RIVER HISTORY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 112, 15 May 1939, Page 10

RIVER HISTORY

A MAORI WAR MEMORY

(Special to the "Evening Post.")

WANGANUI, This Day,

A flag was flying from the tall flagstaff in historic Moutoa Gardens yesterday, and many passers-by probably wondered why; for there1 are few left who remember the day, 75 years ago, when the little settlement waited breathlessly for news from up-river. On May 14, 1864, a battle was fought some 45 miles up the Wanganui River, and determined the fate of many a pakeha.

By an old Maori track from Waitotara and Taranaki came a party of Hauhaus, whose religion embodied the belief that the white man must be driven out of the country. Matene Rangitauira, the prophet of the new religion, headed the half-crazy devotees of Pai-mariri at Pipiriki. The up-river tribes, all converted, manned their great war canoes and swept down the river, a splendid spectacle, with carved figureheads and streaming plumes and wild chanting. The Lower Whanganui tribes, friendly to the pakeha, heard of the approach of this war party, and gathered at Ranana, just below a small wooded island. The Hauhaus sent word that they wished to pass down the river, and the river people refused, and so it was arranged in Maori fashion that a fight should take place on Moutoa Island, so many men a side. The rest, including women and children, occupied "grandstand"' seats on the banks.

Early on the morning of the 14th, the Hanhaus drove their canoes high upon the shingle, and the Wanganui people —taking no advantage—allowed them to land. The Hauhaus swept victorious over two-thirds of the island, until Haimona Tamehana called: "I will retreat no further," and rallying his people returned to the attack so vigorously that the Hauhaus were scattered. Two of the war-canoes now in the Wanganui and Wellington Museums fled up-river, carrying dead and wounded warriors. And so the day was saved by a handful of brave men, and down in the settlement there was great thankfulness at still another deliverance. The women of the Whanganui and Rangitikei districts made and embroidered a wonderful silk flag fringed with gold. This was presented to representatives of the Wanganui tribes by Mrs. Logaii, wife of the British Commander at that time, at a great gathering in Market Square (the old name for the present gardens). The nag is still in existence, hidden up-river. "The great war-dance that followed the presentation shook . the ground," relates a very- old resident; "it was a tremendous occasion."

On the island, a great growth of poplars and years of gale and flood have obliterated every trace of the trenches where friend and foe are lying, but the memory of the brave defence offered by a handful of men to help their white brothers should ever be remembered. A handsome monument commemorates their deeds, and the flag is flown on every 14th of May.