CHAPTER IV
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CHAPTER IV.
When Patara left for Opotiki he announced his intention of returning at no distant date, and suggested to those who had joined him that large crops should be planted on the Mangatu, about 35 miles inland from Turanganui, and at other places inland that there might be plenty of food for the support of his army when he should come to make a satisfactory settlement of the relations between Maori and Pakeha. He also recommended that, if the Pakeha should cause any trouble in the meantime, they should keep quiet until they had fetched him and his force from Opotiki. As time went on matters did not improve. "Nius" were erected in various places and we heard from time to time of numbers of people being initiated at those places with the pooti ceremony. Some, too, of the inland tribes expressed their intention to revert to all the discarded practices of former generations, and as in old times the now extinct native rat had been regarded as a very choice article of food, they proceeded to emphasize their rejection of pakeha innovations by adopting the common brown rat as a special delicacy, but the flavour was found not to be such as to encourage a repetition of the experiment.
On May 3rd, Captain Luce of H. M. S. "Esk," paid the district a visit, bringing with him a letter from the Bishop addressed to the Rongowhakaata tribe, pointing out to them the extreme folly of the course which they were pursuing and suggesting that, as they were abandoning the neutral position they had maintained in the past, they would be wise now to declare themselves adherents of the Government. I accompanied Captain Luce to Manutuke, where he duly delivered the letter, giving them at the same time a few words of sound advice from himself, but neither the letter nor the captain's words met with a favourable reception from the majority of those who were present.
Soon after this some little excitement was caused by the action of Mokena Kohere, the Ngatiporou chief, who had come on a visit to Paratene Turangi and his people. He had always been a strong opponent of the Kingites at Waiapu, and on his arrival he began to use rather violent language with reference to the Hauhaus, urging that, if they should refuse to abandon Hauhauism when urged to do so, they should at once be treated as enemies and war should be declared against them. The Ngaitekete hapu at Taruheru had brought out of the forest a great spar which they talked of erecting at Turanganui as a flagstaff on which the British Ensign should be hoisted. Mokena proposed that a meeting of those who were well disposed towards the Government should be held at Taruheru to consider the expediency of erecting the flagstaff at once, and that the European residents should be invited to attend the meeting. The meeting was held on May 18th, and the opinion of the majority of the speakers, including Paratene, was that it would be well not to hurry the matter, as it would certainly give offence to many, but that, the question should be further discussed at Turanganui on the following day. In the morning, when most of the people had left for Turanganui, Mokena, with the help of some of the young men manned a whale boat, by means of which he towed a moderate sized spar down the river and erected it at once on the river bank, near the mouth of the Waikanae creek. Upon this the British ensign was immediately hoisted, and in the course of a day or two a
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rough stockade was erected round it, Ngaitekete taking charge of it. The hesitation which was shown at Taruheru was owing to the apprehension that trouble might be caused by the Hauhaus, but this apprehension was not realised. Much indignation was expressed during the succeeding three or four weeks, especially by people who, if not openly favourable, were at least not strongly opposed to the Hauhaus, but as those who had erected the flagstaff were on their own ground the excitement gradually subsided. One of the most strenuous opponents was Hirini Te Kani, who had a share in the title to the land on which the flagstaff was erected, and considered himself aggrieved because the Ngaitekete had ignored him and had done what he did not thoroughly approve. When Mr. Donald McLean came in the "St. Kilda," on June 4th, and a number of people took the oath of allegiance, Hirini refused to take it unless the obnoxious flagstaff should first be taken down.
The general course of events seemed to indicate that a considerable time must elapse before it would be possible to resume at Waerenga-a-hika the work which had been carried on there during the previous eight years; but there were matters of some importance to be attended to if possible, before a general dispersion should take place. Our wheat crop, which was reaped in January, was still in the straw and, as this would not now be required for our own consumption, it would have to be threshed out and sent away for sale. It was considered desirable also that wheat should be sown for a fresh crop, so that, if the way should be open for the resumption of our work in the course of the coming summer, there might be something to begin upon in the way of food supply. Another work which had been contemplated was the erection of a small building for our own use at Turanganui, the timber for this having already been cut. All these works were put in hand but, owing to the general state of excitement, interruptions were many and progress was slow.
