IN THE OLD DAYS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLI, Issue 40, 16 February 1907, Page 2

IN THE OLD DAYS.

SPECIALLY WRITTEN FOR THE MARLBOROUGH EXPRESS BY

J. HEARD

FOURTH SERIES

THE WAIRAU MASSACRE

Having in my former articles referred in a slight and casual way to the Wairau Massacre, I now propose to enter more fully upon an account j of that calamity. To those who pos- | seas a knowledge of the history of the colony, and of the provincial district of Marlborough in particular, jt may Nseem unnecessary to furnish even an epitome of the causes that led up to , and the circumstances which attended the ever-to-be-deplored event ,which took place on the l/rtfr of June, 1843, in which twenty-two Europeans lost their lives, including Captain Wakeiield, the N.Z. Company's agent, while dfive others were more or less wounded. But as a large number of persons are not cognisant of events that occurred more than sixty years ago, and are unacquainted with the circumstances connected with that catastrophe, I will place in review before your readers those which at the time occupied a prominent position in relation to it. "The N.Z. Company finding that there was not sufficient land in Blind Bay and around Nelson to enable tihem to keep faith with those, with whom they had agreed in pegard to town, suburban, and rural acres, they tried to get possession of the valley of the Wairau ■•■■■■for the purpose of supplying/the deficiency. Colonel Wakefield, however, opposed his brother, Captain Wake- * field, in his proposal to claim the valley as the property of the Com- V pany; yet, in the Company's desperate position, something had to be *done. They felt themselves impaled on the horns of a dilemma. To the Company, at the time to which we refer, Swift's lines would well apply: .ft A strong dilemma in a desperate case, . x ' To act with infamy or quit the : place." If-the splendid valley of the Wairau could not be obtained the Company's attempt t© colonise the Nelson coun- ' try must (at least in part) result in failure, as a considerable number of would-be settlers, with whom arrange- , ments had been made, were waiting to be located, on the soil. Captain Wakefield now ordered the Wairau to be explored and surveyed, and in compliance with this mandate a small "party, including the Company's chief surveyor, started from Nelson, and succeeded in finding an overland route, and duly arrived on the plain. This unwelcome European visit was soon reported to Te Rauparaha, Rangihaeata, and Hiko, three influential chiefs, with the additional information that the visitors intended to seize the W-airau lands. Without a moment's delay the three chiefs proceeded to Nelaon, and on arrival made strong protestations to Captain Wake-1, field against the actions of/the Euro-. ■', peans. Captain Wakefield, however, told them that the country . was ■claimed by the Company, and that he should have it surveyed. , The chiefs? j seeing .-that they could make no imr pression upon Captain Wakefield, V«aid, by way of conclusion of the ar- j ' gument, that the Crown Commissioner should adjudicate upon and settle tho question, and thea took their deparOfcure frcm NelscH. Immediately after j some other Native chiefs, who were residents of "the Wairau, arrived and interviewed Ca n tain Wakefield, who thinking that his second batch of • visitors could.be more easily prevailed , upon to agree to his wishes and to. acknowledge the Company's claim to the valley, tried the persuasive art often found in a douceur by offering j one of the party, named Puaha (v/ho, j ;-Vb"y xthe way, was a Xueek, religious, individual, that generally carried a Bible about his person), I a small vessel and a^-good stock of pro- j •visions, thus giving the pious marts chance of going into business as a : pirate, should he feel so disposed, j This fishy "bait, however, did not take. ' *£he good Puaha' could not be sufficiently wrought upo*n, either by ■threats or blandishments, or by promises of great reward,.to act unfairly .to his people by agreeing to part with -the land on such "terms. Wishing to hold no further, parley, Captain "Wakefield now engaged surveyors and some forty or fifty men to go to the Wairau and peg off'tua land. It appears that for some time after tiiey commenced operations they met with less opposition than they had reason to expect, when suddenly the undaunted old chief Rauparaha arrived on the scene with a fighting force of about^one hundred strong. He' and Tiis men quickly burned the surveyors' liuts, rods and pegs, but not injuring or purloining their personal belongings, which they put into boats, at the same time" telling the surveyors and their men to go back to Nelson. As the party were returning they met the Government brig which had sailed from Nelson for the Boulder Bank with an armed force, consisting, it is estimated, of forty men, including Government officials and the New Zealand Company's agent, Captain "WakefieJd. These were accompanied "by some others'who were not armed. The survey party were soon on board ihe vessel, and after much cogitating and many conflicting opinions had been expressed, the whole company, after lan ling, proceeded to a spot jiear the Tua Marina River, where the Natives were camped. The Magistrate of Nelson, Mr Thompson, with -two or three of his party, crossed the liver in a canoe,,and called for Rauparaha, who, without hesitation, advanced and met rliem, asking at the same time on what business they hal e&ne. The Magistrate then told Rauparaha that hi was his prisoner. This .statement the ckief treated with disdain, but explained that ho injury had been done either to the smveyors or to their property; but, as might reasonably be expected, when ordered _ with voice imperious to go with the Magistrate and his men on board the ship which was then lying off the mouth !of ihe Wairau River, he . sternly refused. He, was then told that he must submit to be handcuffed. to which he replied that he dared them to attempt to handcuff him. The Magistrate, after some other ineffectual appeals, said that his armed men would fire on him and his people. Hot words still continued on both sides, and the threat that the chief and his followers would be fired upon if he still refused to become his prisoner was again repeated by the exasperated Magistrate, who then asked tor the other chief. Rangihaeata immediately rushed forward with his tomahawk, telling him in excited "tones that he had no right to come Jhere, etnd .that he (Rangihaeata) did not come to his home or interfere with him or his lands, and why should he be insulted by being told that he was to be made a prisoner? Another attempt was now made to place Raufaraha in irons, which was followed y some unpleasing gesticulations. Captain Wakefield, thinking that Mr

