FIGHTING IN THE EARLY DAYS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 930, 24 September 1910, Page 20

FIGHTING IN THE EARLY DAYS.

OMARANUI AND PETANE. HOW TE KOOTI WAS NAMED. " STORIES OF STIRRING INCIDENTS. Although there were numerous tribal encounters in Hawke's Bay in the eariy days there woro only two fights .between Natives. and Euroneans. These were 'at Omaranui -and 1 etane on October 12, 1866, and . resulted in both instances in tho defeat and surrender of the' Maoris. The story of Omaraniii and l'etane is narrated here by Mr. W. Hislop, one of the early colonists,oil 'whose father's farm, ■ Omaranui,' Te 'Kooti, then known as Hiroke, worked "with the Natives draining tho Puketapu; Block., Mr. Hislop states • that , To. Kooti-was given the name owing' to'the

fact that he was tried for some trivialoffence • m the Court;'-from:, winch'- tlie- ; 'Natives; called- 'him Te -. Kooti,'...:'.'tl|e:' i.Court.-or., the; -man. ■ who.- was -tried'-by the Court" . ' The Battle. of Omaranui," ; said :Mr. Hislop, "has sbeen temed m a mild sort;of : way, tho .Waterloo of : Ha\\'kc's-Bay.-' Thero had: been a , deal 'of .fighting: in ■ , Wairoa, Gisborno. and Waiapuyboforo .this ' event, .but Omaranui ■-. was- the do- ■ cisivo; and;concluding factor.'which, es.tablisliedpeace' in the; Hawke's -.- Bay . province.; .Had; the; ■ Natjves ..been .;suc : - 'cesriul .-'atlOhiarwiui Aahd vPetano :'(a':; i battle, fought, on. the western' side, of . papier) .a : 'woWld';.'.iprobably, ' i haye ' ibeeri ■seriously: with- the pillage'.'ah'd; murder which ; was afterwards' experienced *, by . ;.the; Poverty 'Bay- settlers 'at the jhahds, of the Chatham Island escapees,' many. • -ofL'lvhom..,.were, taken prisoners at the battlo referred to. . The Rebel Leaders. rebel: Natives,' at Omaranui, were lead .by. Kipa, Kingata, and !-Ni- ; 'kgra,, tliree vfightiug ■ chiefs from, Taraweraj, and" Taupo. Their prophet i was

tachment of the Imperial 12tli Regimentj numbering about 400 men, 'which was in barracks .near'the present site of the Napier hospital, was not allowed to participate in tho light. It was not the fault of either officers or of men :of tho regiment that they were not in tho scrummage, but the hard and fast orders of. Imperial redtapeism. ~. ■ > The Petano Invaders. "At Potane there were about 100 rebel Natives under Te Rangiheroa,.; a great toa, and one of the finest types of savage, leaders ever seen in" New Zealand. Theso men marched from Taupo and Tarawera a - week- after the arrival of JKipa's contingent, at Omaranui, and it, was their.plan to coalesce in an attack on Na!pier on the western side. To meet this ■ body, Mr., afterwards Sir Donald, M'Lean, Superintendent of tho Province,'and a grand man, dispatched 'to AVaiapu a steamer to bring, back Major Fraser and his fighting contingent of veterans, who had been' slogging in' then against- the. Natives for about eighteen months or two years in that district. Mr. M'Lean did

his utmost to avert; bloodshed,: ■; but whcn-:;he saw . that, it -was : inevitable,, and--..that persuasive measures ..were} .useless with the Hau Haus, he very rightly., adopted strenuous measures to save the province from continued bloodshed and I passible destruction.-. Archdeacon Williams - came hurriedly : to ■ Napier frotfi To-Autoj. and both lie and'Mr; M'Lean discussed the situation in all its seriousness."'Both men knew the Native cliaracteriiStics .well,- and . they- were both aware- that something ;had to bo .done. | The .archdeacon, in- fact,; made- the. re-, mark,; i'M'Leanj" the' position -is:.serious. Ycm.aro' not now dealing -.■with v the old 'Native; chivalry-; ■■ you aro. face to;/fate i[yvith. fanatics,...and -any, 1 fanatic, bent,on. misohief is dangerous.You.vliaye, got/.to: attack . or,, to lie . attacked.'.; M'Lean had then already sent; his, mes-. sago to Eraser, whoso arrival was ex.pectedat any moment, and orders 'Were imihediately given ; to". muster,.'the local iforcesV,--The; l^apiqr ; people greatly oicitedi but thero was no panic; : ."Tlie two battles, . Omaranui and Potane, were fought dn the same morn-', ing, October 12,.: 1866, and about twenty, miles from each . ; pther. Eraser's.\bajid arrived the - night'before ; ,'at '.the'.-Spit,

