Captain Sheen, Adventurer.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXIII, Issue VI, 6 August 1904, Page 10

Captain Sheen, Adventurer.

AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE OF NEW ZEALAND.

BY

CHARLES OWEN.

CHAPTER XVIII. Tamaiharanui bore himself proudly. Stretched to his full height he stared into the malicious eyes of Te Rauparaha, unmoved by their triumphant gieani. The latter was supported on either side by Rangihacata and Te I’ehi’s son. Nga Roimata elung to her mother, who faced her husband's foes, courageous as himself, I bit vainly on the rope in my mouth and made a desperate effort to get free of the coils that bound me. Not a sound broke the silence. After the first astonished moment, Tainaihanui, with lightning glance, saw- that escape was hopeless, and awaited the attack of his enemies with calm and silent dignity. Te Rauparaha was the first to speak. “Te koura unuhanga a Tama!'’ he exulted, “Arero rua—ngakau rua.”* "The dog is caught!'’ said Rangihaeata. At the same moment Te Hiko, son of Te I’ehi, stepped forward and tore Tamaiharanui’s lips apart, with such force that the blood dropped from his mouth, and hung in beads down the kiwi mat which was fastened, over his left shoulder.

"Teeth that devoured the flesh of my father!” he taunted. “Cursed mouth of a shark! Your body shall be ripped open by the tooth of a shark, and your children, shall be the slaves of my people!” Te Hiko’s eyes burned with brutality and lust as he fixed them on the weeping Nga Roimata. I strained at my bonds, and writhed till every muscle gave out. “Has the pakeha, taura?” Te Rauparaha asked Stewart. The brute left the cabin, returning immediately- with a set of irons. Instructed by the. two white scoundrels, the Maoris placed these on the unresisting Tamaiharanui. They then threw him on the cabin floor' and went on deck, leaving the four of us, his wife Te Who. Nga Roimata and myself, imprisoned. I signed to Te Whe. and she understood. With eager lingers she undid the ropes that bound and gagged me. To examine the irons on Tamailiaranui was the work of a moment, but, just as 1 expected, we wore powerless to aid him without tools. “I tried to warn you. that’s why they bound me,” I said. “The belly of the waka is filled with your enemies from Kapiti.”

Tamaiharanui uttered a deep groan as he looked on the tearful faces of his wife and child, and foresaw their fate. “Jjeave the bonds,” he said, stoically, surveying himself, bound hand and foot. “Leave the badges of the slave. Te Rauparaha has conquered.” I turned to the cabin portholes. Open to seaward, they were so small there was no hope of exit that way. As the chief already realised, even if we got «mo irons off, escape was impossible. At, this moment a Maori voice, between us and the shore, hailed the brig, showing the canoes were near. It penetrated to the. cabin, followed by Sheen’s answer.

“lie. kokonga whare kitea.”f murmured Taniaiharamii; "but. not the heart of the pakeha. That is truly a darker place.” He ended in a deep guttural growl.

“Aue! Aue !”t wailed Te Whe, •’Alas our people.are betrayed; the decks of the waka will be red; Te Rauparaha has truly conquered!”

She sheltered her face with her hands, in a gesture of despair, while the graceful Nga Roimata nestled fearfully to her side, in my endeavour to offer consolation 1 broke the agony of silence that ensued. “Your daughter?” I asked. “Taku hei piripiri,” he. answered, in heartrending tones, “taku hei mokimoki, taku hei tawhiri, taku katitaramea.”* “Aly God!” I cried, in anguish. “Can I not save her?” As lie grasped the meaning of my words, his fine eyes kindled, then softened into supreme tenderness. “There is one refuge for the fatherless,” he said; "there is peace with the spirits of our ancestors. Nga Roimata, go to thy mother! There shall be no slavery for thee. Better, far better, the short lullaby that precedes the everlasting slumber.” “We shall ne'er see again the hills of Akaroa,” she lamented. A death cry on the deck overhead, accompanied by a yell of triumph, broke on our ears, sending a shiver to my heart. It was followed by another, and another, in quick succession. “Aue I” moaned the distraught woman. “Listen,” exclaimed the chief. Then he deliberately turned to his trembling wife. “Ee kui,”f he commanded. “Let fier spirit go to her ancestors!” “What do you mean?” I demanded. “Nga Roimata shall never be the slave of my enemies,” he said proudly. “Her beauty shall not be a feast for Te Rauparaha.” “You will not kill her,” I cried, appealingly. “Peace, pakeha,” he answered, "if you are the friend of Tamaiharanui.”

