THE MAORI WARS.

NZ Truth, Issue 67, 29 September 1906, Page 7

THE MAORI WARS.

' The war had now dragged its weary length for ton years, and settlers and friendly natives were not sorry that they; were m sight of the end. It was marked by many heroic, patriotic incidents on both sides ; had been marked by SOME AWFUL. BLUNDERING and had cost a huge sum of money, and, sad to relate, many valuable lives. The Maoris, a few excepted, said that it was useless to fight against fate, and were not sorry when the olive branch was held out by Donald Maclean. He had met — m April, 1870— The Ngatiporou chiefs near the East Cape, and formally gave up all claims on the part of the Government to the confiscate^ land m the Ngatiporou district, meaning the old confiscation. This .was done m acknowledgement of the great services rendered by the tribe. There was now no East Coast land question to settle. Some reserves were made with the consent of the tribe, including 5000 acres of rich land at Tologa Bay fit for settlement. ♦ • • At this time it looked as if the best policy the Government could pursue

would be that of making terms with the rebel natives, peace at any prlbe m fact. I Colonel McDonnell and .Colonel grazer . had fallen out, and an inquiry as to ' their having permitted TE KOQTI TO ESCAPE \ was instituted. Outsiders could see that i there was great difficulty m keeping emulation amongst the officers from degenerating into jealousy. At the inquiry | some soiled • linen got washed. Colonel , McDonnell placed Frazer x under arrest for drunkenness, while Colonel McDonnell wasj charged with prematurely attacking Te Kooti. The feeling of jealousy, it was said, induced precipitancy m action which ruined well-made plans and, m fact, the work of months. There was, without apubt, a difficulty m getting really good officers fit for command. In fact, it looked much like the alleged American plethora, all officers and no soldiers. There appears to have been almost innumerable colonels, who pop up at all manner of places, and m all manner ol ways, and at. all times, and there also appeared to have been an entire absence of anyone m supreme command. The Imperial officers appear to have thrown up the job m disgust, or . were dispensed with prematurely. Cameron went home m a huff over his little misunderstanding with Sir George Grey, and THE "KERRY BULL" CHUTE appears to have got his. back yip, and to have issued imperative orders that the Bole remaining regiment, the representative of British authority or supremacy, should at once leave New Zealand. One thing to-day strikes the inquirer, the care taken, and properly so, by Imperial Officers, "of i, the. -.lmperial forces, while not m any way ' showing the white feather •and failing to make an effort where sue- I cess might be achieved, the .British Generals were careful not to hurry their men into places where an ambush,, or a trap, j might await them. The colonial com- j manders, on the contrary, appeared to j have hurried their men forward into all sorts of possible and impossibie places, with results terribly disastrous to tho i men under their charge. In many m- i stances the war parties appea.-oj inoro like a party of sportsmen amoti-r.it th» partridges than soldiers m pursuit of a •cunning and crafty enemy, the latter as i the "partridges"- having the best of the ■ •port. Late m March of 1870, an important •meeting of natives was held at Turakina,, i near Wanganui, and chiefs formerly Hau Haus m active rebellion, met neutrals and friendlies and declared for peace. At the ] meeting, Air. Booth, -.resident 'magistrate, , weil acquainted 1 with the Maoris and their . language, repeated the words of Mr. Fox | on a former meeting that there was ; NO CAUSE WHATEVER FOR FIGHTING, if murderers were given up ; that the j land m the country was sufficient for all; j that now there was no pretence of a j quarrel on account of land ; and that m- : stead of taking up arms m any quarrel, i it would be much better to let matters | m dispute be settled by law. To this the ! chiefs cordially agreed, remanding Mr. < Booth that they had . already given up one murderer (Haraiora, hanged) anil promised that m future they would give no shelter to evil-doers. While these peace negotiations were m I progress, Te Kooti was still active. He j was reported to have made a raid upon ; Opape, near Opoiiki, captured a number j of women and children, and killed several! i men, amongst them being Win. Marsh, ; the Arawa chief. Five persons were j killed and about 50 made prisoners. The j Arawafl were greatly incensed by young ; Marsh's death. A suspicion was afloat j that many of the prisoners, being Hau : Haus, had no objection to arrest. : For some time preparations had been ! made for an .aggregate meeting of ua- ■ tives at Parlaka, and at length, m ! March, the arrangements were completed. The leading chief at this place was Te Witi, who had gained a great ascendancy ' not only over the Tarauakis, to whom he belonged, but also over the Npatiawa and Ngatiruanui. He also wielded great influence m King circles at Tokaugamutu. While Maoris were holding- a preliminary meeting and discussing affairs at I'ariapa, a public meeting was held at Patea to consider a Government ordur permitting natives to return to the district, and the following resolution was carried, —"That the meeting, having hitherto had every confidence m the Government, re-

