THE NATIVE OUTRAGE.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1674, 29 March 1883, Page 2

THE NATIVE OUTRAGE.

3he fallowing; account j0 Mr Hurstijause'sf'" capture' and imprisonment; has j£en to a bntcmporary :— l..";t»'"* " Mr Hursthouse says : I left Alexandra t half-past 5 a. m. 011 Tuesday, the 20th list., and had breakfast «>t Wahanui's ilace, at Kopua. Wetere te Ecrenga vas there, and Wahauui expressed his atiafaction that I was going on with iVetere. Wetere and 23 others, Mr tfewsham and I left Kopua the same norning for Molcau. We had lunch at )torohanga, about 10mjles ; /r,op»-KoDna- r Hie people of this ( villagV".'M6* hacl urued me back before, expressed their mpiowil of mvgpmg on, and their satis-action'tlWalß%m^lSverS'scffilM:^-Tl?r >nly th\ug that transpired there to arouse ny'mtepMous i 'w x a4 a statement byj Aporo, vho said when we were leaving, " This is me' parlour;"- IV Uira- is" another ;',Wby* vhich he meant th^t , although we had rot into his parlour, we might not be ible to enter the other. I may here menion in justice to Aporo, that, although >c turned pic back on the, first pecasion, le 'formed one bffYVahanui's party who: ;ame to release me,' Aporp,, I may adcl. iiived Mr Charles Everett's" life at Bell jlock, near New Plymouth, during the rt'arof 1860. , -He (also, I, believe, .saved Mr Fan is' life' at Pnkekohc, in the'Taralaki distiict, between Waitara and the White Cliffs. I believe that Mr Everett left him ClOO as a token of his gratitude. Die money is still, I think, in the bank vt New Plymouth,- and- probably lull be landed o'vci? ,to- Aporo .shortly. ( Mi Everett bas'a brother living at Nelson.'at the present time. We reached Te Uira'at about a quar-ber-past four the same afternoon. Te Uira is about 32 miles from Alexandra, and 16 miles from Otorohanga. When we came insight of'Te Uira, we saw the Tekanmaiua musteiiug. Te Uira is on a small bill beside the track. On getting within 50 yards of the nativco, Te M.vhuki, who was standing up, stretched out his hand, andtpld U 3 to turn on one side, and invoked ,his god to send us back. Te llercn»a replied, "It is light ; itis liglit/' nidanin^ that the matter' had been an an aed that we "were to go onlr We walked our hoi ses on, and when, we got abi east of where Te Mahuki'and his people were, lie motioned some ten or a rIO(SCU boys, who weie'&ittmg close tq his feet, and' said "Rcre. !" meaning run 'and stop them. They immediately^ jumped on to the tiack, and caught the bridles of the horses that were in front. Some of our paity, who had fern sticks told them to let go or 'they , would whip them. Some men then came to the assistance of the boys, who were not stiong enough to' hold the hoiscs. The natives then seized me, and Te Woteio and bib brother (Te Ranoi), Mr New sham, and Te Haere, anil dragged us-off our horses. Mr New sham and^l were'theii made prisoners—three or four men holding each of us. Te Mdliuki" all the time was calling on his people to be strong and quic.c. • Ho also called on Jehovah to niake them prevail over the, enemy. When he had us held properly, lie told the people to take us away'immediately to thu water, and _ Listen us tightly with chains. At this time Wetioje and his ' party wel'e arguing with the. TekaumaVna, and demanding that.iwe should be returned to them. But/Te Mahuki declined to do so, and simply repeated his Order 'to take us. faud chain us. It may be as well pcrjiaps to .state here that the place is situated on a hill, and the village where we were, taken to is on . a iflat about -half a mile away. Before taking ,us down the hill they made us take off our coats, and lemoved my haversack." ' 'Three men, then- foiced me down the hill, and two men did the same with Mr Newsham. i' AH the Tekaumarna then came with us, dancing and yelling, imul, pinging ugei^s or, wai songs. On the way down the 'hill Te Mahuki called out to his people that everything was now left to them. He said, " This is the, first ,day on which I have no thought. This day i& in yom hands." By that I apprehend that he meant they could do what they liked with us,; tliat our lives weie in 'their hands, lie told them to take us ' to the whare and tie us. When we got opposite to the marae, ho said, " No ! Don't take them to the whare, ( but to the marae, that the women and children may be amused." "We were then 1 led to the maiae, and kept standing there, one man still holding each of our arms. Weteie's people again demanded our return, and Very stiong language was u.