Spirit of the Press.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 7, Issue 364, 5 April 1866, Page 1

Spirit of the Press.

WHAT INDUCED TWO FRIENDLY CHIEFS TO JOIN THE REBELS. (From the Taranaki Herald, 17th March.) We have received from two or three sources an account, which we have no doubt is trustworthy, of the events preceding the going over to the enemy of W, Kingi Matakatea and Heremaia, and of the causes which led them to take this ill-advised and most unfortunate step —unfortunate both for us and for them. We speak of this act of theirs in these terms, instead of calling it by its technical name of treason, because we believe that they were fairly frightened into doing it. There is no doubt whatever that, being related to the Taranaki rebels, they had considerable sympathy with them, and perhaps, in Heremaia’s case, with their cause; but looking carefully at all the evidence we have been able to get, we believe that they were very loth to go over, and would gladly have remained where they were if it had not been for the dread and apprehension they felt as to what would happen to them. It is easy for us to see that their fear was unreasonable, but it was none the less real to them. It is perhaps desirable to say a few words about the position which these two men were in before General Chute arrived. W. Matakatea, who is reputed a man of ability and determination, fought against us during the war of 1860, but withdrew from the rebels some time before it bad ended, and declared himself neutral. He preserved bis neutrality, we believe, up to the time of the occupation of Opunake, and by doing so drew on himself a considerable amount of odium from the rebels among whom he was living. We do not suppose that all his people have throughout remained neutral, but he has himself, we believe ; a corroborative proof of which is found in the fact that he had never joined the Pai Marire faith, though living in the very hotbed of it. When the troopr'first took possession of Opunake, he looked, according to an impartial and reliable eye-witness, “ as if a load had been taken off his shoulders.” He at once took the oath of allegiance, and since then had been living near the troops aud on very good terms with them, subject occasionally to small depredations among bis pigs, etc., but receiving, on the other hand, the hospitality of the redoubt, where he was a frequent visitor; and probably, if it had not been for Heremaia, who was a near relative, he would never have gone over, but Heremaia’s fear appears to have infected him. Heremaia was much more of a ‘ wild-man ’ (as the friendlies call the rebels); he had been or was still a Pai Marire, and having been more thoroughly hostile, was much more suspicious. As some of our readers will remember, when the news reached here of General Chute’s succesess at Otapawa and elsewhere, Heremaia became very much alarmed, and wanted to know what be was to do to be safe; he had hung out white flags, but did not seem to trust much in their efficacy, as he had heard that General Chute did not respect white flags. , Soon after. General Chute arrived, but unfortunately many things that were done tended to increase instead of allaying his suspicions, until at last fear overcame his prudence. We will not go through all that happened, but will briefly relate as they were told to us the causes which led to the going over of Heremaia and Matakatea. When General Chute was about to attack Waikoukou, a party of friendly natives, under Ensign Macdonnell, who was acting as interpreter to the forces, went up with Heremaia to Manihi, the place he was living at, to get potatoes; while there, Heremaia proposed that he and his people, including those living at a pa farther inland (Nga-ariki,) should move down to the camp at Opunake to be out of the way of the General’s operations. This was assented to by Ensign Maedonnell, who said that if they put all their things into one whare, he would see that they were protected. Two days after, the place was burnt by a party of the 43rd, returning to Opunake after taking Waikoukou, and ail the things which it had been promised should be safe, were of course destroyed. To the natives already suspicious and apprehensive, this naturally looked like an act of treachery or deliberate breach of faith; that it was 50 we

do not believe; but these natives so regarded it, as will be seen farther on. It will be remembered that the great difficulty we have had all along in dealing with the disaffected natives, has. been their distrust of our sincerity and good faith. On the same day on which Manihi was burnt, another unfortunate event occurred. An officer at Opunake hearing that Heremaia had got to Umuroa on his way there, and for some reason wishing to expedite his arrival, rode to Umuroa, where he had made a temporary halt, and brought him to Opunake under a threat of shooting him—at least, as they passed Te Namu, Heremaia was in front, and was so frightened that he dare not turn his head to answer a question put to him by Tamati Kaweora, and the officer was riding behind with his pistol in his hand; this appears to have made a strong impression on him. When General Chute got to Opunake, he sent a party of soldiers over to Matakaha to bring over Adam Clark, Te Ua, and about thirty others who were there, including some of the Poutoko natives. They were brought into camp with a very unnecessary display of force, in the shape of bayonets, &c., and were shut up in two tents. Here they made up their minds fully that they were to be executed, and exhorted each other to fortitude. Nothing, of course, was done to them beyond administering the oath of allegiance (which, we should imagine, was peculiarly valuable, taken under such circumstances) and they were let go; but the effect did not end there or with them, and there is very little doubt that Adam Clark and all his people would have gone over with or immediately after the others, if it had not been for a few thoroughly friendly natives living with them at the time ; as it was, it added to the fear of Heremaia and Matakatea. The last cause of their fear arose from seeing their young men taken, one after another, to act as guides to the various expeditions ; they had been told all to assemble, and they thought that they should all have to go and fight, and that if they refused they would he shot. This, and the interpreter at Opunake telling Heremaia that some rebels had been found at Nga-ariki, which he had said was Ins place, and therefore he had done a great wrong, appears to have settled the matter, as it was during the following night, we believe, they went away. We have not spoken of the burning of Whitiora and Te Kurukowhatu, and the destruction of the canoes, &c., because we do not hear that this produced much impression, though it may, perhaps, have helped. The events subsequent to their going have not been hitherto correctly reported. It was a poetical fiction that Heremaia took the letter of Captain Livesay telling them to come backhand fired it from his gun. When Tamati Kaweora took the letter up to Nukuteapiapi, Heremaia and Matakatea were not there; the only men there were three rebels and one of Heremaia’s men, and he saw one of them set off the letter inland. He told them what he had come for, and they answered that Heremaia’s things had been put into a house that was marked as sacred (rahui) and it was burnt; and if the General got them into a house even though it was marked as sacred, they would be served in in the same way. Tamati went up again, two or three hours afterwards, but got no further answer, and the next morning the place was destroyed by the troops. As we have already said, the defection of these men at this time, and under the circumstances which led to it, is, we think, very greatly to be regretted. It is easy to say that they were rebels at heart, which, at least in Heremaia’s case, was probably true; but what are the Ngatiruanuis and other actively hostile natives, and on what terms will they be induced to submit ? Are we to go on fighting them until they become our warm and devoted friends; or merely until they accept the conditions we impose ? Unless we are prepared to adopt the latter course, we must address ourselves at once to the work of extermination, and that is likely to take some time, at the rate we have hitherto gone. When Mr Parris was about to accompany the force southwards, he was told very plainly we believe, that his services were not required. We observe that General Chute speaks as

follows of Dr Featherston, who accompanied him :—“ It is hardly possible for me to convey to your Excellency how much I feel indebted to Dr Featlierston for his able adviceon all subjects connected with the natives.”" Putting these two things together, we presume that General Chute and Dr Featlierston. felt themselves able to do without Mr Parris* knowledge of the natives in his own district,, and therefore they are equally responsible for what they did intentionally. Dr Featherston does not seem to be quite so sensitive to native wrongs as he was in 1860. We have said before, and we repeat it, that General Chute’s march up from Wanganui was about the best thing that has been done in the war ; hut we do not hesitate to say that it would have been bettor for Taranaki if his march had ended in this town, and ho had gone back to Wanganui by steamer—for he has left us with more erne* mies than he found here when he came.