CAPTURED AT LAST.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 73, 19 December 1907, Page 7

CAPTURED AT LAST.

CHASE AFTER THE MAORI OUTLAW

HARDSHIPS OF SEARCH PARTIES.

(by telegraph— press association.)

Cfsborne, December 18,

News has been received by the local police to-day that Hare Matenga had boen; capturetl. Matenga is wanted ou a charge, of stealing a horse. Some time ago, an ..expedition was sent out to capture him, Jmt was unsuccessful, and the party had a hard time, the weather being.yory rough. : '

Sinco Matenga took to the. bush, after the alleged horse stealing, .lie has..been blamedlor a number of potty""thefts" from ; bush camps. A short time ago Detective -Broberg, Constablo Skinner, and Sir. Green, a man with a knowledge of the district, , .left town to seek him again. :: '"' : ' ' ■■' ■•.

On Monday they left Tahora to enquire into a report that a strange Maori had I been seen at Rangiora pah. From tlicra ; they iollowed tho trail, and came upon Matenga at Harapepa pah, ~. about • fifty- miles .from town. Matenga was taken, and admitted, sundry thefts from bush'camps.'

For six years Hare Matenga lias defiod the combined efforts. of the police and civilians to capture..him. It has been loft to Detective Brob'b'rg to achiovo this end.Sinco 1900 a warrant.has .bpon.in forco for Ma tonga's arrest oh , a'charge , -of hotso stoal-,-ing., Development 'of the country, fpr'a considerablo period,'was interfered with from tho fact that Maoris refused to work in.that locality. Dotectiyo lkoberg, in- July, 1906, headed a party in-soarcli-bf Matenga,, arid, acquired considerablo experience,' whjch; must have assisted him in'tlio';pfesent search. 1 " A previous party, under the leadership of Constable M'Lcod, of Tolago Bay,' suffered great hardships, ono'of ■the party boing severely frost-bitten., The average townreader has not the conception of tho difficult nature-of tho country traversed by the different search parties, 'camping' where , night found' thorn, no fire or lightjs, , for Matenga wa3 over on the watch. < Tlie last party, consisting of Constablo M'Alistcr and Mr. J. Eo.rlo, Detective , Broborgijri; chargo, was out for five months, • and , covorcd all the bush country)-some 70 milessquare, in the Wainpii.district,', bordering .on? tho Urowera ronntry." This expedition dur>' ing that time subsisted solely on tinnedmeats, and hard owing: to incessant damp, became mildewed and scarcely fit for consumption. The weather conditions also greatly hanipereil ' the expedition, snow being frequently oxporieiicod. On more than 6n<r""occasioir"Dstective Bro-, berg and party were close on Matoriga's hoels, once so closo that, he had barely time to escape, leaving his billy on his camp This was the nearest they got to' himj "kl.though thny wore constantly coming across his recently deanrt-ed camps. The day's march, swags on back, struggling through l donso bush, cautiously avoiding giving any indication of their approach, lasted from daylight_ till dark, . Tho character of : the' country in which Matengabaa been captured isas rough as any to bo found in the Dominion. One of the earlier parties had' the misfortune to get "bushed, '■ and .remained; out all night in u severe snowstorm. A bushman, being clad only in aflannol singlet and dungarees, suffered severely from frost-bite, and when the party were found noxt day by means of gunshot signals 'he was so badly incapacitated that he" had.to be carried some miles backj to camp. This was a tremendous task on the part of his "mates," who in turn carried him on their backs. Medical aid was procured from Waipiro Bay, a distance of thirty-two miles. The unfortunate man .lost some "toes through his night's The moral effect : of, tho capture on tho Native mind cannot bo over-estimated, as the Natives in'tho [district were possessed of the idea that Matonga could defy all attempts to capture himi Commissioner Dihni'o is to ,, 6e' congratulated'' on his persistence :in organising.-parties to secure Matenga. ;.' ;