CORONER'S INQUEST.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 240, 17 November 1847, Page 3

CORONER'S INQUEST.

An Inquest was held on Monday last, at the Caledonian Hotel, before J. Johnson, Esq., M. D., Coroner, on the bodies of Lieutenant Robert Snow, Hannah Snow, his wife r and Mary Snow, his infant daughter, found on Saturday morning last, buried beneath the burnt ruins of their house on the north shore. The first witness called-was, , ~ . - ? Duder, who stated, tha^ he was signal man at the Signal' Station, on Mount Victoria, which was near the house of the deceased ; knew the deceased, Lieutenant Snow ; had seen the body, and was able to identify it: some time ago the deceased had a quarrel with natives about some raupo ; did not know what tribe they belonged to t but they were the owners of the Lucidan schooner, and had come over to cut raupo ; deceased had taken some of that which they had cut to his own house, and they traced, and found it there ; deceased refused to give it back, and they had threatened to burn his house ; that occurrence took place eighteen months, or two years ago. Benjamin Baker stated that be was quartermaster of H.M.S. Dido ; it was his middle watch on Saturday morning last ; after going on his watch, he observed a small schooner working up the river ; about one o'clock he saw a light like that of a candle or lantern in the direction of deceased's house; shortly afterwards flames were seen to ascend, and the officer of the watch reported a bouse on fire on shore ; a boat was lowered aud roannrd immediately, and rowed to the shore ; just as she rounded the point to enter the bay, witness saw two canoes put off, which separated from each other, one of fhem going across, and the other down the river ; it was moon* light, and he saw the canoes distinctly with a glass : they separated as soon as they were out of the mouth of the bay , he thought that one of them rounded the north head, arid the other went right across the river ; could not distinguish the number of people that were in them ; they were nearly 400 yards from the ship ; the schooner that he saw tacked near the ship, and worked up towards the town ; saw no boat near her, nor leaving her ; the canoes -did not approach her, and he saw her coming to anchor near the town : he heaid no noise, nor sound of voices, until after the people from his ship had arrived on shore. - ' Frederick William Gougb, stated that he Was a lieutenant of H.M.S. Dido\ he was on watch on Saturday morning ; between one and two o'clock, the midshipman of the watch reported a house on fire ; witness got upou the gangway ladder, and observing the direction of the fire, knew it to be Lieutenant Snow's house ; be then reported the circumstance to Captain Maxwell, who ordered him to man the cutter immediately, and do. everything in his power to extinguish the flames; be left the ship with the- greatest possible,, speed, and on landing went up to the house with the men; found, the house burnt down, and no one there ; gave directions for water to be' brought from the beach, and the men assisted him in extinguishing the flames ; witness taking with him Mr. Peacock, and two men, ran to the farm house inhabited by Mr. Oliver, and knocked at the door, and enquired if Mr. Snow was there ; Mr. OH vet answered, "TJjis^is not his house,;" witness fepligd* " I am aware of it— but don't you know that hit house is burned down ;" Oliver expressed astonishment, (add came out dressed ; witness then ordered Mr. Peacock to proceed up to the signal post, and ascertain whether Mr. 1 Snow was there ; he returned within five ©t six minutes, accompanied by the signal man and Oliver, and reported that Mr, Snow was not to be found anywhere ; witness then toquired what part of the building the family was in, and on it being pointed out, he conn m'enced throwing water en that part *» fast a» it could be got from the beach, end with the assistance of a spade found about tke house, his party soon discovered the bedy~»f c male, then that of • child, and then « feroalt, all lying very near each otfctr ; the male wae lying on his face, tbeut a yard and «r half from "the others ; there was • portion of « blanket and a pillow turned «p, the feather* in the ' latter were some of theni untouched by the fire ; the place where they were digging with the spade, was two or thret yards from thai where the bodies were found ; the layers of ashes were carefully taken from off the bodies; he was perfectly certain that {he spade was not driven .down with any, force in the. direction, of. th« bodies; observed in addition-to tht

