THE MAORI PRISONERS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2436, 26 November 1869, Page 7

THE MAORI PRISONERS.

Considerable excitement was mani* fested on the 6th inst., on the arrival by the Rangatira of seventy-four Maoris captured at the Patea, afterwards tried in Wellington, convicted of high treason,', ahd sentenced to death; but whose sentences ; were afterwards commuted to, various terms of imprisonment in Dunedin Gaol. It was known; in Dunedin that the Rangatira would arrive at the Uattray street Jetty by the afternoon tide, and by five o'clock a larger number of "persons had assembled to witness the debarkation of the prisoners'. At that hour! the vessel was seen coming; up the harbour, ; and a general rush was made,; this crowd lining;: the wharf and its approaches, and also the line from the reclaimed land' to the gaol, along which the prisoners were expected to proceed. On reaching the jetty some delay was experienced.,before the Rangatira r could coriie alongside,'but on herJ doing so the prisoners were mustered and marched to the gaol, iri the custody!of a number' of constables" armed wifh rifles with-fixed bayonets, a lane having been kept clear for their passage by Serg^antr. Major Moore, Mounted-Trooper Bey an,, and other officers, all of whom performed their duties in a highly,. satisfactory manner, attention not only being paid to the security of the prisoners, but also to the prevention; of undue pressure by the crowd. Thejprogress, from the ship to'the gaol was slow, mkny of the Maoris being old men, and, indeed, it was. a noticeable fact that; almost without, exception, they were either very aged, or very young men. Some of them are fine, stalwart fellows, but they all appeared to be ; thoroughly cowed by the position in which they found themselves, and exhibited none of tho haughty indifference generaUy attributed to captured savages. The line of march was crowded withspectators, the multitude following them;up, and when they were received by Mr Caldwell, the Governor of the gaol, that part of Stuart street was thronged with persons eager to ohtairi a glimpse, of these : ferocious rebels. On their arrival at the gaol j at about six o'clock, they were atonce subriiitted to a process of ablution, their blankets and other clothing taken from them, and they were attired in the gaol costume.. After this, and after having got rid of the exciteinest of the landing, they presented a much more comfortable appearance, and they were detailed off to the various cells prepared for their reception, and locked up for the night. Within a few minutes of the arrival of the prisoners inside the gaol, one of their number died. This was Waiata, a Patea Maori, who had been sentenced to imprisonment for three years. He was a very old man, and it is supposed, died of general debility accelerated by the sea Bickness he experienced on the voyage. An inquest was held on the body on the following day, when a verdict to the effect that the deceased died from general debility was returned.

It maybe here not uninteresting to mention that the prisoners are members of the Pakakohe tribe, the chief of which is Tauroa (Wharematangi), one of Tito Kowaru's Council. Among them are Te One Kura, who is supposed to be the murderer of the late Mr Broughton, who acted generally as peace agent in the year 1863, and was killed at the Patea River, having been shot, and then tomahawked in a most barbarous manner. This prisoner, it may be remarked, was one of the leading and most influential men of his tribe.

! Hoani Taotokai, who was tried afc Wellington for the limrdor of his younger brother, but acquitted, the only evidenco aguii;.-*!, him being that of an accomplice. Worcroa, a very intelligent Maori, iono of thoso prisoners who woro siakc.l to turn Queen's evidence against the others. He replied that he would afford all the information in his power, but that ho wished to bo tried in the same manner as the other prisoners, and was willing to Bhare their fate, although ho had never borne arms against the Queen., •

Kireona, who is the hereditary chief of the tribe (Pakakohe), but who had been supplanted by Tauroa, the first prisoner mentioned, in consequence of his (Tauroa's) superior intelligence. -

Hopu, a smart young follow pf 18 years of age. _Ho was!. intimately connected with Tito Kowaru during many of his fierce engagements, arid .was almost regarded by the Maoris as invulnerable, consequent on the hairbreadth escapes which he had - rencountered. This prisoner was well known from his oustbm of riding a white horse, which he managed with consummate skill, and which rendered him conspicuous. < He took aj prorminentpart in the various ...sorties jmado by Tito Kowaru, and wasjfrequently fired at but never hit!. 7 "^".'A.-i '".71"' "7 j

... Rangi Tauhe is- Taurria's younger •brother.!'";.' Y'Y ;.77Y!'Y7.''\';-

Koiua Ne Tamati is I'm fine stalwart young follow, six feet in height; , Prominent among the other prisoners are—llangi Pure wa, Ahuru, Rangiahu, Rangi * Moeawa, Tokorarigij Tukurangi, Te Rangi Iriinga, TePokaiatua,} and Nga Rewa. ■ ■ AAIAy

