EARLY KIDNAPPING RECALLED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 89, 13 July 1943, Page 3

EARLY KIDNAPPING RECALLED

O!LE OF OLD NEW ZEALAND

LATE MRS S. C. NGOUNGOU HISTORIC PERSONALITY PASSES The death of Mrs Sarah Caroline Ngoungou which occurred at her home at Poroporo last week, brings to a close the final scene in a tragic mystery which for more: than sixty years remained a closely-guard'ed secret known only to a few Maori elders. The story of the late Mrs Ngoucommences just on 70 years ago. when in 1873 a little Pakeha girl Caroline Perrett, was kidnapped by the Maoris in Taranaki 00 years ago, and her Avhereabouts rea mystery until 1929, when slie was recognised in romantic fasnaon in Whakatane, by her sister. The late Mrs Ngoungou was the wife of the, late. Ngoungou Hiketene who died three years ago and who was a chief of the Ngati Pukeko. For years she has been a well known figure in Whakatane where residents have learnt to respect her and appreciate her for the grand old lady she was/ ap'art from the sympathy they cherished towards her for those early trials; and handicaps which by a cruel turn of fate she was destined to suffer. Speaking to her recently, Mrs Ngoungou who despite her age remained wonderfully alert and unfailingly cheerful, informed, a 'Beacon' representative that she had no regrets about her life, which she said, she had enjoyed to the lull as she learnt to appreciate the enjoy and affection of her family. A Moving Reunion Here is her interesting story. Seventy years- ago., when the wheel of racial' hatred between Maori and Pakeha still was spinning, though slowly, a little girl of eight years was whisked away from her liappy jjlayground- in the bush-en-ft circled homestead of her father and mother. The Maoris, who thus requited what they deemed just, revenge for j*; a Pakeha wrong., made her one of • and the little girl never her parents, again. Her mother died of a broken heart. Half a century later, two women sobbed, hysterically as they unashamedly embraced each other in

iljie streets of Wliakatane —she Avho Uptl felt the anguish of being Avrenched from her people, and her sister, who long since had quenched all hope of seeing her again. The little girl had grown up and was the Avife of Ngoungou Hiketcne, chief of the Ngati Pukeko, of WhaJiatane. The Law of Tapu Sentiw Hi'l Avas the spot Avhere ' Maori and Pakeha came fiercely to grips on May 1, 1864, and it wa,s here that the Maori Hau Hau prophet Avas. killed along Avith many of ' liis followers. Since a good many of their kin were buried in this neighbourhood, the Maoris regarded the ground as sacred,, and. Avhen the AA'hite man commenced pushing his raihvays over and through this area, the •brown men resented it. William Perrett had a small holding of land at Manutahi (noAv known sxs Lepperton), but for the most prirt he d;id small contracting jobs between his home and New Plymouth, about ten miles away. Perrett successfully tendered for the work of clearing the burial grounds, but it Avas not long before the Maoris, Avith Avhom he prcviously liad been very friendly, told him that no good Avould come of his interference Avith the spirits of their dead, avliosc resting-place Avas tapu. * In face of Avhat he knew of Maoris and their beliefs, knowledge Avhich lie had acquired through close ae-< quaintance Avith them in both war * and peace, Perrett disregarded their warnings, comforting himself Avith the thought, maybe, that the war of subjugation Avas. finished and complete iii its effects upon the minds of the natives. Sting of Resentment But the sting of resentment, although inscrutably suppressed for a -time, at length leapt from its sheath, pinning a little girl to the crude., -elemental life of the gum-fields of jypVhangarci, stabbing to the heart a y?-iamily that idolised her. To the Maoris who had'witnessed the spoliation of Avarriors' graves by Perrett .and his men, some telling thrust .seemed; the only Avay in which the spirits might he placated.

