AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF THE RECENT AFFAIR AT OPAPE.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 653, 26 March 1870, Page 4

AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF THE RECENT AFFAIR AT OPAPE.

» ■•' — *+ — The Maketu correspondent of the -Vnck^ J land Jlerald writes ; — Miivch 13, ' I have just received the particulars of | the n-ji >rted massacre at Opape; The true ' facts are as follows i,;— On Sunday, March " nine of the Arawas stationed at ' Ohiwa went to Opotiki, and in the aftur- ' noon of that day, six of them, via. , Heta- ' raka, IVJaihi, Te Awauwa, Hapeta, Hare, . Te We, and Rimaha, went to Waiau, a ; small settlement, between four and five 1 miles from Opotiki, Their object \yas 5 simply a pleasure, excursion ; bnt knowing ' the disturbed state of thq country, they ' went armed, Thqy were on horseback, and arriving at the pa they dismounted, and fastened their horses, outside the pa, ; The na. was. found .deserted, and on look- : ing round they saw a Hau-hau "ope" 1 retiring. With more, foolhardiness than caution, they followed them on foot, and they had not advanced very far when 1 Te Awauwa was struck by. a bullet; another shot struck him, and a third hit him in the, head, when he fell dead, The next victim to their folly was Hetaraka Mjiihi, ' who re. ceived one bullet in his brain, and fell dear 1 , Only one, shot: was fired by this . party of six now reduced to four, and 1 Hapeta was the individual who discharged '. his piece, then ' thinking that it was dangerous as well as folly to continue advancing they retreated and made the best of thair way bdek to Opotiki, leaving 1 their hors.es, their two dead comrades ■ with their arms arid accoutrements, on the field, On their reaching Qpotiki arid relating the circumstances, the remaining 1 three, viz., Ngameke, Kitua, and Manihiro, started off with the four of the first 1 party to recover the bodies of the slain, ; On reaching Waiau they found the bodies of Hetafaka. Maihi, and Awauwa, untouched, :but their arms, consisting of a ' breech-loader, a revolver, and an Enfleld s rifle, together with the ammunition, had been taken by the Hau-haus, together with all thair horses, excepting Hetaraka's, which they had left behind. The inference they draw from this is, that Hakaraia was there with Te Kooti (for it was ; subsequently ascertained that Te Kooti was tliere), and that his presence prevented 1 the bodies from being mutilated, and caused them to leave his; horse behind, Betaraka, through his father, claiming to belong ' tt> the same tribe as Hakaraia, via, Ngatikereru, The bodies of the dead men were brought to Opotiki, The pa of Waiau was occupied by the Whakatohea, who, to say the least, are 1 ha.lf Ptcin'haus, and they were all taken 1 prisoners ~-r probably voluntary ones. Amongst the prisoners was the wife and two children of a settler of the Opotiki, formerly an officer of the Ist Waikatos. '. As soon as the news reached the settle- " ment of Opepe, distant about four or five 1 miles from Waiau, they launched their 1 canoes and whaleboats and started off for ' . Torere. There were only a ; few natives there, the majority being out- with the Ngatihau up the Waimana Gorge after Te ■ Kooti. '■;■■; ■■■■■: : \ • : : It is said that the firing at Waiau was ; heard at Opotiki ; and on its being represented by a native of the Ngatihau tribe to tlici Europeans that there was fighting 1 going on, they, answered that.it was only the Arawa sfeylarkirig. In a day or two from, this, Ngatipikiao, Ngateiohauknu, Ngatikerern, : and Ngateneuukopakp are going dow n to -Wh akafcane to iave a ; tangi over the two dead natives, and, I believe, it is their intention to follow up the Hau--1 haus, to endeavor to obtain payment for r their dead.