THE ATTACK ON PUKEMAIRE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 8, Issue 694, 24 October 1865, Page 3

THE ATTACK ON PUKEMAIRE.

On arriving at the church, distant about 400 yards from'the^pa, the main body,' or reserve, , under Major _. raser, remained there, opening a fire in front. Lieut. Biggs, with a.small body of volunteers, and'Capt.'Westruppi 'with part of his rangers, .accompanied fiy 'a feWjTuparoa natives,, were sent; jo., the right to' Reconnoitre, while Ensigns Tuke and Ross 'were despatched 'to the left for same purpose. Thus, simultaneously, a fire was, bpened^upon every angle of the pa, the detached parties having to make 1 thi§ir;jway along 'ah abrupt, -ffope; plinging for ["' support .to shrubs or .anything they could ..{ay., hojkl of. Lieut. Biggs and a few of his. mien, ["•with the assistance j of some. friendly natives, mauaged, under cover .jq£ 'trees and scrub, to get within 1 5 yards of thb fartbest,' •or western' angle, of the pa, and .to open -fire upon it with great. precision. ' Soon after,.'.Gree-ves,*a mili- \, ( tary settler, exposing himself too much while '"•' • delivering his fire, was -liit, the. bullet entering , his waist.belt and coming out at his back close . to the 'spine. He was immediately carried away ; whilo Sergeant Hodges, Lance Corporal , Watts, and Keegan, a military settler, were . detached as a covering party, (i.e. as we understand, to draw the fire of the enemy from , the wounded man.) Sergeant Hodges, who | throughout acted with great courage^ had hardly undertaken the duty when a ball struck ( his left hand, carrying two of his fingers clean away ; and, in another, minute or so, he was [ again hit— the ball this time entering his breast and .coining, out two inches below the shoulder blade. "He was carried to the base ' of the hill', where the ball was extracted by Dr. s Ormond. Greeves (one of the last men who ■ joined the M. S.) expired in a few minutes • after, suffering great agony but sensible to the ' last, and engaging in prayer. Soon afterI Lieut. Biggs, having had his small force reduced by the eight men required to bear away the r wounded, 'went for further assistance, and, . while returning in company with Sergeant Major Smyth, of the military settlers, the latter

was hit on the elbow,- but the ball did not penetrate through,' or fracture tbe bone. ; Mr. Biggs' object in gettjng assistance was to carry • out an idea he had formed of rushing the'pa at the angle where his men had? been firing. Getting no help — indeed, the. ammunition .by this time getting low', the supply ordered /ito follow not making its appearance, and' the men being faint for want of food, there was .no effective' assistance obtainable, — he yet mana,ged with the men who were left to him, 14. W number, to rush' : the -pa, a Tupai-oa native baving'previou§ly;thrbwn a, rope over the outer, palisading, by which means it wa§ dragged. -down and a breaclV made. Getting into :< the outer trench, there was nothing but a fence between the assailants and defenders, and some sharp fighting ensued. In this the natives acknowledge to have lost eight men, including . the great Taranaki chief Te Whiwhini, which was a heavy blow. Their total loss in the attack must have ..been considerable, as on a subsequent day, fourteen fresh grave's were seen in one place, and seven in others. A military,- settler named Walsh was shot in the trenches, a ball having struck him on the arm and caused a comminuted'fracture. He is now an > inmate of the hospital, ISTapier, and,' as, well as Serjeants JFfodges and Smyth, is rapidly, recovering.' Lieutenant Biggs and his gallant little party ultimately retired, their ammunition having been expended, and themselves soaked by the incessant rain, a state of things which also checked the enthusiasm of our native allies. Several of our correspondents refer in the warmest terms to this spirited attack. One says — "I cannot but mention here the manner Lieutenant Biggs has behaved in this and every other action he has been engaged in. I don't know which to admire most, his coolness or his courage ; and it says volumes in his praise when everybody at camp, whether European or native, speak in the .highest possible terms of him, and would follow him anywhere. He is the right man in right place — nearly but not quite ; he ought to be a little more than Lieut, B. ; but plenty of