One. morning, late in the sunnier of 1874, eight years old Caroline, known to all affectionately as Queenie, w r as sent down to the clearing to fetch the two cows which supplied the Perrett family with milk and butterj Some, time later her mother,, who was ill, asked whether Queenie had returned, as nothing had been seen of her since the cows were brought in, but was reassured by her daugh ter Mary, Avho said she thought Queenie. would be playing with the other children. But the little girl did not return with the others, nor had she been seen since she went for the two cows. Perrett at that time was working some miles away and it Avas not until thirty-six hours later that a special messenger staggered into camp with the news that Queenie 1 hacl disappeared. The man told Perrett that Dick Bridle, a bushman, had seen her at about two o'clock on the afternoon of the -day she left home for the cows, and she Avas then standing on . a fallen log, crying bitterly, and surrounded by a band of stalwart Maori Avarriors. Before Bridle could appreciate Avhat lay behind their movements,, the Maoris disappeared and the. child had vanished through an opening in the trees. And Perrett? Weary though he AA'as from his work on the permanent way. braced himself for the physical ordeal of. brushing Iris Avay through the tangle of undergrowth and intertwining trees Avhieh Jay before him. Like, a sharp thrust there came to him the memory of the day Avlien he commenced, his. contract on the bloody battlefield of Sentry Hill, the day when some of his Maori friends Avarncd him against pursuing his course, and of the ill it would bring •to his family. Combing of Countryside Meanwhile, Government officials, neighbours and friends, pierced, and combed the countryside for some sign of the child, but although they followed myriad trails, along river banks, through gullies and; up heav-ily-wooded hillsides, their search Avas unavailing and ati length thej r returned. Night and day, for a Avhole fortnight had. they combed ,the surrounding bushlands, picking up signs here and there, marks and finger-posts Avhieh led them hopefully along a. liill-top or across a stream, only to smash their hope in some woody cul-de-sac or Avaterv morass, so> cunningly, so completely had the nati\ r e kidnappers hidden their tracks.

Heavy of heart, almost, physically sick with despair, Perrctt returned to his work, dreading to hear what became of his little girl, while his wile lay at home in a state, bordering upon dementia, waiting lor the child which had been snatched from her side. But tlie weeks that followed and the months that came in train merged gradually into years and although the memory of Queenie, the quiet, placid little girl who had so suddenly been filched away, seared deeply into their memories, yet never a word of her reached their ears. The Kidnapping Eve:.' since, the day when the Maoris pleaded Avith Perrctt to discontinue his Avork on the battlefield Avhich had become doubly sacred by A r lrtue ol' its being a burial ground as avcll, Avhile he remained adamant, the natives conferred and argued. Avrestling between the thought of the friendship Avith him and with their determination to appease their gods. After many korcros, friendship ga\'e Avay to the tenets of their unwritten law, and it Avas decided to grasp the first opportunitj' for hitting Perrett in the. direction Avhich would, hurt him most —by kidnapping the child the}' knew he idolised., by spiriting her away to some far-off pa ay] 1 ere no white man should reach her, by making her Avork for them, teaching her to forget the lessons of her pakelia childr hood. So when Queenie tripped gailv over the grass in her bare feet, on that memorable morning in late summer, 1861, she had 110 idea that a semi-circle of lialf-clad brown figures; Avas slowly closing the gap between its tAvo ends —and she was in the centre. Before she -could realise their presence a blanket enveloped her head and shoulders, and strange, brown arms were carrying her aAvay. The JourneyIt seemed a long time l before they remoA'ed the blanket and by the time the party halted it Avas too far away from the Perrett homestead

for Qucenie's screams to Jpe heard. After they had rested for a while the party moved on once more, but this time Queenie Avas permitted to Avalk, and Avhcn they had traversed a distance of about half a mile, tliey came to a thin, belt of trees, beyond AA'hich lay a small natural clearing. The Maoris squatted on the ground while the captive stood at one end of a lightning-withered tree. She looked straight ahead of hei*, and some distance, awav she saAV a man splitting posts, and she Avondercd -whether he avohkl look at her, Avhether he Avould take., her back home again. But. the man did not pay very much attention to her, although lie tAvice stopped what he Avas doing to look in her direction, and she commenced to cry once more. Nightmare Years Then followed a nightmare of years, a period in which she Avas absolutely forbidden to speak to the pakeha Avhen she learned many of the Maori crafts, and. to Avork very hard. Qucenie's earlier life, in fact the first twenty years of her existence among them, Avas one of unremitting labour and but. little affection.' She had been taken overland from Taranaki to the East Coast and from there, taken in a canoe to Whangare'i. The gum fields saw her for years after that,, and Avork in the gum fields in those daA r s Avas hard. Even though she had grown to Avomanhood the Maoris feared pursuit. Hers was a life of moving from place to placc, never settled, yet ahvays labouring, either in the gum fields or at the pa, carrying pikaus. of gum or preparing the food. a Surveyor's Interest One afternoon she Avas out cutting Avood some distance, from the pa, and on her Avay back Avith some of Mile Avood: she had cut she met ii young Government surveyor, Avho stopped her., questioning as to lioav she came to be Irving with the Maoris, and whether her father and mother Avcrc alive. But she could not remember anything A'ery clearly. The natiA'es received a fright and next morning they scattered the embers of their camp tires, and made into the bush. The hope Avhieh springs from despair and longing never left the heart of William Perrett, and he repeatedly left his Avork to follow the guide posts of information he received from A\arious sources.

