THE GUNS OF KORORAREKA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15140, 2 November 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE GUNS OF KORORAREKA.

BT ABCHBEAOCN WALSH.

Among the numerous historic relics in the Bay of Islands, the cradle of the colonisation of New Zealand, is l an old iron ship's gun, /mounted on a rude gnn-carriage, which stands above the Russell beach. This gun is the centre of interest to the wandering tourist, and in 1 answer to his quenchless thirst for knowledge an endless number of legends are in circulation concerning the relic. By a careful collation of these legends I have arrived at the following account, whioh, though possibly not strictly authentic in" some minor details, may be considered worthy of publication.

In the early days of Australian settlement, jsome seventy years ago, in 1840, to to exact, some people in Valparaiso, understanding that there was a demand for horse;? in New South Wales, purchased i an old ship called the "Surabayo," which they filled with a cargo of mustang ponies for export to Sydney. The venture, however, did not realise the expectations of its promoters. After a long and stormy passage the vessel reached New Zealand- in. a disabled condition and put in at Russell, then known as Kororareka, In' the Hop©' of being able to refit and continue the voyage. Unfortunately the speculators, having probably spent their last dollar in fitting out the ship, were nnablo to overcome the financial difficulties involved ; the horses were sold for what they would fetch and the vessel bcached in Matauhi Bay at the back of the township and dismantled. It may bo mentioned incidentally that the mustangs, which were dispersed among the Maoris and Europeans throughout the district, formed to a great extent the foundation of the breed of hardy and useful horses for which the Bay of Islands afterwards became famous.

Under the flooring of the hold of the vessel were found two iron ship's guns, the origin and purpose of which were never accounted for.

On the panic occasioned by the cutting down of the flagstaff, which eventuated in Heke's war, the guns were mounted by a Mr. Hector, one. of the principal residents, on a small battery commanding the township, and were used against the Mstoris during the sack of Kororareka, young Nelson Hector, afterwards commodore of the P. and 0. fleet, then a boy of 14, acting as powder-monkey. On the evacuation of the place tho guns were Bpiked by the sailors of tho " Hazard" man of war, for fear they might be used by the natives against the Europeans. The guns seem to have lain for ftomo years without a claimant, when a strange use was found for one of them by a certain local resident, who with another man erected a windmill on the top of an outlying rock off the southern end of the beach, the site being chosen for tho sake of security from rats. The local resident and his partner unfortunately were not practical engineers. Tho mill was made so top-heavy that it was found necessary to support it by one of these being made fast' to one of the guns which was placed on the platform at the base of 1 the rock. After a vain attempt to get the mill to work, it was found necessary to lengthen the sails. The mill then worked rather too well, and one day, when tho weather was too unpropitious for the men to go out to the rock, a squall struck the building and swept the whole concern into tho sea. Tho gun, which was still attached to tho guy-rope, went to the bottom, where I believe it lies to the present day. The second gun lay rejected on the beach until, a few years, ago, when oil tho occasion of a Native Land Court the Maoris conceived the idea, of hauling it to the top of the hill and planting it at the foot of the historic flagstaff as a symbol that all thoughts of the war were a thing of the past. This poetical aspiration might have been realised if the Maoris had been allowed to manage things in their own way. A vigorous start was made, and to the accompaniment of much stamping and shouting, and "Ka mate, ka mate, ka ora, ka ora," the gun was dragged up to the street level, perhaps a distance of 20 yards. Hero a halt was made, and all hands sat down to a big feast that had been prepared to celebrate the occasion, and to which both Maoris and Europeans had been invited. While enjoying a comfortable feeling of repletion, a wellmeaning citizen kindly offered a team of horses to relieve the Maoris of their selfimposed labours, when, as might have been expected by anyone at all acquainted with the native character, the steam evaporated, and after a desultory speculation on the strange ways of the pakeha, the assembly dispersed without anything further being done. The gun, however, having been thus rescued . from. oblivion, became an object of interest, and a subscription was made among the residents towards tho cost of a carriage on which it could be mounted, so as to bo used for firing salute.3 on great occasions. This office it has satisfactorily performed ever since, in spite of the fact that the gun has to be fired from the muzzle with a piece of blasting fuse, as the spike inserted by the sailors of the Hazard li.y* not yet &<aen extracted, k