa, and the people fled -to the swamp, thence to the Puniu, leaving a great many dead.” - -Te Huia Raureti said (1920): “When the interpreter spoke to us, saying, -‘Friends, come out to us so that your lives may be saved,’ Rewi -Maniapoto made reply, through a messenger, my father Raureti Paiaka, -‘Peace shall never be made—never, never!’ Again spoke the pakeha, and -said: ‘That is right for you men, but as for the women and children, -send them out of the pa.’ This was declined, and all the people cried, -repeating Rewi’s words, ‘Peace shall never be made—never, never, -never!’ (‘Kaore e mau te rongo—ake, ake, ake!’)” - -The Ngati-Tuwharetoa and Ngati-te-Kohera tribes declared that it was -Hauraki Tonganui who replied to Mair on behalf of Rewi—he was simply a -mouthpiece or messenger. - -It is clear from all the Maori statements, and also Major Mair’s -account given me many years ago, that Rewi himself did not speak to the -interpreter. (For full details of Orakau and the discussion between the -opposing parties see the Official History of the New Zealand Wars, -written for the Government, and published 1922.) - -Orakau pa was surrounded by a square of post-and-rail fence, about a -chain outside the earthworks. A veteran of the Forest Rangers says it -was a cleverly-designed obstruction—the predecessor of our modern -barbed-wire entanglements. It was partly masked with flax and fern, and -it wrought the defeat of Captain Ring’s charge at the pa. The mounted -men, too, were stopped by the post-and-rail fence, and there made a -good target for the Maoris. The earthworks were not high, but the wide -trench was a deadly affair and a complete obstruction to any charge. - -The British headquarters in the siege were fixed just under the fall of -the ground on the south-west of the pa close to where the blockhouse -was afterwards built. The slopes are covered to-day with a dense growth -of prickly acacias. The blockhouse has disappeared; the site is -traceable only by a hollow showing where the magazine was under the -floor of the building. A short distance to the W.S.W. of this spot, on -slightly higher ground, just on the edge of the Karaponia crest, with -the acacia grove feathering the abrupt slope to the swamp a hundred -feet below, is the place where two Armstrong guns were posted to shell -the pa. A tall bluegum marks the exact spot; at its foot are the -fern-grown remains of a short parapet, the gun emplacement. - -It was estimated that about 40,000 rounds of ammunition were fired by -the troops during the three days’ fighting at Orakau. - -“Some of our men,” wrote an eye-witness, “lost their lives through -foolishly and recklessly exposing themselves to the fire of the rebels. -Tired of waiting in the sap, and in some instances excited by drink, -they stood up and invited their fate: ‘Come on,’ they would cry, ‘and -we’ll cook your head for you!’—in jocular allusion to the preserved -heads which once formed an important article of trade in this island.” - -The same narrator, an army chaplain, wrote: “Our men were short of -caps; the reason for this was that they often used them for lighting -their pipes. They placed a small piece of rag inside the caps, which -they then caused to explode with the points of their bayonets. - -“The Royal Irish had to avenge the death of their gallant leader -[Captain Ring]. More than one Maori was slain from the belief that he -had fired the fatal shot. It is said that ten Maoris fell in this way; -when a fugitive was overtaken the cry arose: ‘That is the man who -killed the captain!’—then came a wild yell, a shot, a bayonet thrust, -and all was over. - -“A Maori fugitive was taken prisoner and committed to the charge of two -of the Royal Irish, who were thus prevented from joining in the -pursuit. As they heard the shouts of the pursuers dying away in the -distance they cursed their hard fate in being obliged to remain behind. -An officer came up when their impatience had reached its crisis: ‘Shall -we kill him, Barney?’ Barney thought for a moment, then shook his head. -‘I couldn’t kill the craytur in cold blood, Shane, but I wish we were -quit of him.’ ‘Kick him and let him go,’ was the ready response. They -loosed their hold and applied their heavy boots with full force to the -person of their prisoner, who turned round and looked as if he would -have sprung at their throats. The love of liberty was stronger than the -thirst for revenge; he disappeared in the bush, while Shane and Barney -hurried after their comrades. - -“Most of the women who attempted to escape from the pa were taken; they -were not able to run as fast as the men, and were soon exhausted. One -woman was found dead clasping a Bible to her breast. The sacred volume -was found on the persons of several of the dead and wounded, who had -left everything else behind. - -“There was little left to reward those who first entered the pa; they -found about three tons of raw potatoes and a little Maori bread, but -not a drop of water, nor any vessel to hold water. * * * They had no -surgeons to attend to their wounds. One man had his left leg broken by -a ball; he bound two pieces of wood round it with wild flax and fought -on to the last. Another whose side was pierced plugged the wound with a -cork and kept his place among the defenders of the pa. * * * We have -officers here who fought through the Crimea and the Indian Mutiny; all -unite in affirming that neither the Russians nor the Sepoys ever fought -as the Maoris have done; all lament the necessity of having to fight -against such a gallant race. On this point the whole army is unanimous; -a different feeling may prevail among the colonists, who look forward -to reaping a rich harvest from all this carnage and bloodshed.” - - - - -A MAORI SURVIVOR’S STORY. - -THE RETREAT TO THE PUNIU. - -The following are extracts from the narrative given to the present -writer in 1920 by the veteran chief Te Huia Raureti, of -Ngati-Maniapoto, who with his father fought at Orakau: - -“Orakau was not a strong fortification. There was no proper palisading -around the earthworks—we had not sufficient time to complete the -defences—but there was a post-and-rail fence, in the form of a square, -a little distance outside the trenches and parapets. The principal -parapets were about five feet high and four feet in thickness, composed -of sods and loose earth, with layers of fern pulled up and laid with -the roots outward. The fern helped to bind the earthworks. We were -still working away at the ditches and parapets when the troops came -upon us. We had a sentry on the look-out, on the west side of the -earthworks, the Kihikihi side, from which the soldiers approached. His -name was Aporo. Suddenly his voice was raised in these words of alarm: - -“‘He pukeko kei te Kawakawa! Kei Te Tumutumu te mea e tata ana!’ (‘A -swamp-hen has reached the Kawakawa! There are others nearer us at Te -Tumutumu!’) - -“The ‘pukeko’ was the advance guard of the Imperial troops; the -Kawakawa was the settlement near the large acacia grove [about a third -of a mile north of the Orakau church and kainga.] The troops marched by -the road which skirted the bush and up through the cultivations. -Meanwhile some other soldiers (mounted men) had come a more direct way, -a little to the north of the cart road, and we saw them at the peach -and almond grove on the hill just west of the Tautoro swamp and creek -about a quarter of a mile from our earthworks. Some of the troopers -rode at our pa, but had to retire before our volleys. The main body of -the soldiers came marching on; and another force which had marched up -along the Puniu River, crossing and recrossing, finally fording the -river near where the Waikeria joins it and coming out on the -Orakau-Maunga-tautari Road.” - -After describing the three days’ fighting, Raureti told the story of -the retreat to the Puniu on the last day: - -“When the people had come to the decision to abandon the pa we all went -out of it on the north-east side and retreated on the eastern side of -the Karaponia ridge. My gun was loaded in both barrels, and I had some -cartridges in my hamanu [ammunition-holder.] The soldiers were already -in the outworks of the pa. Only one man wished to surrender, and this -was Wi Karamoa, the minister. He remained in the pa, holding up a white -handkerchief on a stick in token of surrender. We left many killed and -wounded in the pa. Some of the dead we had buried; others were left -lying where they fell. Among those whom we buried in the works were -Matekau, Aporo (Waikato), Paehua (of Ngati-Parekawa), Ropata (the -husband of Hine-i-turama), and Piripi te Heuheu (Urewera). There was -bayonet work in the first rushing of the pa. On the first part of our -retreat, across the slopes of the pa, we did not fire; we reserved our -shots for emergency. - -“We had to break through the soldiers at the steep fall of the land -east of Karaponia. Here, where the ridge dropped, there was a scarped -bank and ditch, made to keep the pigs out of the Rangataua -cultivations. Just below this, between us and the swamp, were the -soldiers. A man rushed first to break