When Mr. McLean came in June the Bishop had come with him and brought word that Sir George Grey had offered to place at the disposal of our schools the buildings at Kawau which had been erected for the Waikato prisoners in 1863, if it should suit us to occupy them. A few weeks afterwards the Bishop wrote urging mo to go as soon as possible and to take with me as many of our pupils as would be willing to accompany me. Preparations were accordingly made for removal, and a moderate number of our pupils were shipped off in the middle of August. Their destination, however, was changed from Kawau to the Bay of Islands, where buildings belonging to the Church Missionary Society were available at Horotutu, adjoining the old station at Paihia, where the Bishop had already taken up his quarters in a small cottage, the Rev. E. B. Clarke being there also. The faithful remnant who had steadily resisted Patara's plausible sophistry and had used their best efforts to prevent others from being influenced by it were entitled to all the help and encouragement that I could give them, and it did not seem fitting that I should leave them at this time. As the little cottage near the mouth of the Turanganui River was now habitable I took possession of it, leaving Waerenga-a-hika in the charge of four staunch Maori friends, viz., Wi Haronga. Pita Te Huhu, Paora Matuakore and Matenga Toti, all of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki tribe.
Of the two factions of the Ngatiporou which had already been alluded to, the Kingites, as they were called, occupied separate pas, and
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Were often offensive in their manner towards those who favoured the Government. As a result of Patara's success at Opotiki and Poverty Bay, and of the claims so confidently put forward as to what Hauhauism was about to accomplish for the Maori race, the Kingites began to adopt a more insolent attitude towards their opponents. The Rev. Rota Waitoa. whose neighbours at Te Kawakawa were mostly Kingites, had found it necessary early in May to move to Matakaoa in Hicks Bay, where Iharaira te Houkamau, who was a staunch adherent of the Government, had built a pa which he called Makeronia. The relations between the two factions from Hicks Bay to Tokomaru were daily becoming more severely strained. The Kingites were expecting a visit from Patara, but Te Houkamau had said that he would not allow him to come through by the track from Whangaparaoa, and the adherents of the Government in the Waiapu Valley had warned their opponents that, if they should bring Patara into their neighbourhood, they would take up arms if necessary to expel him, as they considered him responsible for the murder of Mr. Volkner at Opotiki.
Early in June Patara contrived to evade the vigilance of Te Houkamau and found his way to Pukemaire on the Waiapu. Just at this time Mr. D. McLean landed at Tuparoa from the Government steamer "St. Kilda," and, finding that the men of standing of the friendly section were attending a meeting at Popoti, a few miles up the Waiapu River, he sent for them. They came at once, and after a conference with him expressed their readiness to attempt the capture of Patara. This a small party of them started rather precipitately to do on the 11th. Patara apparently was apprehensive of trouble and had actually started from Pukemaire on his way back to the Bay of Plenty, being attended by a number of armed men. He was overtaken on a stream called Mangaone, at no great distance from Pukemaire, and in the engagement which followed the pursuers were driven back with the loss of five of their number, and Patara went on his way. It was reported that there was a similar number of casualties on the other side. Other collisions followed soon afterwards in which the Kingites for the most part had the advantage. The rupture between the two parties was now complete, with no prospect of a settlement until the resort to arms should decide which should have to give way. The Kingites had, for some time previously, turned their backs on the native clergy. These remained at their posts and when hostilities commenced betook themselves to their pas with their people, ministering regularly to them. At Tokomaru however, the Rev. Matiaha Pahewa continued to visit the Kingites as long as they were willing to accept his ministrations, and by so doing incurred the wrath of the chief, Henare Potae, who looked upon his action as identifying himself in every way with them. From this time the Kingites were spoken of generally as Hauhaus.
To the north of the East Cape the Hauhau party was the more numerous, the other side being represented by Te Houkamau and his following at Matakaoa.
On the left bank of the Waiapu again, where the Hauhaus were in the majority, the adherents of the Government under Mokena Kohere fortified themselves at Te Ruaopango, at no great distance from the right bank of the river, and on the coast line as far as Waipiro there was a majority on the side of law and order, with a large pa at Tuparoa, where a
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large number of the women and children were congregated. At Tokomaru, Henare Potae and his following, who were outnumbered by the Hauhaus, built a pa at Te Mawhai, at the neck of the peninsula which forms the south head of the bay. The Hauhaus, on the other hand, had two pas on the left bank of the Waiapu; one at Pakairomiromi, near Rangitukia, about two miles from Te Ruaopango, and the other at Pukemaire, about five miles further up the river. At Tokomaru they constructed a pa at Pukepapa, on the hill immediately at the back of the present township. South of Tokomaru, as far as Turanganui, the people all declared themselves as favourable to the Government. Reports were brought from Waiapu from time to time of various encounters, in which the Hauhaus were the aggressors and generally gained some little advantage over their opponents, who seemed to be unequal to them in the matter of arms and ammunition as well as in numbers. In the course of a few weeks, however, Mokena's people were put in good heart by the arrival of a detachment of Forest Rangers and others under Fraser, Westrupp and Biggs, with a plentiful supply of war material, and the tide soon turned in their favour. Owing to their having been somewhat successful in the past and probably also to their confidence in the magical virtue of "Paimarire," the Hauhaus had grown very insolent, and they attacked Te Houkamau in his pa at Matakaoa, but were driven off with some loss. In the middle of July they had a similar experience at Te Ruaopango, but about a fortnight afterwards they were driven out of their own pa at Pakairomiromi with the loss of nineteen killed, and were obliged to take refuge in Pukemaire. which was in a very strong position and very effectively fortified. They were now compelled to act entirely on the defensive, and did not venture to show themselves outside of their pa. They held their ground, however, till about the 9th of October, when, being hotly pressed, they evacuated the pa without observation and a large number of them made their way by an inland track in the direction of Hicks Bay to Hungahungatoroa, on a spur of Pukeamaru mountain. As soon as their flight became known, their tracks were followed by Hotene Porourangi and Rapata Wahawaha with about one hundred men and by Biggs with about thirty. Mokena, with Fraser and Westrupp and their men went from Te Ruaopango by the coast and reached the Hauhau rendezvous soon after the other party. In response to a summons the Hauhaus then surrendered to the number of about 200, and delivered up their arms. It was now out of the power of the Waiapu Hauhaus to cause any further serious trouble.
