CHAPTER IV.
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CHAPTER IV.
THE following notification forwarded to the Waikato chiefs by His Excellency Sir George Grey is specially interesting, showing, as it does, upon what grounds the Governor decided upon taking possession of the Waikato district.
CHIEFS OF WAIKATO.
Europeans quietly living on their own lands in Waikato have been driven away, their property has been plundered, their wives and children have been taken from them. By the instigation of some of you, officers and soldiers were murdered at Taranaki. Others of you have since expressed approval of these murders. Crimes have been committed in other parts of the island, and the criminals have been rescued or sheltered under the order of your authority. You are now assembled in armed bands. You are constantly threatening to ravage the settlement of Auckland, and to murder peaceable settlers. Some of you offered a safe passage through your territories to armed parties contemplating such outrages.
The well-disposed among you are either unable or unwilling to prevent these evil acts. I am therefore compelled, for the protection of all to establish posts at several points on the Waikato River, and to take necessary measures for the future security of persons inhabiting that district.
The lives and property of all well-disposed persons living on the river will be protected, and armed and evil-disposed people will be stopped from passing down the river to rob and murder Europeans.
I now call upon all well-disposed natives to aid the Lieutenant General to establish these posts and to preserve peace and order.
Those who remain peaceably at their own village or move into such districts as may be pointed out by the Government, will be protected in their person, property, and land.
Those who wage war against Her Majesty, or remain in arms, threatening the lives of her peaceable subjects, must take the consequences of their acts, and they must understand that they will forfeit the right to the possession of their lands, guaranteed to them by the Treaty of Waitangi, which lands will be occupied by a population capable of protecting for the future the quiet and unoffending from the violence with which they are now so constantly threatened.
Auckland, July 11th, 1863.
The above notification was no clever stringing of words together by the Governor to cover an aggressive act, it being true in every particular, and it was none too soon when he decided to take steps for protecting for the future the quiet and inoffensive from the violence with which they were so constantly threatened.
This then was the cause of the Waikato war. It was a struggle for supremacy of law and order against no law and no order except that of outrage. Such a state of things could not last -- impossible -- it being against the natural order of things. Law Courts had been formed and native assessors appointed in the Waikato, but when the Taranaki war commenced all semblance of law and order disappeared. The few well-disposed were unable or unwilling to stay the spirit of rebellion, so the Governor, Sir George Grey, was compelled to take steps for the future safety of the settlers. The time had to come, and may have to come again, and always will have to come, no matter when, whenever law and order comes into juxtaposition with no law and no order.
Sir George Arney, the then Chief Justice of New Zealand, ruled that every man, woman, and child domiciled within these shores are subjects of Her Majesty, and must obey the laws. He stated that it was his duty to say so.
A writer, treating of this subject at the time, says, "The Maoris, who have hitherto had the advantage of living in a sort of political ferry boat always available to convey them to the side most remote from danger or responsibility,
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must now be considered by all as bound down to one position. They are British subjects, and must obey British law." It is not, perhaps, very difficult to perceive how an opinion frequently contradicting this first sprung into popularity with a class of persons in this country.
A generous mind will always be ready to make allowance for many shortcomings in a people situated as the Maori people have been. This indulgence towards individuals naturally extended itself to the race, and the law was in practice allowed to be different in its operation towards the native and the European. Such a practice once admitted, the step was an easy one, which founded that distinction upon some undefined but radical difference in the sovereignity of Her Majesty over the native and European inhabitants of New Zealand.
As we have said, the root of this error was a generous one, but the error was great, and has proved very fatal, notwithstanding. The Maori felt that he was not under the subjection of law as his European neighbour was, and this led him to assert that the Queen and the law belonged to the white man, and another law belonged to the Maori. The European felt that the law did not protect him in his dealings with his native neighbour, while it was always ready to give the very greatest protection to his native neighbour in all transactions with him.
The doctrine that no natives or tribes of natives in this country have a right to wage war against one another or against the Queen's authority has only now been placed plainly before the Maoris.
