The Church in New Zealand

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LI, Issue 52, 31 December 1924, Page 19

The Church in New Zealand

Te Rauparaha's Raids ■ After .two days' sailing the brig arrived in Akaroa bay and anchored in front of the pah where Maranui dwelt. Rauparaha's warriors concealed themselves in the hatchays, lest they should excite suspicion, and "he ship had all the appearance of an ordinary whaler. Some Maoris came in their canoes to exchange goods but the captain refused to receive them on board before the arrival of the head chief who, they said, was at Wairewa. Maranui arrived with his wife 'and his twelve-year-old daughter without ; suspecting the trap which had been set for him. Scarcely was he on the bridge than Rauparaha, who lay in wait for him, seized him and dragged him in his cabin with his wife and daughter, bound him, all 'the time ,jeering at him for his simplicity in allowing himself to be captured' so easily. At the same time Rauparaha's warriors

] flung themselves' on the , men : who had ac- ; companied the chief, and slew them; they y sftot the poor natives who had come in great numbers in their canoes to the ship. They let down the ship's boats and landed on the j shore, where the carnage was even more 'horrible. Men, women, and children fled in disorder towards the fortress. They pursued I them with musket shots at the entrance to

CATHOLICITY IN CANTERBURY: EARLY MISSIONARY EFFORTS. (Continued from last week)

the fort the confusion was overwhelming. Several men hastened together at' the sound of the musket shots and endeavored to offer some resistance to the northern warriors, but they were beaten down and dragged along with the fugitives. The defenders of the fortress, paralysed with fear at the slaughter of their friends; hesitated for a moment. The conquerors seized the opportunity of mingling with the fugitives and entering the fort with them. Then began a scene of indescribable desolation and horror. All were massacred with the exception of some prisoners and a few persons of high rank who succeeded, in escaping in the confusion. On the evening of this day a horrible massacre took place at Barry's Bay. The old men, women, and children were butchered and their bleeding limbs were carried to the camp in order to serve as a repast for Rauparaha's men. For several days these

cannibals overran the district plantations, slaying all they met, taking men prisoners and leaving behind them nothing but ruin and desolation. When the work of destruction was finished Captain Stewart received orders to sail for Kapiti. It is said, that during the voyage several prisoners were butchered and roasted in the ship's furnaces but this is not certain.

Maranui had been tied to the masts of the brig and kept a mournful silence; between Cook Strait and Mana, he called his daughter, who was allowed to run about the bridge "My daughter," said he to her, "they want to kill me, and to make you a slave; but this will never be." At the same time he seized her with a trembling hand, dashed her head against the bars of the large hatchway and threw her dead body into the sea. Two days after his arrival at Kapiti, Maranui was put to death with indescribable torture. They fixed a rope to the top of a tree 15 feet high; tied one end to his feet whilst they raised the other in the air and allowed him to fall on his head three times. Thus perished the unfortunate Maranui, justly punished for the cruelities which he himself had often inflicted on the members of his tribe. The infamous captain, who had lent his ship for this horrible affair, dared to ask for the prize, which they had agreed upon; but they mocked him. He afterwards sought to excuse himself on the grounds that he had acted under the influence of fear only and in ignorance of what was going to happen at Akaroa. He went to Sydney to escape the justice of the law; he then sailed for America, and nothing more was ever heard of hi mi or of his ship. (ire Hfstojical Records Until 1848, New Zealand formed part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Western Oceania, instituted by Pope Gregory XVI (June, 1835) and was entrusted to the Marist Fathers under the jurisdiction of Mgr. Pompallier. After the division of the Vicariate New Zealand formed two dioceses; that of Auckland, assigned to Mgr. Pompallier, and that of Wellington confided to the administration of Mgr. Viard (June 20, 1848). It was not until 1850 that Mgr. Viard loft the diocese of Auckland to proceed to Wellington, where he arirved with the Marist Fathers, on May 1, 1850. All the north, with the exception of the province of Auckland, and all the South including Stewart Island formed the diocese of Wellington. When the Missionaries settled in the Bay of Islands, that district which to-day forms the provinces of Canterbury and Otago was inhabited only by some Maori tribes settled principally along the coast at Banks Peninsula, Port Chalmers, and at Stewart Island. These places were visited from 1804, and perhaps more frequently, by whalers of all nations, amongst whom chanced to be some Catholics. These introduced Catholicism into tho South; but it must be said that this was a very mitigated Catholicism incapable of producing any impression in the minds of the natives. Among the whalers who frequented Banks Peninsula was Captain Hempleman, commander of the brig, "The Bee." Struck by the beauty of the Port of Akaroa and its surroundings, he decided to settle there. Accompanied by several Europeans who had joined him) in Sydney, and by some Maoris whom he had taken on board at Queen Charlotte Sound, he landed at Peraki, at the entrance to Akaroa Harbor, on March 17, 1836. It was. St. Patrick's Day and, as there

were several Irish Catholics amongst the crew, they resolved to celebrate the feast of their Patron Saint with great rejoicings; therefore, it was on this day that Catholicism \as implanted by the sons of St. Patrick on Banks Peninsula. Let us now follow their

progress on the Peninsula and later in Canterbury. • -,■-■-. Akaroa The Catholics lived for many years without priests to bless their marriages and to baptise their children. When they learnt that

some Missioners were established at the Bay of Islands they wrote to the Apostolic in order to ask him for a priest. This desire was not satisfied until four years later.

In January, 1840, there arrived at Auckland, a French warship, the "Aube," commanded by Lavaud. Mgr. Pompallier learnt from him that he was proceeding to Akaroa where several French emigrants were arriving to form a colony. Mgr. Pompallier then resolved to go there . himself with Fathers Comte, Tripe, and Brother Florentein. They set out in the mission schooner, the "Sancta Maria," and arrived at Aikaroa in September. The French emigrants arrived there on August 16 in the ship "Le Comte de Paris." The French emigrants had arrived almost at the same time as the "Aube," and began to install themselves in their new country. Father Comte was elected Superior of the Mission, and with the aid of the French marines he built a small chapel and a house, and began to busy himself with his work, baptising the children who were brought to him by their parents, even some Protestants desired Baptism. As the Missioners knew the language of the country, they visited the Maoris who were scattered along the coast instructing them and baptising a great number. Mgr. Pompallier, on leaving Akaroa, went South in order to visit the Catholics who were established in Port Chalmers, and who had escaped shipwreck on the rocks near Moeraki. There were too few colonists to maintain their priests in permanent residences, so, after several'fruitless efforts, the Missioners who had come with the intention of establishing themselves at Akaroa were compelled to content themselves with making visits there each year. Mgr. Pompallier's last visit to the Peninsula was on April 16, 1846. (To be continued.)