Major Ropata Wahawaha, M.L.C., died 1899.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 219, 21 September 1901, Page 4

Major Ropata Wahawaha, M.L.C., died 1899.

t Special to Times.) Auckland, last night. The following is one of a series of biographical sketches that _ been prepared by an author formerly oi j Gisborne:— . j A remarkable figure in the history oi ; New Zealand’s wars with the JLuihua ; | rebel Maoris was the late Major Kopata j j Wahawaha. the warrior-chief of the j ! Ngatiporou tribe, Hast Cape. A tearless : | and determined, even ruthless, soldier, he j 1 tuck the side of the Government at tne | i outbreak of the Hauhau wars on the j East Coast, and the story of his stubborn j chase after the notorious rebel leader Te ' Kouti reads like some wild romance. Kopata illobert) Wahawaha was born m the old cannibal days, and in his boyhood he was taken prisoner by the KongoWhaknato tribe, of l’ovcrty Bay. and kept as a captive for some years, a number oi his people being killed and eaten in the raid in which he was captured. In his after-life Kopata took a grim and stern revenge on his old-time enemies. In the year ltrSG-i he first began to dis-

tinguisii himself on the side of the Queen j against the Hauhaus, in a tight at 'lilutiki, where he killed a chief with his mere i stone war-elub) in a Homeric single combat out in front of his people s lines, l'i'om this time up to 1871 ltopata was lighting on the Government side, and he established himself as a brave and wise leader. At the siege of Xgatapa. in I*6B, he fought most gallantly against a much superior force of the enemy, and for this (years at forwards) |he was awarded the New Zealand Cross. I After the capture of Xgatapa, 1\ opal a was ! kft by Colonel Whitmore to deal with the | Ilauhau prisoners. He gave them short I shrift. Over a hundred prisoners were I brought in. and every one was summarily executed by the fierce chief s orders. -Iney | were stripped, ranged in line on the edge of a cliff, and then shot down by the bring parties, their bodies falling over the cliff. In IS7O and IM7I Bopata, who now had a commission us Major in the colonial forces, i was engaged witti his men in scouring the > wild forests of the L reweru Country for | To Kooti, and lie underwent some very j severe experiences in this inhospitable re- : gion, having to combat starvation, cold and snow as well as the Ureweias. . It. JS7I his force captured the notorious lvereopa, who was afterwards hanged at Napier for the murder of the Bev. sii

VolckncL’ in 1865. | Innumerable incidents ure related ut j lvopata's prowess in the war-times. Ilis | battle-deeds were worthy of the ancient i old-world heroes of the “Iliad.” Around , the camp tires in the gloomy wastes of j fern and forest, Hi* martial men with tierce harangues | lie tired. . And his own ardour in their souls in- | spired.” And when a pa was to be stormed or a j dangerous position to be won, there was j tiie wild-eyed llopata in the forefront of the charge. In one of his earlier fights against the llauhau rebels, in 18Gu, between Anaura and Tologa Hay, he outihuikcil and defeated the ” i’ai Mariri fanatics after a very brisk engagement, in which many hand-to-hand encounteis took place. In one of these lxopata accounted for two men himself, b\ toma- j hawking one and shooting another. In j November, 1860, lie assisted in the sc\on 1 days' siege of the Waerenga-a-hika pa. | Poverty Bay, where 800 Hauhaus were ■ taken prisoners. Soon after this event, 1 Major Fraser’s and Ropata's combined j forces had a severe engagement (in | ,1 an.. 1886) with the enemy at Te Kopane, j between the Coast and Lake Waikare- | j moaniii Between 500 and 600 Hauhaus j I held a verv strong position hero in n ! densely fern-dad defile, and were so protected and hidden by earthworks that the j friendly troops walked into a trap. The ilauhaus opened tire by lioav.y volleys from two sides. Sis men fell dead-and twenty to thirty were wounded. “ The Hauhau position was so strong,’ says (oh Porter, in his "Life of llopata Wahawaha." “ and the number of casualties on our side so rapidly growing, that a retreat was under consideration, when llopata received an inspiration that won the day. * Bet some twenty or thirty men who can run well and who arc not afraid, put away their rifles, and sot fire to the fern. Do you see how the wind blows V ’ said lie”. In a few' minutes volumes of smoke were rolling up the hill-side, blinding and discomfiting the concealed cnemv, behind which the now exultant friendlies, when they once gained the ridge and the rifie-pits, were able to decimate tbc Hauhaus, who retired with great loss upon Waikarcmoana, leaving i some 00 or oO of them dead upon the field, . On this short campaign, the friendlies, after one of the fights, captured on the shores of ’Waikarcmoana a celebrated llauhau chief called Tuatini Tamaiongnrangi. When lie was brought into camp llopata asked him his name. The reply was, in the figurative language of the Maori. “ Te AVairoa is the village and the Taniwha who lives there Tauiaiougarangi.” On hearing his prisoner’s rank, Major Fraser remarked to llopata, “ The chief ought to be shot. llopata took the remark seriously, and said, “ Shoot him. Some hours afterwards, finding him still alive, Hopata said, " You all appear afraid to shoot this man, but I am not.” So saying, he took his captive by the wrist, led him to the edge of the lake, and shot him and three others with his revolver. After the Poverty Bay massacre in 1808, the Europeans and friendly Maoris attacked Te Ivooti at Makaretu. Hopata personally reconnoitred the rebel position and said, lt To-morrow wo will turn that pa over.” He thereupon organised an attack which was carried out next day. Hopata, with a party of his best men, made an advance down a bush slope on the left Hank of the enemies’ position. He skirmished most skilfully and boldly out of the bush and down through the fern, and then made an advance on the pa, keeping up a steady and heavy fire. When within a short distance he gavo the order to charge, and with his Ngatiporou warriors gallantly stormed the position, and succeeded in driving the rebels pell-mell into the deep river at the rear. Some seventy or eighty men of Tc Kooti’s murderous band were shot in the river, and many others were killed in the pa. Hopata won the New Zealand Gross for his gallant action at Kgatapn, on December 5, 1868, when he and a small j party of his bravest men kept an over- j whelming force of Hauhaus at bay. Of j the fight at Xgatapa (the first attack on ; that "place), Colonel Porter says:— j “ Hopata advanced to the attack of tl c : Xgatapa fort with only about 250 men. j and moved in extended skirmishing order j up the range through the bush leading to | tiie pa. Hero a severe fight took place be- j tween a partv who were making a sortie, j from the fort and liopata’s advance-guard, j the casualties being heavy, and a panic j took place amongst the friendlies. The j result was that a rather disorganised re - ; treat took place to Makaretu camp, j Hopata being left with only thirty men to , face the formidable stronghold and force j of the enemy. He. after some hours of I fighting, succeeded in driving the enemy j back within their fortifications, and then , for the first time after getting out of the j bush the fort became unmasked io him, j and its impregnable appearance was enough to daunt the and bravest force. Hopata, however, did not hesitate, but pursued the retreating rebels up to their own wall of defence, and there established himself, fully expecting to be reinforced. Gallantly the little force, opposed to many, held their position, fighting muzzle to muzzle, with only the wall between. Many were the personal acts of j bravery amongst this band of toas (heroes). Hopata, towards daylight, finding rein- j forcements did not arrive, and his ammunition being exhausted, greatly against his inclinations found himself compelled to retreat, but it was long before be would give the order to do so. At dawn of day he retreated under heavy fire from the pa, still showing a bra\e front and carrying off his wounded. The enemy did not pursue, being rather glad to get” rid of him. Of Hopata’s small force of thirty men at this attack, he lost six killed and seven wounded." (To be continued.)