THE LATE ARREST OF PAKAJRA AND EPIHA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6399, 22 May 1882, Page 5

THE LATE ARREST OF PAKAJRA AND EPIHA.

FURTHER PARTICULARS.

Tub natives Pakara and Epiha, captured on the Waipa on Friday evening, ashaving been e concerned in tho ehootiuc; case at Ohinemuri i in 1579, were brought to Auckland on Satur- j day evening by the down Waikato tram. It 1 may not bs uninteresting to recapitulate the < story of their capture :— : . , , Pakara and Epiha had been recognised 1 at the Whatiwhatihoe meeting by Mr. i Bush, R.M., but it was not deemed 1 advisable to attempt an arrest then t owing to tho number of natives present. J He subsequently informed the authorities that these natives intended to return to tho Thames, in the company of a party of natives, by way of the Waikato settlements. On Wednesday the officrr in charge of the ■ Auckland police (Sergeant-Major Pardy) j received instructions from Colonel Reader, 1 Chief Commissioner of Police, to effect their t arrest. That officer at onco placed matters , in the hands of Serceant McGovern, the c active and intelligent head of the police iu j tho Waikato district, who at once laid his i plans, in a most able manner, to carry out i those instructions. He at once collected i the whole available police forco in Waikato, and laid out a scheme for entirely j cutting off the retreat of tho outlaws ( to the Upper Thames.. It became , known that Pakara and Epiha had left Alex- t andra early on Thursday, with a party of , natives proceeding down the Waipa in four i canoes. Sergeant Sturmcr nnd Constables I Gillies and Mold, by following the river t banks, mounted, kept the party in view. It < was getting towards dusk aa the natives j passed through Whatawhata, and put up | for the night at Wireniu Paratcne's ecttle- t ment, at Karakariki. Sergeant McGovern , had at first taken up his position at Ohaupo, c in the expectation that Pakara and Epihn , would come through towards Hamilton, but i his sconts speedily acquainted him with what I was going on at Whatawhata, and he con- < ceutrated his mew there where he sketched I out to them his plan of operations, and ex- J plained his cbdo of signals. j The force at the disposal of Sergeant MeGovern consisted of Sergeants Addison and t Stnrmor, Constables Ho well, Mold, Murray, •Wild, Charleton, and Hammond. Detective n Jones, of Auckland, it was ascertained had ] gone up on business to Ohaupo, and Sergeant t McGovern telegraphed him to come down by o the train to'Ngaruawahia and join tho party, " which he did. Messrs. Quick, clerk of the " District Court, Hamilton, and F. Edge- jj cumbe, volunteered tneir services as inter- 0 pretere. Sergeant McGovern, after leaving 0 five of his men to watch the movements of t the natives at Karakariki, proceeded to B Ngaruawahia with the balance of his force, c where he learnt the offenders, with some 30 t friends, were coming down the Waip.i in J canoes, calling at native settlements. At 5.30 on Thursday morning a messenger J arrived from the party who wero stationed j at the settlement with the followiug messaKe:—"Pakara is at William Barton's * place. No sign of a move yet. They are preparing for breakfast. Quick and Charle- t ton, who are at Moore's (half-caste) whare, 1 have told him that they are looking for Clot- c worthy." J At a little after noon, the constables ' watching Karakariki came on to Ngarua- j wahia, leaving one as scout to report progress. ■•■ Sergeant McGovern, with his men, waited patiently at Ngaruawahia for the , arrival of the native party, but finding that , he could no longer keep matters-secret, l owing to the number of Maoris visiting Nga- i ruawahia, found' it absolutely necessary to i take the initiative, otherwise the offenders ] would have received information, and turned ' back to the King country. To prevent-this, ' Sergeant McGovern at once chartered the steamer Delta to proceed up the Waipa to t effect the capture of Pakara and Epiha before , any information could be conveyed to , Iu this ho acted wisely, as one j of .his scouts found a Maori riding poet ] haste to convey tidings to the native settle- j ment that the police were Waiting at Nga- i ruawahia. The scbut prevented this little ' move, and turned the native back. Some ; natives had come into Ngaruawahia from the \ Bluenose uettlement for provisions, and these j were prevented from returning. The natives at the native settlement finding that their comrades, who had left in the morning for i food.'did not return, started in their canoea : with the intention of reaching Ngaruawahia , . ■ Sergeant McGovern took with him in tho steamer eighteen, men, all told, including civilians and police. More volunteers could ' have been obtained, but it was not deemed ; desirable to increase the number, and in a brief space of tiire the steamer had steam up and proceeded up the Waipa. , When about four miles up, Constables Gillies, Wild, and Howell signalled from : the river bank to Sergeant McGovern on the steamer, that a canoe