MAORI MEMORIES

Taranaki Daily News, 16 November 1935, Page 13 (Supplement)

MAORI MEMORIES

POVERTY BAY

(By

J.H.S.

Copyright.)

Of many and varying accounts of the Poverty Bay massacre that told by Reginald Horsley is the rhost reliable, though the Maori description of the scene, being the only one available to him, was naturally prejudiced. Major Biggs met his end like the man he was. When the Hauhau raiders knocked at his door late at night he was writing urgent despatches. Realising that the danger he had regarded so lightly had come upon them, he called to his wife to escape while he parleyed with the murderous crew; but she refused to leave him. In a moment, husband, wife, child and servant lay dead. The Major’s end must have been made bitter by the knowledge that the fate of others was due to his own refusal to accept their timely warning. Whilst these horrors were being enacted in one district the settlers at Patu tahi (the first stroke) were warned hj Mr. Benson, whose heroic ride was like that of the brave Butters. Both men saved many families from ruthless murder. Benson heard the distant firing before dawn, but did not realise its cause until warned by a Maori whom he had befriended. He in turn warned and saved others.

As Benson rode through the country he came upon the advance party of Hauhaus, and gave them a friendly greeting, thinking they were our allies. The Maoris, so intent on a general massacre, dared not. shoot, lest they alarmed their intended victims. Their very first objective was the man who was the cause, of Te Kooti’s imprisonment on what they honestly believed to be false end unjust grounds. Their avowed purpose was to torture the victim in the fashion of ancient China, by cutting him to pieces inch by inch—a form of utu altogether foreign to the Maori people, and gained by reading history while at the Chathams. Fearing gunfire from Captain Wilson's home, they set fire to his house by torches on spears, then called for his surrender with promises of safety. No sooner had they stepped outside .than Wilson was shot and wife and children were bayonetted—all save one little hero, who kept his dying mother alive till help came. When news of the murder of thirtytwo men, women and children came to them, many a man swore he would not rest until the earth enveloped this blood soaked savage and his gang; yet Te Kooti died of old age, a hero to some, a victim to others.

Ngutii-q-te-manu. After seven years of wise but ever anxious rule Sir George Grey was succeeded by Sir George Bowen in February, 1868. Bishop Selwyn too had gone. Tire “Mana” of two such men had no equivalent in Maori eyes, who both admired and feared them. Governors and bishops may come and go, but the accursed war goes on forever.

Soldiers, like politicians and even statesmen, lose caste on the first reverse, and so it was with the intrepid soldier Colonel McDonnell after the disaster at Ngutu-o-te-manu (beak of the bird). The equally heroic Major Von Tempsky escaped the same fate by passing through the gates of death. McDonnell foresaw trouble when he found three white bushmen had been murdered by the Maoris. Turuturu Mokai, near Hawera, was occupied by twentyfive troopers under Captain Ross, and 'n a fierce attack by a hundred Hauhaus under Titokowaru they would have suffered death but for the vigilance of Von Tempsky, who was stationed at Wai hi (fish waters) three miles away. Ross and Seven men were killed, McDonnell then decided to end the incessant raids in a final battle if such were possible. Titokowaru’s movements in the bush were carefuly hidden. His

formidable forts Ngutu-o-te-manu and Rua ruru (the owl’s nest), nearby, were surrounded by huge rata trees, eacn being the masked domicle of several well concealed sharp shooters. Taught by bitter experience, the Maoris no longer awaited attack behind the walls. When actually surrounded by ~ McDonnell’s and Von Tempsky’s troops, they were able to leave and return to the pa by a secret passage at will.

Thus in a most intense moment of our combined assault we were counter attacked from the rear and from the huge trees directly overhead. Dr. Best, Lieutenant Rowan, and many of Von Tempsky’s men were shot down. McDonnell on the other side of the pa lost Captain Page, Lieutenants Hunter and Hastings, and more of his rank and file.

McDonnell urged retirement, but Von Tempsky, incredulous of defeat, stepped into the open to review the position and was shot dead. Captain Buck, seeking to save his beloved chief’s body from the savage foe, lifted him and met a similar fate. Sergeant Russell fell during the hasty retreat, his thigh fractured. With their burden of wounded it was impossible to rescue him. James Livingstone handed him his own revolver, and with it Russell shot several Maoris, reserving the last bullet for himself. One fifth of the men had fallen with six of their officers. So bitterly and unjustly did ignorant critics attack the brave McDonnell that he resigned, a broken-hearted hero. Maori Pendulum. The victories and the miracles by which Te Kooti on the east coast and Titokowaru on the west escaped capture impressed the Maori tribes all over the colony with the impending doom of the pakeha and the full restitution of Maori lands. Colonel Whitmore, who succeeded McDonnell, met disaster at Moturoa with forty casualties, and fell back on Nukumaru. Leaving Whanganui dangerously exposed, he was ordered to join Ropata in his pursuit of Te Kooti on the East Coast, with every available man. During the year they harried Te Kooti, who made many clever escapes. In January, 1869, at tire famous siege of. Ngatapa by Whitmore and Ropata, Te Kooti lost 150 men and his best leaders. The remnant of his followers were dispersed; but Te Kooti again found refuge.. The swift moving Whitmore was called back to Taranaki, where he hoped to deal a death blow to Titokowaru. The murder of Mrs. Gascoigne and her family and that of the Rev. Whiteley at White Cliffs caused renewed pakeha fears and Hauhau elation. Tlie Whanganui district was thought now to be safe, but another tragedy brought consternation throughout the colony. During the previous ten years soldiers and settlers up and down the river played a game of pelting ripe peaches at every passerby, thus planting them in fertile soil to grow in sunshine. On February 18, 1869, field others, some late arrivals from England, visited the camp and a desire to taste the peaches of which incredulous accounts were given. Menzies and nine of the men took a canoe up the Waitotara River and picked a dozen baskets full. They were suddenly attacked and only three escaped alive.