DEATH OF TE KOOTI.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9716, 19 April 1893, Page 2

DEATH OF TE KOOTI.

(Peb United Press Association.) ] Auckland, Apiil 18. ' Te Kooti died at 7 o'clock last night, at , Ohiiva. No further information is to hand. ; Te Kooti first came iuto prominence in 1865. " Hau Hauism had gained a strong footing two ■ years before lhat date, and after the murder of , Volkner the colonial troops were almost con- , tinuously eugaged iv hunting down murderers. In November of that year a strong body of these fanatics were gathered at AVncrengaahika, Poverty Bay, under Rararuhi Rukapo. Mr Donald Jl'Lean called upon them to surreuder, but they refused. On a Sunday morning a body of the rebels were S'en approaching. lt is alleged that they were carrying a fi-ig of truce. The forces under Major Ropata, and Jlajors Biggs aud Fraser fired a volley. Tbe Blaoris retired, and a few days afterwards, when the pa was tikeu, 63 dead and 70 wounded Natives were found iv it. There are various versions as to the flag of truce episode, bat it ia generally admitted thafc the firing on the rebels was a mistake, if nothing worse. In Ihe ranks of the allies was Te Kooti. Suspecting him of being a spy, Major Fraser arrested him. Ifc was known that Te Kooti had a relative among the enemy. Te Kcoti himself always asserted thafc he fought for tbe colony against tho Hau Haus. After he was arrested he was shipped oil to tho Chathams without any trial whatever, along with a number of other rebels. On the 4th July 1868, when the war cloud still hung over tko colony, Te Kooti with 163 men. 64 women, aud 71 children escaped from tho Chathams in the schooner Rifleman. Ono constable was killed, but the remainder of the guard were merely bound. It is alleged that Te Kooti and the others had been promised thafc they would be released at the end of two years, and it was on finding thafc there was uo intention of keeping this promise that they resolved in desperation to seize tho vessel. Ail the arms on board were seized, aud the crew were informed that unless they navigated the vessel to Poverty Bay fchey would be killed. An armed Jlaori stood guard over the steersman, and au armed guard paced the deck day and night. As adverse winds were encountered, a Jlaori, said to be Te Kooti's uncle, was thrown overboard as a propitiatory offering. Poverty Bay was reached ou July 10. Two days later Captaiu Biggs, hearing of their landing, demanded their surrender, but on meeting with a refusal he sent for reinforcements, and Colonel AVhitmore and H.M.S. Ro3ario were sent sgaiusb To Kooti. In hia first encounter Te Kooti routed Captaiu AVestrupp. Several engagements followed, aud it was reported that Te Kooti was wounded aud had retired to the fastnesses of t'ae hills. AU attention was theu directed to Tito Kowaru, but presently fche colony was to ba shocked by a terrible massacre. On November 10, before dawn, Te Kooti descended from the hills upou Poverty Bay and massacred every man, woman, and child whom he could seize. Mr Rusdeu, in his history of New Zealand, gives~a graphic account, which we summarise. luajor Biggs, who had demauded his surrender ou his firsfc return, challenged some souud which he heard and was instantly wounded. He retired for his guv and while loading it was again shot and fell. His wife, whom ho had implored to fly, decided to remain by his side, aud her heroism was equalled by that of a maid servaufc. A boy— one of the few who escaped—told the tale. Though tha house was surrounded, by crawiing uuder a platform in the uncertain light he reached the scrub, from which ho saw a Maori beating out with the butt end of his musket tho brains of Major Biggs. The houses afc Poverty Bay were scattered. From one the inmates, warned by the boy, ran with the strength of despair, weakwomen carrying children, aud reaching Tauranga, six miles distant, by 5 o'clock. Fire fol- ' lowed slaughter. AYhile murder stalked from houso to house an old mau slept soundly in a little hut, and rising after dawn found his footsteps amongst the bodies of the dead. He rau in horror to a house he knew and fouud dead bodies there. Unseen by the savages he fled to Tauranga, and there overtook the other refugees. At the house of Captain Wilson the murderers had found the door barred, and fird was applied. The captured inmates were led some distance away before ■ the work of (daughter begin. Mrs AVilson fell i wounded and apparently dead as her husband [ was bayoneted. After a long swoon sho saw , around her the bodies of her husband, and ' threa children and a man saivaufc. One boy, eight years old, wax misr.ing. She liy 1 there all day, ar.d an old Maori pas^inj by took ' away her shawl. Ou the following day she 1 crawled back to her old horn-, and ensconced herself in au outhouse with nothing to refresh i her but water. On fche third day her