TE KOOTI.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 176, 26 July 1919, Page 17

TE KOOTI.

■ — ■ —^ REMINISCENCES OF THE CHASE OF THE OUTLAW.

I (By MAJOR J. T. LARGE, N.Z.M.) i I I

SYNOPSIS OF FIRST INSTALMENT. The first instalment of Major Large's story, published in the "Star" supplement iof July 12, described the formation and. dispatch of the Wairoa force of 600 men, under T-ieutenant-Colonel J. L. Herrick, to Waikaremoana. Two months were wasted in building pontoons to cross the lake in order to set to Kuatahuna. where the force was to junction with Colonel Whltmore's troops. Owing to the delay with the Wairoa force. Colonel Whitmore reached Ruatahnna first, and not gettin; The support he had relied upon from Herrick. suffered considerable loss. The Wairoa expedition was soon afterwards ahandoned. A native force, some 300 strong* under «Mr. Kdward Hamlin and Lieutenant J. W. the lake, defeatim the Hnuhnus and securing their sreat Matnahu. I 11. UREWERA SURRENDER, There is no doubt our unlooked-for : success in crossing Waikaremoana, and 1 defeating the Hauhaus on the previoue days, had inspired them with such fear that they cleared out to Mahunarerewai, where the Ruatahuna track leavea the lake. I While out with scouting parties in the ' surrounding bush one had an opportunity of seeing the various devices by i which the Urewera—who at that time ; were expert bird catchers—captured the [ numerous birds of their forest-covered country. The waka kereru was perhaps the most common. This \va3 simply a wooden trough filled with water, round the sides of which snares were fixed. These were tied up in the trees freauented by the native pigeon, and caught many when they came to drink. Then there was the tutu kaka. A handy tree was chosen, the small upper branches of which were cut shortOn these were fixed perches, called mutu i kaka—nicely carved as a rule—on I which rested loops of string, arranged in such a way thalt when pulled taut by a man hidden in a leafy screen underneath caught any unwary kaka (New Zealand parrot) by the leg that happened to alight on a perch. A decoy bird, called a. mokai kaka, served to entice his fellows. Smaller birds were killed with, a long stick switched along a pole stuck in the ground at an angle of 45, on which, the birds alighted, a decoy being fastened to the upper end. There were also other contrivances. We spent over a month at Matuahu, where the whole force concentrated, including the burly chiefs of our rearguard, who took good care not to risk their precious ekins in the front during , a forward movement. While here a small party of the Waikaremoana Hauhaus, under Te Makarini and Hori Wharerangi came in under a flag of truce and surrendered. They reported that many of their people had perished in the snows of Huiarau—the high mountain range between Waikaremoana and Ruatahuna —while fleeing from our force. Now we were in tlie enemies' country, our forward movements in force were retarded by the want of proper means of transport, as we had still only ! our two "dugouts" and the dinghy, the I latter of which got damaged. So a i number of our young bloods weary of our somewhat long period of inactivity, conceived the idea of making a dash to the head of the western inlet at Jlahunurerewai, and capturing the big canoes β-nd whaleboat- from the Hauhaus encamped there- So choosing a dark night i they filled the two "dugouts" with as many men ac they would carry and with-j oat consulting the leaders quietiyl