bodies being much burned, one of the leg* of the male broken, and one of the female's leg* was off; did not find the missjngleg,; he then had the bodies removed to a distance from the fire : he did not see any canoes leave the beach ; gave the bodies, in charge to a midshipman an"3 jtwd. men, and returned to the boat ; when leaving the beach, saw two canoes at anchor in the bay ; when he went on board he reported to the Captain, who ordered him to go on shore with an armed .party,-, and .bring all tbt natives that he .could find, on board ; twenty or twenty-four men, women, * and children, were secured and brought on board the ship ; not more than twenty minutes elapsed from the time that the alarm was given until he arrived at the house ; he saw the roof falling in about two "minutes after he left the ship. ftenry Peacock stated that he was a naval cadet belonging to. H. M.S. Ditto; it was hit watcVbn the morning of Saturday, ;,the 23rd instant ; accompanied Mr. Gough on-, shore to the burning house ; was acquainted with Lieutenant Snow : hall seen a fowling piece and bayonet with him ; deceased bad tqld witness that natives had once threatened to burn his ' bouse^ because he would not allow them to kindle a fire near the powder, magazine ; deceased had a bayonet - fixed on .a stick, with which he turned the natives- away, and he showed to them a gun; deceased had not told witness what natives they were whphad threatened him ; he expressed no fear of them, but laughed ; the gun wbjch,belonged to deceased was ax fowling piece, witness got it from him en the Saturday previous to clean, and drew a charge of swan shot from it ; $ook the piece, on board and had it cleaned for him, and delivered it up to the police that morning. William Oliver stated that he resided on the North shore about a quarter of a mile from deceased's house — saw him on the day previous to the fire ; did not see him again until he saw his body taken from the ruins of the house ; he, went to the house when aroused by Mr. Gough:, heard no noise on that night, nor had seen any natives about,; deceased had once told witness that he had some quarrel with the natives eighteen months or two years ago; but had never mentioned anything about natives coming to born his house; witness was awake when Mr. Gough came to the door, and had been awake for twenty minutes previous, but heard nothing before that time ; heard no dog* bark j had been jn the habit of rising at night to chaae awayvdecea~ sed'a :dog Iron worrying the cows ; witness generally retired ' fo bed between 8 and 9 o' clock ; on tkat aight he had not been disturbed by the dog*; they might have been pacified. by natives; he could hear loud voice* or dogs bark on a still night, at the distance of deceased's bouse ; he did not see the dog on the premises when he went with Mr. Gough ; the dress he had oa oa the night of the fire, was the same as that now produced ; the shirt bad not beeo washed since. William Wajrburteo is clerk ©■ board the Did&t the deceased had informed him that be had ha J a quarrel witli the natives in preventing them from lighting a fire hear the powder magasine $ witness asked him was he not afraid ; deceased said he was not, for since he had kicked them oo * °f tD * garden, they had treated him with great respect ; while the boat from the ship, was going towards the shore, during the time, the house was on fire, witness saw jwo canoes on the water, but did not talc* any. particular notice of them; he .saw two persons io one of the canoes ; he expressed his surprise at the time, that they Jutd, not curiosity enough to come and se.e. what was the mattery 4fae canoe* were bos . far from the house whea he observed them. George Brombeck was coxswain of the boat that went ok shore ; he saw, a canoe paddling *w*y towards the other side of the river, with: two -me» in her ; she was to the eastward of the, boat about 200 yards off; did not report her, as be bad no suspicion of anything wrong ; saw no canoe but the one. James Harp,, slated that he knew the deceased, and saw him at Mr^GrabameY sto.ro oa Monday, fortnight; witness said to the deceased, who had been for some days' in the town, that perhaps the, pigs had taken, possession of bis premises i deceased hoped* that nothing else had taken 'possession, for it was only the other d»y. that a native came into, hi* house and took a loaf of bread off his table, v^fhea deceased scuffled with him, : and took (as witness thought lie said) a pistol, drov* aim out* and kicked him from bis door ; deceased said that lihe, native turned about when be got a oboe* way off r shook his fist, and laid .he would make the pakatu taihoa-r(k* would be revenged by and bye.) WiHiam Bankes Fegan stated, that be was .acting surgeon of H. M.S. Ditto.* was requested by the Coroner on Saturday last, to inspect three bodies lying near the late residence of Lieut.' Snow ; on examining- the head and neck of the male, he perceived to or three incised wounds made' by. some, sharp instrument used with considerable, force'; the edges of the wounds, were charred, ;pwvtag that they had been given before the action,, of