through the soldiers; he was -killed. Then the foremost man turned back towards the pa, but my father -Raureti Paiaka and his comrade Te Makaka dashed at the line of soldiers -and broke through, and all the rest of us followed and made for the -swamp. Raureti shot two soldiers here. We now were broken up and -separated from one another. We retreated through the swamp, and when we -reached a place called Manga-Ngarara (Lizard Creek) we found some -troops who arrived there to stop us. There again Raureti Paiaka broke -through and we passed on. Ngata was nearly killed there by being cut at -with a sword. Raureti raised his gun as if to fire at the swordsman, -but he had no cartridge in his gun. The soldier, fearing to be shot, -hastily turned back, and our friend was saved. - -“Our chief and relative Rewi was with us in the retreat through the -swamp, and several of us formed a bodyguard to fight a way through for -him. When we had crossed the swamp to the Ngamako side, where the hills -go steeply up, we saw soldiers, mounted and foot, in front of us, and -we fired at them, and one or two dropped. At last we reached the Puniu -River; we crossed it and travelled through the Moerika swamp, and -presently halted at Tokanui. Next morning we went across to Ohinekura -(near Wharepapa). Some of those who escaped from Orakau retreated to -Korakonui and Wharepapa; some crossed to Kauaeroa; and others went to -Hangatiki. When we crossed the Puniu the old Urewera chief Paerau, who -was following us, called out to us from the Orakau side of the river, -‘Friends, Te Whenuanui is missing.’ However, Te Whenuanui (the chief of -Ruatahuna) appeared safely, and we continued our retreat together. - -“Rewi Maniapoto had gone to the Urewera Country before Paterangi was -built, in order to enlist assistance in the war. There were old ties of -friendship with the Urewera dating back to the time of the battle of -Orona, at Lake Taupo, in the ancient days. The Warahoe section of the -Urewera had a pa there then, and there were Ngati-Maniapoto living with -them. Some of Warahoe later came and lived in the Ngati-Maniapoto -country. Two casks of gunpowder were given to Rewi for the war; one of -these was paid for in this way: Takurua, elder brother of Harehare, of -the Ngati-Manawa tribe, came back with Rewi, and Raureti gave him £30 -to pay for the gunpowder.” - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -CAMP LIFE AT TE AWAMUTU. - - -The close of the Waikato War saw some four thousand Imperial and -Colonial troops in quarters at Te Awamutu, which remained a large -military cantonment for over a year. Surveyors were busy cutting up -blocks of confiscated land in the Waikato-Waipa delta for the military -settlers, three regiments of Waikato Militia—one regiment was allotted -land at Tauranga—and the two companies of Forest Rangers. - -An excellent description of military life in Te Awamutu at this period -is contained in a narrative written by an Army chaplain (name not -given) which appeared in “Fraser’s Magazine,” London, in 1864. The -writer narrates the trials and humours of the journey by river and road -from Auckland to Te Awamutu in March, and gives an account of the -soldiers’ town as he saw it. - -“During the hot months,” wrote the chaplain, “officers and men were -under canvas. * * * Most of these [the tents] have now disappeared, and -a small town of whares has sprung up in their place. These whares are -extremely comfortable; the coldest wind or the heaviest rain is -effectually excluded. The nearest approach we have ever seen to a whare -at Home is a Highland bothy, built of turf and heather. One whare -affords accommodation for twenty-four men, who have to act as their own -architects, carpenters, and builders. A healthy spirit of rivalry is -thus produced; each man vies with his neighbour, and surveys the work -of his own hand with honest pride. Raupo, a strong, flexible reed, -abounding in the neighbouring swamps, has to be cut down and carried -into camp on the men’s shoulders. They have often to remain for hours -up to the waist in water, and are thus liable to frequent attacks of -dysentery and fever. * * * When the whare is finished the men are -allowed to have a dance on the wooden floor. The solitary flute strikes -up ‘Judy O’Callaghan,’ ‘Garryowen,’ or some equally lively air, and a -light-footed Irishman dances a pas de seul amid the vociferous applause -of his comrades, who, inspired by his example, take the floor and -batter the boards with hearty goodwill. A few of the huts are built of -wood, which has been supplied by contract. Most of the primæval forests -in the district have disappeared, but clumps of red pine may still -occasionally be seen. A party of some two hundred sawyers are employed -about six miles from the camp [near Rangiaowhia]; strange, wild-looking -men who have lived for years in the bush and hold little intercourse -with their fellow-men. Some of the more skilful amongst them can make -as much as £15 per week; the poorest workman can make the half of that -amount. * * * The furnishings of our hut consist of a camp-bed, a -table, two chairs, two wooden stools, two bridles, a riding-whip, a -mirror six inches by four, a few paddles, a rifle, a sword, and a lump -of bacon suspended from the roof. The mothers and sisters of officers -out here are not to suppose that their sons and brothers are equally -comfortable; our habits are deemed quite luxurious; our hut is the envy -of the whole camp. The rumour has reached us that the Colonial -Government, who claim it as their property [the hut was at the mission -station], intend to turn us out, but they will find that rather -difficult; possession at Te Awamutu is something more than nine points -of law; we know our rights and mean to stand by them.” - -Describing some of the troops at Te Awamutu, the chaplain wrote: “ * * -* The soldiers of the 65th Regiment are most exemplary in this respect -[attendance at religious services]. The regiment has spent eighteen -years in the colony; the men have been broken up into detachments and -stationed in rural districts, far removed from the temptations of -garrison towns. Their appearance is very different from that of the men -belonging to other regiments recently arrived. They are grave, serious, -thoughtful men, with bronzed faces and flowing beards—living proofs of -the healthiness of the climate. They are all in good condition, and -occupy one-fourth more space on the parade-ground than any other -regiment here. From their long residence in the colony most of them -have contrived to save a little money; some who have speculated in land -are capitalists possessed of thousands. This wealth does not interfere -in any way with the strictness of discipline or the respect due to -their officers. On the contrary, they expose their lives as readily as -those who have nothing to lose, and from long intercourse are devotedly -attached to those under whom they serve. They have never left their -officers wounded on the field of battle; it is always a point of honour -with them to carry them off, whatever loss may be entailed. Their -wealth also sometimes enables them to be generous. It was only recently -that a subaltern of long standing was likely to lose his company from -not having money to purchase. Judge of his surprise when one of the -sergeants waited on him and offered to advance the sum required. * * * -The 65th is first on the roster for Home service, but few of the men -will ever leave the island. In fact, it is not to be desired that they -should, as a better class of colonist could not be found. - -“When the natives fled from this district a good many horses, cattle, -and pigs were left wandering in the bush. Some months ago it was a -frequent amusement among the officers to sally forth in small parties -in search of loot. They revived the wild sports of Mexico by hunting -down the horses and driving them into camp. We know of one case where -an officer brought in twenty horses and sold them at £5 a head, thus -netting £100 by the venture. * * * We have several lakes in the -neighbourhood. [One of these was the Pekapeka-rau lagoon near -Rangiaowhia.] The natives, on leaving, hid their canoes by dragging -them into the bush or sinking them. A good many have been found, and -some of our men have become skilful paddlers. They venture forth in -these frail barques in search of sport. At first the wild fowl were so -tame that they seemed to apprehend no danger; they have now become more -suspicious. Pig-hunting also was a frequent amusement.” - - - - -THE ROMANCE OF ARIANA. - -This Army chaplain narrated with dry humour the romantic little story -of a wounded half-caste girl, one of the prisoners taken at Orakau on -2nd April, 1864; her name was Ariana Huffs, or Hough: - -“We have a few friendly natives in camp (at Te Awamutu) who receive -rations; they have evidently much sympathy with their countrymen in -bonds, and we respect them for it. There is one of them, a hunch-back -postman, who plays a little on the Maori flute, which is much the same -as our penny whistle. As soon as evening sets in he takes his stand at -the door of his tent and begins playing a sort of dirge. His music is -execrable, but we bear with it for the following reasons: One evening -we requested him to cease his serenade or to remove elsewhere beyond -our hearing. The deformed creature threw himself into an interesting -attitude and said, ‘It is not for myself I am playing; it is for Ariana -Huffs. Every evening she comes out to listen, and I can speak to her -with my flute; she knows all that it says.’ After this sentimental -avowal we have learned to tolerate this black Blondel, this dusky -Trovatore. Ariana is a remarkably pretty half-caste, the offspring of -an Englishman and a Maori woman. Her mother died some years ago, and -her father, one of those restless, unsettled beings so often to be met -with in the colonies, left her to the care of her Maori relatives and -started for Australia; nothing has been heard of him since. When the -war broke out she was living with a settler near Awamutu; the family -was obliged to leave, and she was carried off by the rebels. She says -that this was done against her will, and that while the fighting was -going on at the pa [Orakau] she was tied to another woman to prevent -her from attempting to escape. We suspect, however, that she was tied -only by the gentle cords of love, and that a Maori warrior had -something to do with her presence there. When the pa was evacuated she -was hit by a bullet which shattered her arm; it would have gone hard -with her in the indiscriminate slaughter which ensued had not some -brave fellow stood over her and defended her life. - -“Ten men came forward to claim the honour due to this gallant deed; but -this was after the report of her beauty had spread over the camp, and -each claimant doubtless imagined that he could establish a lien over -her heart. - -“Nay; some weeks after the fight an enthusiastic militiaman travelled -all the way from Raglan, a distance of thirty miles, and demanded an -interview with the Brigadier; he stated that he was the preserver of -Ariana’s life; he could neither eat nor drink nor sleep for thinking of -her; so he had made up his mind to make her his wife. He had £50 in the -Savings Bank, which sum he wished to devote to her education, so as to -prepare her for the duties of the married state. All that he desired at -present was an interview with the object of his affections; Ariana -would at once recognise him and rush to his arms. There was only one -slight difficulty: he spoke no Maori and she knew no English; but love -has a language of its own; he had no doubt that they would understand -one another. - -“The Brigadier [Carey], amused at the fellow’s earnestness, granted the -desired interview, and allowed the interpreter to be present to assist -if the silent language of love should prove insufficient. The lover -entered the room with a bashful, sheepish air, and stared at Ariana, -who stared at him in return; but there was no recognition on her part, -no outburst of gushing gratitude, no rushing to his arms. On the -contrary, she turned to the interpreter and coolly asked what the man -wanted; on learning which she laughed heartily and told him to go away, -as she had never seen him before, and would have nothing to say to him. -The poor fellow begged, beseeched, implored, and looked unutterable -things; Ariana only tittered and turned away her head. Ever since that -time the militiaman has continued to urge his suit in letters, written -by a half-caste amanuensis, but the Maori maid is still obdurate. He is -not the only man who has felt the power of a beauty or claimed to be -her preserver; so importunate were some of her admirers that a guard -had to be stationed at the hut for her protection. She has now almost -recovered from her wound, and an asylum will be provided for her in an -orphan institution. We have still some hopes of the militiaman: -perseverance often leads to success in love as in everything else.” - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -PIONEER LIFE ON THE OLD FRONTIER. - - “There,” said Ninian, and pointed to the north, “is the start of - what my father—peace be with him!—used to call the Wicked Bounds, - where every man you’ll meet has got a history, and a dagger in - below his coat—Camerons, Clan Ranald’s men, Clan Chattan, and the - Frasers—it stretches to the Firth of Inverness for sixty miles, the - way a kite would fly.” - - —Neil Munro, in “The New Road.” - - -Looking southward across the Puniu in the Seventies and early Eighties -we who were bred up on the Frontier saw a mysterious-appearing land, -fascinating to the imagination because unknown—a land, too, of dread in -the years of unrest, for there in the hinterland only a few miles from -the border river lived Te Kooti and his band and the hundreds of -Waikato dispossessed of their good lands on which we pakeha families -now dwelt. As far as the eye could range it was a land altogether given -up to the Kingites and the Hauhaus—an untamed country painted in the -dark purple of broken mountain ranges, merging into the vague, misty -blues of great distance, the sombre green of ferny hills and plains, -and the yellow and white of deep flax and raupo swamps. Clear, dashing -hill-streams and lazy, swamp-born watercourses, alive with eels and -wild duck, all carrying down their quota to feed the silently-gliding -Waipa. And over all, from Maunga-tautari’s shapelessly rugged mass -along the curving sector to Pirongia’s fairy-haunted peaks, an aspect -and air of solitude; a suggestion of mystery and waiting for the touch -of man which was to transform that far-stretching waste. - -The contrast! On our side the green farms of the pioneer settlers, -roads, villages—each with its redoubt as a rallying-place in -alarm—churches, schools—primitive schools, maybe, in the early -stages—the flag of British authority flying. - -So the border remained, the line of demarcation sharply defined by the -confiscation boundary, the southern side inimical, sullen, waiting, for -well-nigh twenty years after the final shots of the Waikato War. - -Life on the old frontier, on one of the farthest-out farms, seems a -kind of dream, a fabric of remembrance tinged with a faerie haze, -viewed through the vista of years from these times of new interests, -new manners, changed modes of thought. Memories! One strives to marshal -them into some order, but the most that can be done is to recall the -things that chiefly fixed themselves on the youthful mind. There was -the home on the hill, on the famous battlefield, the garden with its -sweet old flowers, the cherry orchard, the huge almond trees (with flat -stones at their feet upon which Maori children long before us cracked -those almonds)—trees grown in the old days from the Rev. John Morgan’s -orchard—the wild mint that grew in the tiny creek that went rippling -down a swampy gully near the big acacia grove; the dam and the -lake-like pond in the Tautoro swamp; and, above all, the peaches. The -peaches of those happy dream-days on the old Orakau farm!—peaches -vanished, a kind never to be tasted by the present generation. Orakau, -Kihikihi, Te Awamutu, and Rangiaowhia were then the favoured land of -the most delicious fruit that ever this countryside has known. -Peach-groves everywhere, the good Maori groves, trees laden with the -big honey peaches that the natives called korako because of their -whiteness. Tons of peaches grew in those groves, and those wanted were -gathered by the simple process of driving a cart underneath and sending -one of us youngsters up to shake the branches until the cart was filled -with fruit. Some of the best peaches were preserved by the housewives -of the frontier in a way never seen now; they were sliced and sun-dried -on corrugated iron, in the strong heat of the long days, and then -strung in lines and hung in the high-ceilinged kitchen, criss-crossed -in fragrant festoons, until required for pies. - -As for the surplus fruit the pigs got it; many a cart-load of peaches -from the groves was given to them, or they were turned out to feed on -the heaps of fruit lying under the trees. Porkers fattened on peaches! - -And it was curious, too, to explore some of those old groves of trees, -on the crown of the farm near the road, for there the lead flew most -thickly in the three days’ siege of Orakau, and nearly every tree bore -the curious weals and knotty growths that indicated a bullet-wound, and -a search with a knife sometimes revealed a half-flattened ball or -fragment of one. - -There was the bush on the north, covering the greater part of the swamp -between the farm slopes and the high country of Rangiaowhia; even -there, in little islanded oases in the woods and the raupo marsh, were -Maori peach-groves. On the south, a few hundred yards from the -homestead, was the Blockhouse, with its little garrison of smart, -blue-uniformed Constabulary—a tiny fort, but one that came large and -grim enough on the eye of childhood. - -The nearest farmer neighbour was the farthest-out settler of all—Mr -Andrew Kay—and very far out and lonely his home seemed, on the verge of -the confiscation