THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF JOHN MARMON, THE HOKIANGA PAKEHA MAORI; OR, Seventy-five Years in New Zealand.

Otago Witness, Issue 1585, 8 April 1882, Page 25

THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF JOHN MARMON, THE HOKIANGA PAKEHA MAORI; OR, Seventy-five Years in New Zealand.

— — ' i Chapter XXl.— Continued. ' <■ FTER all was over it was found ' that 52 soldiers were killed and ' 41 wounded. One poor fellow, who was wounded, was limpingalong, using his musket as a walk- , ing stick, and was trying 'to Join the main body. The native stragglers'saw him, fired, but did not' ' kill him; they then rushed up and chopped him down with tomahawks! Another wounded man was lying on the bank by the lake.' He' thought, when he: saw the natives coming down, that they were Tamati Walker's men coming to save him, instead of which they took the poor fellow and threw him into the lake. It was night when we all returned to the pah.' The' next day we buried the dead' in a,' ; hollow near 1 the entrance to Okaihau Bush, on the left side. 'We heard that Kawati had lost his eldest son, his fighting chief, and about' 30 ' men. ' Heke and his people buried the whitjd', men who had fallen near his pah. Heke him-,, ' self went to the Waimate for Dr Burrows to,' come and read the funeral service over the bqdies.of the dead soldiers. While Heke went " , 'to fetch the parson, some of 'his men stripped' the dead men of their 'clojbhes : this so enraged ' ' Heke that he took the clothes and had them all burned. , The following day the little army of soldiers' . and sailors returned to the Bay of Islands, ) Tamati Walker going with them. The natives)' l wpukl not help to carry the wounded, without 'V payment. They demanded £4 for carrying a" ' wounded coxwain ; Capt. Beckham paid £2 10 a out of his own pocket Before they would move. • The remainder were paid in blankets when they got to the Bay. Tamati Walker and some . other chiefs went aboard the North Star, where ' ,'they 'saw Pomare as a prisoner— much to their, j astonishment. "The vessel then left for Auck- ' land.' ' ' ' '„',!•' Some of Walker's men, with a body of . soldiers, went to Waikare, where they had a bit of a scrimmage with Kaiwati's men. 'Hauraki, a young chief, was' badly 'wounded '; we" ' lost three men. We' got back to the' Bay' of. ( Islands, but without the" wounded chief, Hau- ' raki, who belonged to the Hikitu. On the second day he managed to crawl to the banks of the '. nyer, where he got assistance ; Mr Cook's sons took him t6 the Bay of Islands, where the doctors' did the best they could for himj but ii; was too late. He was a .fine brave young fellow. Mr Manning and several 'of his men came over as soon as they gpt the i news and 'carried' the dead chief to his home at ( Whi-'j rinaki. Tamati Walker went to Auckland to ' see the governor about Pomare, who re- , leased on his becoming security and promising that Pomare would remain- with him during . [ the war.' Walker returned in about a month, when he brought Pomare with him. Pomare then told me about the attack on his pah and the destruction of Mr Greenway's property. ' i - Tamati Walker came to his own pan at the entrance of the Okaihau Bush ; every thing' had been quiet during_ his absence, excepting' the fight at Waikari, where Hauraki,"' the ' Whirinaki chief, got his death wonnd. ' Two days after Walker's return, Heke aban- y doned his pah at Omapere Lake, and went 'to Ohaeawai. One Sunday that I was strolling about, having a look around with Tamati „ Walker's telescope, when I thought Heke's pah appeared very quiet, I saw smoke but 'no i ' one stirring. On the flagstaff there used .to ' be ' , , a bit of red stuff for a flag ; I noticed that' this " was gone. I went back and told Walker, 'and, ■ , at cockcrow next , morning, I and ,ten native's went over to the pah, where Heke's .men Had done so much mischief.' It was still dark,when we got there, but when day broke we found j aa I suspected, the place .deserted— not a soul ,' there — but they had left" behind^them 'about. 100 kits of potatoes. From, there we went to Kawati's pan, a little distance off ; it was like the other— empty. They, too, had, left provisions behind them ; there were 250 baskets , of potatoes in the pah; so, either food was ,' plentiful with them, or else they were too lazy to carry it away. No one' seemed to have, any ' idea when the natives left the pahs. At .first , our natives would have nothing to do with , the potatoes ; they said there, was blood on them, but as our provisions began to get scarce they," were glad to take them. ] On our way from the pahs, we saw a party , of Heke's men ; both sides fired, but the distance was too great between them for any one to be wounded. I found out afterwards that l( Heke had returned to get a small cannon, he ' had hidden : it was a 4-pounder ; 'which he , took to Kororareka. He managed to. get ' t the ' gun, and, with his men, returned to his own place. I stayed a day or two longer 'at the pah, then, with my wife, returned to my place ' m Hokianga. There is a fine piece of land not far from Walker's pah, called the Tae-a-mai ; it had belonged, in olden times, to Macquarrie's ancestors, but had since been claimed by f Heke. Macquarrie now_ proceeded, to take possession of this land in the name' of' his ( grandfather. So one morning, early, he left ' Walker's pah.with sixteen picked men and J went to the Hauhau, where he planted the English flag on the top of a hill. After this Macquarrie built a pah on the left hand side : in which he and his tribe went to live. Tamatx' Walker had a pah built on the right hand side, so that the hill with the flag on it was between the two pahs, that it might be properly protected. While we were building our pah Heke and Kawati were engaged building a very strong pah at Ohaeawai, the posts of which were made of puriri, 6 feet in the ground and 16 feet out, most of them full 9 inches through, and drawn to the place where they were to be set up by bullocks. They stocked the pah with all the provisions they could get; in fact, made every preparation for a long siege, or war, which ever you like to call it. On this pah a cannon-ball would make little or no impression. I have said before, no pakeha would be able to form an idea of the strength and resistance those pahs offered to cannon. Immediately a breach was made, another post was placed behind. Men who have seen Ijthem have been astonished at the wonderful skill shown in their building. The inside was full of pits and trenches, in which they used to hido or sleep. I had been backwnrds and forwards several times, but on the 12th of June my wife and T returned to Tamati Walker's pah to make a lone; stas*. I had an f idea that it would not be long before ther

