Untitled

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 8107, 10 October 1904, Page 4

Continued from Page 2

"During that period the country was held by Her Majesty's 18th Regiment, the Royal Irish, under Captain Bock. The headquarters was at Patea, near the mouth of the river, and little steamers used occasionally to come up from Wanganui with stores. Even at that time Patea was quite a small township. There was a redoubt at the. mouth of the Waitotara, the next at Kakaramea, the next at Manawapou, the next at Turuturu, and then two, one at -the mouth of the Waingongoro on this side, and the other just on the opposite sid* of the river on the top of the cliff at Bangitoto. There was a convoy furnished by the Imperial military trains, which came here about once a week conveying stores. These military trains and their company of troopers were sometimes of enormous lepgth, occasionally over a mile long. This was after the time of General Chute's expedition through the bush to New Plymouth by way of the mountain, that is the present route of the railway. It was all a dense forest from near where Normanby now is right through to within five miles of New Plymouth." And about the natives? "When we first came up here to commence the survey the natives were in a very sulky condition. No communication was held with the white people at all, and they coniined themselves to their fastnesses in the forests, only coming out on very rare occasions." How did the surveyors fare! "For a time th& 18th Regiment fur- ' nished the surveyors with a covering party. The work was extremely dangerous, for if the natives came across any European they would attempt to kill him at once. Just to show you their feelings towards the white people, I may tell you that after we had been here about four or five months it was decided that all the Imperial troops were to return to England. It then became necessary that some of the colonial forces should be sent up here to occupy the country and furnish protection to the different survey parties. Colonel McDonell, who was then at Opotiki, on the East Coast, where a great deal of fighting had been going on, was ordered to come up and take charge of tms district. Soon after his arrival the Chief Surveyor (Mr Octavius Carrington), Lieut. Wirihana (of the Nativo Contingent), and myself rode down from Patea to Waingongoro to choose sites for blockhouses for the settlers. After spending the night there were Btarted back. But I should say that on the previous day we had seen an old native chief named Wiremu Manaia, who acted as a kind of a go-between to the troops and tho wild Maoris fin fact he was acting as spy for both sides), and Colonel McDonell mentioned to him that we were going to return to Patea next morning. It appears from what we learned afterwards that Wiremu went back to some of the Hauhau settlements and told them of our projected return, and these fellows raised a party of over 80 men, and came down and laid an ambush for us at the head of that little gully which is within 100 yards of where the District High School now is. As we Went along, Lieut. Wirihama advised us to ride as fast as we could, saying that if any of the Hauhaus were about it would be in the vicinity of this gully. Directly we got to the gully we saw the black heads of the Maoris rising up through the flax. They immediately poured into us a tremendous volley, but, like all Maoris, they were in such .a terrible state of excitement that they apparently took no aim, for none of us was hit. I afterwards paced the distance that the nearest of our party was to the ambuscade, and found it was only 11 yards. 'mat proved them to be very bad shots. However, the bullets were flying all around, and we could actually see the tops of the fern cut, and the track cut up alongside us by the lead. That was an extremely narrow escape, and shows the danger to which travellers proceeding without an escort were liable. On the return of the party to Patea Colonel McDonell took out his foroe to & place called Pokaikai, which is four or five miles from Hawera, on the other side of the Tawhiti stream. Our troops took the place at dawn of day, killing a few of the natives, and taking others prisoner. Amongst the prisoners was a high-class woman named Mata, tha wife of a wellknown chief, Ngahini, whose death was reported a little time ago, but whom the natives tell me is still alive. "Soon after this Her Majesty's troops were withdrawn from the district, and Colonel McDonell assumed command. He at first stationed his force at the old redoubt at Manawapou, but after a time, as tne surveys advanced in the direction of where Hawera now is, he moved op to a place known as Round Bush the Maori name of which is Te Hawera, that being the origin of the name of the present town. Round Bush is 2£ miles from Hawera towards Manawapou. At that spot there was a very pretty clump of native forest, of about 10 or 15 acres in extent, a great deal of which disappeared for building and firewood purposes during the time the colonial forces remained here. After some time, and due to the further advance of the survey party towards where Normanby now is, the bulk of the colonial forces moved on, and built the redoubt at. Waihi, which is close to tne present Waihi cemetery. That became the headquarters of the whole of the district for a very long time. Soon after we got there an incident occurred which is worthy of note. The bread of the troops used to be sent up every morning from Round Bush in a cart or two, With three or four troopers as a guard. One day, during a break in the surveys, «ome of the officers and myself happened to be standing on the parapet of the Waihi redoubt, and noticed the convoy coming along. They had just reached that little point of native bush which is now east of Normanby, when we saw the Hauhaus come out of the bush and immediately begin firing upon the convoy We saw one of the troopers fall, and 'he natives rush up and tomahawk him. All this was plainly visible from the redoubt, and of course caused intense excitement. The bugle sounded for the assembly of the mounted troopers known as the Wan ganui leomanry, who immediately star".«vd to attempt to rescue the convoy. But thay were too late. Some of the horp» were shot, and it trooper named Haggety and another were killed.