containing the men ' wanted was approaching down the river. On seeing the canoe, Sergeant McGovern, who had his men concealed out of sight, himself, ; the captain, and fireman being alone visible," directed them to get into the boat towing astern. They were accompanied by Messrs. Quick and Edgecumbe, interpreters, the whole party being well armed, the orders being that no arrest was to be made till a signal was given by the leader. As the canoe approached the captain of the steamer so neered as to jam the canoe into the Ngaruawahia side of the river. The boat was towed alongside, when the interpreters informed the natives that a robbery had taken place at Alexandra, and it was necessary the canoes should be searched. The natives, who, including men, women, and children, numbered from thirty to forty, were very indignant at the accusation, and consented to land to be searched, save Pakara, but in the end all were compelled to do so. As soon as the force also were fairly ashore Sergeant McGovern gave the preconcerted signal; and Constables Gillies, Howell, and Sergeant Stunner advanced and arrested Pakara, followed almost simultaneous ly by their comrades. The struggle took place on a ; steep bank, and Pakara made desperate efforts to throw himself down the face of it into the river, and the rough and tumble scrimmage that ensued, aa one of : the constables remarked, resembled, in football parlance, "a maul in goal," which only ended on the river'a brink, where, had the struggle continued, there must have been loss of life. The surrounding natives, women, and children, did thoir best to effect a rescue, but Pakara was promptly handcuffed, and oonveyed on board. His wife clung to him, and could not be separated from him till the party reached is In the meantime Epiha made for the canoe, but was secured by Sergeant McGovern with "little trouble, and , who found that he answered the description furnished. Both men were informed by Mr. Quick of the offence with which they were charged, and , for which they were arrested. PaUnra, on being arrested, let out an unearthly yell of terror. It was fortunate the natives had no firearms, otherwise there would probably have been loss of life. Just as the whole party, with their prisoners, had get on board, the other three canoes, filled with natives, came in sight. The steamer started at onco down the Waipa, without giving them a chance of interfering, and at the junction of tin. Waipa and Waikato steamed up the latter for Hamilton. The precaution was a necessary one, for had he stopped at Ni»aruawahia there is no doubt the large number of natives about would have endeavoured to effect a rescue, and as they outnumbered the Europeans by 10 to 1, would possibly have accomplished their object. Tho whole affair reflects the greatest credit on the police authorities, and especially upon Sergeant McGovern, who was charged with the detailed execution of tho orders forwarded. The capture was effected without a resort to violence, beyond the " rough and tumble " struggle in effecting the arrest, and no blood was shed. About tho only casualty was to Detective Jones, who got some nasty bruises on the legs and shina in the "maul in goal." It is ;i curious coincidence, that being Mr. Sheuhan's orderly, and one of the party which went up the Thames river under Superintendent Thomson to capture Pakara and Epiha in 1879, he should now have been privileged to be "in at the death." The force, police and civilians, was animated with an excellent spirit, all the men heartily co-operating with each other for the one common object, and giving implicit obedience to their leader. The ".natives who witnessed the arrest of the offenders immediately despatched a messenger to the King country to Tawhiao, to acquaint him with what had taken placo, but his views on the matter are not yet known. Sergeant McGovern gave out that he was going to take hie prisoners to the Thames for trial, via Te Aroha, and this ruse drew off a number of the natives to Cambridge and other settlements in that direction, where they had an idea of intercepting the escort and their charge. At.every station on the Waikato railway between Ngaruawahia and Mercer large numbers of natives assembled in a belief that Pakara and Epiha would be brongbt down by the momii"?

train, :but.;tbie..coritingenoy. had; also .'been provided for, as they were brought down, by the late goods train, arriving in Auckland about 9 o'clock on Saturday evening in custody of Constable Murray and Deteotivo Jones, Sergeant McGovern being in charge. Pakara and Epiha have been very sullen since their arrest, and partook of no refreshment, save a little tea, till they arrived at Auckland. Pakara's wife was separated from her husband at Ngaruawahia, and the cireumstances of the case explained to her by Mr. Edgcumbe. The offenders will be brought up at the Police Court this morning in the ordinary way, but whether they will be tried hero or remanded to tho Thames will depend upon instructions from the authorities at Wellington.