OLD-TIME KAWAU.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 171, 21 July 1928, Page 1 (Supplement)

OLD-TIME KAWAU.

HOW THE MAORIS ESCAPED. VICIOUS OLD "ROOS." TOO GOOD FOR THE DOGS. (No. III.) Mr. Tlios. Harris, of Livingstone Street, Richmond, remembers quite well the Maori prisoners being at Kawau. It was after the battle of Rangiriri. which was fought in November, 18(54, that over 200 Maori prisoners were brought to Auckland and placed on board a hulk named the Marion, which was anchored off the old Wynyard Pier. Grey promised that if the prisoners were sent down to the Kawau he would be responsible for them. Accordingly the hulk was towed down to the island and taken up Bon Accord Harbour to Swansea, the old smelting works of the copper mining days. There were three large buildings there, and in them the natives were quartered.

"They were a bit of a humbug," says Mr. Harris, "wanting everything for very little. If they asked for anything and you refused it, they would say, Maori-like, 'Kapai,' and take it, giving you a few pence or a few shillings as they felt inclined. They were allowed a little money to spend. My father, who kept the store, complained to Sir George, who said 'let them have a few things, and if they have not enough money, charge it to me.' In the course of time it amounted to a good deal. J remember their tricks with the sugar. In those days sugar—it" was called lump sugar—was imported in large wooden barrels, with iron hoops. The Maoris carried away a whole barrelful in their pockets." Escape of the Maoris. "When tlie Maoris had been there about a year, and Sir George Grey was away from the Island, we began to notice that they seemed on the alert about something. A native woman, married to a PaJceha, used to row out. to the hulk, and though the sentries would not allow Iter to go aboard, she got close enough to be able to talk to the women 011 board. Well, this woman spread the report that on a certain night the prisoners were going to clear out, and that it waa qu : «j possible they would plunder the Island and do some killing. She said the women on the hulk had told her to let the Pakehas know. My father was in Auckland on I a trip at the time, and we hastily sent a message to get him to ask the Governor to send down a warship. "That very night a warship, the Dido, came in. A gun was fired at nine o'clock—the usual custom in those days —and twenty minutes later the commander and some of his officers came ashore to my father's house. There, in the large sittingroom there were fifty people, armed with axes, bill-hooks, knives and sticks, for we intended fighting for our lives if the natives did rise. "When there came a tapping at the door, we maintained a deep silence.) Then there was another rap, and we could hear someone Ts the manager in ?' The door was opened, explanations followed, and when the commander saw the warlike preparations he laughed heartily. He explained that he had been ordered to come down at once, and that L.y father would be arriving back next day in the Government steamer Sfcurfc. When my father came, he and tLe commander and some of the officers

went up to Swansea, and tliey found that, not a single Maori remained. "Every man jack of them had gone off to the mainland. What happened was that they walked up to the north end of the island, and went across the passage in boats, whieli must have been provided, and one or two they grabbed that belonged to Kawau." Old Man "Roos." Naturally with so many animals about there were exciting moments in old time Kawau. A Mr. Trail, in charge of some men digging a big drain at t*e head of Bon Accord, was charged by a big deer, which ripped the waistcoat" off him, the horns just missing the man's body. The old man kangaroos then began to get troublesome, and one giant tackled an old lady going to the store iu the early morning, getting on her back, and tearing her clothes with his hind legs. Some of the men went after him, but he kept them off witli his sharp claws—"almost enough to keep Old Nick at bay," says Mr. Harris. One man threw half a brick at the animal, "which was hit on the head, and that made him wilder still. The men had to beat a retreat to the store. During the day the manager had an enclosure, about a chain square, wired in and the kangaroo inveigled in. It was decided to send the beast off to the Christchurch Zoological Gardens, but how was he to be caught? That evening three warships came in, and next day the Jack Tars were invited to secure the kangaroo. Four of them entered the enclosure, but the angry animal soon cleared them out. His fierceness made the others think. "You don't catch me in there, old boy!" said one. "Look at his claws!" said another. "Have your lamps out quick!" and so on. After some more banter a lot of the sailors went into the enclosure together with Mr. Harris' father and Peter Mac Donald, the clerk. The "roo" made a great fight, but just when his attention was attracted in front Mr. Harris' father grabbed him by the tail, and Mac Donald put a sack over his head. Once in a cage the animal was taken on board the warship and taken to Christchurch. And that was the end of "Mad Jack," as this furious animal was called. Another pugnacious member of the heterogenous family was a large deer called "Bess," which would charge a man, knock him over, ■* and strike him with her foreleg. By and by another big kangaroo tackled the fieldmen, who dare not kill him without orders. Things got to such a pass that orders were given to kill off the old men "roos," or life would have been unbearable. One tough old fellow took twentyfive bullets before he turned up his toes. Mr. Harris tells many good stories about the habits of the kangaroos. If you happened on a drove of them, the young out of the mother's pouch, sunning themselves, and you were observed, you would hear, all of a sudden, a peculiar noise. At that signal the mothers would grab their young, put them in their pouch, and off'as hard as they could for the top of the hill. It was a sight to see them hopping away, sometimes three and four abreast. When some kangaroos were being chased by the dogs, the mothers, when hard pressed, pulled their young out of the pouch, left them, and made for the nearest waterhole. The dogs rushed up, but the kangaroos were ready for them, and grabbing them by the Jiead pushed them under water. The dngs soon got tired of that and left. After waiting for about half an hour the kanjraroos ventured out of the watcrliole, hunted about for the young they had abandoned, and having found them, made off at top speed. <To be continued.)