All these/ 'with, the' others! not named, were takera-at^thCiPat^a River, where an expedition commanded by Major on ,tHe S.tfe of iJ'une last r for the purpose of riiftkingHho capture. ; Tim party consisted of .80 Ngatiporou, who are : oousidered! to be among .the most loyal, natives in the!NorthYTslarict,! and tfho wire under the command of Captain,Ferris. There were also 30 Wanganui nativb's, and 120 Europeans* the entire fbrce-being?com-manded by Captain Goring -arid Captain Blake. ! ! The party proceeded up the Patea in banoea, but had many difficulties to encounter .in consequence of; the numerous rapids. They rpaßaed several indications of r Maori J camps,' and after proceeding some distance, came across a small Maori settlement, ho attempt having been iria'de to; attack them during their voyage. About the 10th June the party contemplated returning, but tho men sent on to reconnoitre having expressed their; belief, that the enemy was close at hand, the commanders determined to' proceed further in their search. Several whares, having the appearance of recent habitation, were found near the banks of the river. Here they landed, and camped for. the night. The next morning they were surprised by seeing a canoe containing four Maoris with a flag of truce coming down the river. On this M!r Booth, the Resident Magistrate, who accompanied the expedition, proceeded to meet the messengers, and after some parley,, got into their canoe and proceeded up the river to the Maori settlement, about five miles distant, they leaving as a ;hostage an influential native named Ruka. After Mr Booth had been absent for some time, Major Noake became anxious for his safety, and ordered 00 of the Ngatiporou and Wanganui friendlies, together with ..a few Europeans, to advance up the river to the Maori settlement. On reaching the place, the party was informed; by the Maoris that thoy had been for a dong time past.wishing to surrender, aud were glad to see them, as they then knew that there was a chance of peace being_ made. The Maoris were at j once ordered to give up their arms, being', told at/the same time that the Government would, deal with them, and that their lives would be spared. They, however, evinced art indisposition to do this rintii a guard ; composed of the .Ngatiporou natives surrounded their pah, when they quickly relinquished their weapons. There were in this pah 40 meri,. .besides. ; women and children, in all; 113 persons. \ The following morning the men were removed to the garrison at Patea. We 'may here mention; that the tribe of-which these Maoris formed a part, were sonic years ago attacked by a party of natives supposed to belong to the .Ngatiapa.tribe.. The latter numbered about 300, but °n reaching a part oi; the! river bounded on.ono side by asteep bluff 100 ft. high, and. on.,the other by thick scrub,; they were attacked-; and defeated. by an ambush of tlie natives whom they intended to assail. Had it been, the intention xof the Ngatiapa tribe' ■'- to ' have attacked Major Noake's;party, ,they might have done so .with equal . success, as frorii the forhiation; of the river, escape' r6r; landing ; was equally impossible at that point, and* the; men could not have escaped, shopting or drown- ' ing. The. prisoners who.had surrendered were however taken to Patea without any difficulty, and two or three days af-' ter wards Tauroa, the chief of theY party, who was taken at Kurunni,... gave ififor-i mation that there were a number of; his ' people whom he could bring in ifrom Wha* kamaru, a place between the river and the sea coast, if he were allowed to proceed thither. He was permitted to do so, two or three men being sent with him as a guard, and returned accompanied by twenty-one male, natives and a number of women and children. These had been brought in about a .week when a letter arrived from some more of the same tribe at Whenuakura suing for peace, and asking on what terms it would be granted. They were told to come in and give up their arms, and that the Government would deal with them, and two or three days'after this there arrived 28 men, besides women and children. There were taken in all 233 men, women, and children of the -Pakakohe tribe. At the Kurunui, however, two of the men, both known ■as bad characters, contrived to escape. One of them was a cannibal named-Te. Paraone, and the other a murderer named Hau Rangi. Ninety six male prisoners were taken to Wellington, the women and children having been left at Patea. As our readers are already, aware, they were tried, and 28 old men, against whom no evidence was adduced, were acquitted, two young boys were sent on board Hi M. S. Blanche for naval training, and the balance of 74 were forwarded to Dunedin, where they arrived on Saturday. Before and after their trial the prisoners were in all three months on board the hulk in Port Nicholson, where they behaved themselves well, the chief Tauroa having rendered material assistance in keeping them in order. They were first placed under a guard of Ngatiporou natives, who were afterwards replaced by a guard of Europeans, consisting of two sergeants and 20 privates, under the command of Capt. Ferris. The arms taken from the captured natives were 62 single and double-barrelled guns, 5 rifles, 4 breechloading carbines, and 2 revolvers. The rifles and breech-loading carbines were supposed to have been originally taken from those of our troops who were killed at the Moturoa, Wercroa, and other engagements.

The sentences of the prisoners are for terms of penal servitude varying from three to seven years, Tauroa with eleven others being in tho latter category. The whole 73 prisoners—with the exception of one who is suffering from sciatica—are now at work. Three are employed to cut firewood on tho reclaimed ground, and the remainder are divided into two gangs, nearly equal in number, the ono being employed in forming a recreation ground for the High School, and the other in stone-breaking at the Botanical Gardens. The work of the whole seventy-two is extremely good, and is highly com,monded, by their overseers, Messrs Outram and Ferguson. The chief, Tauroa, renders every assistance to Mr Caldwell, the Governor. He states that the whole of the tribe will conduct themselves during i heir confinement in such a manner that, when the time arrives for petitioning His, Excellency the Governor to grant them, their release, the Gaol authorities will be able to report favourably of their conduct, and industry. The chief further states that the prisoners prefer Dunedin-Gaol to the hulk at Wellington, aa they'all like work bettor than idleness on board a hulk. The spiritual wants., of the' prisoners are carefully attended to, the prayers of the Churches of England arid Rome being read morning and evening in their own tongue, while on Sunday,- sermons are preached to them by different ministers, both Protestant arid: Roman Catholic They appear cheerful and, on the whole, satisfied with their lot; 77.