A large number (about 160) of refugee natives having congregated with the chief Ihaka's (Isaac's) Papakura Maoris, at Keri Keri, near Papakura, a party of the 65th Regiment and Colonel Nixon's Defence Force were ordered to eject them. Bishop Selwyn and another clergyman also went to persuade the natives to leave. Whether it was politic of the Bishop to go and interfere at this crisis, and also on several other occasions, has been much questioned. Certain it is that he was at the time severely censured by a great many, however good may have been his intentions. Upon the arrival of the troops, the natives asked to be allowed to remain over Sunday, that day being Saturday, and the chief Isaac, who was not to be seen, was stated to be laid up in his whare with rheumatism. This was false, for the wily old rascal was as well as ever, but was lying on top of his gun and ammunition and would not move. The other natives had also hidden their arms and ammunition and would not move. After much parleying the time for them to leave was extended until the following Monday evening and the troops returned to camp.
On the next day, Sunday, a strong detachment of the 65th Regiment, under Colonel Wyatt, C. B., marched from the Queen's Redoubt to the native settlement at Tuakau, for the purpose of expelling the Maoris who had not left or given in their allegiance according to the Governor's order. The village was situated on the edge of the river, and justly considered one of the prettiest and most flourishing in the lower Waikato. The land was good; potatoes, kumeras, and corn grew luxuriantly, and each year filled the storehouses of the natives to overflowing. A water mill close by ground their wheat into flour, and their fruit trees were loaded with apples and peaches, whilst the branches of the vine bending under their juicy weight trailed in the swift running stream. No wonder the natives were loth to leave their beloved home. The 65th debouched suddenly from the bush in the rear of the settlement, and surprised the natives, who, hastily collecting their lares and penates, moved mournfully down to their canoes, and with many tears and deep sighs paddled away.
The object of the expedition having been completed, it returned to the Queen's Redoubt, with the exception of a company who were left behind to throw up and occupy a redoubt on a high cliff overlooking the river.
Early on the Tuesday morning most of the natives left Keri Keri, the rheumatic old chief, no doubt, as nimble as the youngest. They dispersed, and prowled, with tomahawk and loaded gun, through the Hunua ranges, and some towards Shepherd's Bush. The mounted orderly as he galloped along the road hard by with despatches from the General to His Excellency the Governor, passed safely through the bush, saw nothing, heard nothing but the piping of the tui, or the, harsh scream of the kaka, and the day wore slowly on and on until the sun went
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down and the shades of evening mingled with the gloom of night, and the stars came out one by one, and with their bright twinkling eyes pierced even the deep gloom of the forest, and saw the evidence of a dark crime that had that day been committed.
Early the next afternoon a rumour reached Auckland which thrilled everyone with horror. It was to the effect that two settlers had been found murdered by the natives. Later on this rumour was confirmed. Extras were issued from the newspaper offices, which stated that Mr Meredith and his young son, a mere lad, had been found in Shepherd's Bush, tomahawked, evidently by the Maoris. They had been out the day before to work as usual, and, not coming home at night, a search party had gone out that morning, and discovered their bodies. The first victims had been sacrificed. Hostilities had commenced. The natives had now struck the first blow, a cowardly one, 'tis true, but they had drawn first blood, and that to the Maori was something. It remained to be seen where the next blow would be struck.
Although the natives opposed to us possessed but inferior arms, they had a great advantage over the troops in their intimate knowledge of the country, and could number altogether nearly 3,000 fighting men, that is counting the tribes outside of the Waikato, who in various ways assisted the Kingites. These dispersed into bands of from 200 to 400 men roving through, and having the advantage of the deep cover afforded by the extensive bush, over thirty miles in length, by twelve in breadth, which fringed our frontier settlements from the Wairoa to Waiuku, rendering them a formidable foe, as they could, if so minded, strike suddenly for outlying districts, and retreat back into the bush. To guard all the frontier settlements, and at the same time push forward a strong force into the heart of the Waikato, would require all and more than all the men and means at the disposal of the General. Most of our townships at this period were almost defenceless, and each expecting to be attacked. No one could tell when or where a party of natives would emerge from the long fringe of bush.
The troops were, except those at Drury, all at the front at the Queen's Redoubt and Mangatawhiri, and the rifles and Militia were still in Auckland. Each hour was an anxious one.
