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ORAKAU JUBILEE.
MEMORY OF GREAT FIGHT.
MAORIS' SPLENDID STAND.
(Per Press -Association.)
. HAMILTON.' last night. ; Fifty years ago to-day a fierce fight was proceeding at Orakau, some y26 miles from Hamilton, where the .'defence ! put- up' by the Mauris was said to equal anything m the history of the world. To perpetuate the memory of the heroes of the light, the Government has erected a monument on the site of the- pa, and this was unveiled "to-day by the Minister for Defence m the presence of several thousand Europeans and Natives. A mom? those -present were General God'ley "and 'staff; Hon. W. H. Hemes, Hon.* Dr Pomare, Bishop Averill. five M.P.'s,. two members of the Upper House, and a- large number of veterans from all parts of the Dominion under Colonel Morrow (Commander). ' The speeches dealt chiefly with the bravery of the native defenders and the gallantry of tho British troops, who setsuch a noble example to present and future, generations.' A touching and pleasing feature was when Hari Wahanuii on behalf of the Native race, presented Mr Allen, for the Government, with a sword, old muzzleloaders, and a tattered standard, bearing the title of the Taranaki Military Settlers, No. 6 Company, which was seized during the fight. These, he said, were returned as a token of evercementing bonds of peace the two races. , The battle of Orakau, fought on March 31. April 1 and 2, 1864, is said to bear the same relation to the Maori race as did: the classic Thermopylae to ancient Greeks, ahd m the pages' of modern history it is certain that there is nothing ln6re heroic or wort heir of remeihbrance. The battle saw the terminating of the war m the Waikato. The natives were surprised and completely surouhded by 1600 troops armed with the latest weapons. Outnumbered by six to one, the natives, possessed of obsolete fowling and flint pieces^ were inadequately supplied with ammunition, and had to load their guns with peach stones, plugs of wood, and break iron pots to use as bullets. They were without water and ha 4 only raw potatoes to assuage : hunger and thirst. They kept at bay six times their number for two nights aiid three days, inflicting heavy losses oh the ' British forces. When General Cameron arrived on the afternoon of the third day he was so impressed with the heroic defence that he immediattly instructed Major Mail* to get into' communication with tho garrison if possible and .induce them to surrender, and so save the lives of many brave men. Major Mail* stood up At the head of the gap and called out, "The general Is filled with admiration of your bravery, but you are gotrounded- -aiid- -cannot escape. * Therefore he urges upon you to surrender that your lives niay be S2)ared." ( All was quiet for a few minutes while the matter was discussed. Then one of the natives rose out of the trenches and hurled back the famous reply, "X hoa ko t<e tikanga' teiliei ka" whawliai tonu ki.akloe. Ake T afce ! ake- !" (Prieiid, the understanding is we will nght you for ever and ■ ever 1 arid ever). Major Mair then spoke, "That is well for the men, but let the women and children come out. Why should they die, too?" Someone asked, "How do you know there are wonien and children *" Major Mair replied, "Last night I heard them crying over the dead." ■Then, a very tall woihan stood up on the edge of the ditch and answered, "If the men are to die, the women and children will die with the men." ' The troops cheered when the decision was known, and the fight became fiercer than ever. " , Later m the afternoon of the third day the remaining garrison formed up, plachvj 'the wonien and children m the centre, and "broke through the flimsy, defences, cut their way through the cordon of forts of the regiment and entered a huge swamp, where they were quickly decimated by a. tremendous cross-fire from all sides, 1 while Ure; Forest Rangers and mounted men endeavored to cut off their retreat. Even then they turned upon their pursuers, and not till nearly 200 hid fallen did the remainder' make their escape across the Punui river into the King Country. General Cameron, m v despatch after the battle, wrote : "It is impossible not to admife the heroic courage and ,devotioh of the natives defending themselves So ' long against overwhelming numbers. Surrounded on all sides, cut off from their supply of water, deprived of all hope of succour, they resolutely held their "ground for' nearly three days, and did not abandon the ,008111011 until we had reached, the ditch of the last entrenchment. They probably lost not less ''than 150 killed out of a garrison not exceeding 3C0." ' " ' '
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Bibliographic details
Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13346, 2 April 1914, Page 9
Word Count
800ORAKAU JUBILEE. Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13346, 2 April 1914, Page 9
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The Gisborne Herald Company is the copyright owner for the Poverty Bay Herald. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of the Gisborne Herald Company. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
ORAKAU JUBILEE. Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 13346, 2 April 1914, Page 9
Using This Item
The Gisborne Herald Company is the copyright owner for the Poverty Bay Herald. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of the Gisborne Herald Company. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.