boundary. Maoris were more numerous than pakehas; many -a savage-looking and tattooed warrior, wearing a waist-shawl—for the -Maori had not then taken kindly to trousers—called in at the home from -one or other of the large villages just over the border; and native -labour was employed at times on the farms. - -That was long before the day of the dairy factory and the refrigerator, -and while living was cheap there was little ready money in the country. -No monthly cheques for butter-fat then; no competing buyers coming -round for crops or stock. When a mob of cattle was ready for the market -it had to be driven all the way to Auckland; and often there was mighty -little profit for all the long hard work. Wheat was one of the staple -crops, and in the early years it was threshed by hand with the -old-fashioned flail and the grain carted to the nearest flour-mill. -There was a water-mill on the Manga-o-Hoi, on the old swamp road -between Kihikihi and Te Awamutu, and further south in the Waipa-Waikato -country there were several wind-mills. I think I recollect two -wind-mills of that old type on the road from Te Awamutu to Hamilton; -one stood at or near Ohaupo. - -For many a year after the War periodical scares of a Maori invasion -were raised in the border settlements, from Alexandra and Te Awamutu -around the confiscation line to Cambridge. The shooting of the surveyor -Todd on Pirongia Mountain in 1870, the tomahawking of the farm-hand -Lyon on the Orakau side of the Puniu in the same year, and the murder -and decapitation of Timothy Sullivan near Roto-o-Rangi, on the -Maunga-tautari side, all set alarms going. Every settler was armed, and -the old Militia organisation presently was supplemented and made mobile -by the formation of a fine body of frontier horse, the Te Awamutu and -Cambridge troops of Waikato Cavalry. Well mounted, armed with sword, -carbine, and revolver, able to shoot accurately and ride well, and -thoroughly acquainted with the tracks, roads, and river fords, these -settler-cavalrymen could not have been surpassed for the purposes of -border defence. Formed in 1871, the troops remained in existence until -the introduction of the mounted rifles system in the beginning of the -Nineties, and many hundreds of young fellows passed through the ranks -during that time. In the early years, when the two troops were a real -bulwark for the frontier, Major William Jackson, the veteran of the -Forest Rangers, commanded the Te Awamutu troop; his lieutenants were -Andrew Kay and William A. Cowan (the writer’s father), the two -furthest-out settlers of Orakau. Captain Runciman commanded the -Cambridge corps. Te Awamutu was the usual drill-ground of Jackson’s -troop, and the shooting-butts were on the Puniu side of the settlement. - -Some of the isolated settlers supplied themselves with small armouries -of weapons for defence in case their homes were attacked. In our Orakau -homestead there were, beside the cavalryman’s regulation arms, a -double-barrel gun and a Spencer repeating carbine, a novel weapon in -those days, American make; it was the U.S.A. cavalry arm. It held eight -cartridges, fed in a peculiar way, by spring action through the heel of -the butt. - -Towards the Puniu, on a lonely hill where a few bluegums mark the site -of a long-razed dwelling, there lived an old soldier who had been a -gold-digger, and he devised a method of winning safety, in case of an -attack, which would naturally suggest itself to an ex-miner. He dug a -tunnel from the interior of his little house to a point on the -hill-side, concealed with a growth of fern and shrubs; there he -considered he could make his escape into the scrub if his assailants -burned his house over his head. - -There was another pioneer, a veteran of Jackson’s Forest Rangers, now -living in Auckland. He told me of his preparations for defence on his -section, which was partly surrounded by bush, at Te Rahu, a short -distance from Te Awamutu. There was an old Maori potato-pit, one of the -funnel-shaped ruas, not far from the house, and this he determined in -one period of alarm to convert into a little garrison-hold. He made it -a comfortable sleeping-place with layers of fern and blankets, and -after dark at night he cautiously retired there with his carbine and -two or three other shooting-irons and plenty of ammunition, and spent -the night with an easy mind. His companion was his little daughter—his -wife had died—and there the pair rested till morning. To make his -retreat doubly secure the ex-Ranger had dug a short tunnel from his -rifle-pit, emerging in the fern, so as to have a way of retreat in case -his stronghold was forced. The place was quite an ingenious little -castle; and, as he said, would probably have been secure even had his -home been attacked, for fern grew all about it, and was not likely to -have been discovered except by a dog—and the Maoris did not take dogs -with them on a raid. - -The most anxious time on the frontier in the Seventies was the crisis -caused by the murder of Timothy Sullivan by a party of Maoris between -Roto-o-Rangi and Maunga-tautari, on 25th April, 1873. This was an -agrarian murder, caused through rather careless dealings with native -land; Purukutu, the principal in the crime, had not been paid for land -in which he had an interest and which Mr E. B. Walker had acquired on -lease, outside the aukati line. Sullivan was regarded by the Maoris as -a tutua, a nobody; they were really after his employer, Mr Walker, and -others, including Mr Buckland, of Cambridge. It was a savage piece of -work, for Purukutu and Hori te Tumu, after shooting Sullivan—who had -been at work with two companions fascining a swamp—decapitated him and -cut out his heart. This was the last deed of the kind committed in New -Zealand. The following account was given me by the old man Tu Tamua -Takerei, who died recently at Parawera: - -“Timoti [Timothy] was killed on the open plain at the foot of the hill. -The Hauhaus cut off his head with a tomahawk and also cut open his body -and took his heart away as a trophy of war. The head was carried to -Wharepapa, where it was left. The heart was carried up country at the -end of a korari stick (a flax-stalk), and was taken to a place near Te -Kuiti. The slayers of Timoti intended to lay the heart before Te Paea, -or Tiaho, the Maori Queen, but she disapproved their action, so the -trophy was not presented to her. The taking of a human heart was an -ancient custom of the Maori; it was the practice to offer it to Tu and -Uenuku, the gods of war.” - -This desperate deed was regarded by very many, Maoris as well as -pakehas, as a prelude to war, and intense excitement prevailed on both -sides of the border. The cavalry troops at Te Awamutu and Cambridge -were called out for patrol duty, and the Armed Constabulary posts were -strengthened. Additional blockhouses were built, one at Roto-o-Rangi -and one at Paekuku, to watch the Maunga-tautari side, and a redoubt was -built at the Puniu. The Waikato and Auckland newspapers were full of -war rumours; public meetings were called at Te Awamutu to discuss -defence measures; and all along the frontier the determined settlers -were on the alert. It was many months before the alarm subsided. The -fanatical-minded factions among the King Country Maoris might have -succeeded in raiding some of the border farms, but no native captain -was bold enough to try the experiment in the face of the vigilant watch -of the well-armed, well-drilled troops of frontier horse and the -numerous garrisons of Armed Constabulary. - -Formidable on the youthful eye in those lively years of the Seventies -loomed the Blockhouse. This was the picturesque little garrison-house -which crowned the Karaponia hill at Orakau, as if guarding our -homestead that stood a few hundred yards away among its groves. It was -very close to the spot where the British headquarters camp had been -pitched in 1864 at the attack on Orakau Pa. The Blockhouse was a type -of the border outposts built on many parts of the frontier, as far away -as the Hawke’s Bay-Taupo Road, in the Hauhau wars. The building was of -two storeys, and its curious tall shape and its lonely stand on the -hill-crest commanding a look-out over the wild Maori country southward -made it the most prominent object in the landscape. On the ground floor -the building, constructed mostly of kahikatea, was about 16 feet by 20 -feet, with a height of 9 feet. The upper storey overlapped the lower -one by about 3 feet all round, and was 12 feet high. The walls were -lined, and the space between the outer wall and the lining was filled -with sand to make the place bullet-proof. The palisade which surrounded -the Blockhouse was 10 or 12 feet high; there was a space of 6 feet or 7 -feet between it and the building. In the walls of the top storey there -were loop-holes all round, breast high, three at the ends and about six -at the sides; and there was also provision for firing through the -projecting part of the floor. There were no rifle-slits in the lower -storey, but the palisading was loopholed; these firing-apertures were -about 5 feet apart and breast high. The loopholes were 6 inches high -and 2 inches wide, just large enough to put a rifle barrel through. In -the front the palisading was double, with a curtain of timber covering -the entrance. The front fence was nearly all tall manuka stakes, but -the main palisading consisted of posts 10 or 12 inches in thickness; -manuka timber was used to fill the interstices. On the edge of the -gully at the rear of the Blockhouse the bank was scarped -perpendicularly about 7 feet as an additional protection. To heighten -the warlike face which this little fort presented to the world, above -the narrow gateway there was set a wooden effigy of a sentry. The -figure had been carved by some Maori artist; it represented a soldier, -with wooden rifle and fixed bayonet, in the correct attitude of “port -arms.” It gave a kind of artistic finish to the “pa o te hoia,” as the -Maoris called the Blockhouse, and it loomed very grim and soldier-like -in the eyes of us small youngsters from the Orakau farm. A tall -flagstaff stood in front, and there were a potato patch and a garden -plot, with all the old-fashioned flowers—sweet william, verbena, -sunflower, Indian-shot, pansies, and their like. The married men of the -Armed Constabulary lived outside the Blockhouse, in raupo whares, and -very cleverly the pakeha learned to thatch his house. I remember the -home of an Irish sergeant who lived near the Blockhouse, beside the -main road; it was a snug, thatched dwelling, very neat and pretty; -there was a potato patch, and there was a sweet little flower garden, -and honeysuckle twined about the whare and hung over the door. - -The Blockhouse stood no sieges; its loop-holes never flashed the fire -of Enfield or Snider on a yelling horde of Hauhaus. But it is certain -that the existence of this chain of posts along the frontier, with the -vigilant patrol of the settlers’ cavalry corps, prevented the hostiles -from raiding across the border and descending on the out-settlements. - -There were many scares, and more than once the wives and children on -the scattered farmsteads were taken in to the redoubts and blockhouses -for the night, while the men of the farms, with carbine and revolver, -watched their homesteads and rode patrol along the tracks leading to -the Maori country and the fords of the Puniu. - - - -They are all gone now, those romance-teeming old blockhouses of our -pioneer days. Like many other deserted posts, the Orakau building stood -there on the sentry hill-top for many a year, rocking in the gales now -that the protecting palisade had gone, until a Crown Lands Commissioner -with no interest in historic matters sold it as mere old timber. Few -people in those years possessed sufficient prescience and sentiment to -help preserve for the new generation of colonists those relics of the -adventurous days. - -Of the redoubts, less easily demolished, a few crumbling earthworks -remain here and there. One, I am glad to say, that is very well -preserved is the Armed Constabulary redoubt at Alexandra—now -Pirongia—garrisoned up to 1883. The village English Church stands in -the centre of the work to-day. I give a sketch-plan of this last -surviving example of the old frontier forts. - -The year 1881 saw the first definite decision for permanent peace on -the part of the Maoris; it marked the nearing end of the necessity for -frontier redoubts and blockhouses, and it relieved the border of the -Kingite menace which had been an ever-present source of disquiet since -white farmers first set the plough to the confiscated lands. Tawhiao -laid down his guns at Major Mair’s feet at the border township of -Alexandra, and then came a peaceful though martial-appearing march of -the Kingite men through the European settlements and much firing of -salutes to the dead—the “powder-burning of sorrow”—over the -battlefields of the Sixties. Six hundred armed Kingites escorted the -tattooed king and his chiefs, the lordly Wahanui and his shawl-kilted -cabinet of rangatiras, on the pilgrimage to the scenes of the last -despairing fights, and there were amazingly animated scenes in the -outermost villages of Waikato when Tawhiao came to town, riding grimly -in his buggy, and guarded front and rear by his fierce-faced riflemen. -The march was by way of Te Awamutu, and the Cavalry band rode out from -the township along the Alexandra Road to meet the Kingites and play -them through the village. A right rousing march it was, too, for the -tune the bandsmen played as they came riding in at the head of the -procession was “The King of the Cannibal Islands.” It was Sergeant -Thomas Gresham—then a lawyer in Te Awamutu, and afterwards coroner in -Auckland—who suggested the air to Bandmaster Harry Sibley, and that -grizzled veteran of the wars seized on the bright idea with joy, and -chuckled into his clarionet at the left-handed compliment he was paying -his olden adversary. Tawhiao himself was pleased with the liveliness of -the music, and later, through an interpreter, inquired the name of the -tune; and an angry man was he when he was informed that it was “Te -Kingi o Nga Moutere Kai-tangata.” For that same “kai-tangata” was a -tender subject; and dour old Tawhiao had no glimmering of a sense of -humour. - -Kihikihi settlement was given up that week to a Kingite carnival of -feasting and war-dancing and speech-making, and the Maori camp at -Rewi’s house and in the neighbouring field rang night and morning with -the musical sound of the Hauhau hymns, the service of the Tariao, the -“Morning Star,” chanted by hundreds of voices. Some unconventional -scenes there were, characteristic of the frontier life. For instance, -there was the pakeha-Maori dance on the main road in Kihikihi that -symbolised the final unifying of the two races. The dashing Hote -Thompson, the King-maker’s son, a fighting man of renown, paraded in -all the glory of Hauhau war-paint in front of his savage-looking -soldiery, and called for a pakeha lady partner to dance “te lancer” -with him, and then out stepped a settler’s handsome wife, and the -accomplished Hote led her through the mazes of the lancers in the -middle of the crowd on the dusty road with as much grace as if he had -been young Lochinvar himself. True, Hote wore only a shawl in place of -trousers, and his face was blackened with charcoal dabbed on for a -haka, but none the less he was a pretty gallant. Had that pakeha dancer -been a reader of Bret Harte she might have recalled the historic dance -on “Poverty Flat”: - - - “The dress of my queer vis-a-vis, - And how I once went down the middle - With the man that shot Sandy McGee.” - - -There was no law but the Maori chieftains’ law south of the Puniu River -until after 1883, when Te Kooti was pardoned and a general amnesty to -Maori rebels was proclaimed. For policy reasons the Kingites were left -pretty much to themselves for some time after Tawhiao laid down his -guns at Major Mair’s feet at Alexandra in 1881, and when John Rochfort -and Charles Wilson Hursthouse, setting out from Kihikihi, carried -flying surveys through the Rohepotae, the state of the country from the -Puniu for a hundred miles southward was not very different in -essentials from that of the Scottish Highlands in the period described -by Mr Neil Munro in his adventure romances that carry a tang of -Stevenson’s “Catriona.” - -The only occasion on which an offender south of the Puniu was brought -to justice before the chiefs of Ngati-Maniapoto voluntarily opened the -country to Government authority was in 1882, when a long-wanted man was -brought into Te Awamutu under circumstances unorthodox and dramatic. -The Maori was Winiata, who in 1876 killed a man named Packer, at Epsom, -near Auckland. Packer and Winiata had been fellow-servants in the -employ of a Mr Cleghorn, and had quarrelled. Winiata, after tomahawking -Packer, fled to the King Country, and for six years was safe. At last -the Government reward of £500 tempted a big half-caste named Robert -Barlow to make an effort to bring in Winiata. The arrest was -accomplished as the result of a scheme devised by the Te Awamutu -policeman, Constable R. J. Gillies—a very smart and capable man, -afterwards Inspector of Police—and Sergeant McGovern, of Hamilton. At -Otorohanga Barlow met Winiata, whose home was at Te Kuiti, and, -pretending to be a pig-buyer, set about bargaining with the wanted man. -In the night he succeeded in making Winiata and two companions drunk, -and about midnight lashed him to a spare horse, after taking a revolver -from him, and made off for the Puniu. It was an exceedingly risky -undertaking, for Barlow would have been shot had any of the Maoris been -at all suspicious. He took the prisoner to Kihikihi, and with the -assistance of the Constabulary handed him over to Constable Gillies at -Te Awamutu. He received the reward of £500, with which he bought a farm -at Mangere. Winiata was tried and convicted, and was hanged at Auckland -on 4th August, 1882. As for Barlow, he did not live long himself; he -died in a very few years after his King Country feat, and the natives -declared that he had been