CHAPTER XXIII: THE TRUCE.
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CHAPTER XXIII.
WHEN Wiremu Tamihana te Tarapipi, anglaice Thompson, was residing at Ngaruawahia, he received several letters from Bishop Selwyn, and the late Chief Justice Martin, soliciting his interference for making peace with the tribes at Taranaki. This was during the height of the war, and he paid no attention to them; but the fourth, containing an intimation that the Governor had joined in the request, induced him to make up his mind to interfere. He accordingly started to the scene of conflict, and arrived at Waitara early in March. The result of his arrival was the hoisting of a flag of truce at Hapurona's pa on the 12th of March, and a brief conference, which ended in the renewal of hostilities. On the 19th, Hapurona again hoisted the white flag.
On the 27th, the Colonial s.s. Victoria brought from Manukau His Excellency the Governor, Mr. Weld the Native Minister, Mr. Whitaker the Attorney-General, Mr. Commissioner McLean, and Tamati Waka Nene, the great Ngapuhi chief.
On the 30th, the s.s. Airedale brought from Manukau Major-General Cameron, C.B., and Miss Cameron. Major-General Sir Duncan Cameron's commissions date as follows:--Ensign, April the 8th, 1825; Lieutenant, August the 15th, 1826; Captain, June the 21st, 1833; Major, August the 23rd, 1839; Lieutenant-Colonel, September the 5th, 1843; Colonel, June the 20th, 1854; Major-General, March the 25th, 1859. He was the President of the Council of Army Education. He served in the Eastern campaign of 1854-55; commanded the 40th. Regiment at the battle of Alma, and the Highland Brigade at the battle of Balaklava, and on the expedition to Kertch, siege of Sebastopol, and assault on the outworks on the 18th of June. His decorations are--medal and clasps, C.B., Officer of the Legion of Honor, Sardinian medal, third class of the Medjindie, Knight Commander of the Bath, 1864, Knight Grand Cross of the Bath, 1873, and New Zealand medal. He was made Colonel of the 42nd Foot in September, 1863, and in 1868 became Governor of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He was born about 1808, and is of an ancient Scottish Highland Clan.
Hapurona having kept the white flag hoisted, a lengthened korero took place, occupying several days. At length Hapurona and a few followers accepted the following terms, the Waikatos agreeing to return to their homes, while Wi Kingi, who was in the Waikato district, refused to give his sanction to them or to meet the Government:--
"Terms offered by the Governor to the Waitara Insurgents."
HAPURONA and NGATIAWA:--For twelvemonths you have been
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carrying arms against Her Majesty the Queen, and the authority of the law; you have now laid down your arms, and expressed your desire for peace; believing your desire to be sincere, I have come from Auckland for the purpose of stating the terms upon which it will be granted, and upon which Her Majesty's gracious pardon and protection will be extended to you.
"They are as follows:--
"1. The investigation of the Title, and the survey of the land at Waitara, to be continued and completed without interruption.
"2. Every man to be permitted to state his claims without interference, and my decision, or the decision of such persons as I may appoint, to be conclusive.
"3. All land in possession of Her Majesty's forces belonging to those who have borne arms against Her Majesty to be disposed of by me as I may think fit.
"4. All guns belonging to the Government to be returned.
"5. All plunder taken from the settlers to be forthwith restored.
"6. The Ngatiawa who have borne arms against the Government must submit to the Queen, and to the authority of the law, and not resort to force for the redress of wrongs, real or imaginary.
"As I did not use force for the acquisition of land, but for the vindication of the law and for the protection of Her Majesty's native subjects in the exercise of their just rights, I shall divide the land, which I have stated my intention to dispose of, amongst its former owners, but I shall reserve the sites of the blockhouses and redoubts, and a small piece of land around each for the public use, and shall exercise the right of making roads through the Waitara district. In conformity with the declaration made on the 29th of November, 1859, the rights of those who may prove their title to any part of the piece of land at Waitara will be respected.
"On your submission to these terms you will come under the protection of the law, and enjoy your property, both lands and goods, without molestation."
THE DECLARATION OF HAPURONA.
"I hereby declare that the terms of peace proposed by the Governor have been read and fully explained to me, and that I understand them thoroughly; and I declare that on behalf of myself and people I agree to abide by and fulfil them.
