INTERESTING REMINISCENCES

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 114, 11 November 1919, Page 3

INTERESTING REMINISCENCES

Interesting reminiscences of the Maori wars are unfolded from time to time by veterans of the strenuous fighting days, and the history is always exciting and informative. • An old member of the Armed Constabulary, iwhich did "such good work in the later campaign, had some events of much interest to tell a Post reporter. It was in' connection with the fighting.against'Te Kooti, the story haying been narrated in turn by one of the }£-rticipants, the late Sergeant i Dunn. During the pursuit of the Maori warrior at Tapapa a romance attached" to the burial of a chest containing 800 sovereigns, medical comforts, etc. The money and medical extras had been received by the regiment just before the scouts announced that Te Kooti with a large bancL was on. his way to attack the position. In the preparations for the attack it was decided, for safety's sake, to bury the money, and the : spot chosen was just under the camp; oven. The Maoris were repulsed, and were followed by the defenders right up to New Plymouth. The draft was then despatched from there to Auckland, where the men were paid off. In the meantime, another regiment had been sent to the Tapapa scene, and the money was not found ; probably no effort vas made to unearth ■the chest, for.it 6eems to have been forgotten. The ex-member of the constabulary tells how, over thirty years ago, he and others paid a. visit to the scene of the burial, and commenced a prospecting survey of the. ground. Using long spears, they tried to locate the buried chest, but were unsuccessful, though such articles as rifles, haversacks, and other unexpected goods were discovered. They, were in what was appafently a good state of preservation, though when touched they fell to pieces. The veteran 6howed The Post reported a button, well preserved, which fie had found in a haversack he had unearthed during his probing. The button is inscribed "68th," and there is a crown, suspended from which is a bugle. The manufacturers of the button were Smith, Kemp, and Wright. Birmingham, and .when the finder made inquiries he was told that the 68th regiment was never in New Zealand, but the 65ths were. It is thought the button was probably a relic kept by a member of the 65th. During the search, a rifle barrel was also un* earthed, and this was used as a poker. When put intS the fire for the first time it exploded, the powder having kept all the yeare of burial.