*ed on both sides. Te Mahuki ultimately'got the beat of it, for our men were frightened that if they did anything Te Mahuki would ietaliatc,on us, tho white people. We were subsequently taken to tho whare, which is a cookhouee built of slabs' with spaces between them about two inches wide and some wider. They then chained our feet together, having first made, us sit down ' and • take ' off our boots. They tied our hands behind our backs, and chained our feet together. Just as they finished doing that, a chief named Te Haeie, was brought into the 'ivhaic', and , violently pushed in. 'Te 'Haoi'e said to us, " I am glad they have taken me, because I shall be your companion." 'Of course -\\e Weie \eiy slad to have him with us. By this time Te Weteie's paity had left the place, and gone up the hill to Te Uira. On aniving there Weteie immediately, &cut a mc&senger to Wahanui, and auotlier mc&scnger to his people at Upper Mokau. Wetei c and his party onh/ left us when they foundthat tiutheri'emonstiance was useless. One messenger found Wahanui at'Kop'ua,'who at once scut the' intelligence on to Alexandia and the other iVached Mokau at 10 or 11 o'clock at night. The people living at this part of the Mokau, and those ,who had «one out hunting were all musteicd at Te Una at o o'clock the next evening. Having chained us, the Tekanmarua put a chain and padlock on the door and locked us in. They cleaved the wharo of everything moveable in it, leaving us two mats each, about 7 feet long and 5 feet wide, to lie upon. Te Haere then asked for water. ' They brought in a bucketful, in Ashich'he washed his mouth, which was bleeding ' very much. Te Haere was not chained, but had no clothes on except his shut and trousers: That /evening ,tbey gave him four small pieces of firewood to put upon the'little tire that was bnrning in tho whare.' iThey brought us back our pipes and some 'tobacco, whiph they had previously taken' from oui'i coats. iTq Haere ■filled our pipes, ilighted them, ,a"d, put 'themin'our mouths.,, In the evening we asked them to bring us some water > to; driuk.M They, answered, ),"You.' • have water there."' (Being told, -It, is dirty. with the man's blood," they replied that it did mot matter ;' that, we; must drink it if we were! thirsty..* ' That was, all we . had to drink (tyring the f,orty ; pne r hours We 'were confine^ rr lfrqs.ed "them^td tie our hands'in 1 froiit. instead of behind? but, they refused. It asked this to be done," f s^"that'r might lie easier and be able ,to 'brush' aWi'yHhe' l 'm6sc|uitos: The' moscluitOs' n wei;e yery troublesome, rfiitl 'the ' only way'T could brush th.eni' off wad by rubbing m'y' ' 'face ' on tlie 'ground. ; We passed! ia-" most painful! night. I coijld .not/lie;oriimyback, as toy hands were; tied'behincl nie;nor:/coold;I lie on my side, for the p_ain of the arms and shoulders wasi excruciating. We were loft at night wjib^'ridithing but our shirks, trousers, soclw/and^jhats. There was pillow or fern'}>to.Vvest our heads on./ Owingjto our^cramped jjositipn our arms and ; Jegs-ib^caiJJe' $<$fy paiqful. Th ! ey QfFeregL, us-,- nothing io / eat^that night. 'Two men Uepfc guard around' the * whare all nightfTi^&®.iiOHj.J€-|)#t 6 next morn-, ing they came and emptied our trousers ppckete£ and amongst dfcher things they -Stol6f £10 Jih'/oashfcVjQur) hd,t3^were A ,al&o taken. A,bout '8 o'clocHvthßy/^^TOUght some .potatoes,,, but as_they ,4voula. hot litnt'ra odiS'ha^jtr^eJ^ouAcl'npfe^^ f 1^ 1"^1 "^ fnp tlie} ffIVMWi(

eajbjany of it. YVe'Vsk"ed "them to untie * our hands that we might *eat, but they took^nWoUWf tofifo^AJ&ttA'b&ut 5 .o'clock in the flV^Uig^JCe Mahuki, who was then close to the whare where we weß'irclUertfut^o'jhii Mople iuja. loud voice, urging them fo Wsltrong add persistent; tbAiftthis :,lfF3 which- Jehovah had made had not .yet been fulfilled. I then becamfe frightened' taS'l'thfoirghtttlte' 1 ' * expression ..probaMy that f j\y,e had yet to be killed. The, door of the wliare was injinediately opened, and the natives t entered. ' t)ur 'pipes, tbbacco,' 'rtnd knives' 1 ' w|ere taken away. we were visited i jyg|iin r ~aud_made.>a6Ciure^ior the night. fßdth-eVeffiu^s^'af &bdut {(lu£k, tile people gathered round, our whare and pcufomedjiftkas,, shouted ami veiled, and spVWefas'iveiy^f fi#fc fi/wa^Nrery^T cold the &m& lngh^W^YM l^ to •keep ourselves warm by swaying to and morning ttiey'cainfi'in. 