the war tactics of the Government : the employment of friendly 21a lives to disposo of To Kooti by contract, that was to do the work for a stated sum, which was to bo paid only on completion oi the work. The result of the contract was that Ropata attacked, a pah m what had been termed the impenetrable sountry, Uriwera, the ''bete noire" of the Maoris themselves. The difficult chnructer of the country had been declared by the Maoris to be such as to prevent hostile pursuit, and there was. a tradition, not of an ancient date either, that a victorious party of natives at war with the Uriweras followed the latter into their own country, and were almost all killed, scarcely a man being left to tell the talo. This legend added to tho .prestige of the Uriweras,. and T% Kooti had v an effect even on 'the expectations of our own people after it was known that "Te Kooti had slipped through poor Vrazer's and McDonnell's fingers, and had made good his retreat to the fastnesses of this truculent tribe." "Poor Frazer" had died of typhoid some days before, and during the "SOILPID LINEN" INQUIRY. Ropata did not pay much attention to the tradition, but persistently followed up the rebels and on March 25 attacked and captured Mareatai pah, occupied by To Kooti, after an hour's engagement, lulling 19 men, including the chief Hakaria, who was one of Mr. Volckner's murderers, and with Major Kemp's aid captured no fewer than 350 prisoners. Te Kooti again escaped with about 20 followers, and Ropata had determined to catch or kill him. Te Kooti's power was r.i.w broken up, and even if Ropata did not succeed m catching him, he was not likely to cive much more trouble. . • • . • THE KILLING OF TE KOOTI BY CONTRACT does not appear to have been all "cakes and ale." Late m May, Major Kemp (Keepa),. Major Topia, Mete Kiugi, and Colonel McDonnell arrived, at Wellington from Wanganui to endeavor ;; to obtain payment for, the services of the Wonganui natives m the late campaign. They claimed m round ligures £15;000.' The Premier, Mr. Fox, had wired them £500 on account, which, they had positively refused to accept. \ Topia was represented us beine .very mu£\h dissatisfied. But Te

but before entering they all discharged, their firearms and came forward with their jruns unloaded. On Thursday (next day) Titokbwaru expressed a wigh t 6 ( hear what all the , talk -had been' about. He said he had been a long time deadMr. rarris then stuck up the sticks (emblematic); and explained all that had been done ; and Te' VVhiti came from I his platform and again • put the sticks | under hte fee.t. „ Ngairo, of'VWairarapa, ; said he was ; m favor of the. King. Tepini Jsnicl that Parris had spbken- . what was I perfectly true. "The ' Europeans had seat missionaries to ' them at jQ.rs.t,. and they had directed them to look up to Heaven. 1 Afterwards tho Queen hail come, aud while they were looking to Heaven the rcTTROPEANS LOOKER 'AT, THE SOIL "Thoso were- the wieked"t£mgs that arrived with' . the QueenV' he continued, I holding up a gun; ;" those i;were the teeth which tho. Queen sen fc ;amongst them to bitn them.'' Mr> 'Par rls- said -that he had nothing whatever t-o- say 'abou^ the missionaries; That was Jin old, story. When tho Government' camb to" the country it brought a good many tilings' with it, no doubt, both good ahd evil, for Satan alI ways followed -the work of God to desi troy what Ho did. Nothing was perfect ;in the world while Satan was about :Titokowaru said to To Whiti, after he ] had put his foot on the sticks, "I have I heard what you have said. If those j tho King and' the Government) ; are •to bo no more, who is — who is the j person?" Te Whiti replied, "It is I— l am the only person."' Then said Tito, I "By whotn w«re you begot ?" Te Whiti j parried tho question, although asked it I many times; at last Tito said, "Who is ! there behind you 1 ?" To which Te Whiti | replied, "There is one Father, one Son, ! -and one Hdly Ghost; altogether there are j three, yet but one, and that is. I." After |Borne mare bantering between the" two ; chiefs, Mr. Parrls arose and said that ' thero was but one way of settling the i matter; that was by allowing the leading ■ men of the country to meet the Governor ; and to talk tho matter over, and try to bring about a better state of things. Te Whiti was somewhat excited at this, said tho eye-witness from wihoin I have quot:ed, becauso the natives seemed to agree [with the Civil Commissioner's remarks, and some of Tito's people cried out, "Parris is right.'- Te Whiti said. "I •••

