A Determined Chief

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 220, 13 June 1936, Page 7

A Determined Chief

After Te Rauparaha had been seized and made prisoner in 184 G by order of Governor Grey, his ally, Rangihaeata, who, three years before, bad massacred several Europeans on the Wairau, continued the struggle against the pakeha. British troops drove him from his stronghold at Pahautanui, and, after making a stand in the rugged Horokiwi valley, Rangihaeata and two hundred warriors took refuge in the mountainous country behind Paekakariki. He tried in vain to obtain support to carry on the war, for his friends were inclined towards peace. “How can you dry up the sea?” they said. “That is why we say, finish fighting with the Europeans.” At the head of a small band of irreconcilables, the old warrior settled at Paeroa, an island of high land among the swamps between Horowhenua and the Manawatu, and for some years lived a life of surly'lndependence. On one occasion he met Governor Grey. “Do not suppose, O Governor,” said Rangihaeata, “that you conquered ilie. It was these, my own relatives and friends, who conquered me.” In later years, like many another Maori chief, Rangihaeata became a friend of Sir George Grey, and helped him considerably when tlie Government was making a collection of Maori legends and folklore.—J.E. (Wellington).