fatally bewitched (kua makuturia) by a -tohunga in revenge for his capture of Winiata. - -Another incident that greatly excited the frontier was the capture and -imprisonment of Mr Hursthouse and a fellow-surveyor by the fanatic Te -Mahuki, or Manukura, of Te Kumi, near Te Kuiti. This was in 1883. The -surveyors were released by Te Kooti and friendly-disposed King natives. -Soon thereafter Mahuki and a band of his “Angels” rode into Alexandra, -which they had threatened to loot and burn; but they were smartly -arrested by Major Gascoyne and a force of Armed Constabulary and Te -Awamutu Cavalry, and were haled off to Auckland prison. [7] - - - -A wilderness that vast country of the Rohepotae lay for many a year. -The cultivations of the Maoris, even the fields of wheat and oats -around such settlements as Araikotore—the patriarchal Hauauru’s -village—or the large patches of potatoes and maize at Tokanui and -Tokangamutu—it is Te Kuiti to-day—gave but scanty relief from the -general impression of an unused virgin expanse of fern prairie and -woody mountain land. At Otewa, on the Upper Waipa, lived the notorious -and dreaded Te Kooti, in outlawed isolation far from his East Coast -birthland, ever since his final skirmish with Captain Preece’s Arawa -force in the Urewera Country in the beginning of 1872. Not until after -John Bryce’s peace-making with him at Manga-o-rongo in 1883 did the -white-haired old cateran venture out into the pakeha settlements. - -Then miles away to the west, on the beautiful slopes of Hikurangi, -giving on to the fertile basin of the Waipa and overlorded by the -Pirongia Range, there was the great camp of King Tawhiao and his exiled -Waikato, several hundreds of them, looking down with many mournings on -the good lost lands and the lost battlefields of the Sixties. Later, -they moved down to Te Kopua, yonder by Kakepuku’s fern-shod heel, and -then to Whatiwhati-hoe, the Place of the Broken Paddles, on the level -banks of the Waipa. In the mid-Eighties they migrated in their canoes, -a picturesque tribe-flitting, past Pirongia, down the Waipa and down -the Waikato, back to their old ancestral homes, or what was left of -those homes, on the west side of the Lower Waikato. But they never had -a more lovely or more inspiring home in all their wanderings than those -sun-bathed slopes of rich volcanic land on the high shoulder of -Hikurangi, where the road to-day goes over the range to Kawhia. - -Now the once wild country across the border has become the highway of -the motor-car, has become dotted with scores of lively European -settlements, with large towns with electric light and asphalted -footpaths, churches and police stations, tennis lawns and bowling -greens, stock sale-yards and all the other varied furnishings of an -advanced day. Hauhauism is a far-off tale of the past; descendants of -old king-like Wahanui and the one-time followers of the Pai-marire and -Tariao fanatic faiths have fought beside Waikato and King Country white -soldiers on the fields of Gallipoli and France. Yet the names of the -old trail-breakers, the stories of the heroic missionaries, soldiers, -surveyors, road-builders, should not be forgotten by those who look out -from their carriage windows or their cars or from their comfortable -farmhouses on this well-favoured land of the Waipa slopes and the old -Aukati frontier. - - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -KIHAROA THE GIANT. - -A FOLK-TALE OF THE TOKANUI HILLS. - - This curious tradition, gathered from the last of the old learned - men of the Ngati-Maniapoto tribe, is given as a typical example of - the Maori folk-lore with which the King Country abounds. - - -On the crown of the land at Whenuahou, immediately north of the Tokanui -hills known to the European settlers of the old frontier as “The Three -Sisters,” is an historic spot called Kiharoa, in memory of a giant -warrior of long ago. It was proposed by some of the Kingite chiefs in -1864, after the British occupation of the Waipa basin, that a fort -should be built here for a final stand against the Queen’s soldiers. -The position commanded a wide view over the valley of the Puniu and the -conquered lands north of the river, but it would have been useless -without a sufficient garrison to hold also the hill-forts in rear of -and above it, ancient terraced pas of the Maori. The suggestion was not -favoured by Rewi and the other leaders, and the warriors re-crossed the -Puniu to the north side and built the pa at Orakau. Long ago, riding -along the old horse track from Kihikihi to Otorohanga past Hopa te -Rangianini’s little village at Whenuahou, we used to see the Giant’s -Grave, as it was called. This locally-famous landmark was a shallow -excavation on a ferny mound; it was twelve or fourteen feet in length -and about four feet in width, and vague traditions had grown up around -it, but none of the European settlers of the frontier knew anything -definite of its history. A few years ago, however, I gathered the story -of this semi-mythic giant from two venerable warriors of the -Ngati-Maniapoto, on the south bank of the Puniu River. There certainly -seems to have been a veritable giant, a man of enormous stature and -length of reach with the hand-weapons of those days, six generations -ago. This Kiharoa, or “The Long Gasping Breath,” was a chief of the -Ngati-Raukawa and Ngati-Whakatere tribes, who in those times owned the -Tokanui hills and the surrounding fruitful slopes. - -The strong terraced and trenched pa on Tokanui, the middle conical hill -of the row of three, was built by the two tribes named, under Kiharoa, -about a hundred and fifty years ago. The same people fortified and -occupied the other two hills; the eastern one is Puke-rimu (“Red-Pine -hill”) and the western Whiti-te-marama (“The Shining of the Moon”). -There were many good fighting men among the people of these hill forts, -but their tower of strength was Kiharoa, who stood hugely over his -fellows; he was twice the height of an ordinary man, and he wielded a -taiaha of unusual length and weight, a hardwood weapon called by the -name of “Rangihaeata” (“The First Rays of Morning Light”). Many a -battle he had fought successfully with this great blade-and-tongue -broadsword, sweeping every opponent out of his path. Kiharoa was -tattooed on body as well as face, and when he leaped into battle, -whirling “Rangihaeata” from side to side in guard and feint and cut, -his blue-carved skin glistening with oil and red ochre, his great -glaring eyes darting flame, his moko-scrolled features distorted with -fury, few there were brave enough to face him. But there came a day -when Kiharoa met his better on the battlefield of Whenuahou. - -The Ngati-Maniapoto tribe, whose great fortress was Totorewa, an -impregnable cliff-walled pa on the Waipa River, raised a feud against -the Ngati-Raukawa and Ngati-Whakatere, and a large war-party set out -under the chief Wahanui, who himself was a man of great frame, though -no giant like Kiharoa. The “taua” took a circuitous route, coming upon -the Tokanui hills from the south via Manga-o-Rongo, and then making a -detour to the east to avoid the deep morass which defended the southern -side of “The Three Sisters”—the present main road from Kihikihi to -Otorohanga traverses this now partly-drained swamp. - -Meanwhile the garrisons in the hill forts had prepared for war, and -their sentinels stood on the alert on the tihi or citadel of the -terraced strongholds, keeping keen watch for the expected enemy. Harua, -one of the chiefs of the forts, had descended to the plain with a small -party before the approach of the foe was detected, and although the -people on the hill forts called repeatedly to him warning him to -return, no heed was given to the long-drawn shouts. At length a -keen-eyed sentry saw the glisten of a weapon—perhaps a whalebone -mere—in the westering sun; the direction was well to the east of the -pa, and by that token it was plain that the enemy army was lying in -ambush waiting to advance silently in the night. It was imperative that -Harua and his men outside the pa should be warned, and so in the still -watches of the night a strong-lunged warrior on the battlements of -Tokanui lifted up his voice in this whakaaraara-pa, or sentinel-chant: - - - E tenei pa, e tera pa! - Titiro ki nga tahanga roa - I Tunaroa! - Pewhea tena te titiaho - Kia haere ake ki te pa. - Hoi tonu, hoi tonu! - - -In this chant the garrisons of the pas on each hand, Puke-rimu and -Whiti-te-marama, were called upon to be on the alert, and to scan the -long slopes towards the place called Tunaroa where the enemy lay -concealed. Yonder perhaps was the place whence the foe would advance in -the morning sunshine against the pas. “Ye heeded me not—heeded me not,” -the chant ended. Had any lurking enemy scout been near enough to hear -the words he would take them as being addressed only to the garrisons -of the hill-top fortresses, and would not suspect that it was really a -warning for the ears of Harua and his small force of scouts who were -liable to be cut off from the pa as soon as daylight came. - -The