STORIES OF NEW ZEALAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 1, 2 January 1937, Page 2 (Supplement)

STORIES OF NEW ZEALAND.

B y james cowan.

THE BATTLE THE MAORI PA-THE REFUSAL TO bUKKENDER—WHERE THE WOMEN DIED WITH THE MEN.

[Xote on Pronunciation.—Orakau (0-ra-kati) is pronounced with the Accent on the second syllable. The other names are easy, in the light of explanations in previous chapters. "Ake" ("for ever") is pronounced "nh-kay."] rK sacred soil of Orakau Pa, the scene of the most gallant and desperate defence of a Maori position in our New Zealand wars, is traversed by a main highway to-day. Tho earthworks so heroically held by 300 against six times that number for three days and two nights were demolished more than 70 year 3 ago, yet to one who knows the place there are still traces of the entrench rr.ents and the Maori groves. The road from Te Awamutu and Kihikihi eastward to Arapuni, the great hydroelectric power station on the Waikato River, cuts right through the centre of the works that were held with such despairing valbur by Rewi Maniapoto and his garrison. There is a stone memorial bearing the names of Rewi and Orakau on the roadside. There should be more than that. Respect should be shown to the last resting place of nearly 40 Maoris, women as well as men, who fell in the siege and in the last rush of the British troops. These graves can still be traced, by the uneven turf in the field on the northern side of the road close to the fence. This was the north outwork of the pa; in its trenches those defenders killed in and near the fort were buried. But cattle graze over the unmarked graves. Repeatedly it has been urged in the "Star" that this' burial place should be fenced in and that a cross of memory should be erected there. Pakeha soldiers who fell in the invasion of the Waikato have been honoured with monuments in many burying grounds. It is surely desirable that at least as much respect should be paid to the patriots who fought to the death to hold their homes and lands against the invaders. Lines from one of several famous poems could well be inscribed on such a monument. Collins' "How Sleep the Brave," Macaulay'e "Hora T tius," and Gerald Massey's "Sir Richard Grenville's Last Fight" come to mind. I have known that sacred soil of Orakau, that beautiful farming land with its fruitful groves planted by the Maoris since my earliest days. have heard the stories of the siege and the defence from many of the attackers and many of the Maori

veterans, and every account I gathered increased my admiration for the hemmed-in people who held the redoubt and who lost more than half their number there. Where the Redoubt was Built. It was among the cultivations and peach groves of Orakau that a party of men, women and children from various tribes halted, towards the end of March, 1864, when the chiefs conferred about the continuance of the war. It seemed hopeless to make further resistance against British rifle and cannon, and . against the unlimited resources of the powerful white man. Yet they %aw their most productive farming country taken from them, their villages plundered and burned, even their churches taken possession of by the invaders. They knew that their richest lands would soon be divided among the advancing ho-t, and that never again would the Maori tread those ancestral lands except as a stranger. What was left to him but . to 'die fighting, defeated but uneonquered? That was the spirit that inspired the old chief Te Paerata, who struck his walking staff into the soil of his beloved Orakau and declared: "This is my land! Let me die here!" The people who gathered there included a few of Waikato. about 50 of Ngati-Maniapoto. some from the south and west of Taupo, and about 140 from the Urewera Country. These Urewera warriors, who had come a lonjr way to assist the defenders of Waikato, formed the greater part of the garrison and were the most determined of the defenders. Rewi's Doubts. The cultivated ground was not a suitable place to make a stand, but this was a kind of challenge fort, where a last desperate blow could be struck for the cause of Maori nationality. Rewi Maniapoto did not approve of the site. He was a skilful soldier, with an eye for the defensive value of a locality, and he saw that the gentle slopes of Orakau could .easily be surrounded and the defenders' retreat cut off. He urged that the pa should be built nearer the bush, or on a steep knoll above a deep swamp at Orakau Village; the Maori church stood on that hill. But the Rangatana field where Te Paerata halted was chosen, so Rewi fell in with the general wishes and headed the preparations for defence. Building the Pa. There were British troops and NewZealand Militia in camp at Kihikihi, three miles west of Orakau, and at the general's field base, Te Awamutu. The Maoris knew their fort building would soon be observed, so they worked with desperate haste, even the children helping. They built an earthwork redoubt about ,80ft in length and half that width.

It consisted of trenches and parapet, as depicted in the plan on this page,, from a survey made by a British officer, Captain Greaves, after the capture of the pa. The shaded parts show the surrounding trenches and the dug-outs inside; the dotted lines indicate the passages under the parapet between the trench and the inner shelters. The outwork, uncompleted, on the north end of the main work is the place where many of the defenders were buried after the siege. There was no palisading, but an ordinary post-and-rail fence surrounded most of the trench work, as

Orakau Pa, taken April '2, 1564. a temporary obstruction to a charge. Flax bushes and fern partly masked the low earthworks, and there were many peach trees about the place. The Maoris were not well armed by comparison with the British troops. They had mostly doublebarrel guns, with a . few rifles captured in Taranaki. They melted lead for bullets, and they had gathered in small casks of gunpowder from various source*. As for food, they had potatoes, pumpkins and vegetable marrows from the gardens. Water was brought up from a spring below the pa, but this source of supply was cut off early in the siege. The Alarm. Early on the morning of March 31, 1864, the Maoris were at prayers, after the Church of England ritual. In those days the old missionary influence was strong, even though the two races were at wari and the people never neglected their services night and morning. The white mis-, sionaries were no longer with them, but the tribal lay-readers carried on. The service that' morning of battle was conducted by Wi Karamoa, a Waikato chief. Tho old warrior Tupotahi, a cousin of Rewi. in describing to me the event* at Orakau (where he was