As I gazed upon that girlish figure, my mind revolted at the thought that Te Rauparaha’s rude hand should even touch her. Moreover there were the other chiefs to be reckoned with. No indignity they could subject her to would lie too great for the satisfaction of their revengeful lust. She would be at the mercy of that relentless horde upon the brig. In the ghastly carnage that had just begun, what would be her fate? The frightful din above us increased, dying shriek on shriek, the scuffle of vigorous feet and the heavy thuds as men fell lifeless, or grappled togetheron the deck. This girl had brought release to me. Her singular beauty had in some mysterious way broken the power, of Sheen’s malevolence. And I could not save her! There was only one escape. Her maiden honour could yet be saved by death. This much was certain! In face of it what right had I to interfere?

Tamaiharanui had turned his back upon us. The mother calmly approached Nga Roimata, a determined look upon her dark face. Transfixed with horror, I stood astare. A streak of sunshine peeped through the porthole. Jt seemed a mockery! In the girl’s sweet eyes there lurked the fear of death and with a low pained cry she cringed back, as if seeking an escape. There was no wavering in the steadfast purpose of Te Whe, no softness on her pale face as, unrelenting, she stretched out her quivering fingers and circled the shapely throat. The rest must remain untold. When all was over, and I had steadied myself sufficiently, I ventured to lift my head from my hands. Tamaiharanui

stood like a rock, with tight lips and downeast eyes, while the agonised mother cast herself beside the lifeless body, uttering wail on wail over the livid and distorted features of my once beautiful Nga Roimata. “Aue- ! Aue ! Aue ! Aue !” she wailed, tearing her breasts with her nails. “My child! My child! I have clasped thee like the rata vine, and it is well! My sweetvoiced liuia! Sleep in peace! We will follow thee on the ebbing tide, the swiftly ebbing tide of death. Aue—-—! Aue ! It is best, it is best!” I heard steps on the companion, a booted tread followed by the pad-pad of bare feet. Then the barred cabin door was unfastened, and the blackguard face of Captain Sheen appeared. He was followed by the exultant Te Hiko and Te Rauparaha. Sheen took in the situation at a glance. I was free, with the ropes that had bound me lying on the floor. Beside me lay the body of the strangled Nga Roimata, from which Te Wlie had raised herself to her knees. “Good God!” he gasped, agape with astonishment. “Come in! Are you afraid?” I challenged. “You treacherous dog, disgracing the race that bred you! Come in!” Te Rauparaha stood on the lower steps of the companion, Te Hiko immediately behind him. “Fiend incarnate!” I stormed, impelled beyond all bounds by the scene I had just witnessed. “You shall give an account for this villainy to the Justice of your country.” Sheen’s face set like a flint. It confessed no feelings. The pitiable form upon the floor, the suffering man in irons, the poor liereft woman with the dark face—in which grief was tending to madness—were to him only pawns in the game of life, and affected him no more. That such misery did not appeal to the enemies of Tamaiharanui was not to be wondered at. In a European the callousness was damnable. This thought brought my Uncle Ronald's warning words to mind and, therewith came the recollection of the English home where I had left my mother. Did she still pray for me, night and morning, and was there a barrier between those prayers and Heaven's answer —the barrier of my own folly and weakness. At any rate, henceforth, my will was to be my own and I would die rather than lift a finger in support of Sheen’s nefarious schemes. I was equally determined that lie and Stewart should lie informed against and brought to justice. That was my firm resolve, but 1 knew, even as I spoke, that I was a fool to give it utterance. “So you’re loose, you yapping whelp,” he. said, stepping into the cabin. “Is that your handiwork?” he snarled, pointing to the body of the dead girl. With native intuition the Maori waman understood the question. “Aue— —! Aue !” she wailed. Then Te Rauparaha strode past, ignoring the wailing woman, and faced Tamaiharanui. In one hand he carried a large fishhook to which was fastened a length of strong cord. Te Hiko followed him like his shadow.