The Tokomaru Hauhaus also, emboldened perhaps by the early successes of their Waiapu friends, some of whom had come to help them, made a vigorous attempt on August 17th to take Henare Potae's pa at Te Mawhai. The defenders, though greatly inferior in numbers, were fairly well equipped for defence, and after two days fighting, the Hauhaus were obliged to retire. A few days afterwards, the Waiapu contingent having apparently returned home, Henare Potae attacked them in their pa at Pukepapa, drove them out and pursued them in the direction of Tolaga Bay as far as Tahutahupo and Mangatuna on the Hikuwai, where he took a number of them prisoners with thirty-seven stands of arms and a quantity of gunpowder. On his way back to Te Mawhai, at Pakura, a little way inland from Anaura, he met and routed a small party of Hauhaus from Kaiaua and Waipare who were on their way to assist their friends at Tahutahupo. In Poverty Bay it was becoming daily more
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evident that the Hauhaus would not be content until they had made all attempt to expel the Pakeha, which, Patara had persuaded them, would be a matter of no great difficulty. They had begun to throw up defensive works in various places, two of which were fortified with special care. One of these was at Waerenga-a-hika, on the bank of an old river bed, from a swamp in which they could get water. The other was Pukeamionga an isolated hill near Patutahi, where water was not very readily procurable. The adherents of the Government among the Rongowhakaata, surrounded as they were by defiant Hauhaus, were feeling themselves to be somewhat insecure, and proceeded therefore to erect a pa in which they might take refuge in case of emergency. This was at Oweta, on the right bank of the Waipaoa River, about two miles from the mouth. The threatening attitude of the Hauhaus had the effect also of stiffening our friend Hirini Te Kani at Turanganui, who, though never actually a partisan of the Hauhaus, had sometimes appeared very lukewarm in his opposition to them. He now declared himself very decidedly on the side of the Government, and wrote to Mr. McLean, the representative of the Government at Napier, requesting that his people might be supplied with arms wherewith to defend themselves in case of need, and concluding with a further request that for the security of the comparatively few supporters of the Government, some armed men might be stationed by the Government at Turanganui. This request was promptly responded to and on September 15th a cutter arrived from Napier bringing thirty of the military settlers under Lieutenant Wilson and fifty additional stand of arms with a plentiful supply of ammunition. These were followed about a fortnight afterwards by thirty of the Colonial Defence Force under Captain La Serre. The extra arms were carefully guarded under lock and key to the great disappointment of the Maoris, but they were intended to be used only in the case of actual necessity.
As soon as possible after his arrival, Lieutenant Wilson set about the construction of a redoubt at Turanganui. A number of the Maoris gave ready help in this work, which, as soon as it was brought to completion, was occupied by the military settlers.
Most of the Hauhaus who were driven out of Pukepapa by Henare Potae made their way by the middle of September to Waerenga-a-hika, numbering, it was said, about 200, and met with a cordial reception. They attributed their defeat to what they called "Pikirapu," i. e., to an unwitting transgression on their part of some requirement of "Paimarire." In their absence no trouble was apprehended at Tokomaru, and Henare Potae therefore did not hesitate to pay a visit to Turanganui, his object being to confer with Lieutenant Wilson and also to ascertain how the Tokomaru Hauhaus were situated. After spending several days at Tolaga Bay and Whangara, he arrived at Turanganui with forty of his men on September 28th. On the following day word was brought to him that, on the 27th, a half-caste boy named Henry Henderson had been killed by Hauhaus when out with two other boys from Te Mawhai looking for horses; also that early on the next morning, Te Mawhai had been attacked, but had been successfully defended by the small garrison, three of whom were wounded; one, whose wound was serious, being John Henderson, the father of the boy who was killed. The assailants, who left nine of their number dead, were some of the refugees from Waerenga-a-hika who had returned to Tokomaru, and finding that the garrison of Te Mawhai was
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much reduced in number, expected to be able to capture the place without difficulty. On the receipt of this news Henare Potae returned at once to Te Mawhai.