wounded), said that he was with the others at prayer, and Wi Karamoa was praying, appealing to Jesus Christ to protect the Maori against the anger of the white man. "I had my hand over my eyes—so," he said, "when I happened to look up and I saw the sentry on the parapet beckoning to me and pointing in the direction of Kiliikihi. There I saw bayonets glittering in the sun. The soldiers were advancing against us. I waited until prayers were over, then I gave the alarm. We all hurried to man our firing trenches. We were quite elated at the prospect of battle, for we had determined to show the pakeha a stout resistance and make a final effort in defence of our land." The Siege Begins. The troops—horse, foot and artillery—surrounded the pa, and several charges were made in an attempt to carry it by assault. These failed. The pa did not look formidable, but it was skilfully made and skilfully defended. All that day and the next—March 31 and April I—the fghting went on. The defenders lived in a ring of rifle fire, to which shell fire was added when two Armstrong guns were brought up. The weather was hot, the water supply ran out and the defenders were parched with thirst. Their supply of lead bullets, too, ran short, and at night many of the musketeers fired bits of apple and peach and manuka wood, reserving their lead till the daytime. On the second day they even broke up the legs of their iron cooking .pots and fired them at the enemy. The British,' of course, were well supplied with ammunition. It was recorded that the soldiers fired 40.000 rounds of Enfield rifle ammunition during the siege. (We used to find bullets in the ground whenever it was ploughed up. many years after the battle, and pick bits of lead out of the old peach trees.) The Maori Spirit. Tupotahi, like his cousin Rewi, realised that the Maori position was hopeless. Still, as Rewi said, "Why did we come here, if not to fight?" His final pronouncement was in these noble words (T translate from his nephew Raureti's narrative to me): "Let us abide by the fortune of war. If we are to die. let us die in battle. If we are to live, let us. survive upon the field of battle." So all remained to resist to the end. The Last Day. General Cameron, who had now arrived to take command of the operations, did not like killing the Maoris. He gave them every opportunity to surrender if they wished. Their plight was desperate* pitiable, by the time the third noon of battle came, the fatal second of April.

Tin* troop* were supping toward* iln> pit, tlin garrison were under the continual Urn of hundred* of rifle* and (.tin Aiinetrong gun*, and Intuitwere al*o tlirowu over the parapet. Dnmt mid wounded lay nbout tlin tronche*. Tim wounded w««ro crying for water—there wm none to give tlioin. The Call to Surrender. In the afternoon the general sent two interpreter* to summon the garrUon to surrender. The messenger*, who carried a white flag, were Ensign William Malr (of the Defence Force Cavalry), afterward* niajor, and Mr. Mainwarlng. Mair called out from the head of the sap a few yards from the defenders that the general had eeen the bravery of the Maoris and fighting should cease. Tie repljr waat. "Friend, we shall continue to fight. Fighting shall not cease, never, never I" "That is well: for you men," said the interpreter. "But it ia hot right that the women and children should die. Send them out so that they may be saved." The Women's Reply. Then a splendid young woman, the Taupo chieftainesa Ahumai, spoke from the firing step of the parapet: "If the men are to die, then the women and children will die with them!" With this final word the interpreter hud to return to the general and report the dauntless spirit of that doomed little band. The firing began again. The end was near. The Last Scene. Rewi soon gave the final command. He ordered all to abandon the pa and fight through the British lines for the country across the Puniu River, which wa« about two miles away to the south. So to their amazement the troops saw a solid column, with the women and children in the middle, come out from the south-east angle of the redoubt. They went at a steady trot at first, then, as they were fired on, they broke into a rush for life. They broke through the thinly-held lines at tbe fall of the ground below the Orakau Ridge. There were hand-to-hand encounters. Many men fell and several women. A terrific fire wm poured Into them as they dashed into the shelter of the manuka in a nearly dry swamp which extended towards the Puniu. Forest Rangers, mounted men and Imperial infantry hotly pursued them, shooting many down. A staunch little band, a few of Xgnti-Maniapoto, accompanied Rewi on the retreat. He and some of his chiefs reached the Puniu, others fell. The pursuit did not cea«e until thp busies repeatedly sounded the recall at dusk.

More than half that uiwomtmrable band of defenders were killed In the three day*' battle arid the llmtl retreat. Dead warrior* dotted the Una of flight. A hundred and sixty were kilted out of a total of ilio (Including 20 women) who were In the pa at the beginning- of the singe. The heaviest losera were those famoiiN fighting men, the Urewera. A great many utorlc* of Individual valour could be told. Hut one defender Ntand* out over all other* for her herol*m and her eiifferinge, Thl* wa* the brave Ahumai, the young woman who said the women would die with the men. Him wa* the daughter of the old chief 'I'e Pacruta, mentioned at the beginning of this narrative. Mm waa

severely wounded in several places, but she escaped to reach North Taupo, where she lived for many years. Her father and her husband were killed. The British lost 17 killed and had 51 wounded. They won the day: that waa inevitable, but the undying glory remains with the Maoris, who fought their last fight for a lost cause. To-day united New Zealand, pakeha and Maori, revere their memories, and their heart cry of defiance and self-sacrifice is a national call to duty and no surrender. There were differences in the stories of survivor a I gathered ae to the exact words of the reply. But the words generally accepted are: "Ka whawhai tonu motou, ake, ake, ake!" ("We shall fight on, for ever and ever and ever!") Deathless words of the Maori that will live in the story of New Zealand's heroic age long after the utterances of pakeha statesmen and other celebrities who made much stir in their day have been forgotten.