would be some hard fighting, and I wanted to do my share. I saw that the pah of Hekes would give the soldiers some warm work before it was taken. The English officers made a, mistake in despising their onemies. If they made themselves acquainted with the way m Tvhich such a pah as Heke's was constructed before they attacked it, the loss of life— the waste of good men's lives— might have been, in a measure, prevented. The soldiers thought the cannon-balls and storming parties would do wonders;* but 1 they soon found out their mistake. I always said they made too sure. On the morning of the 13th June we saw a large' party of Heke's men coming along the road leading from Ohaeawai towards Macquarrie's pah.f Macquarrie and his people were soon out, and fired on the advancing party. Patuoni (Walker's brother) and • I got our guns and joined, them., vAfter a little I went up. to the flagstaff to try and see what was going on. There I found Mr James Davis, of the Waimate mission, looking towards the Ohaeawai road, and saw about 300 of the enemy coming towards Walker's pah. ; Suddenly they stopped about ', two miles from us, and appeared to be praying. .1 sang .out to, Walker, who was ,on his way with his -tribe to join Mapquame... 1 told him.what Heke was.doing.. Then he and his men returned to the pah and had prayers too. After this was ov ( er ,we wont down ' on to the flqt and waited' for , th'e.e'nemy;on the west side,' of a, field of kumaras. Our tribe had divided into two parties, one on ,the east side and one on the west. • The enemy rushed on to, those on the east side, and' shot a , chief who was dumb. One of ,the enemy jumped on to the fence to shoot Tino, when I .at once shot him dead. Macquarrie's men were, still firing, on the,enemy,that had hrdt engaged with them.' Some' of /ours ,that had run away now rallied. A few more ;' had i come", up," so, that they were stronge'ri and! made' a, dash ,on Heke's party. Wi'.,'.Hf)bs'on .got .ahead in the f rush, and wounded Heke inthe' thigh. A native tried to get at ' the , chiof ' Rukuha in th, c confusion. I kUle)i'that fellow also.' , I ,cbuld see a 1 lot of fellpw 8 carrying off the wounded, Heke, and among ,them some of our own mob. But for 1 that, piece of , stupidity we should have had Heke, '.prisoner safe enough! that ,day. The enemy .were .-flying in' all directions. -Rapaha killed one of Heke's big chiefs. I fired on old Wharepapa,- ,but missed him. i, We chased them- about ; 'two miles. Tamati Walker ,kept Bulging. I , 'opt, ,' let the* Ngapuhi run.' ' Wo lost;, "five,, men, , one ,. was ..wounded. We!tttesd" that/; Heke, lost .about '/the. same,- number. ( I spotted one fellow ,be. longing" tp,' the enemy, and -meant, to kill him ifle, first' chance ;I could get,' ,He was one' 4 ojE''the .party who drowned. the wounded soldier' jn the lOmapere Lake* after the .first fight. ''.'.The, -next morning' l went over.to Macquarne's 'pah" to -hear 'the,talk, which' wassyire to be' 1 J gre'at J af'£er the affair of yesterday-f-telling,who stood firm, whoran away, and all thafc'sprt'of thing.' ' Mr St. Aubyn, the Magistrate,'iCanie and told-, the chiefs that a man-of-war ,was expected at the Bay of Islands on the following day, 'and that men ,were wanted to talce^bullook drays— all 'that' ,could .be mus'-; tered^to bring' up baggage^ provisions,; and the "guns belonging to> the, troops. .Tamati Walker, 'the 'Magistrate, I,' and the men who were Vfo, see,. after the" drays, all went to Waimate.' ,as i> many,,,buUock .drays as we could; 'fpr Ker&eri.' 1 . Mr.St.' Aubyn goti'us'fepd.From Mr Kemp. That night I wejajb'abpatd ihe Ha^ar^ with 'Mr St. Aubyn ;, thiSwas Ba'tur'day! 1 ' On 'itie following Monday, the Soldiers were, landed;, and, tlje next day, guiis and baggag^^l^ ssdiers,,;to '^ork-'the guhsi- under 'the command of Lieutenant Phillpot.'. The ;day' after, we started for Waimate. !feef 6re' we .left Kerikeiri, '.Mr Olendon sent me to catch" a horse for Lieutenant Phillpot. There was a" saddle right enpiigh"'- but no' bridle 1 . I tol^' ' Mi- Phillpot. Bte i said ."' Go to, the coxswain ; 'tell, him to give you a bit' of the painter, anj&'lpoine arid splice' it 'int'6 the bit.' It was. three-inch rope,' nearly, new, There was a freat 'deal 'of laughter to see this new kind of iridle, as much as.Mr Phillpot could hold. , He; had^a thiok stick in his other hand, and he loolced the queerest sailor-officer I ever saw. About' '4oo 'soldiers' got' 'to' the Waimate that, night. ' No sooner there than, the soldiers made a raid on the ducks and geese. This caused a great ,deal of. grumbling, you may be sure, among* the settlers ; they thought their friends than th ■ foaß-