The completion of Tamihana Ruatapu's pa at Oweta was celebrated by a great demonstration on October 11th, when a good flagstaff was erected and the British flag duly honoured. Lieutenant Wilson went over for the occasion. Soon afterwards Hirini and his people threw up a defensive earthwork round their two wharepuni at Turanganui.
In the meantime the European residents could not but recognise that their position was becoming daily more critical. A number of the women and children had already been sent away. Of the adult males there were at this time forty, all of whom had been living on good terms with their Maori neighbours, but the Hauhau fanaticism had already begun to interfere somewhat with their amicable relations, and further unpleasant developments were to be expected. Some of the traders had been selling intoxicating liquor to the Hauhaus, which tended to make them more aggressive than they would otherwise have been; Mr. Harris therefore, who was the oldest European resident in the district, called a meeting in the hope of putting a stop to the practice. Several of the traders attended with others, and all who were present pledged themselves not to supply any intoxicating liquor to any Maori or half-caste during the ensuing six months, and to forfeit a sum of £50 if they should violate this pledge. This had some little effect in checking the illegal practice, but did not end it.
On October, 10th Henare Potae arrived again at Turanganui from Te Mawhai with thirty of his men, and his presence had the effect of exasperating the Rongowhakaata Hauhaus, who dared him to meddle with the refugees from Tokomaru, and declared that they should come as far as Makaraka by way of a challenge, and to show that they were not afraid of him. Raharuhi and others used very violent language, referring not only to Henare Potae, but to Europeans generally, advocating war to the knife. In consequence of this there was a general move of most of the European residents to Turanganui. Several small buildings on sledges had been brought to the right bank of the river some days previously, but these afforded very scant accommodation. Of these refugees eleven were women and eighteen children, ten of whom took shelter for the night under my small roof. Many of the Hauhaus, on hearing that the homes were deserted, proceeded to plunder them, wantonly destroying much of what hey could not carry away. Anaru Matete was with some of them, not taking part in the plunder, but making no effort to prevent it. After his Captain La Serre ordered that all the Europeans should sleep on the left bank of the river, where they could be more easily protected in case of need, and as there were no buildings available, they took up their quarters temporarily in the church until buildings could be brought across or them.
On the following day there came a letter from Raharuhi to Lieutenant Wilson to say that he strongly disapproved of what the Hauhaus had done, and that, if an assessment could be made of the amount of the damage sustained by the Europeans, he would make the culprits pay the equivalent, he messenger was sent back without any definite reply, but was bidden
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to inform Raharuhi that a report had already been despatched to Napier, that Mr. McLean was expected almost immediately, and that he would be able to speak with authority on the subject.
The chiefs of Hawke's Bay had shown decided disapproval of the state of affairs in Poverty Bay, and especially of the conduct of Raharuhi. In September Karaitiana Takamoana had come for the express purpose of trying to induce Raharuhi to go with him to Napier in the hope of being able to persuade him to renounce Hauhauism. Now in the beginning of November Tareha came on a similar errand. He brought Rararuhi to Turanganui, and wished the officers to meet him and discuss the position. They, however, declared that they were without authority, and that any further communication must be made to Mr. McLean. On the 9th of November H. M. S. "Esk" arrived from Waiapu, bringing Mr. McLean with 260 of Ngatiporou, who were accompanied by the Rev. Mohi Turei. The "Sturt" followed soon after, bringing 100 Forest Bangers under Major Fraser. On the following day Mr. McLean took counsel with a number of friendly chiefs and decided to offer the Hauhaus the following terms, viz. -- 1. That malefactors should be delivered up; 2, that Hauhauism should be renounced by all; and that they should take the oath of allegiance; 3, that they should pay a penalty in land; and 4, that they should give up their arms. On the 13th an answer came signed by most of the leading men among the Hauhaus, stating that they were willing to come to terms, but that they were very anxious that he (Mr. McLean), should go to visit them. This he declined to do, and sent word that if they were willing to agree to the terms he offered them, they had bettor come in at once, and he would then know that they were sincere. A few Hauhaus came over in boats from the further side of the bay, but the majority were evidently in no hurry to surrender themselves.
The "Esk" was leaving that evening for Auckland, and as Captain Luce kindly offered me a passage, I left with him, intending to join our party at the Bay of Islands.
