NARRATIVE

New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, Volume IV, Issue 329, 2 March 1844, Page 2

NARRATIVE

Of the proceedings at a meeting at Waikanae, a considerable body of natives (inclu. ding the chiefs Rauparaha and Rangihaeata) being present : — '

On Monday, the 12th February, 1844, his Excellency Governor Fitzroy, accompanied by Sir Eyerard Home captain of H.M.S. North Star, Major Richmond, Mr. Commissioner Spain, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Forsaith, and several officers belonging to H.M.S. North Star, landed at Waikanae. His Excellency and suite were received on shore by the Rev. Octavius Hadfield, Messrs. Syrnonds, Q. Clarke, and a large body of natives, who to the number of three hundred and upwards, soon assembled in a large open enclosure within the pah, His Excellency commenced by reading the following address :—: —

I salute you chiefs and elder men : I wish you health, may peace be among you, I am glad to see you. I rejoice to meet you here ; I have much to say to you, many important things. I have heard of all that has been done, some things good, but some very bad. When I see your Church the work of your own hands, and when I hear from your true friend Mr.' Hadfleld, what progress you have made in Christian knowledge I rejoice greatly, but when I hear of the evil that has been done by some of you, I can hardly believe it can have been done by any of the same people, so bad it is in my sight. I have heard of all that has happened at the Wairau, according to the Europeans account, and it has grieved my heart exceedingly. I now ask you to tell me your story, that I may compare the two and judge fairly; when I have heard your account of that dark day I will reflect, and then tell you what I shall do.

The bad news I have heard about killing the white men so cruelly at the Wairau, after they had ceased fighting and had trusted to your honor, has made my heart very dark, has filled my mind with gloom. Tell me your story, that I may compare it with the other, and know the whole truth.

When I first heard of the death of my friends, of the Englishmen who fell at Wairau, I was very angry and thought of hastening here with many ships of war, with many many soldiers, and several firemoved ships (stedjners.) Had I done so your warriors would have been killed, ytfur canoes would have been taken and burnt, your houses and pahs would have been destroyed, for I should have brought with me an irresistible force.

But these were hasty, angry, unchristian thoughts. They soon passed away, I considered the whole case. I saw that the English, even by their own account, were very much to blame, and I saw how much you had been provoked. Then I determine 1 to put away my anger, and come to you peaceably. Let me now hear your story. Mr. Clake Interpreted the foregoing address.

Rauparaiia then rose, and several voices from among the crowd of his countrymen, requested him to speak out that they might all hear. He said —

" There was no evil intended in the commencement of this affray. Land is the foundation of all our troubles ; the Europeans say that it is theirs, but who says so besides themselves. The Tory came to Port Nicholson, and that was the commencement of the evil. We heard of the sale of that place by Warepori and Puni ; Warepori was smoking his tobacco and wearing his blankets alone : we never agreed to it, payment was made but we never received it. Thus grew the seeds of evil ; who authorised Warepori to receive his payment ? Who authorised him to do it privately ? why did he not call the people together and pay them all f

" The Tory anchored off Kapiti. Colonel Wakefield wanted to buy all the land." (Here Rauparaha mentioned the names of several places.) " But all which I sold was Blind Bay and Massacre Bay : I and Tungia sold those places, and Warepori and Puni sold Port Nicholson. The land which I sold to Colonel Wakefield I sold myself; I did not coHsult any body. Colonel Wakefield then went to Taranaki, and, when he returned, he laid claim to all the land: nothing was said concerning Wairau until now he claims it.

" There was no adequate payment made, all I received was " — (here he commenced enumerating articles, but was told that he need not go into these details.) Rauparaha con*

