THE FIGHT AT TE NGUTU O TE MANU.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XX, Issue 5899, 11 May 1886, Page 2

THE FIGHT AT TE NGUTU O TE MANU.

. «. (Lyttelton Times). "To the memory of the brave dead.' Such was the heading of an account we published lately, telling how a memorial had bcon erected at Manaia to those who fell in tho fight at Te *Ngutu o te Manu pah, The strange name must have puzzed many. A quarter of a century has all but passed away since the fanatic Te Ua strung together the grotesque rites of the Hau Hau superstition, The little spark he lit in his home in the dark forost that fringes the base of beautiful Mount Egmont spread, as it were, into a roaring flame, A flame, too, that ran like wildfire through'-the North. A flame that was stamped out in one place only to appear with threefold , devouring force in another. A flame that grew on what it fed on— cattle, houses, Btrong men defenooleso women, help* less babes ; a flame that threatened fairly to lick up every outlying settlement that the pakeha had founded, east and west ; a flame that in its hunger for white fleah burned up many a staunch dark-skinned friend and ally. For many years the dark cloud < of war hung over tho North Island, break* ing in Waikato only to lower more darkly in Hawko's Bay 6r Taranakl. Nearly twenty summers in their turn have slowly stripped the white snow-cloak from the mountain's giant shoulders since that cloud closed down upon the fair rolling park-like landß that spread around Manaia. A pleasant country in every deed is that of tho Waimate plains, whioh are no plains at all in our sense of the word, but rather undulating prairies, watered by a score of streams that tumble down their sparkling waters, caught from the mists and clouds of Nature's great condenser, the tall white cone of the dead volcano which towers over all tho landscape like some silent, watchful power, Rendered thus fertile and dotted with islands, capes, and peninsulas of trees, the selvege of that impenetrable bush through which General Chute hewed his way behind the mountain, there is scarce a fairer spot in all Now Zealand. With the thought of it all in mind, and tbe bright flash of the bluo heaving ocean beyond, lighting it up till it seems to smile again, one may well go further still, and say there is scarce a fairer spot in all thfc world. Yet there, hardly out of sight of the pretty little town, embayed among tho great trees, is a patch of ground stained with the blood of men as brave as any of our British race, and haunted by the memory of a bloody massacre, for it was little leas, by suspicions of desertion in tho hour of greatest danger ; fouled by the celebration of cannibal orgies that can be but guessed at, for their full horrors are unknown. It was the 7th of September, 1868— a black day even in tho dark history of our northern island. At daybreak Colonel M'Donnell sallied forth from the Waihi redoubt with 250 Europeans (Volunteers and Armed Constabulary) and 110 friendly Natives. Von Tempsky, the long-haired, the dashiug Prussian, the adventurous traveller in tropical forests, who had carried his life in his hands in Mexico, had sought for gold in California, piloted the British up noisome rivers in Central Africa, scouted and starved for us in Waikato and the East Coast — "Von," as the men used to call the daring, chivalrous, gallant soldier of fortune they all loved so well—" Von," was there at the heid of a division. Roberts, then a subInspector in the Defence Foroe, now a Colonel, was there, and perchance his strong, self-reliant face, out of which the bold dark eyes look so piercingly, wore a slightly anxious mien. Buck, a fortnight Roberts' senior, and Hunter the mirthful, with Hastings, another favorite, were among the officers destined never to march along a native trail again. With the force, too, went Father Roland, the jovial fearless Catholic priest, whose behaviour in thia and other " affairs " made hia name known to all the fighting menforthatof a hero. **Rangihi< winui, long of limb, and long-headed too, the Native Magistrate, whose rule was obeyed round fAtene, jKoriniti, II Ranana, aud §Iruharama, the villages on the banks of the Wanganui River, acted as commander of the friendly Natives, A month before this M'Donnell had surprised Titokowaru at Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu and burnt the place. Pungarehu, close to Parlhaka, further round the broad base of the mountain, had