I Thompson was about to be killed, called upon the English to advance. The Magistrate now returned to the opposite bank of the river. By this tune some of his men had got into confusion, and while one was pushing-, ahead of another, the contents of a j musket were involuntarily discharged through a slip or fall. The fight had now commenced, and shots were falling past and thick. Two of the English were shot, and fell in,to the river. After a *few volleys the English began to retreat up the hill, while the Natives, after crossing the river, pursued them. Once an 'attempt . was made at a truce, but in consequence of some of the English not knowing what was being done, or refusing to acknowledge it, continuing to fire, this was regarded by the Natives as treachery. Some who had put aside their weapons seized them again and continued in pursuit, giving no quarter. Some attempts were made by' the English to rally and make a stand, but the men soorf separated and led like frighted sheep. . The N number of \he killed and massacred was estimated at twenty-two; five were wounded, while twenty-two escaped. A few of these, after intense suffering, reached Nelson. Most of the fugitives, however, found their way to Port Underwood. About three weeks after the massacre a proclamation was made by the Governor, part of .which is as follows: — .

"that the Native owne»s of the soil should have no reason to doubt the good faith of He"r Majesty's solemn assurance that their territorial rights should be recognised and respected. Now, therefore, I, the officer administering the Government, do hereby publicly warn all persons claiming land in this colony ? in all eases- where the claim is denied or disputed by the original Native owners, from exercising rights of ownership thereon, or otherwise prejudicing the question of title to the same until the question of ownership shall have been heard and determined by one of Her Majesty's Commissioners."

The proclamation in no way diminished the desire which the Nelson people now had to be revenged upon the Maoris, and strongly worded articles appeared in the public pr^ss. Public meetings were held, both in , Nelson and Wellington, and deputa- , tions waited upon the Governor at j Auckland with petitions urging him Ito take up arms against the Natives ! who were engaged in the massacre, who, they said, were murderers in the eyes of common sense and justice; but tne Governor, holding the scales of justice in his hands, saw that the,petitioners' side if the uestion by no means preponderated, and told them that the officials had attempted to obtain land to whicn the Company had no title, land w_hich had never been [purchased, and characterised >; the whole of their proceedings as' criinin- ; al. He said i

" It is but too clear that the event we must all deplore has arisen from several parties of surveyors without the concurrence of the local goveri^merit proceeding to take possession of and to survey a tract of land in opposition to the original Native owners, who have uniformly denied the sale. His Excellency therefore deems it proper to inform you that the New Zealand Company has hot selected any block of land in the valley of the Wairau."

