REMINISCENCES OF THE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VIII, Issue 2180, 23 October 1875, Page 3

REMINISCENCES OF THE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND.

Past XVIII,

THE HUEDEBS OF CiHILL, CLABKE, AND

SQUIBES. Katene also warned the authorities that the Hauhaus did not intend for the future to depend upon their pas, which they now simply regarded as traps to be caught in, but would make the most of their knowledge of the country, surprising small parties, and only meet the pakehas for a big fight in the bush, carefully avoiding the open country. He further warned us. to keep a good look-out at the small forts, and see that they were strongly fortified.; "for mark me,".said he, " they intend to surprise and storm, one of. them." The truth of all these warnings were soon apparent, for at Te Ngutu o te Manu the enemy left their strong,pa, and fought.us skirmishing in the' bush, and the first stroke attempted by the Hauhaus was the night attack on'our redoubt at Turu Turu Mokai, where so many of our best hands died at their posts. On one occasion Kateilo made an observation to an officer of the force which ho never forgot, so pregnant of meaning _ was it, and at the same time so illustrative of the Maori mind, "Do you trust me?".ho asked. ''I do,",replied the officer. Katene sat and'looked at the fire, for some minutes, then laid his hands on his friend's knees, and said, " You are right and you are wrong;' you are right to trust me now, for I mean you well, but never trust a.Maori. Some day I may remember thatl have' lost my land, that the power and influence of my tribe have departed, and that you are the cause; at that moment I shall be your enemy. Do not forget what I say." About this period McDonnell was ordered to proceed to Hokitika with 60 of the Armed Constabulary, to suppress a Fenian outbreak, which must have been an agreeable change from the monotony of camp life. The expedition landed safely through the historical surf of Hokitika, arid found, to their delight and astonishment, the most perfect peace and harmony' prevailing. There had.been some bad feeling and rioting, caused by a few foolish individuals prior to their arrival, but a more orderly population could not be found, and their kindness to the force will notbe easily forgotten by therccipients. In fact it was too good to last, and in less than three weeks the men received orders to re-embark. Affairs began again to look serious round about Patea. The surveyors had been stopped at Mokoia, and although McDonnell-soon made it all straight again, it was evidentlyonly for a time, as the unsettled state of the Maoris was plainly shown by their stealing everything they could lay hands on, particularly horses. _ A warrant was issued for the apprehension of one of these offenders, and a small party of men, followed by a larger body, went to Te Ngatu.o te Manu to arrest him. The Hauhaus at oncj seized their arms, and would probably have used' them, had not one of them seen McDonnell's men advancing, and shouted out, "Be careful what you do, here is Makitonere." : This sobered them, and they behaved sullenly, but peacefully, while the- men searched for the person named in the warrant, who was non est, but some'of the stolen horses/were recovered, arid the men returned to Waihi. This did not satisfy the Resident Magistrate, who determined to goagain himself, and found the people quietly obstructive, which.state of quiescencedidnotlastlongjforwhentheold chief Hangikokiri was arrested for refusing entrance to his whare, their patience was exhausted, and all seized their arms. The old chief was at once set at .liberty, but one man (Ihaka) was marcheh off as a prisoner, for what reason it does not seem obvious, as he wa3- not mentioned in the warrant. When the force arrived at the camp with their prisoner Kateno looked on with a grim smile and said,

" Why,, is Ihaka a. prisoner ?" Our people declining to answer, lie said, "All right; keep him now you him, right or wrong, for if you let him go, or he escapes, he will kill some one as utu for his wrongs." Katene'swarnings asusual were neglected, and Ihaka escaped, which was the beginning of the end, for a few days after a settler at Waihi received, warning from his Maori friends that the Ilaubaus had decided to kill some pakehas "at once, and implored him not to visit his land on the boundary for some time, or he would be sure to be sacrificed. That they could not tell him the day the murders;were to take place, as that was only known to Titokawaru himself, but it may be to-day, or to-morrow, .certainly within a week. McDonnell was absent, but this was reported to Major fluntor and another' official, whose knowledges of Maori habits should havo warned him'of the danger of neglecting a hint like this. But the latter gentleman merely laughed, and said something about being an alarmist, consequently no one was warned of the impending danger. On the following day this Magistrate had occasion to. visit an inland village (Araukuku), and on his return stated that the people had behaved very queerly, and would hardly look at him,! much less address him. Still he gave no caution to the confiding pakehas, who were peaceably working on their laud, within two hundred yards of the Hauhau boundary. This afternoon our two spies, Moko and,Katene, were at tho village of Mauwhitiwhiti on the look-out for Hauhaus' movements, when nine men walked into the Kainga, armed to the teeth, amongst them HauWhenua and the escaped prisoner. After saluting our two friends, they remarked they were out cattle shootiug, and asked if they had seen any wild cattle, and whether there were any pakehas, about, as they did not wish to alarm them, as they might think they were a war party.." There are no pakehas about, said Katene, they are too frightened to come out to the bush, as they believe you 'iutend mischief." At that moment the sound of an axe, on tho opposite side of the gully, was heai/d by all, and the leader of the Hauhaus rose and said if we are to shoot cattle the sooner we begin the better, and they moved off in. the direction of the sound. Before they had gone'ten yards, Katene said to Moko, "Directly they arc under the crest of the cliff, dash down the gully and warn the' camp, while I will try to get in front of them by. a short cut, and warn the sawyers;" but the idea was not to be carried out, for hardly had the war party -gone fifty yards, when, seeing the danger of leaving these two men to their devices, a brief consultation was held, and two of them came sauntering back, and sat down beside our spies, remarking that they wore too tired to run after cattle, and preferredstopping there until their companions returned. Each party appeared to be satisfied with the explanation', talking as though no desperate deed was intended,. the two Hauhaus keeping a sharp look-out onKatene, whose desperate character they knew well. Mer what appeared'an hour of intense listening; a volley .was heard on the opposite side of the river, and shortly after tho party returned, no longer seeking to disguise their actions. " Go," said ilauwhenua, "and tell the camp to their dead." "Yes," said Katene,"and be accused of having committed the murder; go jourself." This probablity seemed to amuse the Hauhaus, who walked off . laughing. When at a safe distance, Katene started to see what mischief was done, and found three men lying around the saw-pit horribly mutilated. Their names were Cahill, Clarke, and Squitfes. He then went to camp and gave the alarm, and they were brought in, an.d men sent out in every direction to warn tho remaining settlers, and to fetch McDonnell up from Wanganui.—T.W.G. ■. [To be mtinued.) * The copyright of these letters reserved.