cry of warning was heard and understood by Harua, and he and his -scouts swiftly rejoined their friends on the hill-tops. - -When day came and the war-party of Ngati-Maniapoto appeared, working -round to the north-east side of the Tokanui chain of forts, Kiharoa the -giant, stripped for battle, took up his taiaha, “The First Rays of -Morning Light,” and led his warriors down to the open slopes of -Whenuahou to give battle to the invaders. As he dashed down the hill he -ran through a grove of karaka trees. Here there was a pool where the -kernels of the karaka berries were prepared for food by being steeped -in water after having been cooked; this food was termed “kopiri.” There -were some dead leaves of the karaka lying on the track, and Kiharoa -slipped on these leaves as he ran, and fell, and narrowly escaped -breaking his taiaha in his fall. The spot is at the foot of Tokanui -hill, just outside the thickets of prickly acacia which now clothe the -silent old fortress with a mat of softest green. This accident was in -the belief of the Maori a tohu aitua or evil omen for Kiharoa. The -knowledge of this fact may have unnerved the giant, or “Rangihaeata’s” -mana may have suffered by the mishap. He rushed to meet his foes, but -he was outfought for all his phenomenal reach of arm. He fell pierced -with spear thrusts and battered with blows of stone clubs, and he lay -dead on the battlefield of Whenuahou. - -The Tokanui people were defeated; they fled in panic when their -gigantic chieftain fell, and many were killed on the field. The -survivors, however, held their forts successfully. Ngati-Maniapoto -contented themselves with the dead, which would provide many ovens of -man-meat, and most of all they rejoiced to find that they had -vanquished the dreaded Kiharoa. They gathered round in amazement to -measure his height and his giant limbs; and on the spot where he lay -marks were cut at head and feet to indicate his length. His enormous -tattooed head was cut off and preserved by being smoke-dried, and -presently was carried home to Totorewa to decorate the palisade at the -gateway of the fort. His body was cut up and cooked and eaten where he -fell, and there the excavation remained to mark his great stature. He -was two fathoms long! So says the native account. My Maori friends will -not abate a single inch. This is the length of the place we used to -call the “Giant’s Grave,” on the crown of the land below Puke-rimu, the -eastern hill of the “Sisters.” And the battlefield was divided among -the victors, and later became the home of a section of the -Ngati-Matakore tribe, of whom my old warrior acquaintances Hauauru and -Hopa te Rangianini were the chiefs in the days of my boyhood within -sight of the terrace-carved “Three Sisters.” - -Such is in brief the story of the giant’s grave—a misnomer assuredly, -seeing that Kiharoa’s tomb was the stomachs of his slayers. The Tokanui -village hall stands within revolver shot of the place where Kiharoa -came to his end, and the community creamery at the cross-roads stands -where once Wahanui’s cannibal army plied spear and stone club and -taiaha on the defenders of the three hill forts. Some distance to the -east is the Waikeria prison farm. It was in that direction, at Tunaroa, -that Wahanui and his Totorewa army lay in the fern the night before the -battle. - -There was another giant of those parts in the days before the white man -came with his guns. This was Matau; he was, like Kiharoa, a man of the -Ngati-Raukawa tribe. He was nearly as tall as Kiharoa, says an old -word-of-mouth historian. He was a dreaded warrior, and, like Kiharoa -again, his favourite weapon was the taiaha. His home was in a palisaded -hole in a cliff above the cave called Te Ana Kai-tangata (“The -Cannibal’s Cave”), which you may see in the rocky face in the gorge -towards the head of the Wairaka Stream, a tributary of the Puniu River. -The entrance to this cave is still marked with the paint kokowai or red -ochre; that is how you will know it. It was an excellent place in which -to lie in wait for incautious travellers in the days of old. - - - - - - - - -APPENDICES - - -SOME MAORI PLACE NAMES. - -The following are the meanings of a number of native place-names in the -Te Awamutu district; some of these names are now for the first time -placed on record:— - - - Te Awamutu: The end of the river; i.e., the head of canoe - navigation. - Rangiaowhia: Beclouded sky. - Kihikihi: Cicada, tree-locust. - Orakau: The place of trees. - Paterangi: Fort of heaven; i.e., the pa on the high part of the - ridge, the skyline. - Waiari: Clear water. - Mangapiko: Crooked creek. - Te Rore: The snare. - Mangatea (on the Manga-o-Hoi, where the mill stood): White stream. - Matariki (a short distance above the bridge at Te Awamutu, right - bank of river): The Pleiades constellation; also reeds used for - lining the interior of a house. - Te Reinga (old village site behind R.C. Church, Rangiaowhia): - Leaping, rushing; thus the place of leaping, the final departing - place of spirits of the dead. - Hikurangi (the Rangiaowhia heights above the Manga-o-Hoi; Gifford’s - Hill; also place on Pirongia-Kawhia Road): Skyline; horizon. - Pekapeka-rau (swamp between Hairini and Rangiaowhia): Place where - the native bat was numerous. - Tioriori (native village, near where the Hairini cheese factory now - stands): A kind of kite, made of raupo. - Tau-ki-tua (the site of the English Church at Rangiaowhia): The - farther ridge. - Te Rahu: Basket made of undressed flax. - Te Rua-Kotare (Taylor’s Hill, or Green Hill, north of Te Awamutu): - The kingfisher’s nest (in hollow tree). - Tauwhare (ancient pa on cliffy right bank of Mangapiko River, above - Waiari): Overhanging. - Tokanui: Great Rock. - Waikeria: Dug-out waterway, or watercourse gouged out. - Otorohanga: O, food carried for a journey; torohanga, stretched - out. According to a Ngati-Maniapoto tradition, a certain warrior - chief who set out from this spot for Taupo with only a very small - quantity of food caused it by supernatural means to “stretch out” - and to last until he had reached his destination. Hence the name. - - - - -THE CAPTURE OF WINIATA. - -The Maori murderer Winiata, captured at Otorohanga by Robert Barlow, -was brought into Kihikihi early on the morning of Tuesday, 27th June, -1882. At about three o’clock that morning Constable Finnerty, of the -Armed Constabulary, found Barlow and Winiata struggling violently -outside the Alpha Hotel. Winiata, who was in a naked condition, had -recovered from the effects of the grog, and was making a desperate -effort to escape. He was overpowered and taken to the Constabulary -barracks in the redoubt, and chained to a bedstead. Major Minnett, who -was in command of the Armed Constabulary Force at Kihikihi, sent him to -Te Awamutu with Barlow in the Government waggon under an armed guard, -and Constable Gillies then took the prisoner in charge and delivered -him to Sergeant McGovern at Hamilton the same day. - -There were two other Maoris in the whare at Otorohanga, and both of -these were made helplessly drunk or drugged by Barlow. - - - - -MR HURSTHOUSE’S ADVENTURE IN THE KING COUNTRY. - -The capture of Mr Charles Wilson Hursthouse and Mr William Newsham, -Government surveyors, by a band of King Country fanatics under the -prophet Te Mahuki occurred at Te Uira, near Te Kuiti, on 20th March, -1883. Mr Hursthouse was on his way from Alexandra to explore the -country from the Waikato frontier to the Mokau, and he and his -assistant surveyor were accompanied by the Mokau friendly chiefs Te -Rangituataka and Hone Wetere te Rerenga and twenty-five other Mokau -men. At Te Uira, sixteen miles beyond Otorohanga, on the afternoon of -the 20th, as they rode up they saw a large body of Maoris mustering -excitedly. These were natives under the leadership of the fanatic Te -Mahuki, or Manukura, a Ngati-Maniapoto man who had been a follower of -Te Whiti at Parihaka, and who had returned to the Rohepotae to found a -sect of his own. He called his followers the “Tekau-ma-rua,” or “The -Twelve”—although they numbered many more—after the Twelve Apostles. -This was a revival of a term of the Hauhau war days. The selected -war-parties of the Taranaki fighting chief Titokowaru were called the -“Tekau-ma-rua.” These men attacked Hursthouse’s party, and a lively -fight followed, although no deadly weapons were used. The Tekau-ma-rua -pulled the surveyors and the Mokau men off their horses, Rangituataka’s -followers fighting desperately with stirrup-irons and leathers. The -prisoners were marched to the village at Te Uira, in the midst of the -terribly-excited Tekau-ma-rua, who were dancing and yelling and -chanting ngeri or war-songs. Te Rangituataka and Wetere and their men -were not ill-used—there were too many of them; moreover the leaders -were high chiefs of the tribe—but the surveyors and a native named Te -Haere were thrust into a cookhouse and imprisoned there. Hursthouse and -Newsham had been stripped of their coats, waistcoats, and boots. Their -hands were tied behind their backs and their feet were fastened -together with