THE MAORI WARS.

NZ Truth, Issue 60, 18 August 1906, Page 7

THE MAORI WARS.

The "trouble"' occasioned by the murderer Te Kooti at the end of 1868 ended disastrously to the forces of that potentate. Early m December the Hau Hau camp was attacked, the assailing forces peing the Ngatiporou and Ngatikahunguna, together with a few scouts under Lieutenant Gascoyne. After a short but desperate struggle the Hau Haus were forced to evacuate the rifle pits, leaving behind between 30 and 40 men killed. The loss on the British sido was three wounded, two Europeans and on« Maori. Amongst the dead were NAMA AND HEN ARE TATA, two of the coldest blooded miscreants to be found m the whole island. Amongst the prizes secured were 7000 rounds of ammunition, part of what had been taken a few days previously from the escort. It was ascertained that To. Kooti, with the maiu body, had gone oa before, ana that the camp attacked was the rearguard- Tho«w of tho latter who could dp ■o, beat a hasty retreat towards Puketapu, closely followed by the friendly Maoris. A marvellous story was told about the Ngatiporou having overtaken the main body of Hau Haus ami' inflicted a loss of 55 men. The facts were, how? ever, that part of the. Ngatiporou^ on the Friday, three miles past Te Karetuy bad • ..--.:

ATTACKED THE HAU HATJ POSITION, .£,, eventually occupying some of their rifle pits,, with a loss, of two killed and five wounded. The Hau Haus afterwards tried to retake tho rifle pit, but were beaten back; leaving seven of their number dead on the iield, Karepa, son of .Tamihina Riiatapu, being of the number. After this encounter tho friendly natives commenced the return inarch, thus practically abandoning the expedition as j far as they were concerned. All through the! war, or wars, the friendly Maoris appear to have been of the most? wayward disposition, marching only when they liked, fighting only when it pleased them. Neither of the leaders of the friendlies was m good, health, arid both complained that their ammunition was giving out. The real reason was, however, that they were under a now comniandor,- whom they disliked, and all started for Turanganui.

From Wangauui had .arrived Colonel Whitmore, and Major Frd'ser, with some 400 pf the ... ' ■

• f; «;-ARMB.D CCrNSTABtfIDARYv ''"■ Mr ( Richmond, wh6< was a,t>that time a memijer of the! Ministry, ytoJa at the front and had given orders that two steamers. The Ladybird and. Sturt, ..both m tho serA-ice of tiie Government, ■ should go round to Wairoa with th'6T men and land theni there, it being thought' ttfat that place would be the proper base of operations. Colonel Whitmore, however, rode forwnrd, saw Mr. Richmond, and obtained authority from him to

START 1-OU THE FRONT by' the most direct route. This he did on tl)e Saturday morning, getting, on a ■pot four miles beyond Puuiahi, where hB hoard of the friendly natives being on the 'homeward uiai.-uh, and halted until they "should come up.

Better time 9, however, were at hand. Colonel Whitmore had advanced his for:es end expected to meet Te Kooti before the new year. The Colonel, though not -generally popular, appears to have influenced the friendly Maoris, as 300 of the Ngatipouroa returned and joined him. The Colonel had also under bis command 300 of the Armed Constat>ulary and 60 Arawas. The latter bad had A ■SKIfiMLS.tLJffrT.tL-THE HA&~HAUS on Christmas Eve, when three were killeJ. At this time it was supposed that Te Kooti had with him at Ngutipa a'bout--115 men. They were reported to be'hard up lor food and living on fern root, a condition to which Te Kooti and his zn«n had been reduced more than once. Q'he position, however, Was very strong, and Te Kooti determined to make a ; stand. The remainder of the rebels Were moving towards the plains.

Vrastr and Kctene had .been at Work and taken a position ' m the rear of Ngatipa, which was as nearly as possible Invested. The ■■ • ■ .

ARAWAS WERE ENTRENCHED I ivithin fifty yards of the enemy's posi- 1 tion. In this little encounter the loss on sur side was one Arawa, one Ngatipouro,' and Captain Brown, of the Armed Constabulary killed. The Hau Haus made iwo attempts to escape. An attack .by •hem on the front trench Was repulsed without even a scratch to those operating on the British side. There was a dense fog on the hill, and it mas impossible to say what the enemy suffered;,

Early m January TE KOOTI WAS DEFEATED by the Arawas and Ngatipouros, 120 Jlau Haus being k Hod and 100 taken prisoners, including Te Waru. Te Kooti retreated, and Colonel Whitmore went In pursuit.