good number wore wounded, and seeing the futility of. the resistance the remainder surrendered. A few afterwards .escaped. The, Europeans ■ had none killed and only a few wounded. With Frascr were Captain Tuke, Lieut. Richardson, and Acting-Lieutenant AVitty. The'last-mentioned "is'the only living survivor amongst the officers. Ho is now in Gisbonie. Omaranui, ' ~' "Meanwkile l thr fight was waging at Omaranui. Under Colonel Whitmore, there were Colonel Lambert, Captain . Hamilton, Itussell .(brother!of Sir William), Quartermaster-Sergeant Coleman. (Waipawa Cavalry), Captain Kennedy (Napier Militia),'. Captain. Buchanan, and. Lieut. Irvine (Napier Vol-; unteers), and Lieutenant C. Brown .(Puketapu squad of militia). Nearly all theso men are now dead, but Lieutenant Brown is one of the survivors. He resides at Havelock North". .'. "The intention of Kipa and his contingent .was to remain in , possession-of Omaranui, until, they received word as to the time Te Eangiheroa would; be

ready to make his attack on: .Napier from Potano. The whole thing was •planned out' beforo the. ; leaders loft: ; Taraweri, ; 'Vbut''it', was rendered'futile through -Mr/ Donald M'Lean's .promptitude in .sending' : for Fraser. October 12 was, I believe, a/. Th'urMay, 1 ;'and;'Kipa ■ reallyAintended .to',: hold, off his attack on ■ Napier ''till'.-the'.: folloiyihg"; Sunday; morning. The_ plan_ of Kipa's attack on the town was. in this . way: ■There 5 was. a small party of Natives at Park's Island, just where the Old Men's Home is' now. A plant of powder was put in there' by' Kipa's. men. (The party intended to proceed from :Park's Island ; across ■,the inner Harbour to the Onepofco Gully ■ and blow up . the Imperial there;; The explosion; was to.' be. the- signal ;for 'a UimuJtanfeous'.mbve" by ;;Kipa - and Rangiheroa, on both sides of Napier; Kipa was to havo attacked' the. town near the site of tho present, railway .' station.;' Hangiheroa near the: Spit.''";"./; "On ;ho night previous to the battle,' volunteers and militia were marched out; ' from the town in two divisions,; one iiuder Captain Buchanan, taking the ;Puk'etapu-route,•~the : l other ! ;.^under Cap-., tain Kennedy (a grand mgn)'. by way

twelve to fifteen miles. No fires were lighted, and instructions were given' to make as little sound as possible. There | were no signs of the enemj','but'our 'patrols who had been out all night, knew that they wero in tlie pa over theriver, and about from half a mile to a mile away from us. All settlers had ;been warned to rendezvous at Mecanee, Puketapu, and Napier, and tho greater •portion of them had already done so..' The first . Shot. "It was a cold niglit, and on bivouacking we'threw ourselves down on the ground with our. loaded rifles alongside of us. We were all up before daylight, and munched a, bib of biscuit wliicli constituted our solo breakfast. Orders wore ■ then, given for us to march across. tho:river in two divisions. .Whero-wo crossed the stream was about three chains wide and about three-feet deep. All got 'across, and .-a's ; we, scrambled -up' the/banks we saw tha Maoris iOO yards; off. :an'd getting . ready. .'. Prominent amongst them was Kipa in a red Garibaldi tumc, and moving m the palisade giving orders to..his- men. Just