"HAPURONA PUKERIMU."
"These terms have been read and explained in our presence, and made thoroughly to be understood, this 8th day of April, 1861.
"J. A. WILSON, Missionary, C.M.S.,
"of the District of Auckland.
"MORE,
"DONALD MCLEAN, Native Secretary."
"I, Hapurona, speak for myself, for all these men whose names are
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hereunto described, for the women and children."
Here follow 64 signatures.
THE DECLARATION OF PATUKAKARIKI.
"I hereby declare that the terms of peace proposed by the Governor have been read and fully explained to me, and that I understand them thoroughly; and I declare that on behalf of myself and people I agree to abide by and fulfil them.
"WIREMU NGA WAKA PATUKAKARIKI,
" His + Mark."
"These terms have been read and explained in our presence, and made thoroughly to be understood.
"TE WAKA NENE, +
"FRED. A. WELD, Native Minister,
"DONALD MCLEAN, Native Secretary."
Similar terms were offered to the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui natives, who after considerable hesitation declared that they would neither accept nor refuse them, but await the result of a conference on native matters at Waikato.
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In times of peace Taranaki is one of the most healthy places in the world. In the early days an entire year has been known to elapse without a single death occurring, and the medical men had to cultivate the land in order to live, there being no sickness to require their aid. During the period of hostilities, however, diarrhoea, fevers, and ultimately diphtheria, were fatally prevalent, the latter disease carrying off numbers of young people. And not only did those suffer who remained in the besieged town of New Plymouth, but those who took refuge in Nelson were afflicted almost as severely.
Considerable irritation was felt in the settlement at this time by the arrival from England of a pamphlet containing a letter to the Duke of Newcastle, entitled, "One of England's Little Wars," written by Archdeacon Hadfield, wherein he defended the action of the rebel Wi Kingi, by endeavoring to show that his claim to the Waitara was superior to that of Te Teira, and blamed Governor Gore Browne for plunging the Colony into war.
Early in May, Mr. Cutfield's term of office as Superintendent of the Province being about to expire, he again became a candidate for the Superintendency, in connection with Messrs. J. C. Richmond and Mr. C. Brown. Before the election Mr. Cutfield withdrew from the contest, and on the 23rd Mr. Brown was elected.
In the New Zealand Gazette of the 31st of May, Judge Johnston was appointed to be H.M. Commissioner to determine questions as to the proprietary rights of certain portions of the Ngatiawa tribe lately in arms against Her Majesty, in a block of land at Taranaki, and John Rogan, Esq., was appointed to mark out the boundaries of the same.
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On the 3rd of June, the Prince Arthur steam sloop, of the Indian Navy, arrived from Bombay, with 147 men of the 57th Regiment, 42 soldiers' wives and 69 children, and Brevet-Major Hassard, Captain Sir Robert Douglass, Bart., Captain 0. J. Clark, and Lieutenants McClintoc, and A. C. Manners.
On the 15th, E. J. Willcocks, Esq., was appointed Registration and Returning Officer, and Registrar of the Supreme Court for the Province, vice Ritchie.
On the 25th, Colors were presented to the Taranaki Militia and Volunteers, from the ladies of Taranaki, by Mrs. Colonel Warre, wife of Colonel Warre, 57th Regiment, the ceremony of consecration being performed by the Ven. Archdeacon Govett.
The sum of £25,000 having been voted by Parliament during the session of 1860 as compensation to the Taranaki settlers for the losses sustained by them during the war, Mr. Sewell, the special Commissioner, arrived at New Plymouth to investigate claims, on July the 8th.
On August the 10th, the prospectus of the Bank of New Zealand was advertised in the Taranaki Herald, Messrs. T. King and J. J. Looney being the provisional trustees for Taranaki.
News having reached the Colony of the appointment of Sir George Grey as successor to Colonel Gore Browne in the Governorship of New Zealand, a valedictory address was presented to Colonel Gore Browne, signed by the entire male adult population of Taranaki. On the 26th of September Sir George Grey arrived in Auckland from the Cape of Good Hope by H.M. steam corvette Cossack, 20 guns, and was welcomed on shore by Colonel Gore Browne.
On the 1st of October, Colonel Gore Browne and family embarked at Auckland for Sydney in the Henry Fernie, amidst the warmest expressions of respect and esteem from the inhabitants.
