MAORILAND MEMORIES.

NZ Truth, Issue 65, 15 September 1906, Page 7

MAORILAND MEMORIES.

JOHN RUTHERFORD.

A PAKEHA MAORI.

Massacre of the Crew of the Agnes.

(BY "OLD CHUM.")

Am.ongst the Englishmen whom fate threw amidst the Maoris m the early

days of New Zealand was John Ruther-

ford, who, .perhaps, passed through a more anxious 'time than any other. Rutherford was born m Manchester m the year 1796, and before he was 10 years of age was sent to work m. a cotton mill m his native totfn. When he ' had , completed the first decade of his life he went— or perhaps was sent, would be a better way of putting it— to sea. He 1 was serving m a ship on the coast of Brazil for some years, and m August,' 1813, was present 'at the capture of St. Sebastian. On his return to England from Spain he . ' ' ■ JOINED A KING'S SHIP, ,/ and sailed for Madras, and thence'^ to China by the East passage. The snip lay for a year at Macao- In the course of the voyage ; thence the ship touched at several -islands m the Indian Archipelago, amongst others the Bashbee Islands,' then but. rarely visited by English* ships. Reaching England "once, more, he. found employment on board a ship' chartered to '„.' .>.., OONVJSY CONVICTS to ,Jfew South Wales. From Port Jackson he made two trade voyages to . the South Seas. On. one of these he first saw N6W; Zealand, one of the vessels having touched at the Bay of Islands on her way home" to Port Jackson. This vessel was a thfee*maSted schooner named the Magnet,- . and . commanded ' by Captain i Vine,, and on .a subsequent voyage put m at Owhyhee, where Rutherford fell sick' and waa left behind to recover. Having | regained health m about' a fort- j night's time , he shipped on board the Agnes, an- American brig carrying 15 men and six guns< She was commanded by a skipper with, under the circumstances; the rather gruesome and "distoal name . vof Coffin.- Ido not know- if be' were any relative of the Long Tom Coffin, of th» novelist. Captain 'Coffin was trading m pearl-shell and tortoise-shelf with several islands of the. Pacific. 1 Touching at jvariouß places on his return from Owhyhee, .be appeared on the East Coast' of New Zealand, intending to put into the Bay of Islands t f or refreshments. x According to "Rtftherfprd, 6n March 6, i'Bl6,' they, first sighted the Barrier Islands, which lie opposite to the entrance to the Thames River. The vessel was not destined to .make the Bay of Islands— BAY OF BEAUTY— but Was driven some distance past the port they were making for. A gale jfroin the north-east, aided by a current, made it impossible to proceed to the Bay

of islands, and- m. $ye. weather fighting, Vere past! the high point named by Captain Cook East' Cape. According to RutWrfbid'.B description, the land directly i pPßosito>wap indented by a large bay,. This bay Captain Coffin was unwilling to enter,; to being, .under the impression that no. ship had- ever yet cast anchor' therV ■ r t i hl's, ; Rutherford "'believed, was Poverty Bay' train, its :crescent shape and sandy 1 beacn'.r"Afe/th« head of the bay was <a fresh water ■; river ■> with a bar across • the: -mouth, which, rendered it only navigable -for bQftts- -T,here was high land on >bpth iA'des. . ' Accprdirig -.jto some authorities,' Cqpk called 'this. , place Taoneroa. Euth'erfo^dX m his/narrative, named it Tokomarlo. .rt'.has .'been since.^proved that the- place" was Tbkonraru: ; ; As Captain Coffin Wanted " water badly, , he decided upon •standing- m, and "an'cbored off the reef. Before ihTs there .appealed . but no, sooneiv haij^ the* anchor bottom, than, canoes m gripat;' \iuijiber came off from, ey'ery part oif the ' ,b.£iy, each canoe' containing about 3€(,f, women, who, used the paddles witm great ; grace and activity. .? Very . few 7 men appcavetl that day, th« /wqnlepf being -entirely m evidence. About dOO women r?mnined on the Agnes that, n'igh-t.,-, Next morning a chief came on ! board,. • . His name was Aimy ; he came, .In a*' War canoe .60 fpcst long, m whicn .were: over '■ 100 natives. They had a stock; of jnats- and 3shihg lines made of strong white native flax, for the purposes-J iofl;;trading wi^h the erew v The captain would. not allow any of his men to land,, but the Chief, Aimy. said that he wojildri' return- to the shore and bring a supply of- fresh water. This Captain Coffin agreed to, and on the'return of v the boat- laden' with water the casks were hoisted' up, and the chief and his men went for>a:second supply. The chief 'brought a couple v of hundred pigs on board, all . af which they disposed of, to-! gether with, a fluantity of fern- coot. • to ■ feed them on' untO they',. were needed for. human food. '. - ' ■ . .v- --• . s-'- * ' , ■'•■•■'■■

