“IN THE BRAVE DAYS OF OLD."

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3769, 13 July 1907, Page 4

“IN THE BRAVE DAYS OF OLD."

A jtaiaratjie Amnlvursary. Hone Hoke’s fiebollion. Sixb,Three yea is agoon Monday tsays (lif Wellington I’o-d) tin 1 ‘•.tililevs al Koiotaieka i now 1; ‘town as JKm-oHI. kiu the Bay ol Island', alarmed by tbc hfe ot hu.slilc. musketry - At about oViuek mi tlie TiiGiuiuy oi MU July, t/ . a party of Maoris began to distuib slumber::, by warlike noises. Tin y a ivmi'. dto its 5 litr t all, under the leaden hip of i (one Hebe danced s haka ml down the imp'mi! pO|rand burnt u Women T gossip, accordiiig_to Hiett’s " Havly Mew Zealand,'’ was the immediate cause of thiact of tebellioii against British authority. The Maori vote ol a Kuropean named Lord ipvanelled with a woman of Heke • tribe. applied the iiieb.p;.nil iiiletd pig to the noble Heine.

The insult sr.oii reached the. ears of the duel, and he ;s. - t. about petting sati l actimi in Maun fashion, lie removed some c.j. Mr Lord's propei t> and carried bis wile away as a prisoner. The husband, m dfcleteuoe 1.0 Mauri custom, 31Viiuyed to redeem his whe with a cask of tobacco, but lie wa-. unable to tulbl hr., promise. Hebe, still acting 1,1 accordance uillij Maori usage, considered that the other Kuropeaus should pay Lord s d-bt, but they declined the obligation, and, cousei-iueuUy, the indicts began to help themselves to goods without respect to persons. Ihe burning ol the. hag-staff followed this practical demonstration cf Hebe's determination to gel what he believed was bis own. Oo venior Fitzroy at once decided to gel some troops It om Sydney, and they arrived, but were kept out < i action by the in ter \ eulioii of W'aka Neue and other chiefs friendly to the British. On their advice these soldiers were scut back to S\dne_\,

and Heke agree:! to get the tlagslalt re-eiected. The Lioveniov called Ids Council together, and it was decided to redress certain

Maori grievances. Peace, however, did nol long endure. Again there was a disturbance in the Bay oi Islands, and again a woman was one ot the prime causes of the trouble. 4 Maori woman, who was living with a European at Kawakawa molested a constable while he was in “the execution ot Ins duty, ’ which was to arrest her husband. The ollicer was armed with a cutlass, which accidentally injured the woman’s linger. As she was a woman ot rank utu was indispensible according to .Maori etiquette, and the natives helped themselves to some horses owned by Europeans. Other unlawful acts in which Heke was concerned were also committed and finally on loth January, 1845, the chief again cut down tire flagstaff at Kororareka. Soldiers again set up the flagstaff shod it with iron slreets and bniit a block-house as an additional protect ion. A reward was offered lor Heke’s arrest, and he was very indignant at the notion of a reward for his capture, because he considered it was “offering to buy a pig.” from this time he was a determined cntlaw. Once more lie led an assault against the flag-station, drove out the troops, cut down the pole in spite of its armour, and set up a flag ot his own, a red shirt on a long stick. He allerwards retired to his stronghold ol Ohaewai, and with the assistance of another chief, Kawiti, managed to give a great deal of trouble to the pakeha. It was not till January, 1846, that the power of the rebels was broken, alter much European blood had been spilled. Wellington was naturally interested in this native trouble. A public meeting was held at Barrett's Hotel on 29th March., 1845, and the Government was censured for allowing matters to dnft into the disagreeable position which they had reached in the North. “\V T e, as colonists,” ran one resolution, “ hold the Mother Country responsible ior her colonial policy inasmuch as*we have no power in interfering with it. ” Heke died of consumption in

1850, at the age of fovty-uvo, and the veteran Kawrti was carried oif in 1854 by an attack ot mea.sle.s.