A REMINISCENCE OF EARLY DAYS IN AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 9040, 19 November 1892, Page 1 (Supplement)

A REMINISCENCE OF EARLY DAYS IN A UCKLAND.

A TUSSLE WITH A MAORI, AND I

GET WORSTED. [by g. kliot kliott.]

Yes ; I did get considerably the worst of it. It happened in this way. When Captain Fitzroy was Governor—that is, in 1843 —I was living on live acres of ground between the back of the Hospital and Mount Eden. I was considered an " out-settler" in those days. The land fronted the Kyber Pass road—only there was no road then : it was rather a track through the fern and scoria. To get to office in the town—a little more than a mile distant—l took a deviating path between the Hospital and the Government Gardens and the Domain— not a made path, but simply worn through the fern and tea-tree by frequent uso. One day I got as far as Government House—the office was in Princes-street, close by—when I saw a Maori running towards me. He was a young, athletic fellow, about two or threeandtwenty. Ho had nothing on him in the way of clothing except a pair of trousers. About a hundred yards behind him I saw a straggling lot of twelve or fifteen men running after him. When tho foremost of these caught sight of me they called out " Stop him, stop him ! " but the Maori had passed me. However, impelled I suppose by those feelings which induce a young fellow to participate in fun when lie has the chance, I turned and ran after him, and soon overtook him. I knew enough Maori to make him understand me and for me to understand his reply. As we ran I said : " What's the matter?" " Oh !" he answered, " Xhe-paktha is angry." "What about?" I inquired. "1 don't know," he replied. I said no more, bub thought to myself: " Well, my gentleman, I'll find out what's the matter ; I'll run you down," Ah ! mo ; I could run in those days— do my mile in five minutes, and think nothing of it. Well, we ran side by side back through the Domain about a mile, mostly up hill. When wo got to the hill—the hospital on the right and the Government gardens on the left— the Maori was pretty well done, for he had had a good hard run up Shortland Crescent before I met him. Here he suddenly doubled on me sharp to the left down lull towards a raupo swamp of about an acre and ahalf, close to the gardens, with a little bush at the margin of it. I knew if he got into the swamp I should lose him, so I put on a spurt and overtook him just as ho was entering it. I at once jumped at him with hands and knees and knocked him down. He lay on the broad of his back, blowing like a grampus, his limbs quivering from exertion. I—oh, what a fool I was ! — stood across him, face to face, he being between my legs. He lay quite still for some minutes until he had recovered his breath to some extent, when all at once he half rose up, seized me round the legs just below my kuees, and had me on my back in a second, he sitting on the top of me. I caught him by the hair and pulled him down prone beside me. Then we began to struggle. He was a much bigger and heavier man than I; bub we were both about the same age. He had no weapon that he could injure me with, and 1 had plenty of pluck, so I stuck to him. He had hold of me by the collar of the coat, and I had hold of him by the hair and tho waistband of his. trousers, and thus we rolled over and over until we gob well into the swamp; sometimes he was uppermost, sometimes I, crushing down the raupo as we struggled. In those days men used to wear black silk neckerchiefs, passed twice round the throat and tied in front. I had one of these on. All at once he took hold of the first fold of this with his right hand, and drew it tight and then tighter. I was half choked. He now had me completely in his power. He sat on the top of me while I gripped him by the throat—l could only reach it with one hand; but what with perspiration and the wet of the swamp I could not retain my bold, while he con-

tinually gave an extra pull at the neckerchief. I thought to myself: "If those fellows behind have given up the chase I'm a gone coon. This chap will settle me, for his monkey is up." How long this lasted I can't tell. 1 musb have become almost, if nob quite, insensible; ib could not, however, have been very long. The first bhing I remember was thab I was relieved of this incubus. He must have heard the people coming up, and slipped off me further into the swamp out of sight. I lay sbill until I had recovered a little, when I got up and staggered out of the swamp. I then came upon some half-dozen of the men who had followed from town. " He's in there," I said. "If you go in you can bake him." However, they did net seem disposed to tackle him, and I did nob wonder at ib, seeing the plighb he had left me in ; my clothes torn, covered with slimy mud from head to foot, web to the skin, shivering all over, and scarcely able to stand, I was nob even a respectable scarecrow. You should have seen my hat, or what was left ot ib, after we had rolled over ib three or four times. Ib was a "pictur." I managed bo reach home after a bib—nob far off luckily— and yon may safely say that I did not go to the office that day. I thought I had done enough for the Queen for one day, and honostly earned my six shillings— was my pay. Tho next day, of course, I had bo explain to Dr. Sinclair, the Colonial Secretary, the reason of my absence. He had heard of my adventure—in fact all the town knew of ib. Like the sailor's parrot that did not talk bub thought a lot, the old doctor said nothing, but I saw he thought ib served me right for interfering in other people's business.

Now for the sequel. The fellow stayed in the swamp some time—the best part of a couple of hours. Ho then took off his trousers (so that ho was quite naked), smeared himself all over with the brownish green slime of the swamp, and came out. The news had reached the town, and a goodly number of men and boys had come out to see the fun. When he moved they could see from the edge where ho was by the motion of the raupo, though thoy could not see the Maori himself. He came out right against Smith, the chief constable. Smith, seized him by one arm, bub he was so greasy that he slipped through his grasp like an eel. The crowd followed him, bub soon gave up the chase.and he got clean away. Ho went up the Waikato, and stayed there nearly two years, till IS 15, getting his face tabooed. He thought then he could not be recognised, so ho came down to the neighbourhood of Auckland. One evening, just at dusk, he went into Mitchell's store to buy a cap, bub Mitchell recognised him and enticed him to top of the store under pretence of showing him some better ones than ho was looking at. Mitchell then jumped over the counter, locked the door, callod his storeman, and secured the Maori, who was handed ovor to the police, tried for some theft he had committed, and sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment. Sir George (then Captain) Grey had succeeded Captain Fitzroy as Governor by this time. After the Maori (I have forgotten his namo) had been in gaol some little time, he began to pine for that freedom so dear to all men— and particularly to such as he— he became really ill. Sir George Grey pardoned him, made a policeman of him, and, on the principle of " set a thief to catch a thief," a very good policeman he made. We used to meet often when he was on duty. Ho would come up to me with a laughing face, and extending his hand say : '* Tenakoe. Eriata, homai Co rinya. ringa" (How are you, Elliott, shake hands). Poor fellow, he did live very long after, for he died in the hospital of pulmonary phthisis.