tinueJ— " I wish to enumerate these, because Colonel Wakefield says ' the Maories are holding back the land which I have paid for. 1 Porirua also is claimed by Colonel Wakefield, but Rangihaeata will never consent to sell it. Now I come to Wairau. " Wairau was taken away by Thompson and Wakefield (meaning Captain Wakefield.) When we heard they were surveying the land we went to Nelson to forbid their doing so ; we went to Captain Wakefield's house, he laid ' I must have Wairau ;' I said 'no ;' he replied • I must have it ;' I answered ' no, you shall not have it ;' he said 'if you do not give it up, you shall be tied up in this manner.' (Here Rauparaha, to explain his meaning of the threat held out by Captain Wakefield, put his hands in the position of a person handcuffed.) Rangihaeata said ' I will not give up Wairau, neither will I be taken prisoner by you.' "Captain Wakefield then said, 'we will shoot you ;' I answered, • well, what matter if you do, we shall lose our lives, but Wairau shall not betaken.' " After this interview at Nelson, Captain Wakefield sent over some more surveyors, amongst whom was Mr. Cotterell. We heard that the survey of Wairau was nearly finished ; Puaha went to tell them to desist, but they would not ; Puaha returned to Porirua and told us so. "We then arose ; the chiefs and old men went on board a schooner, and the young men in canoes to Cloudy Bay. We staid at 'Te Awaiti' (Queen Charlotte's Sound) some time, and then went to Wairau ; we pulled up until we saw Mr. Cotterell, we then brought all their goods &c, down to the mouth °ol the river ; our slaves and the Europeans were engaged in moving the things ; then we pulled up to the wood, and saw Mr. Barnicoat; told him we had come to fetch him, he had no boat, so we took him and his things on board my canoe, and conveyed him to the mouth of the river, having burnt the huts which they had erected ; the Europeans then left Wairau for Cloudy Bay, thence to Nelson ; we were up the river planting; after this Mr. Tuckett arrived with some people to survey, I went to him and said, ' Come, Mr. Tuckett, you must go ;' he said « I musl survey the land;' I replied 'No, you shall not,' and brought him down to the mouth oi the river ; I asked Mr. Barnicoat to remain with me till the boat came for him ; the boal with Mr. Tuckett had gone to Nelson. "We continued our planting, till one morning we saw the Victoria (Governmenl brig) ; then were our hearts relieved, for we imagined that Mr. Spain and Mr. Clarke were come to settle the question of our lands ; being scattered about at different places on the river, we took no further notice, expecting a messenger to arrive from Mr. Spain and Mr. Clarke; but a messenger came up to say that it was an army of ' pakehas,' and, that they wire busily engaged in cleaning their arras and fixing the flints of their guns, they wet Puaha and detained him prisoner, they said where ar.e Rauparaha and Rangihaeata. Puaha said up the river. They answered let us go.' Puaha was glad to hear them say this, as he was afraid they would kill him, He afterwards watched his opportunity and ran away and came to us. A messenger had before come to tell me that Puaha and Rangihaeata had been caught by the Europeans. Afterwards Rangihaeata and Puaha arrived and we consulted what we should do. I proposed going into the bush, but they said * No let us remain where we are, what have we done that we should be thus beset.' The Europeaus slept some distance from us, and after they had breakfasted came on towards Us in two boats. We remained on the same spot without food, we were much alarmed. Early in the morning we were on tne look out, and one of our scouts who caught sight of them coming round a point, called out " Here they come," " Here they come, ' our women had kindled a fire and cooked a few potatoes that we had remaining, and we were hastily eating them when they came in sight. Cotterel called out where is [uaha? pp U aha answered here I am, come Jwe to me. They said again where is Puaha. i-uaha again saluted them. Cotterel then "aid, where is a canoe for us to cross 1 (RauPeraha here described the manner of their siting down some on one <side some on the °«er.) Thompson, Wakefield, and some other gentlemen crossed over with a constable o take me, but the greater number stopped on the other side of the creek. Thompson m where is Rauperaha ? I answered 'here,' ra f™ ' C01 »e you must come with me.' I ?S • \ Where *' He said 'On board tZJft. 1 re P lied * What *W V Ha anbS7 otalk about the houses yoafcave Ibl s°?' * 6aid ' What hous « «■ ** burned down?' was it a tent belonging to krL I yy ° U make so much a.\about f You raZ. a not ; h was nothin a but a *»«" °t ground * materials were cut lorn my own ****, therefore I will not gl on board,

