PAGES PROM THE PAST.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 October 1921, Page 9

PAGES PROM THE PAST.

REMINISCENCES OF THE EARLV . DAYS. VEN. ARCHDEACON 43OVETT. By “Juvenis.” (Concluded.) In February, 1848, I was taken by the Undine to Taranaki, to which I had been appointed soon after Mr. Holland's death, that 1 might, as the Bishop said, carry on my friend’s work. The English population there was very small, consisting of a little more than 1000, and the settlers were confined within yery narrow limits. It was a poor, isolated community, living under constant apprehension of being disturbed or even driven from their homes by the Natives. Soon after my arrival there was great alarm in New Plymouth, when Mr. Richard Brown, a merchant living there, had struck a Native with a heavy riding-whip on the head, and, as it was feared, with fatal results. His fritnds assembled in large numbers for revenge; but happily he recovered consciousness after a while, and no permanent injury was inflicted, and the Natives were satisfied with taking his horse as utu. Great w r as the relief of al) when it was so settled.

Governor Fitzroy, on one of his visits, hinted at’ the breaking up of the settlement, and offered to provide homes elsewhere for the people. Few, however, were willing to accept his offer, nearly all preferring to remain at Taranaki.

Besides ministering to the settlers, I visited every two months the Natives to the south as far as Whatino, fifty miles distant from the town, and at the

end of 1848 the Waitara Natives also, who had lately come thither from Waikanae, as it was their old home. Sir G. Grey had threatened if they could not agree to his terms that he would send a man-of-war to smash their

canoes en route; but his threats did not hinder them, nor were they subsequently interfered with, on the understanding that they were to settle on the north bank cf the Waitara. There was after this a time of comparative quiet, until the end of the year 1854, when the minds of the white people were greatly disturbed by the Native feuds, arising from unp party being favorable to the sale of land to the Government, whilst the other was vehemently opposed to it. Bloodshed soon followed. Whilst Rawiri Waianft with his men was engaged in rutting lines for the surveyors near Bell Block, he and several others were shot down by the followers of Katatore, a very turbulent Native. The Government did not feel strong enough to apprehend the murderers.

.Some months afterwards, Ihaia, a determined enemy of Katatore, built a pa at the east end of Bell Block, and skirmishes took place daily near the fields of some of the settlers, the bullets now and then entering their houses: but providentially no one was hit. The knowledge of the miserable condition in which the settlers were placed brought Bishop Selwyn and Archdeacon Abraham to the spot, to *ee if a stop could be made to this guerilla warfare. They rould not effect much, hut ir- the year 1856 a truce was made, af- j I ter many had been killed or wounded on both sides. The cessation of hostilities, however. > was only temporary. The savage hatred 1 that Ihaia entertained for Katatore led | tc his treacherously murdering him on | his return from a visit to New Ply- j mouth. Katatore’s people immediately ‘ besieged Ihaia in his pa, Ikamoana, near Hell Block, and he was forced to re- I treat to Waitara. whither his enemies ’.followed him; but through the inter\ention of Mr. Parris and Mr. Whiteley, he was allowed to escape, and thus ended his share in the warfare. 1 was not at New Plymouth during this latter phase of the Native trouble, having obtained leave to visit England with my family; but the accounts of | what had been going on at Taranaki filled me with alarm, and made me fearful that on my return to New Zealand, which took place in 1859, there would soon be fresh trouble, arising from the opposition of the Native Land League to the sale of land to the pakehas. My : fears were soon realised. Early in 1860 the attempt to enforce the purchase of land at the Waitara, which was resisted by Wi Kingi, the head chief there, led to a collision with the troops, and the war- which was destined to cause such misery to the settlers began. All who were living in the country had to abandon their homes and their crops just reaped, and their was left to the enemy. They came i into New Plymouth, which was thus ! overcrowded, and fatal diseases —the re- ; uilt of the overcrowding and the anxi- ; e.,y and depression of mind of the outj •■•asts from home—soon made their ap- ; pea rance, and many deaths occurred. It j was therefore thought wise to send away the wives and children of many ;of the destitute settlers to Nelson. There they were at peace outwardly, but in a continual state of dread as re- ’ gards those they had left behind. The arrival of a steamer from Taranaki too often brought them the news of the ’’ death in fight or by disease of some I loved relative. I do not purpose, to dwell at any j length upon the events of the Maori ■ war, but only to speak of those in which we were specially interested. The ■ first encounter with the Natives was i near the camp at Waitara, on the 117tb March. 1856. After a heavy cau- ■ nonading the Maoris were forced to eva- • euate the so-called L pa. The next was on the 28th, when a large for/e ; went from New Plymouth to rescue the i Rev. 11. Brown and his family, and some 'others from the further side of Omata. |On their way they were met by The NaI lives and a. severe engagement ensued, ial which the settlers had to bear the I brunt of the attack. The soldiers rej tired to New Plymouth at nightfall and left our men without further aid; but happily Captain Cracroft of the Niger, with a force of sailors and marines, made a dash at a Native pa close at band, and took it. killing many of its. defenders. This gallant act was prob-