■ time for that. Not but that all the officer behaved admirably, but Biggs' perseveranc< and coolness are so very conspicuous that] cannot help putting particular stress on them.' RETURN TO CAMP. . Just as the force left the churoh the ammunition and provisions came in sight — the state of the road and the river having caused this unfortunate delay. The men, in recrossing the river, which had risen considerably, were up to the arm-pits in water, which washed for the time being over the wounded men, who were being carried across. The force arrived home about half-past 6, considerably exhausted, no food having been obtained since the evening before. Unfortunytely, as the men passed the church at Rangituki, a military settler named Christopher Borthwick fell out, being exhausted, and was not missed till two or three hours after arrival at camp. A party was then sent in search. He was found on the ground in a state of prostration, and was brought to camp about 10 o'clock. He was promptly attended by Dr. Grace, but, notwithstanding the use of every means for his recovery, he died in course of the night. THE EVACUATION 0- PUKEMAIRE. Three days of very heavy rain succeeded the return of the troops to camp, rendering another expedition impossible; but the, interval was employed in constructing fascines, fuses, and all sorts of mining tools for the intended attack, which was fixed, weather permitting, for Monday the 9th. On the night of Sunday the Bth, Capt. Westrupp and Ensign Ross, with the Forest Rangers, marched from camp at 11 o'clock, and spent the night at Tiki Tiki, an old pa about half a mile from Pukemaire. Before daylight on Monday they were up under the pa in skirmishing order. Surprised that no return was made to the polite salutations of the morning and seeing no appearance of life, they entered the pa and found it evacuated, but shewing signs of quite recent occupation. It was subsequently known that a woman who escaped from pa te Hatepe on the previous night had apprised them of the intention of the troops to assault.the pa on that morning. Although strong in number and in a pa almost impregnable, the los 3of Te Whiwini had so demoralized them that they were seized with a panic and fled. No loot was found in the pa except by the Tuparoa natives, who, acting apparently upon information, dug up a box in "an angle of the works, supposed to contain meris and other valuables. The work of destruction now commenced. Whares and fencing were ignited, and, very speedily, the stronghold of the enemy was levelled with the ground. 7l •' PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY. So far; the old tale, but not so the sequel ; for, having 'marched up the hill and down again, it was, determined that the Pai Marire should not long have ,the laugh at the troops. Accordingly, next morning early, two bodies started in pursuit; 'Lieut. Biggs with 30 volunteers from his own corps and the military settlers,' subsequently joined by 90 Tuparoa natives under the chiefs Ropata and Te Hotene, and 10 from te Hatepe, started by the inland route. " With reference to the~volimteerav'"-says.4i .correspondent, " it Was.no^So much volunteering as a fight for who should go. I guessed pretty well the result, seeing the spirits, the men were in. As soon as Biggs had started, Major Fraser, with about 60 Eurppeans,.'and the same number of natives under.Mokena, started by the coast with the intention of meeting the other party. They arrived, however, too late, as the sequel will show. Biggs, meanwhile, his force increased to 130 men, proceeded through the ..bush in the direction of Kawa Kawa, a native village on the coast, on the Bay of Plenty side of the East Cape, situated at the mouth of the Awatere river". Tracks of the recent retreat of the enemy were seen atin,ter'yals 'the whole of t]je way. • About half way ■between Morgan's pa "arid the "Awatere, they came upon a wounded' Hau Hau, from whom information was elicited . which induced Biggs and party to push on. as rapidly as the state of the road would permit. • Raiher, we shoiild-say, the nature of the country, for road there was none. The course pursued was through* dense with steep hills .to. ascend and descend, and, 1 in some places, up the beds of creeks. The men are' said to have been never dry from the time they started,' and it was just as much as they . .could do-to make the village, distant about 28 miles but quite equal to an ordinary march of 50. When within a mile of Kawa Kawa smoke was seen from the village and some horsemen' were seen to cross* the river from Horpera. About this time, some of the men. are' said to have asked the^ under the circumstances, not -: unreasonable question,-r-Where are we to sleep to night ? ' Upon which Lieut.* Biggs is reported to have pointed to the pa ahead and said that they had to make quarters for themselves there. Tiie troops got within -100"' yards of the kainga before they were seen ; but, instead of-disputihg tiie ground, the enemy, who vseeii^d to be in cdnsi derable force, the instant tl|gy saw the assailing force, ran as Mrd as they couM in the direction of a strong pa further onj'Hungahu•figatoroa. They were followed about a mile, but'th'eir swiftness of -foot far exceeded that of troops who had just completed a severe march ; •so the men returned arid .made themselves as ..snug as possible for the night. At 2 a.m., next (Wednesday) morning, the men wero again on the march,' to follow up the enemy in the direction *of ■ Hungahungatoroa. On the way a spirited skirmish took place. Just after daylight, the Kawa Kawa being then about two miles behind, a large party came in sight and disputed every crossing of the river. (It had to be crossed no less than nine times.) It was of no use, however; they were speedily driven by the coolness and courage of the men, on to the large pa ahead, to which they were closely followed up by the troops. Meanwhile Major Fraser arrived at Kawa Kawh without having seen an enemy. He then received a note from Lieut. Biggs, stating that he had attacked the Hau Haus the previous day and was now following them up the rivei*. The Major remained at Kawa Kawa, sending on a messenger to state that -assistance would be sent if required. ATTACK ON HUNGAHUNGATOROA — SURRENDER OF THE ENEMY. Following up the retreating party to this pa, strongly situated on the top of a hill, two sides of which are precipitous — about eight miles distant from Kawa Kawa, Mr. Biggs and party halted when within 150 yards of the front j of it, and opened fire, which was kept up for a