If his. information "was often correct, the cunning of the natives and the remarkable manner in "which they eluded their pursuers showed that tliey too, kept themselves Avellinformed as to the movements, of 'white men in the locality. Search in King- Country About 30 years after she had disappeared. Perrett heard that she was in the King Country and immediately lie urged his two sons, WiMiam and George, to go in search of her. Providence, .smiled, or so they believed at the time, for there they met a white man who told them that he was living with Maoris and they knew that the brothers Ave re looking for Queenie. "It's no use your looking' lor them," he said. ''The natives knoAV you are after your sister, and as you move forward, so do they move back. I live with them, and I know ■ all- tlieir plans—or most of them. As soon as they settle down in one place I'll write you a letter, telling you exactly Avhere your sister may be found., .so that you can follow quickly and. take them by surprise." They Avere overwhelmed Avith j,oy and surprise at Avhat seemed to them a Avoinderful stroke of good fortune, and they quickly made preparations for the return journey, profusely thanking the man Avlio promised to be their good friend. Reward of £150 The brothers hastened back to Taranaki Avhere they passed on tile tidings to their father. Eagerly they aAA'.aited the arrival of the mail. Daily they spoke in fine terms of the man who was going to help them. The days sped, with the cycle of months as the fiend who had promised his help laughed Avitli his Maori friends at the thought of the letter which Avould never arrive,. . . and the heart of William Perrett gave, out under the strain. This Avas the second disappointment they had received in the last ijpur years. Perrett even circulated an offer of £150 for the recovery of his daughter dead or aliA'e in the hope' that the Maoris Avould be attracted by the money and the hope of her return became an obsession with him. By this time Queenie had married a chieftain named Ewa and it was

unlikely that the natives Avould, relinquish their hold on her. Discovered in Whakatane Mrs V. .1. Havward, daughter of Mary Ann Perrett. was walking along the Strand, Whakatane, when she saw a white-haired old lady who was talking to a group of Maoris. Mrs Havward was not intrigued so much, by the sight of a Avhite Avoman coiwersing Avith a number of Avalvincs as by her resemblance to her own mother, and Avhen the Avoman Avalked away from the Maoris, Mrs HayAvard drew her aside, saying: "You are a white avoman —Avhat are you doing with the Maoris?" "I knoAv," came the reply. "1 knoAV tfhat I am a Avhite woman but I haA*e been Avith them all my life. I can't remember how I came to be AA'itli them, nor do I know aylk> my parents were." While she Avas talking, Mrs Hay-

ward noticed a long scar on tlic. old lady's throat. As scon as she saw the mark she realised that the striking likeness between Mrs Ngoungou and her mother was too positive to be mere coincidence,, and there came to her mind many fragments of the stories her mother had told her concerning Queenie, who was kidnapped by the Maoris and never seen again. A Poignant MeetingMrs Hay ward said little to the woman she believed to be. her aunt, but as soon as she returned to her home at Taneatua she wrote 1 a letter to her mother in Lower Hutt, Wellington, appraising hc.r of the discovery. Mrs Haywartl's mother was astounded when she received the letter from her daughter for she had believed Queenie to be dead many years before, but as soon as she was able to leave the Hutt, she did so,

making the long journey to the 1 Bay of Plenty that she might identify the sister who for over half a century had been lost to her. What a poignant, -what a wonderful meeting was theirs! They met in the Strand—the. small girl had gone to fetch the cows and the other who innocently thought she was playing with the other children—ami when they saw each other they knew at once there was no need for idle questioning, no need for another to introduce them. Unaffectedly, nor caring who saw them, these, two women tightly embraced, the tears streaming down their cheeks, the joy of the moment and the fears and terrors of the nights long since faded passing ber fore them in a whirlwind of incoherant expression, and the little girl who was made the instrument of a terrible vengeance was restored once more to her family.