ably the means of saving our men, wh< stood a great chance of being over

powered. We returned to New Plymouth about midnight to our great relief. On rhe 27th June an attack was made on the Puketakauere Pa about J iwo miles from the Waitara camp. The attack was not successful but resulted jin a heavy loss to the military, who •were compelled to retire in haste, leav-

j ing many of their wounded in th? hands ot the Natives. Mr. White lev and 1 ’rode out to the Waitara on the next day, to persuade them to bury the deal, j which they’consented io do. On the 16th November I visited the Taranaki i Natives, travelling as fax as Montot?. ] 7 he old chief there was very unfriendly. ' and my friends recommended me. to go pit once to another village, which 1 did. on the day following 1 returned to 1 town, and on my return 1 heard that o gieat fight had taken place at Mahoe-

Itahi, in which many of the Waikato chiefs were killed. At this fight, « son 6? Mr. Brown, a lad of 16 years, was shot dead. Six of the Waikato chiefs were brought into town and buried in St. Mary’s church-yard. The 23rd January, 1861, was a day memorable for the defeat of the Natives in their attack upon the redoubt at ITu;xangi, held by the 40th Regiment; with the help of men from the other redoubts, the natives were repulsed with heavy loss. This led to the withdrawal of the Waikato men from the neighborhood, and so gave us hopes of a successful termination of the struggle. Before this we had b' tdt in a wretched state in New Plymouth. St. Mary's churchyard had been turned into a bullock yard, and the church itself into a picket house. On one night an evil-minded soldier tore out several pages -from our handsome folio Prayer Book; but when General Pratt heard of it. he ordered one like it, which we received in due course. Besides straggling parties ot Natives who were continually hovering shout the neighborhood of the town, cut off one after another of those who imprudently ventured into the country. Amongst these was Mr. W. King, the only son of Captain King, one of the founders of the settlement, whose death was much regretted. After a while the arrival of Colonel Warre with the 57th Regiment, and the formation of a corps of bush-rangers from among the- settlers, put a stop ’to any fui-ther outrages of this kind.