NEARING THE END.

A BIG MAORI PALAVER.

No. XXVI.

(By J.M.F.)

quest that an order published m the "Herald," March 26, be cancelled, as the return of any natives between Waingongara and Waihi, with the sanction of the Government, will cause grave complications, and probably a renewal of former troubles, and this meeting trusts the Government will recognise their, decision and let the natives be kept away from the district for some time . to come." The proceedings were animated but orderly. . Ropata, who avowed his intention at one time of following Te Kooti to the \ very ! GATES OF HADES i if necessary, came again prominently m evidence towards the end of March. He had made an expedition into the Uriwera country. His party of 37Q men had marched from Tauranga on July 28, following the Ngatapa track. Nothing of note transpired up to March 5, when, passing an old camping ground of Te Kooti's at Hungaroa, the remains of three bodies were found, no doubt refugees frqni Ngatapa. Before reaching the Maungapowhatu, two parties of 80 men

each were told off, with orders to surprise the pah held by Te Pukeroa, which j was taken. The number of prisoners captured m the pah and on the inarch was 50. Five of the captured men had formed part of Te Kooti's force at his ilate engagement at Rotorua. After a MOST HARASSING MARCH I through a difficult country, during which j only two days were allowed for rest, the force reached Ohiwa on the 20th, and Opotiki on the 21st. When Ropata heard of Te Kooti's late raid on Opape, he at once started m pursuit, and. although the country was. almost inaccessible, he had determined to push his operations as far possible with the means at. his disposal. ' A determined ally was Ropata. A new feature was now iuu'odueed iv