On the 16th of November, Bishop Selwyn left New Plymouth for the purpose of reaching Wanganui by the coast track, and in order to prove to the world that the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui tribes were not so bad as the Taranaki settlers represented them to be. The Bishop returned to New Plymouth on the 22nd, and was very reticent as to the results of his journey. Prom a letter written by Erueti, a chief of Warea, to the Rev. Mr. Reimenschneider, the following particulars of this journey were obtained:--
"When the Bishop got to Moutoti the Maoris sent a young man after him to demand of him his reason for persisting in pursuing his journey southward, when he knew the Maoris had forbidden any Pakehas to pass that way. As the Bishop proved obstinate his bundle and horse were demanded of him in order that he might turn back to town. The Bishop agreed to return, but desired to be permitted to sleep there that night. This was permitted, and the young man left him. The Bishop slept there two nights, and then went on with the horse, but his bundle was detained for his persistence. The Bishop went on as far as Ohangi, a place fifty miles on this side of Wanganui, and then returned to New Plymouth to catch the
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steamer. On passing Moutoti his bundle was restored to him."
Much anxiety was felt at this time concerning the spread of thistles over the cultivated parts of the district. The grass paddocks of the forest clearings were infested with this plant to such a degree that scarcely any grass was to be seen in them.
On the 18th of November, a branch of the Bank of New Zealand was opened at Mr. Richmond's stone house, near Mount Eliot, Mr. T. King being manager.
In December, Governor Grey announced a new scheme of native policy. It consisted chiefly in dividing the Colony into Native and European Districts, and in permitting Native Courts of Law, called Runangas, to have jurisdiction in Native Districts. These Courts were ultimately established, and while they entirely failed to cure the Maoris of their rebelliousness, became the object of derision to all who knew anything about them, the most ridiculous farces being performed in connection with them.
On the 1st of January, 1862, the foundation stone of the Primitive Methodist Church, Queen Street, was laid by Josiah Flight, Esq., R.M.
Governor Grey at this time established camps between Auckland and Waikato, and employed the troops in making roads.
On the 14th of January, the Superintendent of Taranaki proclaimed the Public Cemetery Ordinance, 1861, on which basis the Public Cemetery at Te Henui was established.
On the 1st of February, an extract from a speech delivered by the late Canon Stowell, of Manchester, before a meeting of the Douglas Branch of the Isle of Man Auxilliary of the Church Missionary Society, as reported in the Manx Sun, was published in the Taranaki Herald, and produced considerable indignation. This extract contained the following extraordinary and impassioned statements:--"New Zealand is the brightest gem in the diadem of the Church Missionary Society. Who has brought this trouble on New Zealand? Was it not the grasping, unfair, and oppressive emigrants? How did the civilised settlers treat the natives? Why, in the way that hunters treat wild animals--they hewed them up and cut them down to make way for their boasted civilisation. Alas! alas! that British civilisation should so far forget itself as to allow the aborigines to be cut down and treated like dogs. The emigrants--in many cases the off-scouring and vagabonds of our own country--ought not to be allowed to take advantage of the ignorance of the natives, and oppress them as they have done, to a great extent pillaging their lands from them, and then when the natives turn round to defend themselves they are cried out against as 'rebels' and savages." These were very cruel and unjust words to say against the settlers who had been dispossessed of their farms at Mangoraka by the manumitted Puketapu slaves, and those whose homes had been rifled, farms bespoiled, and blood been shed by the red-handed murderers of Taranaki and Ngatiruanui. Canon Stowell was, however, the victim of ignorance and misrepresentation.
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On the 14th of February, the Taranaki Militia was virtually disbanded, and arrangements were made for employing the men in constructing the roads. Mr. F. A. Carrington was appointed Engineering Surveyor for these works. The women and children who had taken refuge in Nelson returned by every steamer, and a number of timber houses were erected for their temporary accommodation by the Provincial Government in St. Germains Square.
On the 16th of May, Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, whose labors connected with modern colonisation, and with the colonisation of New Zealand have already been alluded to, expired at his residence in Wellington, at the age of 66 years. He arrived in Wellington in 1853, just before the Constitution Act was brought into operation, and was returned for the Hutt by an overwhelming majority as one of its representatives, both in the Provincial Council of Wellington and General Assembly.