• about tliis time Edward'Hamlin,'. Native* ■interpreter, 1 '; rods. from our • ranks with a f flag of truce '?r e^n ?to. KipaMr._ demanding • their 'surrender...,-Kipa '' answered: , 'M'Leiui lias had' our.; answer',•.get, .out.ofthe ■ pa.' >-.Hamlin/.cantered- .-.out. quiofijt iand v when ho' had- cleared ■ about • 300 ; yards his' horse.;fell\a^ ovor.hini. J( George ; and John rushed/to. liis assistance, but he 'ivas 'udhurt'.'VjMearitimeOthe^ commenced;: We had ; first approached 'within a hundred yards of. tlie palisade, 1 but ;,when; Hamlin came i out ; .\ve retired ■'■aTipt^er._.' : _tw[s>:li'uiidlT6d.- yar(3s^:.wi'tli structiqhs hold our firo. Hie Maoris and the Napier contingent had exchaiig-' ed ;shots, and then'the'Native friendlies; ifrom in r ait; appearance. Wo. were then ordered to advance and fighting_ became general. Tho. smoke foiled -right along .our line',which moving . in; a segment ext-ended/f or; about ■half, 'a' mile. ;:For a ;time.our:'own • tachmeutwas'... under a l , cross-fire.,' from .the' - Napier. and;,friehdlie^ ! OTntrngent, :but wo. closed: up and got i out of ;■ thatj. .danger; ■ Colonel Whitmore rode up and. directed. us to close up more quickly. ; First Man to. Fall.. "''The' first'man ; tofallonotir side-was William : Young. (Napier' militia)' who .was shot-, dead.-'. As :he' fell ho cried: 'Hullo!. I'm■; done.! On the rebel' side Kipa was tho first .to bite tho dust. He exposed . himself; fearlessly, iand succumbed with a bullet'through tho head. 1 The"'Maoris: continued'tosuffer loss'.' Panapa, tho • prophet, -was tho next ot their principals to fall. He rushed out from tho . pa with liis. double-barrelled 'gun,: and., kneeling -doTO - took'what we /understood ; to be careful aim at Colonel Whitmore across, the: river. I do not .think lie fired more than; two shots, but he went very near hitting ' tho colonel. I know, because the colonel was riding my .black cob,' and I saw her rearing. I remarked'at the time to Sergeant Morecroft alongside of mo. that that rihan (Panapa). would ; shoot;: my ■ mare. ISlprecroft' replied tthat'.the; man' in'the 1 cob-might -'also^ ; bei ; shot.ry; Not--thatvit mattered - much: to the'colonel, he :-cared, as- little/for/bullets as7>he did .for'raindrops. However, I had had . a shot at Panapa and. missed him,, and then ; ! saw Morecroft; take very careful aim at his kneelingv figure, distant abbut one hundred yards, and -then Panapa suddenly threw up his. and fell. Two bullets struck him. Surrender. Corporal Morrison had been' mortally woiiiid^,; and- about nineteen or.twenty had been wounded'.; / We. wereV,ordered to approach nearer, the palisade,/and Ave were within'.'a';.very short iftfjit when tho defenders .hoisted the. .'white flag. Captain Gordon, an old Indian veteran,;who had <been •'.patrolling'; at Park's Island, : whero'ho discovered the powder '-'plant; then/ returned ;'. on;the' western side, and " helped to - cut off a portion of the Natives' retreat. However,':five or; six'of .them got. away. The remainder, over one hundred ■: in number, were taken prisoners. The wounded on both. sides .were placed 'in carts; and conveyances, .'Were takeE' into. Napier, .andr attended to. Several .of the prisoners, including Kingata, died in the ' Hospital. The remainder wero kept for' some little .time, and then 'sent , down to. '.the' Chiithains; "whence'.' two 'years later they escaped, and making ' their way 1 to Poverty-Bay committed the direful.massacre , which has left such a stain on the:namo. of Te Kooti. '. ; v The Co-a-shore Incldont, "There was 0110 very curious, incident .which I,: ; ronibmber ~in. connection-'with' this' fight. On approaching one' of ' the storehouses . in the Omaranni :: Pa after the encounter, .we' .came; upon a .Native lying'dead with his head iu an old iron or pot. It appeared that this fellow liad conceived the idea; that under the protection of the pot his head would be safe from tho bullets of tile Europeans. He was under cover, and was no doubt having a; very enjoyable timo, until a bullet camo alow.. and

piercing the go-a-sborc as if a bit of paper drilled a hole in; his brain. ' . "There was. great rcjoioing . in. Na- .- 'pier when ce'returned' after the battle. Wo countryjnen stayed out as patrols, / lint the -town contingent marched back, ' ; ' s and. were met' with open arms' by the '• non-combatants. -Women andrgirls cried ■ tears of joy ■ at' the ■ victory, and tha town good holiday. Colonel'Wliit. more -was especially thanked by tho • ' Government for his action."