started up the inlet. The writer was the only white man they took with them. In short, we surprised the Hauhaus, who offered no resistance, and! we came back in the morning in triumph to Matuahu with four or five big canoes and .the. \vhalehoat, .liafljlin was -angry with ue for'undertaking ,this enterprise without orders, which several of us supposed he had given: as, of course, we . should not have moved without orders.] It appears that the leaders contemplated going into Ruatahuna, and they said that our acrtion prejudiced their project. But they could not hare moved the force without adequate means of transport, and our capture of the enemies' canoes and boat supplied the one thin" most needed for the purpose, and gave them the command of the lake. Aβ to going into the heart of the Urewera country in winter with our small force we could not muMer more than 200 good reliaible men for the purpoe, while the enemy were numerous, and in strong positions — we would simply have been cut to pieces, and there would have been no morehu (remnants of a slaughtered tribe) left to tell the tale. This I found out afterwards when T wa* at Ruatahuna with to Ngatiporou. Having now abundant means of transport we made raids to the Wairau, and Omarau branches of Waikaremoana, separated from the' latter by the etraite of Manaia (across | which Te Kooti ewam bis horEes on his return from the Mohaka massacre). In fact, we raided all the settlements round the borders of the lake, destroying wharea, canoes, and other property of the Hauhaus, and 'bringing away the food; in return for the barbarities perpetrated by them on our coast settlement*. Our work being ended at Waikaremoana and its precinct* being cleared of the enemy we got instructions from the Government to withdraw. Moreover, we had extracted a promise from the surrendered (Hauhaus ( that the head chiefs of Ruatahuna would soon visit Wairoa and make their submission there—(Te Wiienuarui and Paerau, who fought against Uβ at Orakau, came in as promised the following month, and made peace on behalf of this wild, troublesome mountain tribe.) Our expedition returned to the coast, receiving the thanks of the Government and much kudos for our successful operations, carried out with a comparatively email force in the winter season, and at not a tenth part of the expense of Herrick's abortive expedition of the previous year. WITH NGATIPOROU. In the early part of 1871 Major Ropata Wahawaha and some 300 men of his tribe from the East Coast came to Wairoa for supplies. Captain (now Colonel) T. W. Porter -was hie field adjutant and second in command. This officer, who had seen much service in ; New Zealand, was made C.B. for his services in South Africa as commander of the Seventh New Zealand Contingent.) As the expedition was going into the back country in quest of Te Kooti and his band, the writer joined it as a volunteer. The Ngatiporou were accustomed to take two or three weeks' ratione with them -when they went into the back country, and it was a eight to see their immense ewags of food, clothes, ammunition, etc. The writer had also to follow suit, and carry on his back sufficient to last him for a like period. We lad literally to be beaste of burden, for no horses, nor even mules, could go through the country we were to traverse—high foreet-clad ranges, with precipitous gorges and creeks, containing deep pools alternating with rapids and falls. Beyond the strip of occupied country, next to the coast, there were no tracks, and -we had to force our way through high fern, scrub, or bneh as beet we could. We proceeded up the Wairoa River to Mangaanihe, thence across the Orewha ranges, descending to the Ruakiture River—a branch of the Wairoa —at Erepeti, where our advanced guard captured one of Te Kooti'e folio-were named Tautata, who

had been left behind. Aβ far as he knew hie leader was at a place named Tβ Houpapa, at the head of the Hangaroa branch of the Wairoa River. We accordingly made our -way acroee the Waimaha Country in that direction, being nmch delayed by. s*"Ot-r.-w.eXthef,. floods, etc, which made tfic-fords of'the creeks and rivers difficult and dangerous, i-o that we had to camp a good deal. By the time we got to Te Houpapa—one of Te Kooti's far-inland bueh settlements —which -we found deserted, our European raiions—which consisted of hard biscuit, 'bacon. 6Ugar, cocoa, tea, etc.—were done, though for eomei time past we had eked them out withj bush food. The principal native edibles we had to depend on "were aruhe (fern root). This, when roaeted and , beaten, is not unpalatable to a hungry man. Then there -were tawa berries, -with a turpentine flavour, not nice. Whinau berries, the pulp being of a floury nature when separated from the kernels by pounding, were made into a sort of bread. When eaten with bacon or fat pork it was fairly nutritious, though coarse, but without a kiimki (relish) it was hard to get down, and very constipating. Then there was maraaku, the edible fern tree, the pith of -which when cooked in a native oven and flavoured with wild honey is not bad, though it has no strength in it. A rather nice bush vegetable is the piko- ] piko, the curled shoots of the mauku (bush fern). The natives have long given up the uee of these bush foods; but we had on several expeditions to eat them or starve, and when we were on "short commons" we always had a raging appetite; in fact, we even enjoyed being roused up at night to munch a piece of boar'e hide an inch thick when it had been boiled long enough for us to get our teeth through it. Our pig hunters, who operated in "the rear of the column, caught many pigs, principally in the fern country. As we were disappointed at not finding Te Kooti at Te Houpapa, our leaders decided that the force should go out to Poverty Bay to recuperate after our hardships, and escape part of the winter. We accordingly proceeded out by way of Ngatapa, the stronghold taken by Col. Whitmore at the end of 18G8, from which Te ooti escaped. When skirting a high mountain named Mokohui-a-rangi our vanguard captured a small party of Poverty Bay ITauhaus in hiding, and their chief, Tamati te Rangituawaru, their whereabouts being betrayed by the chattering of one of their pet kakas. In one of the descriptive waiatas composed by the Ngatiporou of our wanderings in the "primeval forest" this incident is alluded to as follows: "He mokai kaka ka rangona te ngetengetetanga i" (the chattering of a pet kaka (parrot) was heard). We crossed the Makaretu, then down the Wharekopai, and out by the Waipaoa (Big River) to Turanganui (Gisborne), where we rested and enjoyed good living after our hardships. It is strange that while in the field, exposed to wet. cold, and hunger, you seldom catch cold, but when you come out to a settlement, and can sleep in a warm, dry bed, you frequently wake in the morning with a raging catarrh. THE WIJCTER OF 71. Though the winter of 1871 was eevere, the Ngatiporou were soon ordered to resume the chase of Te Kooti, as the Government determined to give the miscreant no rest, a reward of £5,000 being offered for him dead or alive. This time the war party divided into two bodies, Major Kopata commanding one division, and Captain (now Colonel) T. W. Porter the other. I joined the latter body, which, proceeding across country, crossed the Hangaroa (branch of the Wairoa River) above Te Reinga Falls, then along the Puketoromiro Range to Te Papuni, abore the gorge of the KuakituTe -River. Shortly before this Te Kooti's band had been nearly trapped by the Arawae, under Captains