On the 8th of July, a great native meeting was held at Kapoaraia. The number present was estimated at 600, and consisted of members of the Taranaki, Ngatiruanui, Ngaruru, and Wanganui tribes. The meeting resolved that if the road making were extended beyond Waireka it would be looked upon as a declaration of war. After the meeting was over Mohi Te Reiroa, of Waikato, cried out Whitiki! whitiki! "Gird yourselves," when all the Maoris rushed out of the house, put on their belts, seized their guns, and began the war dance. Mohi then took a taiaha, and began a most violent harangue, cut down numbers of imaginary Pakehas, and worked himself up into such a state of frenzy that he fell dead. A similar occurrence took place on the 6th of the previous January, at the runanga at Whatino, when Hori Kingi Ngatairakaunui, while discussing the same question, fell down dead.
On the night of the 1st of September, the s.s. Lord Worsley was wrecked at Cape Egmont on her passage from Nelson to New Plymouth. From some inexplicable cause the steamer was run ashore in a small bay near to the cape and became a wreck. The passengers, among whom were several ladies, and the crew were safely landed in the enemy's country, but several of the crew escaped with a boat to New Plymouth with the intelligence. At first much alarm was created by the intelligence, it being feared that the Maoris would kill the whole of the shipwrecked people who remained in their territory, but by the good offices of Wi Kingi, of Umuroa, and the prospect of a rich booty from the wreck, the people were spared and sent up to New Plymouth in bullock carts.
On the 7th of February, 1863, H.M. steam corvette Orpheus, 21 guns, was lost on Manukau bar, with 187 of her crew.
On the 4th of March, H.M.S.S. Harrier arrived with His Excellency Sir George Grey, General Cameron, the Hon. Mr. Domett, Colonial Secretary; and the Hon. Mr. Bell, Native Secretary. The object of the Governor's visit was the reinstating of the Province, and to further this object the House of Representatives had
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recommended that a sum of £200,000 should be raised on the general security of the colony, but as a special charge on the land and ordinary revenue of the Province of Taranaki, for the purpose of compensating the settlers for their losses, and reinstating them on their farms.
Shortly after the Governor's arrival, strange natives were seen in the bush in the neighborhood of the Kent road, passing apparently to the south. When this fact was mentioned to His Excellency he replied that he was assured that these natives had gone southward with the most laudable intention.
As a first step towards the reinstatement of the Province, the Governor determined to take possession of Tataraimaka, which the natives claimed by right of conquest.
On Thursday, the 12th of March, 300 men of the 57th Regiment, under Colonel Warre, C.B., Captains Woodall and Gorton, Lieutenants Brutton, Thompson, Tragett, and Waller, Adjutant Clarke, and Assistant-Surgeon Hope, together with Lieutenant Ferguson and a detachment of the Royal Engineers, paraded under Mount Eliot, and marched off by the South Road towards Omata, preceded by baggage under the charge of Lieutenant Cox. His Excellency the Governor and General Cameron followed. The troops reached Waireka, and encamped. A number of the Taranaki tribe had been for several days at Wairau, a native settlement lying on the coast, between Oakura river and Tataraimaka. The smoke of large fires, supposed to be signals, was seen at Tataraimaka and beyond it after the arrival of the troops. For several days after this the Governor, the General, the Colonial Secretary, and the Native Minister, paid visits to the Camp at Poutoko, and on one occasion delegates from Taranaki proper met them, and informed them that Tataraimaka would not be given up unless the British first gave up the Waitara.
The Governor's intention, however, was to take repossession of the Tataraimaka block, and the natives were well aware of this, for in a conference with Tamihana at Waikato in the previous January the following dialogue occurred:--
Tamihana: "O Governor, all the blocks in the neighborhood of Waitara over which the soldiers went you shall retain for the Queen alone; but the determination of Ngatiruanui and Taranaki, as expressed by them, is to continue in the possession of the Waireka and Tataraimaka blocks over which their feet travelled."
The Governor: "Do you hearken; I shall be obstinate about Tataraimaka. After my return to Auckland I shall embark in the steamer, and proceed to that place, and there abide. Now will Waikato go there and join them, or will Waikato go to Taranaki and assist me? O ye sons, you are in error, for I have Tataraimaka in my hands, and my hands shall be strong to hold it."