'with wdrpatttocks, tightened our anklt^'diarns, and locked them. The ropes on our wrists were, also tjgl?^e^r'^^bl3i!F : S^'6l6TSl?''WS'lreXßl«tlnpiw Ngatimaniapot<f";party7caUifon*t on one side of the whare that they were coming, .•uuHnfnfediatoly.&fteifwftfds weiheard. '|c/ r Kooti call out on the other side in Maoris " It is I, ,it> is .l,. my children." i , \yi|en I heard these calls I started on my handropes, and iby dint » bf ' great exertion slipped them off. When they were tying Up my hands I always 'tried to keep the jurists a little apart. Mr NewhhanV also managed |to get off lys| ropes. I looked - out between tHe I slabs M and sa^v,, the , j ljrgatimania ) pp < o.to paity close to the house, nended'by Kahu and Wetere 'slaughter. Somebody then exclaimed, " Lot us talk," but Kahu, answered, „"Nq,, the |alk done yesterday," and lushirlg up to'tha, f door of the whare smashed' it open with-- '' two, blows of ,his fist. , The- men ion, fjua^ assaulted him frpm behjnd, J|u£ being "h. very powerful 'than he knoclced both of them off, and they' did not again approach hini. ( 9y r 4;h£;4;iiHerj];hey had entered I had, after great exertion, got the chain off my right foot. \yetcre's, , daughter removed the chain from niyt left toot. ,The,JMaori^tried f fto get .the chains off Mr JNTcwsliam.' biit they could not' manage it, whereupon 'It. got' two stones out of a Maori oven and smashed the ' padlock. I then' seized' 1 a picco'.of chain as a weapon and went' outside. ■ When I got oiltbide I found that the Ngatiihaniapo'to rescuing party had/ got^ four or five of the Tckaumnrua tied up.:; The rescuingip'ai'ty, 'including Td Rooti, then all shook hands, .with me, upon which I fairly broke dbwn 1 and wept. I was then very we^k fpi* want of food and overcolne with "'anxiety. '* Te Kooti .then toojc |is up ,to To ,Jiuiti,, about' two .ami a' half ' miles' ' aVay,| and gave us 'food, ' ccj^ts and j hat's, and' boots, but the boots notfittinfr, I was obliged to remain barefooted. r The Ngatimaniapoto stopped at TeKumi'aH that day, ana lecovered most of the stolen pioperty ; tlicy were under Wharo. The patty sent by Wahanui to release us arrived at Te Kumi in the afternoon^'. The matter was rlisbu&scd at To Kuiti alh Saturday,; the Tekaumarua, mini boring 103, being present., .iTe.JMahuki stud' he had comi! to make peace. Wharo. sajd if he wanted to make paace. let' him give a token of jc, and'the token he wantpd^wng the feathers in Te Mahuki's hea^. ip /an. angry aijd;indignant manner, that,hc i^ould never part with them ;' that tli'e'y were a token from God which he 'had brought 'out of gaol. He marie a most abusive speech, threatening to &mash Mr Bryce's head, Mr Wilkinson's t hea^l, and my, head. He warhed'the people not to' believe in tfie Government or the pakeha, as they vfere, he said, the honeycomb without the honey. Soon atterwaid lie called on his people to loave with Jijin, and on going put of the whare he 1 tore up a"biblfe 'which 'he had to fragments, and then jumped on them. The Tekaum.u'ua then left for To Kumi. Tlie meeting decided to take me on &> 'SfoluiU, but'3/had by that timo received instructions fioin Mr Bryce th.it I was to rcluin. The meeting also discussed whether they should arrest Mahuki, but decided' to leave it to Mr Bryce 't6 do, 1 unless Te Mahuki 1 carried out his expressed intention of going ,to Alexandra to despoil, the. pakeha. , It lie went to Kopua, tiiey intended to take him across the bridge. The meeting lasted nearly all night. ' When We passed to Te Kumi, on our way to Alexandra, Te Manilla told' Wetero that he would lcavd tor Alcxandta, on' his way to Auckland, next day at 12 o'clock. On arrival at Qtoi'ohanga we were moat hospitably received at John Hefctit'a. Wo reliched Alexandra about G. 30 on Sunday evening. On our way in we called on Wahanui, who expressed satisfaction at oui'iielease, and said he was waiting to sec whether Mahuki and his people p\ould ,go in to Alexandra on the. following day ; if they did npt go, he would then, know what to do. t,I, felt convinced that if any of the Ngatimaninpoto . chiefs heard of,, our ctaptuic that they „wonld c immediately send to release us, and I also was sure that Te Kooti would come if he heard of the position we were, in. It is such an action as, under the circumstances, I believe a chief o£ rank would do..