BACK TO THE SIXTIES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 190, 6 May 1908, Page 8

BACK TO THE SIXTIES.

A VETERAN'S REMINISCENCES. EX-TROOPER ' Wi CHRISTIE INTER- ; viewed. At' the southern end of that, somewhat aristocratic . thoroughfare known as. Fitzhefbert Torraoo there onco stood, on what was .known as Thorndon Flat, a cavalry barracks,, and-in tho gully under the suspension bridge leading from Hobson Street to'.Tinakori''R'oad''tho troopers' horses wero stabled. 1 ' In'"thoso 'barracks, away back in '63, " was stationed' a squadron of 200 troopers; who had' 'hedn raised in Dunedin, and ordered to the North Island becauso tliere was bad blood between the Maori and the Pakeha. The, subject of this sketch was one of, those cavalryriion—Private. W. Chrisof A : ;troop. ' But that was long ago. To-day,, at,'67.gears''of age, -Mr.. Christie, on the eve,, of. his retirement on pension from the Defence .Stores,, Department, with which he- .has; been connected for something, like .38 years,- is?the'picture of. health. - .A .represeht'ativo of The 1 Dominion had ; the. privilege . of .'a'most interesting talk with, hirii/the other, evening, concerning tho troublous, titnes ,of the early sixties. . Mr. . Christie camo out to the Colonies in 1852, being ilieh about'ls years of age. He settled' with • his uricles and . aunts in tho Beridigo' district,'.' Victoria, and engaged in ''farming' pursuits:. .'Some years later he was sent, to Dunetlin in, charge of a draft : of horses > for ttjo Otago diggings, and he liked the .country so -well that he stayed there. Volunteers for Service. . ' In. 1863 a,great'"appeal was made to tho young ,men',of the .'South to volunteer for service in the.lfortlj Island, certain parts of which" were''at : that; time' seething wjth rebellion. " Settlers' in the outlying districts had to be protected, and so it was that 200 cavalryriien caine to Thorndon Flat; arid, later, were 'distributed variously about the i affected districts. ; Trooper Christie was first.; employed as : despatch-rider, to the Officer Commanding the Fourteenth Regiment' (Major Dwj;er), his duties being .to maintain'comniiiriicatiori between tho Justices' of;the; Peace and'the clergy, who were then'.widely separated over the Wairarap3, aridi'4hcnco''Up..;the'.West Coast to Rangitikei, which' area he • patrolled. An Historic Incident. ' Not so very' long, ago. the PorirUa Church Lfinds' iS-ust ligured , prominently before the public. ' Tho ..whole' scheme of, endowment of. these lands ■ wais arranged one, night away bick- in-'63 by a party bf'clergymeii who wero _oii tlieir way overland 'from Rangitikei : to .yWeliiiigtori,, : under the , escort of Trooper Christie;' all : .went 'well until tho Manawatu ' River was reached. Sere it was found that the Maoris;, had. taken the', candes, tlie river was 1 swollen/ and the party had' perforce to for thft night uiider ' tlie leo of some'" flax ' bushes. The Porifua , Lands Trust was 'arranged ■ that', night, - arid iimong those who discussed'the details'were Bi,shbp Abrahams,; Bishop "Selwy'ri, Bishop Yiara, Father 'Pettijean, Father O'Reilly,.. Archdea'cbri Hadfiild,' Dr^. Featlierston. and his. staff; "/'For' thy remainder of tlie two .years' •'.period"'•-of-'" enlistiMnt in the ~Defeiice Forcb,' Trooper Christie' acted as . dospatchrider' to 'the Brigade Staff at ; |Wanganui, with'hearlqa.irtfers at 'Turakina. , With the Yeomanry Cavalry. , , r '' On the disbaridment of this forco,. t tliero came into existence the Wangariuj Yecimanry Cavalry, with which 1 Trooper Christie ; served throughout;the.West Coast Campaign of' 1865, • and was present , at the capture of Wareroa Pah, the rdlief of Pipiriki,.and several minor, 'engagements. Shortly after,, on receipt';6f,'the news'of; of the Rev. Mr. Volknor/by-a .Miori'named Korcopa,. ; ari expeditionary force was sent to Opotiki. to bring'tho .murderer, to justice. The . whole country at that''tiirie was in heavy'bush, and the" only ;means of.' getting about was by 'proceeding along the river-beds. Led by Arawa guides tho' troop traversed the country from j Opotiki to Taupo, ' then/ to Rotorua and Whakeremoaria. 'ancV back again to Opotiki. " Wo didn't catch Kereopa," said the; extrooper;' "he was 'caught some- years afterwards and hanged at Napier." ! The Flsht at Kakaramea; Crowded into the .period of the East and •West Coast. campaigns . were incidents innumerable!,.' Space will only permit,of two being recounted., ;The 'affair at KaKaTamea I (near . Patea) ' was"' serious enough. 'The Maoris had'boristructed a sort of bridge.over a swamp,, and', erected defences of fascines. The cavalrymen .were .ordered across the swamp to dislodge the enemy,, and had: got safely over, when they were surrounded arid cut off .