At this time it was a part of my regular Sunday work to ride out to the Waitara and hold Divine service at the headquarters’ carop, and at the different inland redoubts, which was attended by the soldiers not on duty. On one Sunday 1 found that an advanced post had been taken up at Huirangi, and that al! were hard at work redoubt building, so that there was no prospect of attention being given to anything else. It was the knowledge that much military work was commonly done on the Sunday—which seemingly might have been put off for other days of the week—that induced all the ministers in New Plymouth to sign a memorial to the General, urging that, as far as possible, Sunday should be made a day of rest, which would have been a great boon to all concerned in the war, for it was quite certain that if we observed the Day it would also be observed by the Natives. However, General Pratt did not take in good part what he considered as <4n unwarrantable presumption of ours; and to show his displeasure ceased for the future to attend Divine service, and the naval commander gave orders that his men should not attend the service on my visits to the camp, but that it should be said by one of his lieutenants. In 1861 Hapurona came to terms with the Governor, and General Cameron de - J termined to withdraw the greater part of the forces to Auckland. So on the fourteenth I had a large congregation, consisting of divisions of several regiments and of the Royal Artillery, numbering about 2360 men. drawn up in three sides of a hollow square. On the day following the embarkation of the troops began, and a comparatively small | force was left in Taranaki. Tn November the Bishop of New Zealand paid a visit to New Plymouth, and was not well received by the settlers. Some indeed treated him in a most insulting manner. There was some degree of excuse for them, for they were smarting under the heavy looses and trials which they had undergone, and therefore anyone who said a word in ; favor of the Maoris was regarded as an [open enemy. Conscious as the Bishop | was of the ill-feeling with which he was I looked upon, he did not shrink from an | unpleasant duty, but stood at bay in : the midst of the crowd which surround!ed him at his landing, and endeavored Ito reason with them quietly and patiently, and. not without effect, for the outcry against him was for a time quelled. and one of his hearers who had been most loud in his denunciations confessed that they were but children in his hands. On hearing of the treatment which the Bishop had met with Colonel Waire I gave orders that whenever he appeared the guard should turn out and salute him. This, however, was not to the Bishop’s taste, and he seldom gave an opportunity of having this honor done him. Soon after his arrival he went down the coast in Lopes of influencing for good the Taranaki Natives. The leading chiefs there were at first very disrespectful. but they could not continue long in this mood towards one of his undaunted courage and dignity. .Still he does not appear to have wrought any great change in their disposition towards the pakeha. After three week*;’ stay in our midst he returned to Auckland. About this time the fighting was withdrawn to some distance from New Plymouth, and accordingly many of the wives and families of settlers .came back from Nelson to the town, but it was a long time afterwards before it was considered safe for any to return to their farms.

The advent of Sir George Grey led to lenewed hostilities in the neighborhood. A large military force was stationed at Tataraimaka, and the road between that place and New Plymouth was supposed by the Governor, from information which he had received, to be safe for travellers. Misled by this false intelligence, a party of nine soldiers went on their, way to New Plymouth, hut when they reached YVairau, they were fired upon by Natives lying in ambush, and eight of them were killed. The Governor was, of course, regarded as guilty of the death of these men, and he must have felt deeply his grievous fault. I was with him for a l°ng time on the evening of the 4th May, on v. hieh the massacre occurred, and I never saw any man -suffer greater distress of mind than he manifested. ‘Six out of the eight of those who had been killed were buried in St. Mary’s Churchyard, and very sad were the hearts of all who looked upon the mournful procession. and listened to the burial service said over them. Military posts were still held in different parts of the country, but the main seat of the war was soon transferred to the Waikato, and by degrees the settlers began io re-occupy their farms, all hough their experience in the, past made many doubtful ofeits being wise to do so. However, they were not interfered with by the Maoris; and it was not until the year 1869 that they had much cause for alarm. But then Lieutenant Gascoyne, with his family, who had been left in charge of the block-house at Pukearuhe, near the White Cliffs, and a few others being close at hand, were murdered by a band of Ngatimaniapoto Natives, and soon after the Rev. Mr. Whiteley, who was on his way to visit this outlying district, was met by these Native ana shot down. . This outrage was naturally regarded by us al’ as the beginning of a murderous raid to bp made on .the district generally, and some on hearing of the mas-sa-ere for a \yhile deserted t-heir form' and took refuge in the to* n; but through God’s goodness so temple a dSsaster was averted, a.\l the Ngatp

maniapoto Natives returned to their own country. It is probable that Te Wetere and the oilier Maoris with him were so much shocked at the murder of Mr. Whitely—an old and highly respected missionary, who had lived among thefcf it Kawhia for many years—that ’fcrank from carrying on any further murderous purposes. And since that time the Ilers have not been seriously L®*. have been allowed now for many yCirs to spread far and wide throughout SJara-ns-ki