m'ssing boy, wbo had scrambled away when his father 1 wa3 killed, gladdened her sijjhfc. In the uu- ! disturbed hut of tho old man who hsd 1 slept through the massacre ho found food, which he thought would not be stealing to , eat. He found a bed in a house from which the women had lied, and though Maorio entered while he was there they did uofc discover him. On AVednesday, from his hiding placo in a sweetbriar bush, he saw tho murderers set fire to the houses ts yefc uuburnfc. He i strayed towards his own home, and saw the bodies of his father, brother, sisters, and tho man servant, and he thought the Maoris musfc 1 have taken his mother to tat her. Oa Thursday he mechanically returned to tho desolate 1 home and found his wondering mother, who ; sent him to obtain fire from the houses receutly ; in flauie3, aud afterwards, food having beeu i secured, despatched him for assistance towards 1 Tauranga. ) In the columns of the Daily Times we find • ths following brief particulars :—"On the 13th ; November, tha telegraph informed us that an . awful massacre had taken place at Poverty Bay I oa the morning of the 9th—a cay observed > throughout the rest of the colony as a public i holiday. The details are sickening. At 3 a.m. ) the rebels, divided into small parties, stolo into i the settlement and proceeded to attack the i houses in the diatrict. Major Biggs, his wife, , child, and servant; Captain AVilson, and fully 1 40 other Europeans, of both sexes, of all ages 1 and conditions, were murdered as they rose > from their bsds. The whole settlement was . left in ashes. A fow of the unhappy settlers s escaped, aud made the catastrophe known." > At a council of war of friendly chiefs it was ' resolved to drive To Kooti from a rifle pit where ; he had heid his pursuers at bay, and Major I Ropata took command. On the 3rd December > Major Ropata aud his frieudiies saw To Kooti's eyrie perched ou the mouutain peak of Ngapata. The pursuers were joined by Colonel AVhitmore aud Mr Preece, the former -nith a large force of Armed Constabulary. It was the 4fch of January before the besieged wera hemmed in on all sides with no unguarded ppace except a precipice, which was deemed to be too steep for foothold. At ■ dawn on th 9 sth Colouel AVhitmore was pre- , paring to anuibi late them when word was brought that they were escaping. In the nighfc, by lowering his men aud some of the women don a tiie precipice, To Kooti, wounded a sccoad time, aud oue of the last to leave his fortress, had again escaped. Pursuit was immediatjly made, and it wa3 relentless. But though mauy of his followers were captured and shot, and a reward of £1000 was offered for Te Kooti's body he made his escape to the Uriwera couutry, whence he swooped down on the Bay of Pienby early in Blarch, Fearing fche settlors and their families iuto tbe redoubts at Tauranga aud Opotiki, capturing a pa from loyal Blaoria, destroying a settlement at AVhakatane, andkillingall who resisted. In ashort time, however, his army dwindled away and he retreated again fco the rugged Uriwera country, followed by JlajorMair. The latter eventually abandoned the pursuit, and ou the 10th April 1869 Te Kooti reappeared while least expected ; treacherously captured a pa ou tho coast, aboufc 40 miles from Napier; murdered the inmates, consisting of [seven Earopsai-s and 57 Maoris, destroyed all habitations, and made off with some ammunition and rifles. A force of the Napier Jlilifcia was scut after him, but Te Kooti bsat a retreat through his mountain fastnesses, whence he watched tho colonial forces. At Opspe be killed 10 troopers and seized a quantity of ammunition wifch the escort party. He next murdered 21 Maoris on his way to Lake Taupo, whence, wifch a powerful band, he went to the AVaikato to confer with the Jlaori King, but Tawhiao would not admit him to his presence. Pursued by frieudlies, To Kooti in October suddenly appeared close to Cambridge on tho AVaikato river, and through Mr Filth made oveifcure-s to the Native Minister forji-aco. The reply to this waa iuereasing the reward for capturing or kil'iug "So Kooti to £5000. Eluding his pursuers, and sliiikiug from hold to,hold, he in Juue 1572, in spit.i of the various parties watching for him, passed with less than a score of companions to the sanctuary which Rewi had stipulated for, and Sir Donald Jl'Lean had sanctioned, at Te Kuifci. Here Te Kooti remained quietly until aboufc 1882, when a General Amnesty Bill was passed by the Hon. Mr Bryce. Te Kooti agreed to the terms offered him, and afc the meeting which took place with the Native Minister Jlr Bryce shook hands with liira. The feeling of hoiror in tho south had died away, but the mauuer in which Mv Bryee's action was regarded ou the East Coast is best shown by a speech delivered in the House of R-?.prascntalivo3 by Mr A. Ei'Doi-.ald, M.H.K., who summarised Te Kooti's atrocities:—