"Th« carrying out of the survey so long as it was in open country was really not a service of danger, but as soon as th* work got into the bush it was one of very great danger indeed. The nati/es. as we learned from them afterwards, wne always on the watch for us, and «.% they used to se« us coming out of the bush in the evenings they would go to the aasre spot and lay an ambush for us just wh*r. the line entered the bush. But we wera too wide awake ever to go back to thf same, place . on two consecutive days, anrl it was probably due to that precaution that none of us was killed. It was not at all an infrequent thing for the survey parties to be fired upon. Such an event took place close to where Toruturu is now, but luckily no one was hit. "During the tune we were at the Waihi 1 redoubt Colonel McDonell, who had not, forgotten the ambush that had been laid] for us, made an expedition into Meremere, • a native settlement away back in the hills, and it was there that Captain McDonell (the Colonel's brother) received the wound which maimed him for life. And it was also during this time that the first expedition to Te Ngutu o te Manu was made under Colonel McDonell, in which oat own forces got the worst of it. and had to retreat with a loss of several men. Amongst the fallen on that occasion was George Wright, one of the survey men, aarf ifce son of a very old T&raaaki settler. f'After » time a peace was patched up with the* natives at Ohangi pah, when •Colonel McDonell met some of u» chiefs, tfcrf peace, however, only, effected •portion M H*m. The others were still in arms against as, and although there trere several interviews between- tb* Hauhans and Colonel McDonell.no permanent peace was at that time made.'? "So far a» the surveyors were concerned. aft£r we had finished the district from W*i«gengoro to Patea the party jfemoyed to where the present town of Waverioy now is, and camped there for six months, completing the work down towards the Waitotara riw. After the survey, was finished the selection of the military settlers was made, and tfieir •ectionfl "JWft, chosen b» tofc The men ifcte 4|MB r 'o*>*

dered to occupy ' the land they had received, and were told ihat at the end of twelve months their pay and rations would cease. The district was then .practically without an armed force to protect I it, and this was taken advantage of by the natives; under Titokowaru, who drove in the new settlers and massacred a good many of them. It was at this time that the fight occurred at Turuturu redoubt, where Captain Ross and a few men were in garrison. As is well known, he and several men were killed, whilst the others held bravely out until a force, hastily gathered together at Waihi, marched to their relief.

"Then came the second attack on To Ngutu o te Manu, in which Major Yon Tempsky and a number of men were killed. After that everyone was driven back to Wanganui, with the exception jf a brave little band who held \Vairoa redoubt, within sight of the present town of Waverley." Since your stay here in 1868 have you never been in this district?

"No, except to pass through. Coming back after these many years, I now find it difficult to find places I kn.v? 30 intimately in former days." There must, of course, be a vast di.'fcr ence in the appearance of the country now?

i "The face of the country is entire'y changed. Instead of fern and flax you see magnificent grass paddocks everywhere, comfortable homesteads, and altogether one of the most beautiful districts in New Zealand. I have really been very much astonished at the progress that has been made and the distance that settlement had extended." So far as the purposes of the Commission are concerned, how does the country impress you? 'Well, for scenic purposes the country is also very greatly altered, but there are many very beautiful places left and spots of extremely great historic interest. The' sites of some of the old redoubts, most of which, I am sorry to say, are levelled to the ground, and those relating to the Maori history of the country are deeply interesting. In fact, in this district are to he found the remains of some of the finest pahs in the colony, and which it is to., be hoped will be careful lv preserveSlpr future generations." Mr Smith dflld not, of course, give any indication of the places that the Commission had determined to recommend for reservation, but said the parts to be reserved will be properly fenced in and looked after, so that thsy will last for all timo. "Wo have seen many beautiful places," sard Mr Snvth, "and I hope the result of our visit to this district will be that many of them will be permanently reserved." As a "show" district will you say how this district compares with others the Commission has visited?

"This district has a beauty peculiarly its own. Where you have a combination of rcbly cultivated country and the beautiful native bush you cannot wish for anything more charming. It has not. of course, the grandeur of thet mountain scenery of other parts of the colony, but. you cannot have the two things together." In concluding the interview, Mr Smith asked that it might be stated how much the Commission were obliged to the Mayor and severAl other gentlemen who had rendered great assistance in making short excursions with the Commissioners and indicating spots of interest that might otherwise have been missed.

Bums and Cuts. — Slight injuries of this character are of frequent occurrence in almost every household. While they are not dangerous, except when blood poisoning results from the injury, they are often quite painful and annoying. They can be quickly healed by applying Chamberlain's Pain Balm. It allays the pain almost instantly, and heals the injured parts without matter being formed, which insures & cure in one-third the time that tne usual treatment would require. It is the most perfect preparation in use for burns, scalds, cuts, bruises, and like injuries. It should be applied with a feather, and before the parts become swollen if possible. For sale by W. K. Wallace, chemist,. — Advt.

Witch's Oil for rheumatism, lumbago, sciatica, all deep-seated muscular or rheumatic pains. — Advt.