But these calm judicial utterances, made by their own Government, were not sufficient to allay the settlers' thirst for revenge. They were determined upon doing something, and en.-, deavoured to raise a military force, which was not o;i}y to be independent of, but by its very existence would be antagonistic to, the Government. A highly-colour? d communication was addressed to Sir G.1 Gipos in Sydney, o;i the receipt S)f which the commander of an English warship then lying in Sydney harbour was interviewed. The vessel sailed at once for Wellington, and on arrival the captain was requested to take the necessary steps against the " Native murderers." But he refused, saying that it appeared to him that the colonists were in a state of insurrection, and not the Natives. Soon another warship arrived, being the result of a similar, petition to the Governor of Tasmania. The captain of this, however, finding tha,t ail-was peace where, according to the settlers' petition, he expected to see war, and that there was nothing which demanded his attention, he, with feelings of disgust at having been sent on a wild goose chase, quickly sailed away. The colonists, as a dernier resert, now proposed to interview the commander of a French man-of-war who was cruising about New Zealand, but this idea, was abandoned, it being about the only wise act ihey did throughout the unhappy business. After all this and very much more than we have recounted, we are not surprised at the colapse.of the N.Z. Company. . Early in 1844 the Governor, Captain Fitzroy, who had succeeded Mr Shortland, made an ,«xhaustive inquiry into the circumstances connected with the massacre. After hearing all the evidence available on the European side, he, with a large suite, visited the Natives at Waikanae, about four hundred of whom were present, as were also the two chiefs Rauparaha and Rangihaeata. The Governor, after telling them that he had heard from the English about the massacre, said that he wanted to hear what they had to say respecting that sad event. In the course of his speech the, Governor said: " When I first heard of the death of my friends at the Wairau I was very angry, and thought of hastening here with many ships of war, with many soldiers." After some further remarks, his Excellency invited Rauparaha to speak, saying "Let me hear your story." Rauparaha first gave an account of the difficulties and vexations which his own people and others had had to encounter with the N.Z. Company in the Wellington district, and then explained ."how the Nelson Magistrate, Mr Thompson, Captain Wakefield, and others with them came to take him away to the Government brig, and also how they wanted to take the Wairau land. In a long speech he said that he and Rangihaeata went to Nelson to prevent the Company from taking the land. On their return to the Wairau they saw the Government brig. They thought that the Commissioner had come to settle matters,

and expected a messenger from him; but in this they were disappointed, for, instead of a messenger from the Commissioner, they were informed that an army of English had come, and were then ' busily engaged in cleaning their guns and' fixing the -flints.- He stated that they wanted to put him in irons and take him prisoner on boaid the brig. When Rauparaha had finished speaking the Governor, after a short interval, pronounced his judgment, and said :

" Now I have heard both sides I have reflected on bo.th accounts, and I am prepared to give my judgment. " In the first place the English were wrong. They had no right to build houses upon lands to which they had nbt established their claim, upon.land the sale of which you disputed."

After some further remarks,^is Excellency explained that he would not punish them, as the English had brought the trouble upon themselves. The Secretary of State for the Colonies, in one of his despatches, said that the Nelson Magistrate, Mr Thompson, and the Company's agent, Captain Wakefield, and others had trampled upon the principles of law and justice.

The Maoris, who up to this time had had grave apprehensions that revenge might some day be taken upon them, now felt relieved. They were delighted at the Governor's decision, and being very anxious to live on terms of peace with the settlers, manifested feelings of the greatest amity towards them, but .which for more than two years after the massacre were by no means fully reciprocated. On the contrary, many of the settlers would \have been supremely happy to see^" the murderous barbarians " shot or hanged:

Having given a brief account of the massacre and of the circumstances with which it was connected, it now remains to state that the Nelson people, shortly after the sad event, actuated by feelings" of'true patriotism, subscribed a sum sufficient a raise a tasteful memorial on the spot where many of their fellow citizens fell on the fatal I7th day of June, 1843; but the fund was not applied to the purpose for which it was raised until twenty-five years had passed, and would in all probability have remained locked up for a longer period, had it not been for the generous zeal of Mr Eyes, who, when Superintendent, caused the work to be proceeded with, for in 1869. the monument was erected.

[To be concluded.]