• • » Colonel Whitmore, m his despatch to the Defenco. Minister, Colonel Hamilton, announced that tho fortress (big word) cf Ngatipa . fell, January 6, at 3 a.m. The troops and natives were overnight In full possession of the outer w-all and works, which were

TAKEN BY ASSAULT m the afternoon, and during the dark the advance was pushed on by rifle pita aud sap, so that when daylight came the storm, could .not be resisted. Under

these circumstances To Kooti shot the most influential of his prisoners and escaped down the cliff, wnich was very high and steep. The' women were first lowered; then followed the men. Te Kooti, himself wounded ia the shoulder and still lame of his wound, received at Ruaketure, was apparently one , of the last. This departure was effected between 1 and 3 o'clock a.m.-, during which time Major Fraser, wlio was the nearest of the lorce, fired heavily and with some effect on the place from whence the sounds ca me; The last native had barely escaped when Whitmore's crowd entered. However formidable the fortress looked from the outßide, it was still stronger to look at closely. The NGATIPORB AND ARAWA DIVISIONS, ytho had behaved splendidly throughout, at once started m pursuit. Te Kooti' s followers adopted a plan calculated to fcrealc up the solidity of the pursuit. They spread out m the bush m small omrtiea. The pursuit was carried out ia the same way throughout the day until dark. The friendly native* then returned * PRISONERS AND PLUNDER. -The rebels had engagod the Arawa coniiingent and had killed a chief of some note, named Kangiho. Before that another friendly chi*r— Nicora— had been killed, his wife bringing m the body. In all upwards of 120 Hau Haus were killed. The numbers were proved, the bodies having been ezhnmed from the ditches or (found lying m or about toe pah, stripped .of their clothes and arms by the iriendilies who overtook and shot them. Some few women were killed, but by accident, »nd no children suffered. The number inajcle the fortress must have exceeded Whitmore'a estimate for the ESCORT CARRYING TE KOOTI numbered 40 men and only 18 of the TJriweras were killed. Fresh troops were sent m pursuit, and Whitmore had great hope of catching Te Kooti. Every man of note m Te Kooti's band barring himwlf had been killed, and Te Kooti was considered not to be far off- In token pi-tii* iuccesa,. Colonel Hffcitmore blew

DEFEAT OF TE KOOTI.

One Hundred and Twenty Hau Haus Killed and Eighty Taken Prisoners.

No. XX.

(Br J.M.F.)

down a large portion of one of the walls and fired a royal salute m honor of the capture.' • • • Mr. J. C. Richmond, m writing to the Defence Minister, said that Ngatipa was 1 beyond all comparison the strongest that | bad been besieged m New Zealand. He thought THE FIGHTING GARRISON, must have been 200 strong; "perhaps a Uriwera party had joined." Eighty prisoners were captured, 14 men, 50 women, the remainder children. .Many of 'the Women and children were mere skin and bone. There was no food- m the place, and no ammunition on tho dead bodies. The losa on the British side was 11 killed and nine wounded, one dangerously. Everybody worked continually. The men were for nights m the trenches i DRENCHED WITH RAIN, and without shelter. "The Ngatiporou i are oQ to-duy on a long chase, bent on I exterminating the Twi Kohune. I haye 1 i thought it right and m accordance with

[inc.- A gruesome discovery was V.ero made. From the position of charred remains, it was inferred that Von Temsisky and others whom McDonell had. lost m tho disaster at, Ngutu-o-te-manu "wero partly eaten and partly offered up aa a sacrifice by the infamous Titokowaru and his band.'.' .On February 2 Colonel Whitmore bombarded Tauranga-ika and .prepared to occupy it, or rather invest it. "Titokowaru, though sheltered behind double rows of palisades backed by rifle pits and by a strong cover of marksmen, found the shell-practice fatal, and on the morning of the 3rd he was gone." The scoundrel's rearguard escaped the scouts. There was no gateway through the palisades, the egress being underground passages Palisaded roads traversed the interior. ' Colonel Whitmore, wondering at his flight, pursued. Titokowaru retired to the bush beyond JToturoa, the scene of a recent success. His big trust was m ambuscades. When ten men, with the permission of their commander, went to collect peaches SEVEN WERE KILLED and one wounded before a relieving force could go to their assistance. At this period Rangihiwiuui, with some Arawa and 1 * Wanganui men, scoured the country without ioss near Putahi. ! * * * ' i The . SPIRIT OF MAORI REVENGE was never more openly shown than m the murder of the Wesleyan missionary Rev J. Whitely. This unfortunate cleric had distinguished himself by his animosity against Te R_angitake, and. defended the terms of the proclamation of martial law m the Maori language, which Stafford sent to Taranaki m 18(J0. Mr. Whitely was over 60 years of age. He had been a missionary m New Zea-