also been destroyed, But there were other pahs in the outskirts of the bush. Te Rua-arua was one of these. Its exact position does not appear to have been known to the commander nor to the friend* lies ; but the design was to get there, to surprise and carry the place by assault, and to return by Te Ngutu, now, as they thought, a deserted village. For men bred to the war* fare of the bush the plan was wholly reck* less. It was devoid of even common caution, It is useless, after this space of time, to rake up the question of responsibility, especially when the leader has siDce received the New Zealand Cross. But to plunge into that labyrinth of giant trees,matted with creepers, huDg with supple jacks, studded thick with ferns and an undergrowth impassable, except by the aid of the billhook, cut up and crossed by deep gullies and water-courses at no rare intervals, seems a thing hardly conceivable under tho circumstances. There were some nariow native trails— tracks just broad enough, as a rule, for a man or two on horseback at the most — but only that to Te Ngutu was properly known. That MoDonnel struck and followed till he judged it time to make off towards Te Rua-arua, or rather towards where he supposed it lay. His new track soon gave out, and the contingent halted in a puzzle. As yet not an enemy had been seen, and it waa now mid-day. The chief of the friondlies, Bangiiiiwinui, sent a in in up into one oi the tall rata trees. Half a mile ahead he saw some smoke. The chief's advice to M'Donnell was to halt and let his men lie in ambush, meaning to reconnoitre at dark, and make sure of the prey next morning, M'Donnell chose to flounder on. By 2 o'clock the force was still struggling through the bush, the Wanganui natives in the van, Suddenly voices were heard. Whares were made out through the Bcreeu of trees. The friendlies rushed the place : two or three wild shots, a corpse to each bullet, and the place is empty. There is a broad, plain, track, however, before the contingent. All thoughts of a surprise are at an end ; it is simply a caso of push on and trust to fate. Rangihiwhinui throws out his men as skirmishers, Von Tempsky takes his force forward, the guide and friendlies are out in front, and M'Donncl), thinking Te Rua«rua close at hand, formßf ormB up his men, ready for some sharp fightIng. Some 400 or 500 yards further on, more empty whares stand about the track; In a flash the truth bursts upon M'Donnell and his men ! They are in the rear of Te Ngutu, and the pah they thought level with the ground is re-built, and, with another stockade to boot, frowns before them, bristling with tbe muzzles of hostile rifles. Little time was left them to digest this grim truth. Before they have a moment to dp more than take in the look of the place, the palisade and the little clearing in front of them are dotted with jjuffa and smoke. Ping ! comes a bullet somewhere from the right, and their eyes search in vain for the marksman, Crack I crack !go a couple of rifles in the rear. The Bound seem? to come from the clouds, and a young Wellington volunteer falle. to the earth with a sharp cry of pain, clutqhing wildly at the ferns and roots around him. The officers' brains are iv a whirl. The British soldiers' recipe for like occasions is a cheer, a wild rush, and then " cold steel " at close quarters^ But where and what arc you to charge, with a tall palisade in front of you, an invisible foe | to right and roar, and the bullets drooping aa if from out of tho sky, clipping away the twigs and wringing forth a wild curse, a helpless scream or the stifled sob of anguish according to the temperament of those they hit. Von Ternpßky chafes like a caged lion at the inaction. Anything is better than staying thus to be shot down without drawing a trigger. " forward, men, into that creek and take what cover you can !" But the shattering volley which pours upon them in answer to this manoeuvre shows that even the deep gully cannot save them, Perched in the tops of lofty rata trees the enemy's marksmen single out the officers, The hollow butts, too, of the great parasitical vines are loopholod, and each stands a little tower, from which men can be picked off with the greatest ease and safety. M'Donnell and "Von were now separated, and by this time seven of the former's