'flre'tdtik effect on the body, the muscles at the back of the "neck "and 1 head were cut through to the bone ; under the right ear there was a punctured wound by a sharp instrument penetrating to some depth ; the head ' was ehveloped in a rag which was not, cut 'through, and' bad heen adherent from coagulated blood, before the action of the fire took splace ; witness was of opinion that the wounds he had described, were sufficient to have -caused death ; theVe were -also marks of blows and deep cuts in the fore part of the face and ■ -'chin, sufficiently deep to have caused death ; » 'the abdominal- muscles were cut away by '" "mean's of a sharp instrument, and apparently ~ "removed 1 ; in the left hypocondrial region there was the mark of a punctured wound, probably a spear wound ; there were also two punctured wounds below the left shoulder 1 blade. This witness further stated that when he came on deck, when the alarm of fire was '" given, and after being a short time there, a canoe or boat, he did not know which, shot 'out from the bay, and went across the harbour ' fn a southerly direction. ' J -Dr. Clifford, Assistant Staff Surgeon, had •Cammed ihe bodies, and corroborated the --'evidence of the last witness — adding only ;i that wounds appeared on the left aim of the, •male, received, as witness thought, probably * while warding off the blows of his assailant; he believed- that the 1 wounds were sufficient to cause instantaneous death. - J Xieut. -Colonel Wynyard, commancfer of -Tth'e"sBth regiment, stated that he visited the s late residence of the deceased on Sunday ; on *- passing through the garden, one of the officers who" were with him, found some clothes, which" he now produced ; there was a part of >'fen underdress of a female^ a pair of stockings marked "H. S." and part of a child's Jittle trousers ; one of the stockings was com- - pletely saturated with blood, the other was " cut nearly across;" the whole of these things, except a small portion of the foot of one of the stockings, were untouched by the fire, and spotted with blood-; witness felt convinced that the murders'" had been committed before the family had undressed and retired to rest, - and before the house was fined. This closed the examination -as regarded * the body of the male ; the body of the female was then brought under consideration, and the body was identified by Thomas Duder, as ■that of Hannah Snow, wife of the deceased ■Lieutenant Snow. = Dr. Clifford had assisted in examining the -body- of the deceased, and found a large wound extending from the back of the ear to -'the angle of the mouth', by which the skull -• and jaw were fractured, and the arteries and * veins divided ; there was also a punctured SWrbiind -under the chin, and a perforated wound '«h" the abdomen, and several gashes, which '"feppeared'to'bave been made with a knife afterwards ; ' from the appearance of these wounds 'they "must have been given prior to ( the action' of- fire; and they were of a depth 'land extent sufficient to cause instantaneous •'death. * ' - • Thomas Duder was again called, and identified the body of the child, to the best of his "fcelief, as the daughter of the deceased Mr. Snow; the child's name was Mary, and she 'was about six years old. - Dr. Clifford stated that on examination he * found the entire body charred ; there were 'several wounds on the lower extremities, but •not as' distinct as in other cases ; the skull Was bruised, and there were small portions of brain 'protruding; this wound was sufficient stb cause death. t- 1 -- Thomas, a native chief, was in tlie bay on ' the night of the fire ; he was asleep, and * when be was" aroused the house Was burning ; '"it wasnight when he and his companions arrived in-two canoes in the bay near the north ' Ji'ead ; his party went on shore to sleep ; the others slept on board ; and he and another * native slept on board his canoe ; he saw no Other canoes that night, and heard no voices ' mntil after the boat from the ship arrived ; nor his people see 01 hear any one. Si * John Rogers, gunner of the Dido, stated 'that he went on shore in the boat with Mr. Gough'; he saw a canoe going across the riWer ; the canoes that were taken were lying *to the- westward of the magazine; did not -think that the natives who belonged to them, .scdold see the canoes that were going away ; -they seemed to start from a bay farther eastv('ward. >■■ •" ' " "" -— This closed the evidence — and. the Jury, •"* without "retiring, gave a verdict of "Wilful ■-'Murder against some person or ' persons -^unknown;" -'*- J *

* * His 'Excellency 'visited the Tamaki Dis- - 'tti<Jt on Monday, and' after having carefully 1 the "locality,- fixed upon' a site, on ' 'the East tank, ' for the location of 'two com-*<fi«riie^>bf<-lhe New ZealamHFencibles. Vie v%iye J>le"aSure in assnring them that they bow t Sffrij6y f two of'the best p'osititons that could have within any reasonable from the capital: — Neu> Zeqlander, 'vOAober 20. -

The Pensioners. — On "Wednesday, the Bishop gave welcome to the pensioner's wives and to their children, which they will he long to forget. An ox was roasted ior the occasion, puddings worthy to figure by the side of a bullock served up to boot ; all was done in the old English style of hospitality for whi,ch the College is famous, as if it had been three hundred years ago. The Governor was tliere and Mrs. Grey, the Chief Justice and Mrs. Martin ; everybody bore a hand, the geDtle-j men carving for the urchins, and the ladies waiting upon them. After dinner, cricket, foot-ball, and every amusement that could be devised went on ; glee singing and choruses, in which the, Maori boys finally settled .the disputed, question as to the development of the hump of music in the native skull. We conceive that a, pleasanter day was spent than was likely to have 'been passed at Mahurangi, or at the Keri-JCeri. — Ntw Zealander, October 30. Branch Bank. — We are^glad to learn that Mr. Kennedy has arrived in Auckland, and that a branch from the Union Bank of Australia is to be established forthwith. The want of such accommodation has be«n long felt in this place, and there is every reason to suppose that the result will be as profitable to the establishment, as it will be convenient to ourselves. It is understood that the old banking premis.es, at the corner of Princes street, will be again occupied. — Ibid.