THE POVERTY BAY MASSACRE.

Colonist, Volume XII, Issue 1171, 15 December 1868, Page 4

THE POVERTY BAY MASSACRE.

The IFawlws Bay Herald gives the foll°\vino- interesting account of poor Mrs. Wilson's sufferings and marvellous escape, as lie gathered it from her and her boy Jemmy: — She sava that it was soon after ten o'clock on Monday night (November 9) when the Hau-haus rame to them : but I think she must be a little confused iibnut the actual time, for I saw a house on fire at 430. which, us far as I can make out, could be none other than theirs, or some building close to to it. Goldsmith'?, I understand, was not burnt until later. However that may be, Mrs. Wilson was in boil, and Mr. Wilson had just gone to bed, having been writing Jeffers for the overland mail, which ■\v;is i» leave on I lie following morning, when ft Maori kno-.-ke-l at the door, and wanted Mr. Wilson to open if, savin/ that he had a letter from Hirini. Mr. AViison's .-u^picions were aroused, and he told the man to put it underneath the door. Soon afterward* he looked our, and saw the outline of a number of heads, and suspected that mischief was intended. The wretches, finding that it was of no use to Iry to get the door opened by lair means, proceeded to batter it in with a piece of timber; but when they had clone so (he cowards dared not enter the house. Edward Moran was sleeping in some place outside, and Mr. Wilson called on him to come ir.io the house. Mrs. Wilson lay on the floor with one of her children (three children were upstairs), and Mr. Wilson and Moran returned the iire. Being foiled in this movement also, they next proceeded to seb fire to the house tit "both ends. This necessarily drove the poor creatures out, and the flames had got so far j that. Mrs. Wilson's hair a mil ho feet of the little ones j ■were scorched as they came out. Mr. Wilson had | hi? revolver, and was prepared to u.«e it, but they stopped him, and told him that, they would not kill him'now. They started to walk towards Goldsmith's. One of the Hau-haus took up Edward, Mrs. Wilson carried Jessie, Moran carried Alice, and Jemmy was on his father's back. They had very little clothine. having been turned summarily out of bed. Mrs. Wilson had a shawl over her night-dress. Thcv walked about 200 or 800 yards along the bank of the old river bed, when one of the Hau-haus rushed upon Moran, hut did not hit him ; another then slabbed poor Mrs. Wilson through the body ■with a bayonet. Mrs. Wilson on hearing her husband call out, turned round, and us site uttered a cry horror, she received a thrust from one of them through her body. Her arm was pierced, through her trying to shield poor little Bessie. Beyond this, s'-io was conscious of nothing more till daylight, when she came to herself, and on raising herself on her elbow as well as she could, she saw the other pom- Ihing3 lying dead around her, and missed little Jemmy, wondering what they had done ■with him, but never thinking for a moment that she would see him alive again. She lay in the same place the whole of Tuesday, on which day Hori Wanikihi came and took away her shawl ; and it was not. till Wednesday that she crawled back again to what had been her home. There she found si small tea-kettle, which she filled with water from the tank ; and with this and a broken bottle to drink out of, she hid herself in a small building which was ill left standing on the premises. Jemmy, when his father fell, had some difficulty in scrambling away, as his arm was under his father's body. He did get away, however, and ran towards Captain Bloom field's. 11; was still dark, and he lay down in the verandah. While lying there, he heard Charley James calling out to Miss St.ejignle, but. he knew nothing about, anyone coming, out of the house ; and in the morning he wandered about, hiding tit times under a sweetbriar bush. He found something to eat in Jem Gai land's cottage; and as he knew that the old man had run away from the llnu-haus, and would not be iikelv to come back again, he thought it would not be exactly stealing it it' he ate some of ■wliiit. lie found there. Tin? following night, he went to the Bioomficld's to look for a bed, and got. into one of the little boys' beds, which must have been jnsf its they left them in the morning. As he lay there be heard people in the house—-a man and a woman —and he therefore got up and locked the door of his room. It would seem that he was heard, for the woman came to the door and thumped at if, cui'iinif out to know who was there; but, getting no answer, she went, away, and, after making freo with things they found in the house, they left the boy undisturbed. On Wednesday he wandered about its before, and in the evening, instead of goinjr into the Bloomfield's house again, he took up his quarters under the sweetbriar bush, which, he says, was the best pbiee he ever hid in from a lot, of savages. It was ■well he changed bis lodging, for in the morning he sin- the wretches go by—as many, he thinks, as VM'dd liil the redoubt here —-men, women, and c!;i! i ll -.mi. Soon afterwards they set fire to all the ]i"M.,..-, ::i:d if lie had been in any of them ho must (•ill;, i- Invi! fallen into their hands or been burnt. .After iiu'V were gone away, he wandered hack to (lie neighbourhood of his old home, and saw his i'aliter, brother, sisters, and Moran lviuii dea.il, and thought that they must, have taken his mother to rat her, as fiip was nor, there. He then went, to T.t'Ui::!1., where he found ITori Warnkibi, who gave him a lit tie broad and moat, which he had probably looted out of one of the houses. Then he wandered biick aunin and found his mother, to their mutual surprise and delight. The fowls were still there, ami ho found some eu'gs, but they wanted fire to cink fhr-m wiih, so lie went to to Toanga again and fi'ked Mori fo>- some niaf'-hcs, hut. the old vagabond <ii:l not give him any. ?\ht!>. Wilson then suggested that he might get v bit of lire at some of the houses which had been burnt that morning. This he did, find put- the kettle on the lire and cooked the eggs in it. lie ;d?o got som* potatoes from old Hori at, 'i'on.ns»a. In the pocket of his father's coat there happened to be his father's card case, in which he "was iti the habit of earrving with the cards a tiny hit of lead pencil. Titis furnished the means of writing a nole, and poor Mrs. Wilson then tried to write, but her attempts were illegible, in consequence of the weakness or unsteadiness of her hand. After about four hours' work, and great painstaking, she at, last, succeeded in producing something that was legible, asking whether Eome kind friend could Jiot come to their assistance, and stating that they •were badly off for food and clothing, and that she was severely wounded. After two unsuccessful attempts to bring this note to Turanganui, in which he could get no further than Mnkaraka, the little man brought it, as you know, on Monday, the 18th instant, having been guided by Mrs. Brown's dog " Flo," which, of course, knew the way to Turanganui, and as she came on he followed her. He was met about two miles from Turanganui by a party who were going out to reconnoitre. When he first saw them he was afraid they might be Hau-haus, and he hid himself in the bushes ; but, when they got up to the place where he was, " Flo " barked, •md consequently betrayed their hiding-place. Tom Goldsmith, one of the parly, then took him upon his horse and brought him in, and a party went offimmediately with the doctor to bring Mrs. Wilson down to Turanganni.