SUCH THINGS WERE

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXIX, Issue 3560, 30 May 1939, Page 3

SUCH THINGS WERE

The Story of Cambridge from Earliest

Recorded Times.

By C. W. VENNELL iiiiimiimiiimimmmiiiiiiii

CHAPTER XII.

(Continued)

Some of these fortifications are so small that it seems likely that they were merely look-out posts. Pukekura Hill, now marked by a “Trig” station, is an excellent example of this. Another surmounts the hill on the side of which sheep-dog trials are held annually, and these are not the only ones. From any of them, on a clear day, one can see the whole of the Waikato Valley from Cambridge to Ngaruawahia, and from Pukemorimori to Pirongia. The map reproduced above shows the position of the pa at Te Tiki o te Ihingarangi in relation to the river, and the country in the immediate vicinity. It also shows the site of a smaller pa which Tamehana had constructed on a point higher up the range. This pa, which is illustrated here, stood on the site now occupied by the water reservoir, and made an ideal observation post, within easy distance of the main fortification. It is easy to imagine the Maori look-outs, sev-

enty-five years ago, searching the plain for signs of advancing troops. Their scouts would tell them of the progress of Cameron’s forces from Ngaruawahia to Paterangi, and, from such an elevation, they might easily have made out the puffs of smoke which told of the bombardment of that stronghold. The place, from where the Armstrong guns were fired, earned for itself the ironical name of “Maumau-paura”—“Waste of gunpowder.” These watchers on the hills did not relax their vigilance so long as daylight lasted. From other points on the Roto-o-rangi and Puahue hills they would see the smoke from the burning whares at Rangiaowhia, which brought the garrison post-haste from Paterangi to protect their crops and food supplies. These hill forts too would give sanctuary to the exhausted, bleeding warriors who were routed at Rangiaowhia. General Cameron, in his despatch on the battle, dated at Te Awamutu on 25th February, 1864, confirms this. “The natives fell hurriedly back before the leading files of the 50th (regiment) could reach them,” he wrote to Sir George Grey, “and retired through a swamp in the direction of the Maungatautari road. The cavalry had an opportunity of charging them as they retreated, and did some execution. They made a further stand, but fled precipitately towards Maungatautari, leaving almost everything but their arms behind them.” Next day, when the warriors, who had come from Paterangi, also broke and fled before the bayonets of Cameron’s troops, and the flashing sabres of the Colonial Defence Cavalry at Hairini, Tamehana knew that his preparations had not been in vain. Now his stronghold at Te Tiki o te Ihingarangi was definitely threatened, and his watchers renewed their vigilance. On the morning of 3rd March, 1864, their patience was rewarded, and they beheld a sight which must have suggested that all the taniwhas in the Waikato had merged into one great monster, breathing fire and smoke. What had begun as a smudge on the distant landscape, scarcely distinguishable from the blue haze in which the river lost itself towards Ngaruawahia, gradually grew, until a plume of smoke . lay in tile still air along the winding eourse of the river. . Gradually, as the look-outs watched, it drew nearer. At last they could wait no longer. Mounting their horses a party of warriors galloped down the hillsides and across the plain to intercept the intruder, or, at any rate, to fin'd out what was his purpose. To those of the Ngati-haua who had made the threeday journey by canoe down the river to Auckland, a steamer was not exactly a novelty; and those who had fought in the earlier engagements of the Waikato War had seen these ungainly river craft, with their loopholed turrets and death-dealing guns. The sight of one so far upstream, in the heart of their own country must have sent a chill of terror through the breasts of those who had stayed at home to guard their kiangas, and particularly the women and children who had not yet set eyes on such fire-breathing monsters. To Tamehana if was an indication of the direction from which the attack, which he had so accurately anticipated, would come. CHAPTER XIII. A NAVAL OCCASION HAVING, for the time being at any rate, broken the Maori resistance on the western side of the Waikato, General Cameron turned his attention to the Horotiu and Maungatautari districts. His river steamers, which had played such an important part in the operations at Rangiriri and Mercer, had so far not penetrated further up the Waikato than Ngaruawahia. It was essential that he should have accurate information regarding the depth of water, width of the stream, the sharpness of the bends, the strength of the current and any obstacle to be met with, before undertaking any operations against Tamehana’s stronghold. His future lines of communication lay along the river, and he could not afford to have them interrupted. With this in view, on 2nd March, 1864, two steamers, the “Koheroa,” and “Pioneer,” with the senior naval officer . in New Zealand waters, Commodore Sir William Wiseman, R.N., and a detachment of the 65th Regiment on board, steamed into the mouth of the Horotiu River.* The name, in Maori, means “swiftflowing,” and the “Koheroa” found that the stream did not belie its name. Except that the two steamers were

ships of war, they did not differ much in their method of propulsion from the vessels which still carry goods up the river as far as Cambridge. They were driven by a stern paddle-wheel, but the engines of those primitive times were not so powerful as those of today. The passage from Ngaruawahia to the native village of Kirikiriroa took all day, which suggests that the engineers and stokers must have been very glad when the ship dropped anchor for the night. The same journey today takes the steamers little more than an hour and a half. The future site of Hamilton, they found, consisted of only a few deserted whares, its inhabitant's having wisely decided that, with the Waikato overrun Avith troops, an isolated and unprotected village Avas no place for them. * The Waikato War, John Featon, 1879. (To be Continued).