men had breathed their last, The trap had closed upon them all, and it was plain that that they wore in desperate straits. The only loophole of escape was to the loft. Towards the left therefore M'Donnell ordered a retreat, not because there was a track, but because Rangihiwinui and his men had driven back the enemy on that side from the forest to the pah. Sending his brother to recall Von Tempsky, he and his men, hampered by the wounded on stretchers, began to cut their way through the ferns and supplejacks, the enemies' fire increasing still, and galling them to madness. But " Von " and Colonel McDonnell were never to meet again in this world. The daring accomplished Prussian had just received his unwelcome orders, and was cheering on his men, when a bullet struck him down; He died without a sound. The command then devolved on Buck, find McDonnell, the oaptain, delivered his orders to him, fl,nd then hurried off to join the retreat of bib brothor's division. Tho pitiable story of that disastrous afternoon, as told in the despatches, and in the publications of the day, contradictory as they are,' shows that disgraceful panic and disorganisation seized upon the majority of our men. That there were brilliant instances of valour, none nteed doubt ; but the evidence of showers of. letters to the papers soon afterwards proves that, in many instances, the men would not obey their officers, and, worse than that, left them wounded and disabled io fall into the clutches of the maddened Hau Haus. A$ to the dead— well, a few lines from a Nor* them paper, to be quoted later on, .will give a lurid glimpse of what Was probably their fate. , The story of M'Donnell s retreat may be shortly told. Struggling through the forest, his men ia despair, and ammunition failing him, Titokowarii'a men swarmed in the rear, and shot down all they could. It was dusk before he reached the edge of the bush, and the Hau Haus there quitted them, knowing better than to cope with them in the open. But they danced a war dance of exultation and defiance,- which M'Donnell's rifles rendered a rather uncomfortable performance. By nines Or tern, Waihi redoubt received them. Driblets of men, however, continued to drop in by threes and fours nearly all night long, Nothing could show better the great demoralisation that had seized upon the force. Some 80 men, Natives and' Europeans, had even got in before their commander, and reported tho destruction of the expedition, officers, and all oxcept themselves. It must have been a caso of sauve gui pad of tho worst description. M'Donnell m 1 his men got away with com* parative ease. Not so Von Tempsky Vdivi* sion. His men had been somewhat scattered among the trees and rough ground, but the nowe flewlikelightnlng through tho force that 11 Von was down," and their spirits fell. Capt Buck held his position, while Sub-Inspector Roberta went to try and bring in the body of the gallant Prussian. It was but a few moments, but when Roberts returned Buck lay dead with his face to the foe. What became of the noble dead, Heaven alone knows. " Yon's " body was never found. The supreme task of leading the little band of eighty men out of tho ambuscade into whioh they had stumbled now fell on Robert's shoulders. In his Bpeech at Manaia the Colonel, like a brave man that he is, let not a word escape his lips as to his share in the fight beyond what was barely, necessary. Yet, if there Is a hero in the story of that terrible defeat, it is he who unveiled that monument. His coolness and courage rose with the occasion. At first he exposed himself with the greatest recklessness. A. sergeant seeing him about to throw himself into almost certain death, to give help to some of his men, flung his arms around his waist, and kept him baok by main force, For a few moments Roberts stormed at the man ; but the fellow stuck to his point. "I'm right, sir, and you're wrong," he said, as the rifle shots rang in their ears. "We are here, and our lives are in your hands ; it is your duty to keep out of danger." It is those little touches of heroism that fire a man's blood when he reads of them. Roberts saw the justioe of the rebuke, kept his head, got his men together, and tried to thread his way out of the trackless tangle of forest, ferns, and creepers, But he had many narrow escapes, and once his carbine was nearly struck from his hands by a shot which hit it. Well might some of those who re* member that day be unable to speak at the ceremony last last week ! For a short timo the Hau Haus dogged their steps, and the carnage was dreadful, Lieutenant Hastings and seventeen men fell. It was impossible