worse . .n iocs. After 'a stay of three or four days, the soldiers'marched, to, Ohaeawai, where Heke's pah wa'a' b'tnli' Heke was' wounded, as I told you, buG'Tamati W.alker,and the, other chiefs knew wnere/he well enough, and" could 'have easily' taken hint' if, they,, had wanted to' get him', for he^waa^not more than five miles'off. Tfie "soldiers, camped a,bput a mile from, the pah, 'tinder' command of Colonel Despard. I wait , with Wicker, and we' Baw a better spot for, the encampment than' the one they had chosen, sheltered from r the fire of the pah. Colonel' Desmond approved of the site,". and ordered a .change to oe made. I pointed out a gdoft place' for' a. stockade, and there they placed .the two first cannons. Next morning they fired on 'the 1 pah with the big guns, but without making, the' slightest impression on it. During the 'night 'the natives put up a sort of screen of green flax along ,the front, and they then added a wing about 30 feet long towards the big 'guns. The soldiers would fire on the pah' for a spell,' lose one or two men, then leave off j next day, perhaps, not lose any. Colonel Despard ordered the soldiers to cut a lot of green flax j, tie up in bundles', and use it as a sort' of shield against the fire from the pah, and; under cover of this, they were to advance and attack the pah.. But first they tied a bundle oh to'a'p'dst, then fired at it t of course the" bullets went through, so that plan was'nd good,' after Vasting tw,o days cutting 'and preparing this new sort of armour. Well, they moved their guns here, and there, sometimes firing on one part of ,the pah,' .sometimes on another, losing men all the time. ' ,1 feel sure that a party »f old women would have shown more dense. Of course there were officers present who had better knowledge of what should be done, but as 'they were mostly juniors they had no voice in the' management of affairs. The natives used tb look' on, and make fun of the pakeha way of fighting, but did not like to see our soldiers' arid sailors wasted, and used to cry out, 'Mali, mau, the Pakeha.' One day I was on the hill where Hoko's pah was. Colonel Jluhne was there, looking down on Heke's pah with his field-glass J Colonel Hulme said to me, — ''What is your opinion of this pah of Heke's ? —shall we take it?' 4Do you see the western side of that pah, sir?' I said, 'Well, the natives go in and out when they please— they go that road (pointing to where some women were digging up kumara), and get provisions. Now, if your soldiers were divided, half would go over there, and blockade that'road, cut off the supplies, and so starve them out ; the other half stay this side.' ' Why not send the natives on that side ? ' said Colonel Hulme.