" Te Kooti theu went back to tho ranges, acd watchfid quietly uutil he got an opportunity, when \t-3 came down auci massacred thn people. Almost tho first hs killed were Maj.-.i- Bipgs and his wife and oue child. Tc Kooti himself ordered thafc Major Biggs's tongue should be cub oufc and plsc«d on his wife's breast;_ he smashed in the brains of Mrs Biggs's child, killed Mrs Biggs, rolled the child up iv hoc arms beforo he killed ber, and placed the tongue of her husbaud on hor breast. This is tho man whom the Nativo Minister shook bauds with. I will say no more. I wiil not refer to the murder of Captain AVilson and his family, or to the Mohaku massacre, or anything else. I wiil leave it thero. The people thero will tell how 38 Europeans were killed. I do not believe that any Government or any Parliament that knew of theso things would ever grant that man a pardon. At Mohaka ho actually killed Europeans and tlieir children, and I threw their bodifs to the pigs. There were three Europeans burned alive there by Te ]

Kooti. And yet tho Native Minister goes and Bhakes hands with tiie murderer. " Now I will refer to the remarks made by Te Kooti when ha met the Native Jlinister. He said, 'If you molest me, beware. AVhat I have done in the pasfc will be uothing to what I shall do in the future.' After heariug that the Native Jlinister pardoned him, and said, ' I exfcsnd fco you my hand in the name of the Governmeut and of the Parliament of this colony; and within 10 days you will bs a free man.' Not only that; bufc what did the greafc chief Rewi say ? Rewi raid, ' I am glad to hear you make these remarks. If you had not dene so you would have found me fighting on the same side with Te Kooti.' Alt I cau say is, let them fight, let them get the best of it if they can : the sooner there is an end of this the b3tttr. These were the threats held out to the Native Minister, aud yet in tho face of them he says, ' I will. extend to you my haud,' and he did. There is one thing I should like to ask the Government. Ido not believe that man is pardoned at all, and I sincerely hope I am right. AVhen tbe Natives left tbe Chatham Islands thay had ahead wind. They could not get on. So Te Kooti said, ' Oh, I will very soon settle that,' and he went and threw his om uncle overboard. I should like to ask the Government if the bill will apply to tbat crime ? I say ifc does nofc, for that did not arise out of the war. There is another matter that I must refer to, and it is fchis: There was a half-casto carrying despatches from the Europeans between Gisborne and the AVairoa, and that young gentleman wa3 caught at Teringa by Te Kooti and hi 3 people. Te Kooti said to him, ' AVhat would your mother or her forefathers say if they knew you were carrying these despatches ?' and ho thereupon gouged the youug man's oyes out and left him on the flat."

From time to time reports gained currency that Te Kooti intended to pay a visit to the scenes of his massacres. The friends aud relatives of those who were murdered on each occasion represented to the Government thafc if such a visit were permitted bloodshrd was likely to result. In February 1889, despite the remonstrances of the Government, Te Kooti set out with a following to visit Gisborne. Public meetings had been held and a vigilance committee appointed. As the matter assumed a serious aspect Sir H. Atkinson, the Premier, sent a force under Major Porter and police under Inspector Goodall to intercept Te Kooti. He was arrested near Opotiki and taken to Auckland, where he was bound over to keep the p:ace for six months. Since then the ex-rebel has led a very quiet life, and whenever his name has cropped up it was always mentioned in connection with efforts to restrain the Jlaoris from breaking the law.

Te. Kooti declared that personally ho was not guilty of any of the murder 3at the Poverty Bay massacre.