neither will I be boun J, if you are angry jabou* the land let us talk it quietly over, I cafe no fc if we talk till night and all day to-morrow » and when we have finished I will settle the question about the land.' Mr. Thompson said 1 Will you not go ? I said ' No,' and Rangihasata who had been called for and who bad been speaking said so too. Mr. Thompson thea called for the handcuffs and held up the warrant saying * See this is the Queen's book this is the Queen to make a tie Rauparaha.' I said ' I will not listen either to you or to your book. 1 He was in a great passion ; his eyes rolled about and he stamped his foot. I said I had rather be killed than submit to be, bound. He then called for the constable who began opening the handcuffs and to advance towards me, Mr. Thompson laid hold of my hand, I pushed him away saying ' What are you doing that for?' Mr. Thompson then called out ( Fire,' he called out once and then Thompson and Wakedeld called together ' Fire. 1 (On being asked which of the gentlemen it was who gave the command to ' Fire,' Rauparaha answered Thompson gave the word of command but Wakefield recommended him to do so.) The Europeans began to cross over the creek, and as they were crossing they fired one gun, the women and children were sitting round the fire ; we called out 'we shall be shot.' After this one gun they fired a volley and one of us was killed, then another, and three were wounded, we were then closing fast, the pakeha's guns were levelled at us, (here he described by comparison the distance between the contending parties.) I and Puaha cried out * Friends stand up and shoot some of them in payment.' We were frightened because they were very close. We then fired, three of the Europeans fell. They fired again and killed * Rongo,'. the wife of Rangihaeata. We then bent all our energy to the ffght, and the Europeans began to fly. They all ran away firing as they retreated the gentlemen ran too. We pursued them and killed them as we overtook them, Captain Wakefield and Mr. Thompson were brought by the slaves who caught them to me ; Rangihaeata came running to me crying out ' What areyou doing, your daughter is dead? What are you doing I say ? Upon which some heathen slaves killed them, (Reuparaha here particularly mentioned that those who killed the prisoners were to use his own literal expression • devils ' not missionaries meaning heathen" natives,) at the instigation of Rangihaeata ; neither Puaha nor the Christian natives being then present. " There was no time elapsed between the fight and the slaughter of the prisoners. When the prisoners were killed the rest of the people were still engaged in the pursuit, and before they returned they were all dead. I forgot to say that during the pursuit, when we arrived at the top of the hill, Mr. Cotterell held up a flag and said • that is enough, stop fighting.' Mr. Thompson said to me ' Rauparaha spare my life ! ' I answered • a little while ago I wished to talk with you in a friendly manner and you would not, now you say save me, I will not save you.' " Rauparaha continued — " It is not our custom in war to save the chiefs of our enemies. We do not consider our victory complete unless we kill the chiefs of our opponents. Our passions were much excited, and we could, not help killing the chiefs." Rauparaha then sat down. His Excellency the Governor said I thank you for the relation yon have given mi. I shall now carefully consider the whole matter, and give my decision in a short time. After" a silence of about half an hour, his Excellency rose and addressed the natives as fallows : — Now I have heard both sides ; I have reflected on both accounts and I am prepared to give my decision. I, the representative of the Queen of England, the Governor of New Zealand, have made my decision, and it is this. Hearken chiefs and elder men to my decision. In the first place the English were wrong ; they had no right to build houses upon land to which they had not established their claim, upon land the sale of which you disputed and on which Mr. Spain had not decided. They were wrong in trying to apprehend you who had committed no crime. They were wrong in marking and measuring your land in opposition to your repeated refusal to allow them to do so, until the Commissioner had decided on their claim. Had you been Englishmen, you would have known it was very wrong to resist a magistrate, but not understanding English law, your case was different. Had this been all, had a straggle (Jaused the loss of Jife io the fight, wrong and b«s aY it would have been in the sight of Q%&, I could not have blamed you .so mucti r as the Englishmen. ' ' ; •■ The very bad part of the Wairau affair, tba* part where you were so very wrong, was 'kill-' ing unarmed men whp had surrendered— who J i

trusted to your honor as chiefs. Englishmen never kill their prisoners ; Englishmen never kill men who have surrendered. It is the shocking death of these unfortunate men that has filled my mind with gloom, that has made my heart so dark, that has filled me with sorrow. But I know how difficult it is to restrain angry men when their passions are roused. I know that you repent of your conduct, and are now sorry that those men were killed; and my decision is that, as the Englishmen were very greatly to blame, and as they brought "on and began the fight, and as you were hurried into crime by their misconduct, I will not avenge their deaths. '

In fufure let us dwell peaceably without distrust. I have told you my decision, and ray word is sacred.

I will punish the Euglish if they attempt to do what is unjust or wrong ; you chiefs must help me to prevent the natives from doing any wrong, so that we may live happily in peace — helping and doing good to one another — no man injuring or encroaching on his neighbour, but buying and selling freely as each may desire, with the consent of the other, but not unwillingly; by such means we shall receive mutual advantages. The natives mv t not interfere with Englishmen who have settled on land fairly purchased ; the English shall not encroach upon land which the natives have not fairly sold. No pah, nor cultivation, nor burial ground shall be encroached upon or touched by any Englishmen, except by the general desire of the natives to whom it belongs ; where there is any mistake or doubt about boundaries of purchase, appeal must be made to law. The law will see justice done, and I will be responsible for its execution, by . properly qualified persons.

Recommending you to the advice of your true friends the Missionaries, the Protectors, and the Officers of the Government. I now bid you farewell, and wish you all health and the blessing of God. Mr. Forsaith interpreted. His Excellency then introduced Major Richmond to the assemblage, and thrpugh -the interpretation of Mr. Clarke said— " Friends, this is the Superintendant of the Southern District, he will act in all cases ray absence in the same manner as I .-should act myself ; and I wish you to look to : him for advice and protection, and he will also give you any information you may wish to obtain on subjects connected with your welfare." Mr. Commissioner Spain was -then introduced by his Excellency, who said — " You may place implicit confidence in the fairness and impartiality with which Mr. Spain will investigate asserted claims to land, and decide upon the nature of alleged purchases. He will also have authority to enquire into cases where it may be necessary, to make arrangements for a further payment as compensation, where it is fairly due." His Excellency and the gentlemen with him then rose and left the meeting, bade farewell to Mr. Hadfield, aud returned on board the North Star.