"IN THE BRAVE DAYS OF OLD"

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2196, 8 July 1914, Page 8

"IN THE BRAVE DAYS OF OLD"

A.V.MVJ'KS.ARY OF HONK HKKK'S KEUELLION

... Seventy years ago to-day the fettlors of Ko'rdiiireka (now known as Russell), m the Day of Islands, wcro alarmed by the- lire ot hostile ninskotrv. At about •2 o'clock in tho niorniiig'oi July 8, ISII, a party of Maoris began to disturb tho slumbers" by warlike noises. They advimccd to tho flagstaff, under thu leader-ship-of Mono lleke, danced a haka, cut down the Imperial polo, and burnt it. Women's gossip, according to jlretl's "Early ,\eiv Zealand," was the immediate cause of this act of rebellion against liritish authority. The Maori wifo of a European quarrelled with ;i woman of lleko's tribe, and applied tho inelegant titlo of "pig" to the noblo lleke. i The insult soon reached tho ears of tlife chcif, and he sot about getting satisfaction in Maori fashion, lie. removed some of Mr. Lord's property, and carried liis wifo away as a prisoner. The husband, in deference to tho Maori custom, arranged to redeem his wifo with a cask of tobacco, but ho whs nnnblo to fulfil his promise, llekp, still acting in accordance with Maori usage, considered thnt'tlio other Europeans should pay lord's debt, but they declined the obligation, and consequently the Natives began to help themselves to goods without respect :"br'persons.

Tho huininp; of the flapstaff followed this practical demonstration of Ilolse's (Icturiniualkui to get what ho believed was his own. Governor Fitzroy at onco decided tffjret sonic troops from S.vdnc.v, and ."lliey'jß'iyetl, but were kept out of notion by tlm intervention of Wakn Xeno and other fSicfi) friendly to tho Dritish. On thciivarf*ico these soldiers were sent back to Sydney, and lleke nnroctl lo t;ot the fla^RtafF , ro-crcctcd. The Coyernor called ■ his Clouncil togetlicr, and it, was decided to,,i-odress certain Maori Riicvnnees. ~..._.t IVace." however, did not lons endure. Again there was n disturbance in the Kay of Islands, and again a woman nas one of tho primo causes of ihc trouble. A Maori woman, who was living with a Kiiropcan at Kawakawa, nioleslod a constablo wliily, hi; was in "the.execution of his duty," which was to arrest her husband. ' v fhe officer was armed with a cutlass, which accidentally injured tho woman s finder. As sho was n woman of rank, utu was indispensable, according to Maori etiquette, and the Natives helped themselves to somo horsce owned by Europeans. Other unlawful nets, in which llclcc was concerned, wcro also committed, and finally on January 10, IBJO, .tho chief again cut down the flagstaff at Koiorarcka. ■'Soldiers , ai;am set 1111 a flagstaff, shod it with iron sheets, and built a bloclchouso ns an additional protection. A re--ward-WHS offered for Moke's arrest, and he -,vas very indignant at tho notion of a reward for, his capture, because lie considered it was "oll'orinp; to buy him liko a pig." From this time on he was a dotormined outlaw. Once more ho. led an assault asainst thn Hag station, drove out the troops, cut down the- polo in spito of its armour, and set up n Hag of his own—a red shirt on a long stick. Fie afterwards retired lo his stronghold of Ohaewai, and with the assistance of another chief, Kinviti. managed to givo a great deal of trouble to the pakeha. It was not till January, IR-lfi, that tho power of the rebels was broken, after mwl| Kiiropt'.in blond had been spilled. Wellington was naturally interor.tcd in this Native trouble. A p.ihlie meetiii!; was held at Uan-elt's Hotel on March 20, 18-15. and the Government was censured for allowing matters to drift into the disntrreeable position which they had reached in the north. _ "We, as colonists," ran one resolution, "hold tlm Mother Country responsible for her colonial policy, inasniuch t.s we bnvo no power in interfering with it." Hcke died of consumption in 183(1. at the ati,o. of -12. aiid tho veteran Kawiti was carried off in 1851 by an attack of measles.