Preece, N.Z.C., and Mair, N.Z.C., in the high country between Waikaremoana and the head of the Ruakiture, and many of the Hauhaue -were killed, but with his usual luck Xc Kooti escaped. Above T> Papuni"wr goon got en his trail, •which led. in= thq ■ {direction -joi. pofiatu, in ■ the Urewera Country. While following it up we . were overhauled by a party of the Arawas, under Captain Preece, who, on . ascertaining that we were on the trail before him, relinquished the chase to us. Such was the becoming etiquette observed by the different bodies of the Government forcee in the field. It waa no easy matter keeping on the trail of these outlaws, who were thorough maetere of bush craft. They adopted all sorts of dodges to conceal their trail. One was to keep on wading in the bed of a creek, then step from the water on to a fallen tree, thus leaving no mark; but we'had a splendid tracker named Kuare —who had been one of themselves, and he knew all their tricks, and when we lost the trail soon picked it up again. The slightest impression or discolouring on J etonp or wood, a broken leaf or twig, a bit of moss rubbed off, was sufficient for his practiced eye. The Hauhaue also scattered in various directions, in order ' to mislead pursuit, coming together ' again at an appointed place. . ' Wading in the watereo much, crossing and re-crossing creeks' and rivers,, we ' found the rapaki (loin cloth) infinitely superior to trousers. A small shawl wrapped round the waist, and secured i with a belt (not unlike a kilt), was usually worn, and there was no difficulty : in holding it clear of the water, , and I thus keeping dry. Our boots had eyelet I holes to let the water out, as it was - impossible to keep the feet dry. And •' after wading all day, perhaps, "in that' high country, and having made our camp ' in the evening, on the banks of a creek, i in the bush, we had to wait, often shiver-1 ing, till after dark before we could light j' fires, and also have all fires out before j daybreak in the morning, to prevent our '. smoke betraying us to the watchful eyes of the enemy. And how we did enjoy the fires in our low-lying camps when wet ! and cold. The natives are simply splen- : did at making fires, and obtain kindling wood in the most unpromising places. One capital fire, which did not take up much room, was the ahi poporo, being ' slips of rimu bark bound in a bundle, like shingles, and lit on top. It burnt steadily downwards till there was nothing left, diffusing a generous ■ warmth all round. And so we followed | up Te Kooti's trail, which still led in ' the direction of Jfaungapohatu, over the ' high birch country of that region, and in about a week's time our scouts re- j ported that they had discovered Te Kooti's camp in an old bush clearing not I far away. (To be concluded.)