Up to this time; the natives had not given any indication of hostility. They were, Tiowever, . give,n very', much to pilfering, which caused Captain Coffin much annoyance. In the night time they removed quantities of lead* rope &nd other , gear. At daylight the chief ".and his men' returned with the second cargo of water. It. was found, however, that the boat was leaking, and the carpenter proceeded to examine it ;with jfche intention of repairing. Rutherford discovered that a native had removed the dipson lead. He. promptly topk it from him. on whir.h,the native ground his tee,th with rage, ; and FLOURISHED^ HTS TOMAHAWK.

Captain Coffin now paid the chief for the water, the price being two muskets, some powder ai<d shot, arms and ammunilion being the only articles for y.Hich the natives would trade. ■ » • ■ ■• " ■ •' ! At this time there were 300 hundred natives on the deck, qf the Agnes. Aimy, the chief, m the midst of them, .- and nearly every man' armed with a greenstone mere. Presently much smoke appeared on the • hills, and' the natives crowded to the beacji on-every part of the bay. Captain Coffin became genuinely alarmed. He wanted to make sail and leave what now -appeared to him a most WHlesirabfo places After cllnoex; Hutlier-

ford and others went aloft to loosen sail. None of the crew were on deck except the captain and the cook. The chief mate

i- was m the CABIN LOADING PISTOLS. \ The* natives now assumed a threatening _ , attitude. The chief, Aimy, threw, off his | mat, and brandishing ids tomahawk cofrv ! menced to chant a war song. It appear [ ed to be a signal. All t,he other nativeF . threw off their mats and stood nake(i : I (and not ashamed). They performed o.^ - war dance' with such violence that their' motions shook the vessel. Captain Coffin was leaning on the companion anxiously watching the- scene, when a •Maori sneaked behind him, -and with one , blow of his mere killed him. The cook , ru/shed forward to the skipper's assistance, and shared his fate. The chief mate, hearing the disturbance, Was coin-; ing up ■ tlie companion ■ ladder m hot haste, when 1 he was struck on the back of the neck with a tomahawk, a wound two inches deep being inflicted. Though riot killed, the mate fell alongside the captain arid cook. Rutherford was all . this time astride of the jib boom, - , SHAKING WITH TERROR, expecting every 'moment to meet the fate of the captain, mat;e an,d cook. (The natives now rushed the cabin', some by the usual entrance, others by I the skylight ; others cut : the lanyards' and the ship's i rigging. Four of the Bailors jumped from 'the foreyard into the sea, but were quickly picked qp by the canoes and bound I hand and foot. The rest of : the crew had | taken refuge m the rigging, which some of the natives mounted and drove them, to the deck, making prisoners of them.-. The* ' Chic- Aimy called Rutherford— by signs — to come down- which.. he did, think-. ', ing "he ' might as ;well surrender ..at once. i All the living members of the crew were ■ now bound and bundled into a canoei i They were searched by the natives, their -tobacco boxes, knives and other personal i ! articles being taken from them. The | bodies of the captain and cook and the' ! still liVirig mute were', placed m a. cauoe i and rowed ashore. The mate was moan- ■ v ing. terribly; jhis. woupid, a fearful gash, 'oozing blood, which 'a 'Maori' kept licking" while on the ' way 'to the beach; i Maori women cut the ship's cable, and she drifted oh to -the bar. The pigs on board wsrp killed and - placed m the cattoes. Other canoes were laden with i plunder from the ship, whjch, was conr i veyed to the village at the' mouth of. the stream; .Where the ship lay stranded. The captive seamen were tied to trees m the