a considerable -i^e7rylPir^gi^A :^oT^^^44 c of reduction was likely;to be [ at this rate, Mr. Tuke, aftd;ni^'^Mt^j^^^ ' coinpanied jty spme/feen^ matter by a very plticky thing. By sewing brae y' : . of the precipitous sides, of ; ; 'the,-.h'ill^in\doiri^;v f which they risked: their ■- ; liyes:at!.ey^^SvfiU i .:f , ment— a false step'wbuld' : 'haVeb'eetf'4^^ub < >'': ; '';. 4 tion-— they reached a position aticl^^; i partially overlooking the interior^ of .-the ;pa^ , The garrison was only made aware of the fact . i when a plunging fire from the rear be^tti^ = , to make havoc in their ranks, and^werbivery '-- much astonished at a feat which they had deemed impossible. , The fire becamexvery severe from this point. About 12 o'clock,; Lieut. Biggs, acting, it is supposed, under instructions from the Officer commanding, opened a negotiation with the people in the pa — offering to spare all who would give up their .. arms, and acknowledge, allegiance to the Queen. A curious scene is said to have followed. The! East Coast natives (Ngotipbrou) began to .haul , up the white flag ; while the Taranakis (Ngatitohea), of whom there were 50 pir 60, vigorously opposed the attempt— the .dispute between the two parties appearing to run high. At last, after the lapse of an hour, some of the East Cape people breached the pa, and ex-. pressed the willingness of the whole of them to accept the terms offered. The Taranakis, seeing this, breached the pa also,. and bolted .'-..■ over one of the precipitous sides of the cliff. Three of these were shot in the act, aiid their ; old allies in the pa, disgusted at their conduct, also favored them with a few parting shots. The Ngatipordu, to the nnmber of 200 men, ancl about 300 women and children, then surrendered—giving up all their arms, about 120 guns. The loss of the enemy in this affair Was 20 killed and several wounded. On the European side the casualties Were only two in number — Lance .Sergeant Dearlove Wounded, not dangerously, in the arm and shoulder, and private Hazell slightly in the face. Arapeta, one of the Tuparoa friendlies, received a dangerous gunshot wound in the thigh. THE PRISONERS. The pah having been destroyed, the motley group who constituted the army of prisoners, now accompanied the troops towards Kawa Kawa; and after a day or two's rest there, travelled home to camp by way of the coast. The appearance presented by the^ 500 as they followed their captors must have been striking. While the greater number were at'libertyj a few of the ringleaders were secured; Among these were two or three Taranaki men, the chief of whom, while struggling to escape after he was secured, was shot dead in the attempt. Another was one of the spectators 0 f the murder of poor Mr. Volkner— -the man who, according to his own adniission, when taken, . • actually drank the blood of the martyr. Ano- „ ther was a notorious -" old hand," a blackfellow, known ini those parts as Bob the nigger, who, it is sincerely to be hoped- will meet his deserts. A greater scoundrel does not 1 exist on the coast ; he was Patara's right hand man, having traded for him in olden times, accompanied him when he escaped from Pukemaire, and returned again when -Patara tpolc-his departure- , ; ■:_ for Opotiki. Those three, together with 16 other men, ringleaders in the movement, are now safely housed in Napier Gaol—the two we have named and a Taranaki man having been put in irons. TAKING THE OATH OP ALLEGIANCE. It was Sunday the 15th before the expedition returned to camp. The day after, the troops were drawn up on one side of an open plain in front of the pa ; the native allies on the opposite side. The male prisoners, to the number of 200, were then marched from their encampment — one by one saluting as they passed the British ensign — -and placed in the centre. The ringleaders were then called out by Mr. Deighton R.M., and marched off under escort to camp, previously to their being shipped on board the Success. The remainder, at their own request, took the oath of allegiance — being, at the same time, informed by Mr. Deighton that they would have to remain at Waiapu and await the Governor's decision respecting them. They appeared to be thoroughly dispirited and beaten; expressed themselves as very glad the war was over, as well as their thankfulness at the kind . way they were treated by the Europeans.