the wish of the Government and the country, not to withhold their hands. Our commissariat and transports have been effective, and I hope we shall be able to feed the prisoners." Mr. Richmond is complimentary to Colonel Whitmore. He said: "This achievement is due to the energy and resolution of Colonel Whitmore. The mere labor of toiling through the bush up this' mountain would have quelled most v men, unless supported by an unflinching spirit in their leader. Next to Whitmore I put Ropata. ; but in common phrase, 'Where all, etc.,'-» it is not for me to mention names. I am sure the colony will appreciate the labor, the risks, and the successes of our little army." ♦# ■ • It was thought then that Colonel Whitmore's success left little to wish for. The mountain alluded to by Mr. Richmond "is a sort of wedge ; the front a moderate slope for a mountain, yet steep enough to make it ■■■'■'■ LABORIOUS FOR ASSAILANTS. The rear and flanks towards the top are precipitous, but not so as to prevent escape (Te Kqoti saw to that) The rear runa out In a knife-edge of rocks. The height above the gully is something like 1500 feet. The pah is on the slope— a triangle,' with bank and ditches only on

' land in 1832. He bad been accustomed ', to ride from Taranaki on Saturday to such outposts as he intended to officiate at on the Sunday. On February 13, ! 1869, he waa proceeding to Pukearuhe, a | blockhouse AT THE WHITE CLIFFS, where Lieut. Gascoyne .and his family resided. On that clay a stnalL party of Maoris had descended upon the blockhouse, and slaughtered Gascoyne and his i family, together with two Englishmen, iAs Mr. Whitely, after crossing the ' stream, commenced to ascend the hill on which the redoubt stood, he was ordered by the Maoris to go back ; he rode on. A volley was fired, and bis horse fell I dead. Whitely was seen to kneel in the ; attitude of prayer. Another volley was fired, and the minister fell deal. When the tidings reached Taranaki, the bodies of Whitely, Gascoyne, his wife, three children, and two Englishmen were ' brought in for burial. An obelisk waa raised to the memory of the eight persons killed. r Whitely sei;ms to' have had a foreboding of ill. On September 20, 1868, he j wrote a letter, in which he stated that ;he never felt so despondent during tha I whole of his 35 years' residence in New ; Zealand. The troops were gone or going. England seemed to have

the front side. All the mountain is covered with forest, the front slope chiefly light timber, the flank and rear heavy timber. The forest stretches continually miles m every direction, except that by which our road approaches— a rare position well calculated to daunt assailants by the labor of attacking. Whitmore's energy has inspired the forces, and they have dug their way up this great hill." « • ■ ♦ After the capture of Ngatipa, Oolonel Whitmore returned to the West Coast. Colonel McDonell and Uangiliiwinui had not been idle during his absence. A scouting party from Patea found Ngutu-o-te-raanu, the scene of a FORMER HEAVY DEFEAT, unoccupied. It had been strengthened by Titokowaru, but the chief happened to be at Tauranga-ika, and had not men to garrison all his pahs. Large stores of RoCutoea were found, uncovered and rott-.

DESERTED THE SETTLERS and the loyal Maoris. The rebels would seek "utu" (payment, revenge) for all the past.- "In Abyssinia the English had completed their work, and the author of evil was slain, whereas the army was withdrawn from New Zealand before it had done its work. It had been said that the natives wpre fighting for their lands. But the earth is the Lord's, and for 600 years he had been waiting for them to occupy, Six hundred more may lind them with millions upon millions of unoccupied acres, and Providence indicated that now shall this portion of the earth be occupied by those who are able and willing to bring forth the fruits thereof." On this letter one historian comments : "If such was the measured language of a serious letter, it requires but little imagination to suppose that m. casual speech the old enemy of Te Rangitake would often bring hatred upon him■eJX^i .."-■■