village. The mate Had died m transit, and the three dead bodies were I HUNG ON TREES, heads downward, out of the reach of dogs.' Fires were then lighted on. the beach to light, the canoes m their all-nlg-ht work of transferring the goods from the stranded ship to the shore. It rained heavily, but the work was continued without rest .until daylight.- During that night the .sufferings, of the- crew of the Agnes were something awful. The three dead, bodies were hanging on trees, and close to them were the living members; also tied to trees, hungry, wet and., cold! and watched carefully by a > "T HORDE OP CANNIBALS, i°J morning it was found that the ship had worked over the bar at the mouth of the river and wag aground nearer the, end of the village; Everything had been taken out of her, and at 10 o clock the Maoris set her on fire. The natives now mustered m force on F°n I ? e a r« C( ; l | PieCl :« round near the village. *,or.aome time no , one- spoke.- All ait A 9 Tar M Wi ' h the e rPtioTo?\ fi v e Al kiefs A IR tifrnn g * WaS f * rmed ia the centre of Sth^forf • « m ?l snCe -approach*! Whera Rutherford and the others were tied up *■"■* 4 . XI f LET) SIX OP THE MEN a?onv° ' and' T 6 men groaned m their laugher. d . , the natives roared -^«« • Next" certain natives dug ehrht larire srF~~s ered with stones. The wood was then nred, and the stones became red-hot:' The j mne. corpses w;ere::stripped. and well washireel^Ll They wer « then 'cut up, of The^Sanr^TS;^ 11 *& CUt fleSh which e w.e r eT ai a on thelroWd A 3 * tnat.wa, placed on -tie top of *SS' These boughs with the human flesh were then placed upon the hot stones water was poured over/ creating steam; all was then covered with earth, and theovens, left to do their work. ■ • Tni-n-« WOmen .- had cooked fish for the re?o"2 Wh^ P^it a J 80 « theyr roastedferQ r n ason/Zl 116I 16 r ° ot3 werelaid X way^^t^'buS^ofTo-Sa^belts! a tough «teak with the in?enUonTf mak! ing it tender. . When cold, Rutherford aaid th« root was like gitiKer brpa,d asit snapped short. Tliat night Rutherford and his mates were taken to a whare m the village, and given mats and dry grass to sleep upon, a chief sleeping on either, but next morning ffiy founJ L women of the village making y basket from K;f flax. These baskets were intended to^ hold portions of cooked human flesh, with "potatoes" which had been boiled over-; night. Rutherford declares that he saw! MAORI CHILDREN TEARING HUMAN FLESH' from, the bones with their teeth ! When the ovens were opened and the cooked flesh taken therbh-om it was cut into portions, and put m the baskets, abasket being handed to each Maori- as his share m this cannibalistic feast !. Baaketa with the cooked flesh of their late ahipmat** vcro offorwJ Rut^erterd aad bla

friends, but indignantly and with disgust refused, much to the astonishment of the natives.-

Tho attack uprtn the' Agnes appears to have been entirely unprovoked. Nothing had been done by either the captain or any member of his crew to excite the wrath of 'the Maoris- The "Boyd" massacre a few years before had been brought about by the ill-treatment, of a Maori chief who had been to Sydney, and had voyaged to the Bay of Islands m her. He brought about that massacre, by which 70 lives were sacrificed through revenge. Other massacres had preceded that on the Agnes, notably those on the ships Brothers and Trial, at Mercury Bay, m August, .1.815: It was said that other visitors to Tqkomaru had injured the natives, but of these injuries we have nothing definite beyond the bare assertion that m a few years 100 Maoris had been murdered by Europeans at the Bay of Islands. , \

After the feast, Rutherford and his comrades, five m number, set out with fife chiefs Itor a journey into the interior. As they left the river mouth' they saw the Agnes still burning; The chiefs and captives were attended by about 50 natives. After a severe tramp of about 10 miles, they reached the village known as Raugadi, where .there were 200 inhabitants. The visitors and captives were received with, much ceremony.- At this village Rutherford and his " companions were" stripped and held on the ground' tor four -hours . while ">

THEY WERE TATTOOED. Nearly the whole, of Rutherford's face, the lower part of his arms, his breast, ' and part of his body Were deeply scarred and colored wjth dark nicfment. For three days the victims were m a,. state of; "tapu," and were .not allowed Ap touch food with their hands; but were fed: by" the women, who treated them with muctt j

kindness. ' ■ '■■'■ " ' : ■" J - : Rutherford's portrait, 'taken on his rtf-' turn to m 1828, shows him : to have been a man of -fine physique, handsome and .weji-featured. The tattooing appears -to ' have been , a work -of. art, the,' picture showing the lines clearly/and distinctly? Rutherford's experience's 1 m the North Island ol' New; Zealand,- in places , 1 unknown to white men before his time, I experiences, savoring . much? oi the romari-; 'tic, will be jgiveh next week. '■■

(To be Continued.)