to prevent them huddling together in groups. Corporal Russell was shot through the leg) Hastings was mortally wounded and lay groaning. ' Russell screamed out in his agony for aid to get away from the Maoris, who were close upon him. Iv piteous tones he told of his young wife and children. He spoke, to men with the fear of d n ath before them. One stayed by him till the last, but, single handed, could do nothing for both of them, and the last that was Been of poor Russell was in the hands of the foe, begging to be killed outright and spared from torture. Roberts made an incline to the left to join M'Donnell. Dusk closed in, and either that or satiety of bloodshed, or because the Hau ! Haus kept straight on, probably saved his party from total annihilation. Seeing themselves unmolested, a quiet halt was called. By 2 a.m. the moon would rise and give them a chance of knowing whioh way to strike. Th.c horrors of that lonely night watch in, the heart of the forest surpassed even what they had gone through by day, Worn with hours of marching, spent with excitement, fatigue, and hunger, lowered in spirit with sorrow for the loss of their comrades, rest in the softest of down beds would have been a fit'ul nightmara. The stern reality of it all forbade even brief visits of sleep. Had not the corpses of theirfallen friends laystiffening stark and cold among the plumy ferns, with' the n'ght dews gathering en their faces, it might have been endured. But there, from the forest behind them, rose the glare of fire and a din of demon musio that told only too plainly to those who could interpret its meaning the hideous, unspeakable feast that was going on in tho Hau Hau camp. Mad with blood and on fire with savage frenzy, there is no doubt that the living who fell into the hands of Titokowaru's men that day were mutilated and tortured. The bodioi were thrown on the fire and fought for after* wards. The Maori man who snatched none, of the unholy food was hooted by the women and children. The blood curdles as the scene of firelight, dancing, nnd dovilry rises before the eye. How that little band, Crouched there among the supplejacks and ratas in dense darkness, must have shuddered and gnashed their teeth in impotent rage as the bitterness of it entered liko gall and wormwood into their very souls. And when the straggling moonbeams struggled through the thick roof of tree tops and trailing creepers, doubling the ghostliness of the forest, bringing that uncertainljgtyt whioh makes shadows and snares and pitfalls, what a march was theirs. The friendly natives were still with them — not a man of all who marched from Waihi that morning had been killed j they knew how to fight in the bush— b.egani to load the way, A desperate, eerie, cruel march; Humanity had to be past aside. Wounds had begun to stiffen, and the wounded groaned as they were jolted through the uneven floor of the forest, and the pain racked their limb.s. But the commander had to set his teeth and threaten to brain the first man who groaned again. Silence and swift retreat meant life to all. Fortunatoly tho Hau Haus thoughts were bent on their ghastly banqueting* By daybreak the little force began to coo their way clear, and by 8 o'clook were safe in the redoubt onoo more. Kemp's men, after holding a tangi all night for their great chief, Hori te Anana, had Btarted early and met them on the way — a departure from ceremonial that shows their conduct in the brightest colours. The splendid behaviour of the friendliea through that lone; day was beyond all praise. Forty-six men out of the forco that started on tho morning of tho 7th were missing. One man wandered back after five days, his limbs swollen, and his mind unhinged, from the privation and hardship he had undergone. The loss of officers made old Crimean heroes recall the fatal day of Inkerman. Majors Hunter and Von Temp8k y, Captains Buck and Palmer, Lieutenants Hastings and Rowan, and the uufortunate Russell, carried away to torture, all left their bones about that litttle Maori clearing. Outside the forest the scene to-day is thqt of a beautiful English park. A more peaceful, lovely landscape it is hard to conceive. But it will be centuries before the remembrance

of what wftß Buffered there can be wiped away,

Such waa the fight at Te Ngutu-o-te* Menu, and suoh the retreat through tbe forest on the night of September 7th, 1888, May none of those who read this paper paoa through thirty hours like those I .'aSxLj