IN QUEST OF ROA

Marlborough Express, Volume L, Issue 87, 12 April 1916, Page 7

IN QUEST OF ROA

STORY OF THE EXPEDITION

IWITH THE FORCE ON MARCH

INCIDENTS BY THE WAY

The New Zealand Herald reporter who accompanied the expedition to the Urewera in ques.t of Rua tolls the. following story of the journey up to the tinvs of the arrival at the "prophetV headquarters: — THE JWJRNEr TO THE EDGE OF THE BUSH.

The main body assembled at Kotorua on Wednesday evening, March It , and loft there at eight o'clock the next morning in six brakes, whilst two baggage waggons conveyed the arms, ammunition, equipment, and stores. T».«* Cot- ...issiouer, accompanied by the surgeon ;<nd quartermaster, went on iihead by motor-car. A distance ot 42 miles was covered on the lhursciay, the night being spent at Munpara, or, as it used to be called, Galatea. From now onward the members of the force haJ to pi.t up with a new standard ot living the first change being the necessity of sleeping on straw or out jn the open. Also, it was to be days before any man in the party was to enjoy the'luxury of taking oft his clothes. Leaving Munpara on the Friday morning, a drive of 32 miles fomid the expedition at the terminus of the vehicular road at Ruatahiina, and into the earlier stages of their iournev through the Urewera Country For the greater part of Friday the way lay through dense and ever denser bush", still m its primeval state, and very beautiful. . All ports of weird stories were told the pa.rty by Maoris and settlers on this second day's drive. At Te Whaiti, where a si\ay was made for luncheon, natives declared'that Rua was preparing a feast of welcome. One Maori solemnly "predicted that the "prophet ■would riso to Heaven if an attempt were made to arrest him. A native ■roadman further on, with less, belief in R usi's supernatural powers, and an evident lack of love for the man himself said, when asked where Rua was, "I don't know, hut I've got a slashhook ready for him. He no good. At Ruatainma that night the men encamped in a, paddock after tea, and having sung a fesv choruses in which one favorite stanza was, "We're here, because we're here," all turned in. and slept. MARGH IN THE HEART OF THE

ISLAND.

From Ruatahuna onwards the store, keeper's fox terrier Toby accompanied the force-all the way. He was welcomed as a mascotte and fared right rovr.lly. The route from hero to llua. s pa, ivt Maungapohatu, was practically all' through mountain rind bush for qint", 25 miles. It entailed a two days' march for all save the leaders and mounted constables, over a rough, stei-i, and often dangerous track. Tw-'tv. pack-horses were loaded with the equipment from the' baggage waggon-., and the pace of the expedition way adjusted to that of these beasts of bur ;on. Before leaving Ruatahuna, an. I with it the last signs" of civilisation, the entire- force, by orders, Vioiriod uniform, and each man ve■ceivvl arms and ammunition. There weir- 20 men with ! army experience, and these , were furnished with carbin «js and 20 rounds of ammunition, iind the ■remainder of the men received service revolvers, with 24 rounds of cartridges each. Ihe going was fairly easy for the first: eight miles or so to Rua's pa, Wai-iti~ .v.hicll: was found to be deserted, but for an old Maori cauple •who waved greetings. On rising ground all the way afterwards dense »ush was entered. It was a strange sight indeed to see there, in the heart, of the bush, itself in the very heart of the North Island, that long line of uniformed men ; trudging along carrying their arms and their military kits in She broiling heat. It may be said here that tho entire journey was •accomplished in hot sunny weather. This was just as well, for had it rained the jfcrack would have been, impassable in 'many .places. It wound round the rang: in and out of the bush, and in sever <1 spots traversed precipitous corners. Once a pack-horse slipped and rolled down the incline below the track for 50ft. with the R-ed Cross }af!-j\<?es on its back. It sustained no lurt, "hovever. and returned to the track unaided. The same fate overtook another horse later in the day, ■but its fall was only a few feet.

THE CAMP IN THE BED OF A CREEK.

I. had been decided to camp in the bus-h on ''he Saturday night at a spot I<tinvn to the guide 14 miles from .l?mt»huna. The last two and a-half j.nPos proved especially rough going, ;rid the party, eventually arrived at the camping ground weary and soref<»»»l<*d, but nevertheless in the best of spirits. Though- most of them were usivl only ..to-the city pavements, and j?omv to the sedentary life of the office or the watch-house, and consequently felt ihe strain of the march very much, none complained.^ Tho scene at this camping place was as :,nimated as it was strange. Whilst n section of the men lit fires and placd dixies full of water on the honks to boil, others * sought a swim. I Tii" ••'te of the camp was in the bed of a shallow creek, with tall bush towering: far overhead all around. Those who would swim found they could jmt the water being only ankle deep at th.^ best. Nob to be beaten, however. son\e of tho men lay full length 311 the stream, and let the flowing waters lave tlfeir tired bodies. Lunch had consisted of a hard biscuit or two nibble I <>n the march, and it was, there 'ore, with a zest of appetite that all hinds lell upon the bi-ead, butter, bully beef, and jam, now served out. And afterwards much was said in prais? of'«he-quartermaster. Tents were pitched, but most of tho party preferred to sleep lhat night on bracken beneath the trees. With daylight till were up again performing their toilets in the creek—shaving onh' having tn be neglected.

A SUNDAY WHICH ENDED IN

TRAGEDY

An oarly start was made from tho bush c-innp on the Sunday morning upon M-hat proved to be the most stronrous i-tnge of the journey. It wr.". ' only nine miles—some kind officer had assured the men beforehand it was only five and a-half miles—but it was neai Iv all on the up-^rnde by the mountainous track. Tho men, however, toiled on through n-rooks and jnud-holos, and up steep slopes uncomplainingly, and found <time to admire and express their admiration of tho. magnificent secnory through which they were passing. y Tlipro is no more luxuriant bush in the Dominion than that of the Urewera Country traversed by the expedition on these two days. Every now and then the party would come out of tho inner recesses of the forest on io lodges commanding a panoramic view of the great open % nlos and valleys. As iixr as zhe eye could reach in all directions, for miles around, tho jbugo faces of I lie r:\rxje wcro tliicklv

clad with the most beautiful bush, running from the lower valleys up inta the sky lor thousands of feet. in many pln-es Rua and his followers had cleared these open vales, establishing pas in some or the. flattest, and putting the others down in grass. me latter was in luxuriant growih,. showing what valuable iand there is m the millions of acres tied up, and in Maori luimus, in this Urewera Country. The timber, also, must be of enormous value, whilst in humorous directions there'are'open spaces largo enough to buiid towns upon. Such thoughts came to many m the expedition on tlv-vt Sunday, which began so. peacefully, but was to end so tragically. MEN REALISE GRTMNESS OF ERRAND.

Towards mid-day on that eventful Sunday the force "finally loft the iia-mts of the tui and t.ho, boll-bird and the friendly fan tail, and came to tho ridge from which -ould he seen, across the broad valloy three miles away, Una's stronghold, in its backing of bush and stern, forbidding cliffs. Something of the grimncss of their errand came to the members of the party then, and this was accentuated when, half-way to the prophet's pa the order was passed along the lines to halt and load weapons. This done, the march to the outlaw's bush citadel was carried out with quiet determination, though afterwards the boldest confessed that the danger of an ambush was an ever-present obsession of their brains. At almost any point on this final mile and a-h'alf of the inarch an attack upon the advancing column could have been carried out greatly • to-the disadvantage of Hie police force. Not a man but realised it, but—despite the uncanny i'eeliag which that realisation aroused —each went forward unfalteringly till the goal was reached. What happened there has been told.