On the 19th, H.M.S.S. Harrier arrived at New Plymouth with 200 men of the 70th Regiment, under Captains Rutherford, Tovey, and Tighe, Lieutenants Huskisson and Collins, and Ensign Clarke, and Assistant-Surgeon Alston.
On the 21st of March, the Governor in Council recommended the
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Provincial Council of Taranaki to pass a Bill for raising, by debentures, the sum of £50,000 for the purpose of partly paying Mr. Sewell's award for compensation for losses sustained by the war, which was accordingly done.
The following Council Paper will set the rather complicated arrangement of this compensation in a perspicuous manner:--
"His Honor the Superintendent of Taranaki.
"New Plymouth, 21st March, 1863.
"Sir:--In reference to the expenditure of the sum of £200,000 to be raised under the Loan Act, 1862, to assist in any measures adopted by His Excellency the Governor in Council for the reinstatement of the settlement and inhabitants of Taranaki, I have now the honor to convey to you the substance of some measures adopted this day by the Governor in Council for the purpose just stated.
"In order to place the settlers of Taranaki, who have been driven from their homes, or suffered losses during the war, in a position to resume their ordinary operations on their farms or elsewhere, and at the same time to provide funds for the execution of measures absolutely necessary for their permanent security, it is proposed that a sum of £120,000 be considered payable out of the £200,000 for settlers' losses; of this sum £30,000 has been already received by the settlers, and Government propose to raise immediately, if possible, the balance of £90,000, and to pay it to the claimants under Mr. Sewell's award. With the £25,000 paid under the former grant of the General Assembly, this will make £145,000 paid out of the total of £189,000 or thereabout, awarded by Mr. Sewell or the Sub-Commissioners on account of all classes of the settlers' claims.
"Although there will thus be left a balance of about £44,000 unprovided for out of reinstatement fund, it is to be remembered that the remainder of that fund will be expended on measures for the permanent reinstatement of the Province generally, including the individual colonists who have suffered during the war; but the Government are desirous that the settlers should receive either in cash or in some acknowledgment bearing interest, the full amount awarded for their losses.
"In order to effect this object and to provide for the balance last mentioned, namely £44,000, it is proposed that the Superintendent and the Provincial Council of Taranaki should immediately pass an Act authorising the issue of debentures to the amount of £50,000, payable at any time after the expiration of ten years, bearing interest at the rate of 7 per cent, per annum, and chargeable on the Provincial revenue of Taranaki. This arrangement must necessarily be submitted to the sanction of the General Assembly, but the General Government will at once guarantee the interest of the first five years, reserving for that purpose a sufficient sum from the reinstatement fund.
"If your Honor and the Provincial Council accede to the above proposition, and will pass the requisite Act without delay, the assent
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of His Excellency will be given to it, and instructions will be thereupon immediately issued for the raising of the first mentioned sum of £90,000. I have, &c.
"ALFRED DOMETT."
Early in March the Maori King natives committed two outrages in Waikato. The Governor had determined to build a Court House and Police Station at Te Kohekohe, and carpenters were employed on the work. After inducing the carpenters to leave their work, the natives took possession of the building, and rafted the timber of which it was being erected and floated it down the river.
On the 24th, they went to the premises of Mr. Gorst, a celebrated Maori apologist, who lived at Te Awamutu, and conducted a Maori newspaper, called Pihoihoi Mokemoke. Breaking open the printing office they took away the press and type.
On March the 30th, H.M.S.S. Harrier arrived at New Plymouth, from Manukau, with 80 men of the 65th Regiment under Lieutenant Pagan, and 120 men of the 70th Regiment, under Captain Ralston.
On Saturday the 4th of April, the troops moved from Omata, and took possession of Tataraimaka, encamping on Mr. McDonald's farm, but deciding to build a redoubt on Bayly's farm by to the edge of the cliff overhanging the road, near to the Katikara river.
On Sunday evening, the 19th, the Maoris, under the chief Parenga Kingi, threw into the Tapuae river the stones which the soldiers had collected for repairing the road at that spot.
The Taranaki Herald, of May the 2nd, gave full particulars of ambuscades which had been laid for cutting off Europeans passing to and from Tataraimaka and New Plymouth, and the Governor was informed of the same, but blinded by the supposition of his own personal influence over the natives he refused to listen to advice or warning.
