THE MAORI WAR.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 10 December 1914, Page 4

THE MAORI WAR.

REMINISCENCES OF THE SIXTIES.

(By Fifty-one.)

On February 13th, 1861, the^editoir of Taranaki Punch, under thfe' head off "A New Idea," giver -4*^ General! Commanding the district ari idea how to obtain information regarding thedoings of the rebel Maoris, and it issomewhat remarkable that a similar " method to that in vogue to-day in con- A nection with the European war was^fl suggested. There is an engraving . showing the General aloft in a balloon;. : spying out the enemy, who is eeendancing in the distance. But, for fear of accidents, a line is attached to the balloon, which is held by a staff officer in one of the many stockades, co Punch gets off his little joke at the expense of the General, who was credited with, the desire to keep as far away from the enemy as possible. In my last short article dealing with Taranaki Punch, the tactics of the Maoris at the L Pa in 1860 were compared with the German methods of to-day; and a year later Punch advises the use of balloonsfor reconnoitring; so it must be admitted that this province could boast' of some far-seeing men nearly Gixby* years ago. Another matter that comes under Punch's satirical pen is the famowa sap. The idea of the military commander in Taranaki -was to dig a deep trench from Waitara to somewhere about Huirangi, and into'this trefcch were 'placed supplejacks closely laced,, together in the shape of large" bf>rreli|y« without ends. ' It was intended that this sap, or tunnel, when completed^ should be used by the troops; but eo> • far as I know the idea was so ridiculedby the newspapers of the day (including- Punch) and the civilians, that the^ military authorities, after spending, an enormous sum on the construction of several miles of this unique method of approaching a Maori stronghold, eventually * abandoned it. The rebel Maoris themselves viewed, .the/ undertaking- as a huge joke, a^fi they enjoyed the fun accordingly. That they can appreciate and make the most of anything that approaches the •ridiciulous is well known to those who are familiar with the Maori character. The sap was only one of the many blunders committed by the early military commanders, who failed lamentably to realise that the Maojjg were • watching, ©very movemeiwiß^ our forces, and if they thought we were afraid (or averse) to attacking them,, then they became decidedly adventurous, and levied toll with the tomahawk on all and sundry who wandered outside the then circumscribed area of . * t It is generally believed that had the baitle of Waireka been vigorously followed up, the southern Maoris,- at least, would have been completely demoralised, and this would have had a -■> salutary effect upon Wiremu Kingi'and his followers in the Waitara- district. ' Had such men as General Cameron been in command at the outset of the war, it would have been brought to a close much sooner than it was. In the end it was left to the .JBolonial forces, and Major Atkinson and hfe Bushrangers were a terror to the Maoris, who soon realised* that their time had come.