TE RAUPARAHA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20112, 24 November 1928, Page 1 (Supplement)

TE RAUPARAHA.

A PIONEERING EPISODE.

BY WIREMU.

In the early days of British colonisation hero by the New Zealand Land Company, what timo tho adventurous Wakefield with his vivid imagination, had foreseen tho rise of a now Dominion under the British Crown, tho character and temper of tho native Maori inhabitants were littlo understood. Tho first serious clash between the Pakelia and tlio Maori occured in tho year 1843, tho sceno being laid in a fertile valley in tho present province of Marlborough, a few miles south of Cook's Straits.

It is difficult to conceive tho profound dismay caused among the early colonists by their utter defeat at tho hands of a few savages, whoso pretensions to bo seriously considered as potential enemies had hithorto been ignored. The numbers engaged, counting both parties, probably did not exceed ono hundred individuals of whom some, among tho Maoris, were women; Tho whites numbered less than fifty, but the prominent monument to the memory of tho slain, erected on tho neighbouring hillside, remains a testimony to tho importance given to that bloody engagement since known as tho "Wairau Massacre." .

Tho quarrel arose over tho title to soma lands which the company believed it had acquired from tho lawful native owners, but which tho Maori chief, Te Rauparaha, disputed, claiming tho land as his own property, acquired by right of conquest. The' talo has been told and retold, and will live for ever in New Zealand history, but a previous incident in tho career of the redoubtable To Rauparaha, is less well known. Defeat at Kaiapohia.

It was sonio lime about tho year 1830 that To Rauparaha journeyed south with tho object of capturing tho native pa at Ivaiapohia, now Kaiapoi, which constituted then tho stronghold of the Maoris in that portion of what is now known as tho Canterbury Plain. His attack, although apparently well planned, proved abortive, and ho was compelled to retire with the loss of six of his leading chiefs. No option remained except to retreat to his fastness at Kapiti Island, and there await tho fortunes of a later and more auspicious day. His repulso had badly shattered his mana, and, once his canoes were launched, tho Kaiapoi tohungas invoked the spirits of the deep with such success that a tremendous southerly storm arose, which in its fury, capsized several of the canoes, whose occupants met with a watery grave. To avoid the total destruction of the party, an endeavour was successfully made to gain the mouth of the Wairau River, which was at that time held by the Rangitane tribe. Te Rauparaha's reception by these natives did not err on the side of cordiality, and some of the wiser heads would even have opposed his landing and driven him forth to continue the struggle against the elements, and, perhaps, complete tho diaster so ably inaugurated by the Kaiapohians. Unfoi-tunately for the Rangitane, milder measures prevailed. To Rauparaha and his Ngatitoa braves were allowed to gain the shore and recuperate their energies for further evil. Closely watched by Rangitane warriors, well armed with ready weapons to repel any treacherous assault, Te Rauparaha was well awaro of tho odds against him. Conquest by Cunning.

An absolute past-master in tho art of dissimulation, he lulled their suspicions with so much adroitness that the local chieftain was induced to seek the opinion of this notable strategist respecting the fortification of the Kowhai Pa, tho citadel of tho Rangitane. To Rauparaha was pleased to express his opinion that it was a very fino pa indeed, and well fitted to resist the assault of all-comers, provided that these latter were not armed with the famous " tupara" (two-barrel) firearms. He pointed out that the introduction of these weapons by the Pakeha had revolutionised Maori warfaro, and suggested that a riflo trench should bo dug out around tho outsido walls, and a curtain of supplejack and flax erected to repel bullets and provide a rudo shelter from tho enemy's marksmen. Moreover, to show his goodwill in return for their hospitality, his followers would gladly assist thcra in their undertaking. Had any of the Maoris then possessed tho education now afforded them, the Rangitane might havo laid to heart the ancient classical saying, "Bewaro of the Greeks when ' they bring gifts," and pausod to consider what lay behind this seemingly generous ofi'er. However, amity prevailed, and ono portion of the ground was marked off for tho local men, and tho other for tho Ngatitoas, it being pointed out that a littlo healthy rivalry would stimulato tho wariors at their task.

To Rauparaha allowed tho Rangitano to sink their ditch till only their heads showed abovo ground, when ho gavo tho pre-arranged signal for tho attack. His braves immediately sprang from their trenches, and, falling upon tho unsuspicious natives with every weapon at their command, inflicted a terriblo defeat. Fully seven hundred of the picked stalwarts of tho Rangitano wero slain, and this with little loss to the side of tho attackers. A Disastrous Sequel. This victory firmly established the supremacy of To Rauparaha on the Wairau Plain, and constituted his titlo in after years, when a quarrel aroso with tho officials of tho New Zealand Land Company over tlie ownership of land said to havo passed into the company's hands. In the engagement which then followed, a small force of Pakchas, whoso chief armament seems to havo been " the valour of ignorance," proceeded to effect tho arrest of To Rauparaha, with tho result that they wero ignominiously driven from the field; and, almost without striking a blow, they left some twenty men to lie barbarously slain after they had thrown down tho few arms in their possession.

This encounter, the "Wairau Massacre," commemorated by tho monument on an adjacent hill, was tho first great blow to tho prestige and omnipotence of tho white invaders *of New Zealand; and far and wide was spread tho story of their vulnerabilily. Indeed, it is not too much to say that To Rauparaha's defeat at Kaiapcihia lod, in the long run, to tho wasteful and expensive conflict between Pakeha and Maori, well remembered by presentday survivors of tho sixties, as tho " Maori JVar.V