REMINISCENCES OF EARLY DAYS IN AUCKLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2509, 16 April 1902, Page 46

REMINISCENCES OF EARLY DAYS IN AUCKLAND.

A. TUSSLE WITH A MAORI, AND I * GET WORSTED.

(By the Late Geo. Eliot Elliott.) t iYes, I did get considerably the worst of it. It happened in this way : When Governor Fitzroy was Governor — that is, in 3.84-3 — I was living on five acres of ground between the back of the Hospital and Mount Eden. I was considered an " out settler" in those daya. The land fronted the Kyber Parws road — only there was no road then; it was rather a track through jthe fern and scoria. To get to office in the town — a. little more than a mile distant — I cook a deviating path between the Hospital and the Government Gardens and the Dotoain—not a made path, but simply through the fern and tea-tree by frequent use. One day I got as far as Government House f-the office was in Princes street, close by — re-hen I saw a Maori running towards me. He was a young, athletic fellow, about two '©r three and twenty. He had nothing on Jhim in the way of clothing except a pair iof trousers. About a hundred yards behind (him I saw a straggling lot of 12 or 15 men running after him. When the foremost of (these caught sight of me they called out, >" Stop him ! stop him ! " but the Maori passed me. However, impelled I suppose by those feelings which impel a young ■fellow to participate in fun when he has /the chance, I turned and ran after him, 'and soon overtook him. I knew enough ilaori to make him understand me, and for me to understand his reply. As we ran I said, " What's the matter? " " Oh,"^ he answered, " the pakeha is angry." " What about?" I inquired. "I don't know," he replied. I said no more, but thought to myself, " Well, my gentleman, I'll find out what's the matter; I'll run you down." 'Ah, me ! I could run in those days— my mile in five minutes, and think nothing of it. Well, we ran side by side through the Domain about a mile, mostly UDhill. When we got to the hill — the Hospital on the right aud the Government Gardens on the left — the Maori was pretty well done, for lie had had a good hard run up Shortland Crescent before I met him. Here he suddenly doubled on me sharp to .the left 'downhill towards a raupo swamp of about an acre and a-half, close to the Gardens, with a little bush at the margin of it. I knew if he got into the swamp I should Qose him, so T put on a spurt and overtook 'him just as he was entering it. I at once 'jumped at him with hands aud knees and knocked him down. He lay on the broad of his back, blowing like a grampus, his limbs quivering with exertion. I — oh, what a fool I was!— stood across him, face to face, he being between my legs. He lay quite still for some minutes until be had recovered his breath to some extent. Then all at once he half rose up, seized me round the legs just below my knees, and •had me on my back in a second, he sitting on the top of me. I caught him by the hair and pulled him down prone beside me. ,Then we began to struggle. He was a much bigger and heavier man than I, but we were both about the same age. He had no weapon that he could injure me with, \ and I had plenty of pluck, so I stuck to siim. He had hold of me by the collar of the coat, and I had bold of him by the iiair and the waistband of his troupers, and (thus wo rolled over and over until we got fwell into the swamp — sometimes he was uppermost, sometimes I, — crushing down *he raupo as we struggled. In those days men used to wear black silk neckerchiefs, (passed twice round the throat and tied in jfront. I had one of these on. All at once (he took hold of the first fold of this with (his right hand, ancl drew it tight and then tighter. I was half choked. He soon had me completely in his power. He sat on the top of me while I gripped him by the throat. I could only reach it with one hand ; but what with perspiration and the wet of the swamp I could not retain my hold, while he continually gave an extra pull at the neckerchief. I thought to myself, "If those fellows behind have given up the chase I'm a gone coon. This chao will settle me, for his monkey is up." Bow long this lasted I can't tell. I must have become almost, if not quite, insensible; it could not, however, have been very long. The first thing I remember was that I was relieved of this incubus. He must have heard the people coming up, and slipped off me further into the swamp ■out of sight. I lay still until I had repovercd a little, when I got up and staggered out of the swamp. I then came upon some half-dozen of the men who had followed him from town. " He's in there," I said. "If you go in you can take him." However, they did not seem disposed to tackle him, and I did not wonder at it, «cc ing the plight he had left me in. My clothes torn, covered with slimy mud from head to foot, wet to the skin, shivering all ovor, and scarcely able to stand, I was not even a respectable scarescrow. You -hould have seen my hat, or what wa.- left of it, after we had rolled over it three or four times. It was a nicture. I managed to reach hime after a bit — not far off luckily, — and you may safely say that I did not go to the office that day. I thought I had done enough for the Queen for one day, ancl ■honestly earned my 6s> — that was my pay. The next day, of course. I had to ex plain to Dr Sinclair, the Colonial Secretary, the reason of my absence. He had heard of my adventure — in fact, all the town knew of it. Like the sailor's parrot t^at did not lalk, but thought a lot. the old doctor said nothing, but I paw he thought it <v»ried me right, for interfering m other people's business Now for the sequel The fellow j-tayed in the <;wamp for some tune— the bc-t part i.f a couple of hour*. He then took ofl' his liousers I'o that he was quite naked, smeared him«elf all o\er with the brouni-.li preen shmo of the swamp, and came out The news had replied the town, and a goodly number of men and boys had come out to f>ee the fun. When he mo\ed they r-culd see from the edge where he wai- by th« motion of the raupo. though they rould xiot ccc the Maori kim«e!f He came out right against Willie Smith, the e>ief con stable. Smith s>ezpd him by one arm. bvt he was so greasy that he j-lippecl tlnoiißli his grasp like an eel The crowd followed him, but soon gave up the chase, and he pot clean away. He went up the AVaikato. knd Ptayed there nearly two year:—t ill 1845. —getting his face tattooed. He thought then he could not be recognised, so he came down to the neighbourhood of Auckland. Due evening, jti?t at du-k, he went into '•Robbie" Mitchell's .-toie. to buy a cap, kut Mitchell recognised him. and enticed

him to the top of the store under pretence of showing him some better ones than he was looking at. Mitchell then jumped over the counter, locked the door, called his etoreman, and secured the Maori, who was handed over to the police, tried for some theft he had committed, and sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. Sir George (then captain) Grey had succeeded Captain Fitzroy as Governor by this time. After the Maori (I have forgotten his name) had been in gaol some little time, he began to pine for that freedom so dear to men, all men, and particularly to such as he, and he became really ill. Sir George Grey pardoned him, made a policeman of him, and. on the principle of '"setting thief to catch a thief." a very good policeman he made. We used to meet often when he was on duty. He would come up to me with a laughing face, and, extending his hand, say, *' Tenakoe, Eriata! homai te ringaringa " (How are you, Elliott? Shake hands). Poor fellow, he did not live very long after, for he died in the hospital of consumption.