-.from, their'supports... .The situation was. a perilous'one. bevoral men had their horses shot, under, them, and were themselves severely.;wounded." After a desperate fight, a relief force of-Vori Tbmpsky's men and the military settlers arrived oil ' the .scene, the wa's : driven'back into the country,'and tho party regained the camp.' He-Rescues his Officer. ' ' The trooper tooic part in another fierce skirmish- with' the 'enemy in the vicinity of Opotiki, - and;, here he' distinguished himself by,, saying, ihis/ officer'is, life. The affair iyas one.of the manj,..brushes, with, the eneriiy wfeich "cliaractensgtl^he' guerrilla' tactics of the campaign—a 'shot, the alarm, a hot fire for, a'.'while, 1 then'.'silence. , That was all. Sometimes 1 men were 'woundetl; at others, not even a scratch-was -sustained'; at others again th©re,-were dead-to be buried. "On this occasion,"; said" the h'arrator, "I was stationed near' Captain John" Percy, and-during the fight hit in the groin; - Wheri I got to him,'he 'had'clapped his hand over lis head, .thinking that. the bullet had hit him there;'. I gripped him round the : arms and carried him' niiio cover to attend to. him. By this tinio ho'had become very weak' from loss of'blood.' 'I : laid' bare- his wound, and saw that'an'artery-'had'been severed. The,best thing- I could 'do-then was to take someliiscuits;:, powder them, 1 ram. them into the gaping 'holo,'" and 'then'bind it tightly with ; a leather : belt:. ■ ' It-was wari}i work, and., no mistake. > The Captain's white shirt showed 'through tho leaves and tho bullets pattered about our heads.";'.'.'. Several pieces of tree-fern wore i ;whippcd-off" close by, and fell on his chest. ...After..li,had attended'to him, I picked him 1 , up and earned'him along until 'I-met the amhulanco party." ■ . • With Te, Kootl. at ,tha Chathams. In: 1867 he was 1 recalled from Wanganui and sent to tho Chatham Islands'to superintend the cori'struc'tion of rat-proof huts" for the ' accommodation'"of Te Kooti and his fellov.'-prisoners.' He'w."..? also superintendent of 'rood construction'works. •'■." ,l What did yo'ii think of To Eo'oti?" asked 'the' interviewer. ! ' ' •' "' Ho was a pretty clever: chap. He really belonged to a . slave tribe, but had been looked after by Bishop. Williams, and educated a bit; ' The' Maoris had 'groat faith in' him, and his education nave him a lot, of influence. • They called'him the ' Te Kooti' (the 'bush-lawyer).' While I was ( at the Chathams he borrowed a Bible from'mo, and re-Wrote the -whole of the Old Testament; he.was' pretty.shrewd, though; ■ To,suit his own peculiar .religious teaching, lie merely took from'the Bible such passagos as woulil servo his purpose, and put in others of-his own." '!' Wero you on the island when they escaned on the schooner Rifleman?" . " No—that happened three months after I left.; I remember one rather exciting incident that: did happen while I was there. To Kooti and I wore very good friends, I might tell you. One , day Te Kooti came rushing out of the bushv and- told his excited followers that: he had 'seen, Jphovah, and talked with him .and that lie had been' told that ~ they would' : t'b free in about six months—and it is a remarkable, thing, that, almost to a day, they got tho upper hand,; murdered some of their enemies, and got clear away on the ship Well, to return to the yarn, Captain Thomas -turned out the guard,: with riflos ln-ided and bayonets fixed, and prepared for whatever miglit happen. . When To Kooti saw Captain.Thomas standing there, ho whipjjed off nis clothes, and, stark naked, marched

up to that officer, folded his arms, arid dared him to give tho order to fire. " ' Why don't you fire? ' lie asked. " Captain Thomas, who was pale and trembling, walked away, and I was then requested to see if I could induce Te Kooti to quieten down, and disperse his followers, who had by this timo formed a circle round him. I wont over and talked quietly to him. 'I will go, Wakata' (Walter), ho said, and tho trouble ended; but," added Mr. Christie, " had they shot Te Kooti that day, there would not. have been a white man alive on the island next morning." A Permanent Appointment. " Well, when I got homo again, I was given the choice of SO acres of land or a porinanent appointment in the Defence Department. I took the latter, and I liavo been there over since." Mr. Christie, for all' his experiences and the rigors of service campaigning in his earlier years, is not a penny the worse. "I haven't even got a rheumatic toe-joint," he said. Mr. Christie is a native of Paisley, near Glasgow, and intends to go home to Scotland some time, " just to seo if I can find the bank, where I onco tickled the 'troot' in the river."