bullock-chains. In this condition, suffering great pain -from the tightness of their bonds, tortured by mosquitoes which they -could only brush off by rubbing their faces on the ground, and without -drink or food except dirty water and some pig’s potatoes thrown in on -the floor, they remained there two nights and a day, listening to the -yells and threats of the natives outside, and expecting to be killed. -Early on the morning of 22nd March there was a new commotion outside, -and Hursthouse heard Te Kooti’s voice. In a few moments the door of the -cookhouse was burst open and the prisoners were released by Te -Kooti—who had just been promised an amnesty by Mr Bryce, Native -Minister—and a large party of natives, including Wahanui’s people; -Wahanui himself arrived a little later. Hursthouse and Newsham had -already worked their hands free, and the former had picked up a piece -of iron chain as a weapon in case he was attacked. The extreme tension -and anxiety of the thirty-six hours’ painful confinement and the want -of food had affected even the indomitable Hursthouse, old campaigner -though he was, and, as he related afterwards, when he was released he -fairly broke down and wept. The surveyors were escorted to Alexandra by -a large body of Wahanui’s people, and presently resumed their exploring -expedition, after their late captor in his turn had been locked up. - - - - -MAHUKI’S RAID ON ALEXANDRA, AND HIS CAPTURE. - -On Sunday, 25th March, 1883, three days after the release of Hursthouse -and Newsham, Mahuki and twenty-six followers invaded the township of -Alexandra (now Pirongia), in pursuance of the leader’s announced -intention to loot the place. Mahuki had prophesied many extraordinary -things, and his followers had implicit belief in his supernatural -powers. He had even sent word of his intended visit, so Alexandra was -prepared. A force of Armed Constabulary under Captain (afterwards -Major) Gascoyne, who was in command of the Alexandra Redoubt, and the -Te Awamutu Cavalry troop were on hand, and so disposed in detachments -out of sight as to surprise and surround the invaders. Mahuki’s men, -fortunately for themselves, were not armed. Two Europeans who had -ridden out to reconnoitre the road to the Waipa bridge had to make a -speedy retreat when the Tekau-ma-rua came in sight. One of them—Mr -Alfred H. Benge, the schoolmaster at Te Awamutu—returned safely with -the loss of only his hat; the other, a well-known Alexandra resident, -parted company with his horse in the race, and was caught, tied up, and -deposited by the roadside to reflect on the position at leisure, while -the Hauhau troop galloped on into Alexandra. Their surprise was -complete. Armed Constabulary and Cavalry troopers rushed out and -surrounded them, pulled them off their horses, and tied them up. -Twenty-three were captured in this way, including the much-astonished -prophet himself, and four more were arrested at the bridge. Only one -man got clear away to carry the news of the prophet’s capture to the -kainga at Te Kumi. Four of the twenty-seven, being young boys, were -released; the rest were marched, handcuffed in couples, to Te Awamutu, -where they were entrained for Auckland. Mahuki and his principal -followers were tried at the Supreme Court for the assault on Hursthouse -and Newsham, and received terms of imprisonment. - -Some years later Mahuki ran amok again, this time at Te Kuiti, and was -once more imprisoned, and he died while serving his sentence. He was -the last of the troublesome religious fanatics of the Rohepotae. - - - - -THE NAME RANGIAOWHIA. - -Rangiaowhia has been spelled in a variety of ways, ranging from the -curious “Rangahaphia” in one of the Auckland papers of 1851 to -“Rangiaohia” and “Rangiawhia.” The old men of Ngati-Maniapoto pronounce -and write the name as spelled in this book. - - - - -THE FIRST WAIPA MISSIONARY. - -The Rev. Benjamin Yates Ashwell, although the first to establish a -mission settlement at Te Awamutu, did not live there. He made several -visits, travelling through the Waikato and Waipa, and left native -teachers in charge at each village where he was early favourably -received. In the Forties he established his headquarters at Kaitotehe, -near Te Wherowhero’s pa, on the opposite side of the Waikato River to -Taupiri. This spot, on the most beautiful bend of the Waikato, became a -favourite halting place for canoe crews passing up and down the river, -and pioneer travellers have described to the writer the pleasure of -landing at Kaitotehe on a hot midsummer day, after a long, cramping -voyage in a Maori canoe, and feasting in the cherry groves at the -mission station. Mrs B. A. Chrispe, of Mauku, describing Mr Ashwell’s -station, says that the church was a large and lofty thatched building, -with the walls beautifully lined in the artistic Maori fashion with -arapaki lattice work of coloured lathes and reeds arranged in many -patterns. The site of the long-deserted mission station, which is seen -from the railway train as it passes along the Taupiri bend, is covered -with a growth of acacia. The Maoris pronounced the missionary’s name -“Ahiwera.” - - - - -THE KING COUNTRY RAILWAY. - -A highly-important event in the story of this district, and, indeed, of -the Dominion, was the turning of the first sods of the Te -Awamutu-Marton railway, the King Country section of the Main Trunk -line, in 1885. The sods were turned on the south side of the Puniu -bridge by the high chiefs Wahanui, Taonui, and Rewi. The Premier of New -Zealand, Sir Robert Stout (then Mr Stout), was present, but he -contented himself with second place in diplomatic compliment to the -lords of the soil. There is a curious inner history to the ceremony on -the banks of the Puniu; it was related to the present writer some years -ago by Sir Robert Stout. “The sod was nearly not turned that day,” said -Sir Robert; and he told the story of the dispute between the Waikato -and Ngati-Maniapoto tribes. Early that morning there was a conference -at Te Awamutu between the Premier and his colleague, Mr John Ballance, -and the Maori chiefs. Mr G. T. Wilkinson was the interpreter. Wahanui, -Taonui, and Rewi were there, and all three had agreed that the sod -should be turned and the railway should go on through the Rohepotae. -But Waikato sent two chiefs to protest against the work in the name of -the Maori King, whose headquarters were then at Whatiwhatihoe, on the -Waipa. There were long speeches; the only one who was silent was the -huge-framed Wahanui; but he was fuming with indignation; his chest was -heaving in his efforts to suppress his anger. At last one of the -Waikato chiefs, regardless of the fact that his tribespeople were only -in the Rohepotae by sufferance of Ngati-Maniapoto, had the hardihood to -declare that the sod would not be turned because it was Waikato’s land. -“Oh, well,” said the Premier, quietly regarding the deeply-incensed -Wahanui, “if it is Waikato’s land we have come to the wrong place.” -Then the tall, dignified rangatira Taonui, almost as big a man as -Wahanui, arose and said, with angry determination: “It is our land; the -sod shall be turned, and turned to-day!” And it was done. Waikato were -ousted; literally they had no locus standi; and, baffled and -disgruntled, they saw the big work begun and the first step taken in -the civilisation of the great Rohepotae. - - - - - - - - -NOTES - - -[1] The full name of Kakepuku is Kakepuku-o-Kahurere, or “The Swelled -Neck of Kahurere.” It was so named nearly six centuries ago by -Rakataura, the priest and magician of the Tainui people. Rakataura and -his wife Kahurere explored all this wild new country from Kawhia -eastward and southward, giving names to the features of the landscape -as they travelled. The name alluded to the shape of Kakepuku, but in -truth it deserves a more poetical one, as, for example, that of -Tauranga-Kohu, “The Resting Place of the Mists,” a beautiful -place-description belonging to a mountain a few miles to the eastward -on the south side of the Puniu. - -[2] MS. journal lent to the writer by Mr E. Earle Vaile, of Broadlands, -Waiotapu. - -[3] The old man Pou-patate Huihi, of Te Kopua, told the writer: “Before -we procured European ploughs we made wooden ones, and these were -sometimes drawn by men—Ko te tangata te hoiho tuatahi (Man was the -first horse).” - -Pou-patate also said that when wheat-growing was at its height on the -Waipa, before the war, his people received as much as ten or eleven -shillings a bushel for the wheat in the Auckland market. - -[4] Died in Wellington, 1922. - -[5] The original MS. narrative is in the Alexander Turnbull Library, -Wellington. - -[6] Later in the day the Rangers had a skirmish with armed Maoris who -occupied the Catholic Church, and drove them out of it, the natives -finding that the walls were not bullet-proof. - -[7] For further details of these episodes see Appendices. - - - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OLD FRONTIER: TE AWAMUTU, -THE STORY OF THE WAIPA VALLEY *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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