' That would never do, sir,' I said ; ' they arc all relations; they would let them pass. It would beubeless to send them alone, and if you rush the pah, yon hay*. no idtia what trendies and pits thoi-u aro inaide. 1 know well how those pahs are built, and I f b il sure you would loge half your men, perhapn more,'

Colonel Hulme listened to all that I said, and remarking; 'I will see Colonel Despard, walked away. However,' nothing came of it: things went on in the same stupid fashion. It was now the end of June, when they sent to the' Kenkcri, and got from the man-of-war a 32-pounder, which toolc thirty bullocks to drag to Ohaeawai, and on the Ist of July they fired the first shot, which fell about ten yards short, and kicked up the dirt. They kept on firing, but not a shot struck tho pah. It was just the rocket affair over again. I was up at Walker's house, watching Mr Wilmot, who was firing ; he had a chance of a good shot at the enemy. Just at that moment I heard a pop, pop. Some natives who had come ovor from Heke's pah got into' Walkers house, robbed it while he was away, tore down our flag, and were off in less , time than I have taken, to tell it. It was an ambush, and done in broad daylight. _, The sentry had five balls in ,him; we had "one native killed "and one wounded;, JVfr Hopkins Clarke was, also wounded. This party 'were after Walker to kill him in a sly sort of way. They did not know he was' away from home ; however, they took Walker's watch, telescope, cloak, ,and blankets. They put up our flag on a post of , their pah out .of .derision, and it served us right. In that 'afternoon I saw a number of soldiers going in and out of the Quartermaster s wlfare ; some came out with axes, others with cartridges ; they were evidontly in a hurry. Of course I went to see what was up, got some cartridges ior myself, and ,thep I heard that ' they were going to rush Heke's pah. The I doctor ordered me to stop ancl assist guarding the magazine,' and point out our natives, .from | the enemy jif they came out of .tho^ pah.'. The G^yernmen^interiji-etor— Ned' Meurant— was ; close to me^ol'said.,! „, ''„ „', , . ; {Look at your 'watcli and tell me when you hear the first gunned.' r - I was curious to know how long it woulg bo before they would come flying bapk, for I know they could not' storm the pah so easily as they imagined. . < ,1 / All right,' said Meurant ' i . The soldiers went down towards tho pah', and w|re soon out of sight. , I heard the firirig,,then ih!e bugle sounded the retreat., ( „. g asked Meurant,, ', 'How long?' ' J i ', •' Seven and a-hali minutes,' says he. ]When,l looked roun^ ,some soldiers, were bringing in, Sergeant-major Myers^Major Mao- ■ leod, and wounded, and there, was' great co'n|upion Everywhere. |( The ( road was ,'crowd.cd Vjth "soldiers] returning" carrying wo ( unded,men. I found' out afterwards that when the Colonel saw some of his men fall from the fire of those ,within ! the pah lie/got frightened, and ordered ,ttfe,, retreat; to, be sounded, '.when at that very mWnen£ some of the enemy were aotu'ally hokj- , iiig the gate of the' pah ii^prevenWome of, those ,vsthin running away ;'.' and there, is not a.dpubt, tKat' hsid they held 'on a 'few, minutes ,lbnger. the jpah.would, have been, purs. 1 The .instant our,, men turned 'to 'com,e away the, enemy got into their trenches and 'fired into 'the' retreating j men^ and in a few'ininutes 125 were killed and wounded. , Lieutenant; Phillpot climbed ,oti to 'one "of the posts'. ot'the'pahi,, and was reaching over to' kill one of the ehemy whenthe man .tired and killed him. |Cc was the, fikest and trayest' gentleman' I 'ever' knew. ; | Another natiye fired, and killed the sailor boy ! beside him., "Bopr. Lieutenant Phillpot ;' I was ,' dreadfully sorry to h,ear He iyas sMof. He was | ■a;fine sailor— always , very good and friendly to 'Die, „ -If he tiad.liyea .lain sure ,l should, have gj)t some little reward" for' my services to the Government. , . ,• , , „ , | It, was awful to hear the groans of the wioun&e'a all that,' night. "The ,Rey.. Mr Wil- | liams and Mr Ciendon were helping the Ito attend ' to the wounded. I. asked ' Mr Cleiidbn'to'letpae go with Mr Williams to ihe pah and -fay i^nd get/the wpuniied' menwho^ha'd .b,een, left behuid. We',' heard that therq. were, 3$ of, pur men in 'and about the pah. (I( I got a bit of white calicjp and soon rigged up a ( flag of, trupe. When' we approached 'the pah TVfr .