RANSOMED FROM THE MAORIS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 50, 16 August 1939, Page 6

RANSOMED FROM THE MAORIS

SAILOR'S LUCK HOLDS

SEIZURE OF THE HAWEIS Previous instalments of the log of John F. Atkins, second mate of tbc brig Haweis, captured by the Wha. ka-tanc natives in 1829 described the seizure of "the vessel and his captivity. It has been told how Atkins gained the respect of the Maoris by predicting that thev would be attacked by a war party from ranga y and also that this attack would be repulsed. After describing these events, Atkins gave his im-» pressions of the manners and ens. loms of the Maoris at that time. "The dress of the females is precisely the same as the men, and they are generally very modest in their deportment'* he continues. "In complexion: they arc as fair as Italians, arc generally short, but well made and handsome. They are subject to great brutality from their husbands, which they bear with exemplary fortitude and patiencc. Th?y are faithful and affectionate wives, and regard the children they rear with the greatest fondness. An appalling practice however, prevails among them —that of destroying their female infants should they exceed in number the male issue. This is done by the mother herself at the birth of the child, and is effected by pressing her finger on the opening of tlhi? skull. Still, there are some mothers who regard this custom with becoming adhorrencc. HEAD WIVES. "Pluralitj r of wives among the chiefs is universal, but there is a decided distinction between the head wife and the others. The union with the head wife is a, union of policy, being the daughter of a chief, and the offspring of this union takes precedence of the children of the other wife or wives, whose situation to the head wife is merely that of domestics. At the death of a chief it is frequently the custom for the head Avife to hang herself, AA'hich is considered an act of the most sacred character. "But to return to my narrative. Nothing occurred to myself until the 9th of March, Avhcn to my inexpressible joy I Avas informed of my ransom: but before dealing Avith thecircumstances Avhich produced my liberation I must return to the captain and boat's creAV who were shore (at Whale Island) at the time the ship AA'as captured,says Atkins. "On the captain's reaching the shore the first object he observed Avas a native running away with the knives of our people, and on joining ' the creAA r he Avas informed the natives had made off Avith the hatchets and knives. He gaA'c orders immediately to launch the boat, thinking ■ at the time all AA T as not right. They discovered that the oars had been . stolen and on looking round they discovered a native on the top of a high rock AAith them fn his possession. Our people pursued him Avith speed and determination, which so terrified him that he threw the ours 1 down and made off. ] FIRED, ON. J "On their return to the boat the | natives kept up a brisk fire at them < from behind the rocks happily Avith- ' out effect. After they had left the • shore the catastrophe on board the ( brig was soon discovered but, seeing 1 her in the possession of the nat'ves ; armed j and themselA'cs weaponless, | it AA r as useless then to attempt her s recapture: they therefore stood to- 1 wards the N.W. and after rowing 1 hard all the day and the following ] night, they fortunately Ml in, with s the schooner New Zealander, Captain Clark, from Sydney. Our peo. 5 pie Ave re received on board, and on r hearing of tbc fate of the brig, Captain Clark determined to retake her which he effected in -.Ik- maimer already described. SIGNS OF CANNIBAL FEAST. "On, boarding her they were shock ed Avith the appalling spectacle of. , fragmeiiis of human fle.su sea tiered .. I about the decks, \vith the remains 1 of a fire, from Avhieh thev immcdia. , te!y concluded their shipmates had been all of them massacred and devoured by the natives," says the mate. "They sailed for Towrengu, where thev were informed T awis ' alive, and detained a prisoner nf Walkeetanna. The captain dispatch. 1 <'d two chiefs cA'crland with muskets for my ransom which they happily effected, and in the moruing • f the < •>th of March I. immediately set, out , with them on my return, amidst cxpress.'ons of esteem and rogiet at ' iny departure. '

, PAINFUL JOURNEY. "This journey overland I have before described, hut owing t 0 my weak and exhausted state it was most tedious and painful. The hills being covered with fern I found it extremely difficult to travel, and on account of the heavy dues (dews) which fell every night it was impossible to rest upon them. My conductor procured me intervals of repose by making holes in the sand, where I' lnyed down, until feeling C'-'ld and chilly I again resumed my which was still further protracted bv the necessity of avoiding the hostile tribes on the roads. After three days and nights of painful travelling we reached *To\vrrnga, where I had tlic inexpressible happiness of rejoining my kind captain and ci'ew t and. with mutnid cong: atulations on our providential escape Ave related to each other the events which had transpired since the time of our departure. WOUND TREATED. "On the 15th of March we arrived at the Bay of Islands, where Cap. tain James took me on shore to vhe Rev. Mr Williams, a missionary residing there, bbuyt y as he was not a medical man, the only assistance he could render me was to administer a powder, for the purpose of prevent ing the accumulation of proud flesh" (It will be remembered that the chief Te Ngarai'a had shot Atkins through the arm when the brig was seized). SAVED HIS ARM. ''i sailed for Sydney on the 17th of March in the New Zealander, Captain Clark and arrived on the 25th, after having been three weeks and two days without any suTgical aid. At Sydney three slugs and several pieces of stone were extracted, and so bad war the fracture that the medical men strongly recommended me to ha,ve my arm taken oil, to which I could not be prevailed onj to consent. After remaining 11 Aveeks in Sydney my wound was tolerably healed, but, despairing of even recovering the use of my arm, so as to bo able to resume my duties on board ship, I returned to England in th c barque Vesper, and 'arrived after a passage of four months and a half''

So much for Atkins r story of his hair-raising adventures. There were repercussions to the seizure of thc HaAA-eis and a further article will deal with these. Elsdon Best mentions the capture of the brig, but has little of interest to say on the matter, save that the Maoris kneAv Captain James as Te Wharengi. The term atua (god or demon) Avas applied to Europeans in those early days; and an old Maori t Pio, of Ngati-AAva told Best that he wns living at Papaka pa at the time. When the HaAveis AA'as sighted the cry Avas raised ''He atua e! Kai Araho kai te moana" (O, an atua is out on the sea). Others said "It is a ship of the Avhite man.'" AN EARLY SHIP. The Haweis must ha-A*c been one of thc Ti rst vessels to visit Wha katane after Cook passed by, and she may have been the ship to which the same Pio referred AA'hen he said: "When these A'essels Avere first seen the Maori people said: ''These are strange creatures, demons from Tonga." When I AA'as a small child a ship came and lay off thc mouth of the Whakatane RiA'er. A boat Avas loAvered to the Avater and came ashore. There Avere six paddlers (roAA-ers) and a white man in, the stern. The natives assembled on the beach to obsen'e these people. Tiie beach Avas covered Avith the Maoripeople, one could not see the earth so numerous Avere thev.

"Those white men wore red shirts, and they sang this boat song as they rowed ''Oro'ho teri, oroiho teri ''Hiki rnapu ho teri ''Hiki mapu ho teri "Oroiho teri." ''We children crowded to the edge of Ih[> water to look on. Those Avhite men gUA'e the natiA'c people tobacco and poniu. pines, iron pots, ar./l 'tahu-whenua (Td blankets) . These things AA'ere retained by the chiefs. These are all the things I can remember." Poniu, sav« El?don Best, AA'as either a vegetable (kora) or poni o'" pongi a brand of tobacco. What sea ehmty the sa'lors sang would take a AA'ise head to discoA'er.