; Kooti was not yet done with, and a bargain's a bargain.- Though Mr. Fox had declared the "war" to be "stamped out" Te Kooti was still causing trouble and Ropata naa m hot pursuit of him and the few supporters he now bad with him. Te Kooti was certainly not now looked upon as a warrior, or his acts a» those of war or warfare. He was held to be now only a murderer, m a lower degree than war, and an outlaw, and the police were on his trail. A rope was m readiness for him when his capture would be effected, . the hangman standing by ready to turn him off. "Te Kooti. the patriotic leader of a people lighting for a new religion and their old homes, had degenerated into a New Zealand Thunderbolt,' and is hardly so formidable as some of the redoubtablo bushrangers who infested New South Wales - for so many years." Which .is somewhat unfair, to Thunderbolt, if not to the other bushrangers. The peace policy of the Government caused some little anxiety, and Ministers were blamed for laxity, and truckling with thf» natives, winking at the presence within the settled districts of men who I were but lately m arms against "constituted authority," or, worse still, arming land taking into pay such men, either ! knowingly or without inquiry. The latest 'scandal of the so# arose from a visit paid to Wanganui by a couple of savages | who were Titokowaru' s right-hand men | when, m his first successes, he sent Word ; to the commander of the forces that he : intended to , SAT THE PAKEHA UP. . • not figuratively, but actually. One of j these two, Kereopa— not Mr. Volckner's j murderer, but a man of the same stamp, ! a powerful savage, who gloried m the ■ fact that he ato the first white man who was killed m Titokowaru' s raid — was j *aid to have challenged any three Euro- j peans who choose to fight him m the Btreete of Wanganui, and with a companion made himself at home iff- that town for ft whole week. *** . ' In September, quite an excitement was created m New Plymouth by hundreds of natives passing through the town on their way to the great nativo meeting .which was announced to be held at Pari- ■ aka on tho 18th. Titokowaru had gone j armed to the meeting with 80 followers. ] He passed within three miles of New i Plymouth. This state of affairs caused! ithe inhabitants to addross the superin- : |tendent regarding the defenceless position : of the toT?n. '■ '. A VIGILANCE COMMITTEE . i • was appointed to see that the powder j magazine was properly guarded. The de-j fence force of the province numbered short ! of one hundred. The Government said 1 that there was no cause for alarm. Tito- j kowaru had stated his intention to be! present at the meeting, but his intentions, he said, were strictly honorable and peaceful. . » # # • •' On the morning of September 21 news reached Pariaka of the approach of Tito- j kowiaru, and the natives of the village left with tho intention of giving him a welcome m the usual style. Each had a | 'branch of some tree m his hand, ■ which, ! as they walked, they waved over their heads, at the same time uttering a cry Of welcome. As Tito and his followers drew near it' was found that they numbered 80 meu and six women. The men were described as very powerful, and dressed m the usual bush costume^-a plaid shawl fastened round the hips and shirts over their bodies, with white feathers m the hair. "Tito, with his one eye and horrid looking countenance, was superbly dressed for a Maori chief."- He wore a mat made of very fine native flax, the fringe of which was composed of green and white feathers. On his head he had a cap formed o! the PLUMAGE OF SOME BLACK BIRD, and m the centre standing up m front of the peak was a scarlet feather. Beneath the mat was a plaid shawl, which was tied round his hips and which reached to his knees ; a new Crimean shirt, Check pattern, completed the costume. * ♦ . * On Tito coming within speaking distance much was said by the rebel chief and Mr. Parris (Civil Commissioner) wihich could not be reported. Accusations were , made on the one side and ;repelled on the other, and vice versa. The Civil Commissioner called upon his natives not to look upon the man who had defiled himself. Tito abused Parris m return, and so the first dtiy passed. Tito and his followers were invited into the village.

and hear. You all approve of what Parris has said ; even Titokowaru's people are with him. Go every one of you with him, and fulfil your heart's desire— KILL AND EAT EACH OTHER ; rob, g»t drunk, commit adultery, sell land, mak« roads, do everything tha wicked are Intended for, but don't look back on m« afterwards." Parris said, '-'The task must be gone on with ; the road 3 must be made, and (stretching out his hand to Te Whiti) give me my children that I may go and do it." Te Whiti made no reply, but endeavored to laugh it ofl. Titokowaru coming into the centre with a bright double-barrelled gun m his hand, said, "I have come to Pariaka; I now return to Ngatimaru; I shall turn my back upon Tau-ma-tamahoe and Tawhana (meaning the whole of Ngatimaniapoto — Tawhana's work is his; I have nothing to do with it.; My eyes

'turn to Ngaire. and to the sen; my mind ! night and day is only thinking of Ngaire. jl will \ ' NEVER STRIKE ANOTHER BLOW 'unless lam attacked. If ;my face is ! scratched ' I • shall retaliate. Oh, all ye people assembled, I now bid ye farewell. 1 go to my camp for the night, and m the morning leave on my homeward journey." Several asked him to stop, and 'inquired if he were angry, he was leaving Iso quickly. He replied, "No ; but what is there m the talk ? I have heard what iyou said, but .don't see the end. It 19 useless.' You call the people from the i right and from the left ; you say no- | thing ; no more. Titokowaru then rose and he and his followers left m a body. Thus ended 'the Pariaka meeting, which had caused much excitement and from which much was expected. Te Whiti was. said- to bo insane. He | j stated that he, had been m Heaven and] had seen tho seven golden candlesticks. He declared that he had been appointed Ito be King, and peace was to prevail on earth. (To be Concluded.) •