■Williams sang out and asked for the wounded itobegive'nuptous. ' ' „ ' , ," , 'No,''said,]?enetawai. () ' ,',,',, t Djirectly.we left the pah a native came, out aiid deliberately shot three of ,the wounded men before, our eyes. Of course I had no grin ,qr I would have shot that fellow quick enough. There w.as a soldier "on guard at the breastwork. , , ' Why don't you fire on that ,brute V I called out. , ' .' ' I dare not,' said the soldier, • without the wor^ of command.' ' ' ' ,7 1J " | I went back to'the' camp, 'very'much grieved 'to ttiink I could not 'get our poor fellows. • OOfn f my^ way home "that night' l had to pass Colonel Despard's tent. The trumpeter called out to me to come and speak to the Colonel. 'Well, Marmon,'said he, 'this is a bad job. Do you think the enemy are likely' to attack us tonight'?' ', ' ' ; ' No, sir,' I said ; 'it will take them all night to talk over ftow well' they fought. I know their ways so well. You need not be alarmed —they will never come out to-night.' The Colonel dismissed me, and I went home. The next morning, on my way to the front, I passed Major Briggs' tent. He asked me what road I had come, and if it was a good one. 1 Yes, sir,' I said, ' if you wear no shoes and tuck 'up your trousers.' ' ' ,j ' ' Well, which is the best road ?' 'The way you came,' said I; 'that is the best road' to the Waim'ate.' ' , ,Major Briggs ' pointed 'to some bush, and' said: ' There might be an ambush.' 1 'Well, ; sir,' said I (I could see he was frightened), 'we have 500 natives— 2So could go in front, and 250 behind. You in the middle would be pretty safe, I reckon.' I afterwards heard that they were thinking of retreating on the previous night, but the order had been countermanded. • Next day the soldiers were busy taking the wounded to the Wa'imate in, drays. Captain Grant, of the'Sßth, was one "of the officers killed at the storming of the pah. From this time till the 4th of July, things went on much as usual, the enemy firing at intervals. Wo could see from where we were that dogs, pigs, ducks, and geese wero getting at the dead soldiers lying in front of Heke's pah. I asked an officer if I might call out and try to get the dead. II 11I 1 got permission and went up and sang out ; a native got on one of the posts and asked who it was. 1 ' l Me, Jacky,' I replied. . He said, ' You can come in if you like. ' ■ ' No,' I said, 'you come out.' This chief's name was Hara ; he came outride, and I asked him if I might get the dead soldicK.

'Yes,' said he, 'but, don't bring up any soldiers, and when you take these dead ones, bury them at Russell.' f took some native boys to help me, and asked for a blanket from the colonel to put round Lieutenant Phillpot. I carried him on my back from the pah. I met the Rev. Mr Williams ; he passed on without speaking to me or flara ; my buys wore carrying away the dead. Hliva, had told me that Captain Grant w;ih buried on the western side of the pah, in a UpUL'd place. JVir. Williams hiwl culled in Kara, wild I waited and waited, afraid to venture to remove the body from tapued ground

without the protection of a chief ; at last I.gofc tired and went away. We had removed 35 dead and then came to the camp. The flag of truce which I had hoisted oh a post, was hauled down. Captain Grant's body was still inside. A large pit was dug for the dead ; the colonel would not send them to Russell, he said it was too far; they were, therefore-, buried near the camp and the Rev. Mr Williams read the funeral service over them.

(To be continued).