ERRANDS ON DARK ROAD

Taranaki Daily News, 29 September 1933, Page 11

ERRANDS ON DARK ROAD

FEAR OF MAORIS RECALLED STORIES OF EARLY OKAIAWA. HOW BOYS TRAPPED NATIVE DOGS. It was frequently my duty to run errands to the general store at Okaiawa about a mile and a half from our home, writes Mr. C. M. Hill, New Plymouth. How I used to detest that journey in the winter evenings! I frequently had to travel on foot, our horses being in use by other members of the household. There was an old soldier who used to tell ghastly tales to the boys of how in days not so long gone by he had seen the Maoris travelling along this very piece of road carrying axes and guns and sometimes slung over their shoulders joints of “long pig.” .The name of “long pig” was given in the old days to the “joints” of enemies slain in battle and afterwards devoured by the conquerors. Of course the old soldier, like all old military men of those times, was prone to much exaggeration when he had an audience. We boys, i however, did not doubt his word in the least and swallowed every remark as being absolutely true. In fact when we were together playing we.used to boast what we would do if hostile 'Maoris molested us. But in the shades of night when I had to traverse that piece of road, all the stories I had heard assumed a realism that well-nigh scared the life out of me. Of course, being a boy I never admitted to my parents that I was afraid. On the road in the dark every overhanging bush and tree held in my imagination a lurking savage, and each turn of the gorge a foe hidden with a tomahawk and looking for my scalp. . ■ In those times many of the natives, especially the older ones, were tattooed on the face, which in my thoughts made an added horror. I used to space out that one and a half miles in sprints and pause to regain my breath at the various farm gates and houses along the way, One night a horseman loomed up out of the dark and spoke. As he accosted me and I could tell immediately it was a native by his speech. I know my hair stood on end with the fright I received, and even to this day the scant hair on my head is more or less refractory as a result of the scare. I was surprised to find the native very friendly, and he invited me to hold on to his stirrupiron until I reached our farm and the native escorted me right through the paddocks to the back door. In after years I knew the native very well and when I told him how frightened I had been he recalled the incident and stated that he recognised by. my demeanour how very terrified I was. It was in 1887 that as- a lad I first paid a visit to Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu in company with my brother-in-law, the late Mr. Robert Coxhead. He had a farm on the banks of the Kapuni River, close to the Maori pa Te Rua-ruru that was captured lay white troops a few weeks prior to the fight at Te , Ngutu-o-te-Manu, where the gallant Von Tempsky and some other 20 men and officers were slain. Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu was then in standing bush. Near to the- small creek that runs through the reserve was a ponga cross to mark the spot where the major was shot down. Some very large trees were shown to me, the trunks of which contained many bullets. With my penknife I dug out one of these bullets which I still hold as a souvenir of my youthful visit to this historic locality. I was also shown a heap of charred timbers and charcoal, the remains of the funeral pyre upon which the bodies of the white soldiers were burnt to ashes. It has been frequently stated in the past that the wild Maori fanatics under Titokowaru devoured the bodies of the slain soldiers, but the renegade white soldier Kimble Bent, who at that time was with the Maoris at Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu, stated that he himself witnessed the burning of the bodies until nothing but ashes remained. Had Titokowaru not been present it is likely enough that a ceremonial cannibalistic feast would have been indulged in. But Titokowaru was a war chief who fought according to his beliefs under the favours of the ancient Maori war gods, and when such a prize as Major Von Tempsky fell to Maori arms the chieftain so respected his brave foe that, he decreed that the remains should not be desecrated or mutilated in any way. By cremation he made . certain that the white officer’s body could not be further interfered with, and the episode stands as a generous thought from one leader to another that the fallen received lasting and, considering all things, decent sepulchre. Around Maori villages large numbers of dogs were always in evidence. They were, of all sizes, colours, shapes and breeds. In fact no dog-judge could have given a correct idea of the breed of many of the tykes. They were always hungry and used to roam around the country in search, of food. Some of my mates and myself collected bones and scraps and put them in a large barn on our farm. We closed the top swing door, leaving the bottom half open with a string attached. We were hidden in the loft. By running an ancient bone along the ground from the road gate to the bam we laid a scent, which the Maori dogs simply could not resist. ■ In this manner we were able to enclose one Saturday morning about a dozen dogs. The next job was to secure them, but with the aid of long sticks and ropes we had a jolly time lassoing the dogs. Some were fairly savage but by stringing them up by the neck for a minute op so we were able to take all the fight out of them. Each dog was then safely muzzled by tying a broad flax leaf over the nose and then around ' the neck. A wide plank made an excellent sledge, and we soon had the dogs attached and towing us around the paddock in turn. When we know that some of our adult folk were due to come into the paddock we drove up behind the barn, tied the dogs together in couples and set each pair adrift with a -tin can tied to the tails. The dogs were pretty tired but headed for home at a great pace, the

attached tin making a rattle that accelerated their movements in fine style, We afterwards learned that the “kunsarrived at the native village with a full head of steam up and it was some time before the natives could capture the animals and liberate them from the gear we had attached. Some of the leading Maoris called and inquired if we knew who was responsible for the interference with their dogs. We lads all promised that we would endeavour to. find the culprits and acquaint the Maoris of their identity.