“Eater of Te Pelii!” cried Te Rauparaha. “.Shark of the land!” Tamaiharanui made no answer, but looked into his enemy’s eyes with calm indifference; a look in which there was not even a hint of the despair he must have felt. Sheen's attention was diverted from me by the action of the chiefs. "The wise one is trapped,” Te Rauparaha taunted; “the cunning bird is taken in a snare; the shy fish is netted!! Ugh! I came many times to Akaroa, but Tamaiharanui took refuge in distant pahs, behind the shelter of the pallisades, in the darkness of his whare. But now I have him! Mine is he ringa wliiti! ® How shall Te Rauparaha fittingly revenge himself on such a one?” To this there was no reply. “Come, Te Hiko.” said Te Raupara,ha, “help me hook this fish.” Together they got the hook through the loose skin of the chief's throat and fastened the cord to the roof of the cabin, so tightly that the chin was drawn up as far as it would go. Stretched to his full height, in this manner, he endured excruciating torture, but not sound escaped his lips, and he did not afford them their looked for gratification of seeing hini suffer. . -j “The devils!”, even Sheen admitted., “So are we to stand idly by and see it done?” I said. <

“Well, after all, lie’s only a savage,” he reflected.' - “The deck’s black- with ’em. Ha! . Ha!, How they rolled ’em over. Like playing ninepins, only more exciting. Bah! I care nought for savages!” “That’s evident enough! ” ~ “And less for mutineers!” 1 • “Anyhow your power over me is gone!” , His eyes blazed with pent-up rage. “There's always force, bear in mind,” he said. “A confession of weakness?” I enquired, derisively. - “There’s a yard-arm and a rope,” ho threatened. ' ' “You’re not captain!” “Stewart is!” ; “You’re twin devils,” I rejoined; “six of one and half a dozen of the other.” “We’ll soon order your goings, anyway,” he said. “Wait till we get rid of these stowaways. They might hand over extra flax for a white slave.” ■ “That’s the threat you used to Coulished,” I retorted. “It’s a whip that has no sting for me. I’d he flayed alive before I’d move for you.” “Coulished was an angel to you,” he said. “He was open to reason and tried to oblige. All the same I hope you’ll enjoy the play that’s been prepared for. your pleasure aboard this ’ brig.' Only ( I’d advise you, as a friend, not to come up on deck if you want to keep your, breakfast down.” With this, he turned, and mounted the companion. I could hardly stay in the cabin and see the brutal torturing of the Maori chief; much leas -witness the heaps of slain above. The massacre, for such it was, continued throughout the day. All who eamet

inboard were killed instantly. Then, leaving the brig, Te Rauparaha and the Ngatitoa made a raid upon the pah, Takapuneke, when upwards of a hundred were butchered. Apera Puhenui, Paurini and other leading inen among the Ngaitahu tribe were slain, cither on the brig or while resisting the overwhelming attack up the shore. What followed I need not describe. Others have written. What good purpose could be served by an eye-witness recalling those horrors from their graves after the lapse of years. No further punishment can be visited upon the guilty. Te Rauparaha, Te Hiko, and the Ngatitoa, in some measure must be forgiven. It was the custom of their race to be revenged, to eat their enemies, to torture those they hated, and to rejoice in their death. Tamaiharanui, in like circumstances, would hare been equally ferocious. Even to regard it as a blot upon the greatness of Te Rauparaba’s character would be manifestly unfair. Let a veil be drawn over the horrors of that unforgotten day. He who would read of them must search the scant records relating to the brig Elizabeth and her ghastly and treaehernus errand. Here I leave it, to resume {ho narrative of her doings when we were once more anchored off Kapiti. with only Tainaiharanui and his wife, of all Te Rauparaba’s captives, left alive. , (To be Continued.)

* The eiajlish pulled out of bis hole nffer . long pulling by Tama. Double tongue!' Double heart! t The corner of a whare may be •enrolled. | The wall Of the Maori untranslatable.

♦ Part of a Maori love song equivalent tot "My necklace of scented moss, my necklace of fragrant fern, my necklace of odourous shrubs, my sweet smelling necklet Thianica.” Taramea is a spear grass, acophylln sgnarrosu. t Old woman.

• The hand quick at reaching out (obscure)" ,y