THE BATTLE OF RUAPEKAPEKA

Te Ao Hou, October 1956, Page 42

THE BATTLE OF RUAPEKAPEKA So Kawiti with his warriors returned from Ohaeawai to prepare a new pa at Ruapekapeka. Tools and implements from Korokareka were brought to the spot for the construction of this fortress. Actually it was one of the most up-to-date pas ever built in Maoriland. Two cannons were brought up the Kawakawa River on canoes and hauled overland. The distance from Kororareka being approximately 25 to 30 miles to the south-west. One of these guns, a deck-cannon, about four feet long, is still to be found at the pa. The other, possibly a field gun, was longer, being about six feet long but with a narrower barrel. The former weapon was rendered useless by a direct hit during the bombardment which followed. It is said that a marine-gunner scored a direct hit after three shots. From a distance of about 300 yards this was no mean feat. Whether the gun was in action or served any useful purpose to the Maori at all is not known, but it is certain that its loss had a cooling effect on the enthusiasm of the Maoris. Even if the fragments did not hit anything, the noise alone would lead the Maoris to expect a great calamity. For this was the first time the Maoris had ever owned a cannon. To keep such a weapon supplied with gun-powder would be an important problem for the Maoris to consider. Therefore, its loss, apart from its possible effect on their morale, may have been an advantage in that it led to a reduction in the consumption of gun-powder. The other weapon, the field cannon lying near the Waiomio meeting house is still being used at funerals. Kawiti, Mataroria, Motiti and others tried warriors of a hundred battles, were at Ruapekapeka during the planning and preparing of this new pa. Large puriri trees were felled, and the trunks were used to form the pallisades. These logs were erected high enough to prevent scaling by the enemy. Sunk deeply into the ground they formed a line outside the inner trenches so that they could not be pulled down with ropes. A front line of trenches (‘parepare’) was dug outside the pallisades and connected to the inner trenches by alley ways at intervals through which men could retire. Their primary use was to give protection to the men who were awaiting attack by the enemy. They were also used when launching an attack. Under pressure Maori warriors would retire through these to the inner defences behind the pallisades. A frontal attack on this pa would have been very costly in lives, as the defenders under cover and in comparative safety, could thrust their guns and fire between bullet proof pallisades. Deep pihareinga, or dugouts with narrow circular entrances at top, gave access to shelters. These caves looked like calabashes buried underground, the narrow end uppermost. The bowl, spacious enough to accommodate 15 to 20 men, provided shelter from the weather. The occupants could sleep in comparative safety from the firing which went on overhead. In the event of a surprise attack however, these ruas, or as they have been aptly called, ruapekapeka (bats' nests) could become veritable mantraps.(4) This is how the pa was called Ruapekapeka. It was not the original name of the locality. An ancient burial ground nearby was known as Tepapakurau, meaning “a hundred corpses”. Well back on higher ground an observation post was erected. A deep well was also dug near the rear of the pa. Intended to ensure adequate water-supply in case of a seige the well was sunk some 15ft deep into a sandstone formation. The rifle and bayonet had not appeared on the battlefield at this period. But there was the Tupara—the double-barrel muzzle loader, and the ngutuparera—flint-lock musket, so called because the hammer holding the flint looked like a duck's beak. There was the Snider-gun too, as well as some rather long and heavy revolving pistols. Until 1910 a number of these weapons were stored in the wharehui at Waiomio. Owing to the Maori tapu laws or the passing of the arms act, the writer saw these gathered up and taken away to be thrown into the limestone caves. For close fighting the taiaha, the patiti and the mere were still the main weapons of the Maori. Now that the tribe was at war, great reliance was again placed on the tohunga who needed to be of Ariki descent. His was the office of foretelling the future, of expounding the tapu laws and seeing that they were kept, breaking down enemy resistance by incantations, curing the sick and giving succour to the wounded. Before battle he had to render fighting men immune to the evil effect of the opposite priest's incantations. At Ruapekapeka a garment, thrown over each man to make him “tapu”, kua oti te whakauu, and ready for the fray, was used. Before departure to a distant land such a ceremony took place at the ariki's latrine where the participants were required to bite the seating-bar. On more peaceful missions however, a branch of the kawa-kawa tree was deposited on a ceremonial shrine to appease the gods. Preparations and ceremonies over, the pa awaited the hour of battle.