HONE HERE'S REBELLION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19376, 10 July 1926, Page 7 (Supplement)

HONE HERE'S REBELLION.

NEW ZEALAND'S FIRST WAR. MR, LINDSAY BTJICK'S. HISTORY. To tho historical literature of New Zealand a very valuable addition ha 3 been made by Mr. T. Lindsay Buick, in his " New Zealand's First War," which has just appeared, from the Government Printing Office, under tho auspices of the Board of Maori Ethnological Research. The work bears every mark c? patient, painstaking research, of the careful sifting of lact from the mass of records, which must inevitably have been distorted iti places by prejudice and personal bias, and of a knowledge of the Maori mind whereby that double interpretation, so often necessary to the complete understanding of native utterances, has been given. - t Incidental Studies. It is, 1 however* more than a history of. the rebellion of Hone Heke, which brought tribulation to the North, so soon after the proclamation of British sovereignty was accepted by the Maori chiefs in the Treaty of Waitangi. ' The influences and atmosphere of the time are skilfully defined and every personality appearing in this tragic "little war" is vividly portrayed. Governors, military and naval commanders, missionaries, native chiefs on both sides, are all the subject of pen pictures. Their difficulties and perplexities and matters of the moment, that' helped to sway their minds and influence their decisions, are revealed with a surprising wealth of detail. At every page one feels the author's burning desire to be just. He has not hesitated to apportion blame, notably to certain officers of the forces, whose personal bravery was 110 compensation for their ridiculous under-estimation oi the capacity of the. Maori as a,fighting man, and their boyish impatience and lack of vision t which was sometimes paid for in soldiers' lives, but he endeavours to make clear the stress of the moment which might be something in their favour. Character Portraits. The book gives one a truer perspective in regard to this period of the history of the young land, and it contains much that is the key to a wider study of New Zealand colonisation. Particularly .is this so in respect of' the missionaries who filled a noble role in the drama. It is so also in regard to the Maori people. In a striking manner Mr. Buick has presented the mind in transition from savagery to civilisation. Hone Heke, the quiet student of the mission school, gradually sheds his skin-deep civilisation. -Vanity and the thirst for power, understandable in a close kinsman cf Hongi, led him step by step toward defiance of the Queen's authority. Possibly his sanity is not always certain, but that does not reduce his power over men. Because he is Heke he must' assert his personal authority to the, extent of; Jevying toll oh travellers through his lands. Official investigation of land sales is resented as soon as it applies to his own sales. The imposition of'Cus-; toms duties at Kororareka, affecting'the 1 revenue he derives from whalers, and Others in anchor fees, is more than an affront but an injury. 1 All tooreadily he listens to trouble-mongers who. liav© .everything to lose by the coming of British law. He believes or makes himself....believe, that the Treaty of Waitangi is a pietie of-trickery and finally se,es "in the flag-pole at Kororareka the symbol of all things which displease. Like a very simple savage ■he decides to cut down the offending pole. Three times he does so, the third episode culminating in the sacking 'of the town, even though he maintains an aloof attitude. Thus the war which might have led to a general uprising began. Now appears the greatest Maori personality of the campaign, Tamati Waaka Nene, the man' of honour, who it is maintained had no ulterior motive when he took the field against the forces of Heke, the Christian, and. Kawiti, the pagan. Waaka Nene was one of the chiefs who had gone : bondfor Heke's good behaviour, and, : solely 011 account of's this " scrap of paper," he gathered his forces at Hokianga and led them to Waimate to take his stand for honourable conduct. British Blundering. There was nothing, glorious about the campaign. One description of it, that it was " the most ill-conceived and badlyexecuted campaign in which a British soldier was ever concerned," may be rather sweeping. The chief matter for congratulation about it was that it was kept to small dimensions—the European force at the largest was only 1200 officers and men, and native allies, 450. But the limitation of the hostile forces to the Heke and Kawiti faction was probably more due to the loyalty of other tribes than to the British demonstration of power. There were three main actions—those of Puketutu Pa, near Okaihau, Ohaeawai Pa and Ruapekapeka Pa. Knowing nothing about the Maori science of building palisaded defences, the British commanders set out to carry them by assault. The Maori was held in contempt, and there was a sad lack of appreciation of the difficulties of maintaining transport on the tracks. The first iesson was learned at Puketutu. The small British force was without artillery, but rockets were taken by which it was fully believed the defenders wouftl be so demoralised that the storming of the works would be a simple matter. The attack failed and the pa was never taken. At Ohaeawai, guns were present, but they failed to breach the fortifications and again assault methods failed. Ruapekapeka saw the British operating with every respect for the Maori defences. Guns were laboriously taken up and from a palisaded structure, the pa was breached, but even then it was captured by surprise. It was a Sunday and the defenders fully believed that no fighting would take place on that day. . Accordingly most of the defenders withdrew to the forest to join in a religious service Heke. was holding, and a dozen pagans including Kawiti decided to go to sleep. The unusual silence discovered to the British the undefended state of the pa and they occupied it without a fight and then simply had to defend it against a counter attack. Battalions of. the 58th, 96th and 99th Regiments, which had been brought from Australia" where they had been sent in charge of convicts, the Royal Marines, the H.EJ.C. Artillery, and the Auckland Volunteers, were represented in the war, and, of course, the Royal Navy, which supplied guns.