VON TEMPSKY’S SWORD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 3848, 22 September 1928, Page 1

VON TEMPSKY’S SWORD.

SECRET HELD BY MAORIS. ANNIVERSARY OE BATTLE. For the past forty years a subject that has aroused controversy is the whereabouts of Major Von Tempsky’s sword. It was at the fight of Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu, the public reserve situated on the Ahipaipa Road, near Okaiawa, that Major Von Tempsky, leader of the Forest Rangers wag shot by the Maoris. The subject is recalled by the 60th anniversary of that memorable battle, which fell on September 7tli. 'The Taranaki News, on that day, contained an interesting article on the history of the sword.

Titokowaru and other Maori leaders had a very wholesome respect for Von Tempsky and recognised in he gallant major a foe who was as capable • a bush fighter as the best native worriors. In fact, the Maori leaders named Von Tempsky “Manurau,” Which means one hundred birds and denotes that his activity was as that of a hundred birds flitting backwards and forwards through the forest. It is little wonder that at Major Von Tempsky’s death there was eagerness to secure his sword as a prized trophy. Titokowaru demanded the weapon, which became a tapu relic, to be set apart as a sacred gift to the Maori gods as a thanksgiving for victory. Such a trophy was religiously preserved, and when Titokowaru,.. with his rebels, was finally driven into the then practically unknown forest regions of the. upper Wlaitara River, the sword was strictly guarded and taken . with them.

OFFER OF £IOOO REWARD. At that period there was a reward of £IOOO offered by the Government for the person of Titokowaru, dead or alive. After remaining in exile for a number of years Titokowaru was permitted by the authorities to ecrae back to South Taranaki. Finally he settled on the Waimate Plains and built a pa named Ka-‘ kata, on the Normanby Road, where he died in 1889. During the latter years of his life Titokowaru, in company with his tribe, frequently visited Pariliaka, to hear the prophets, Te Wthiti and Tohu, address the assemblage at the monthly meetings. He was a follower of Tohu, the latter being of the Ngatiruanui tribe, of which Titokowaru was also a member. In order that the sword of Von Tempsky should be given safe custody Tikowaru handed it into the keeping of Tohu at Pariliaka.

When in 1881 Pariliaka was invaded by troops under the Hon. J. Bryce, and Te Whiti and Tohu were taken and held as political prisoners, the order was given a company of the Armed Constabulary to search all the Maori houses for firearms. A considerable number T>f fowling-pieces and rifles were secured, but no trace was found of Major Von Tempsky’s sword. . With the death of Te Whiti and Tohu the few older natives have in recent yeavsj become less reticent in regard to the happenings of the old Parihaka days. FATE OF THE RELIC DISCLOSED.

The writer of the article in the Taranaki News says he has interviewed with varying success, quite a number of old natives, in a desire to place on record the Maori version of what really happened to the sacred weapon. The secret of the sword was revealed by PonWjhareumu Toi of Weriweri village, Hastings Road, near Okaiawa, near Manaia. In bis younger days Pou was a very well known figure in athletic circles in Taranaki, especially as. a wrestler, and was for years champion of the province. His father, the late Toi Whaktaka, was Titokowaru’s chief lieutenant. When Major Von Tempsky was slain at Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu, Pou was but a child, hut he speaks with authority and conviction when narrating episodes of those days, having received his information direct from his father and others who took part in that memorable clash of arms.

Pou-Whareumu Toi states that when the troops were searching for arms in Pariliaka it was feared by Tohu and Titokowaru that the sword would he discovered. In older to meet this possibility Tohu handed the sword to an old native woman, arid instructed her to hide it in the midden-heap of the village. Here, covered over with potato peelings and other refuse from the kitchens, the weapon was most effectively hidden, and preserved from the searching eyes of the soldiers. When Te Whiti and Tohu were permitted to return to Parihaka the sword was recovered. In order that it should be held in safe custody Tohu handed it into the keeping of an old Tohunga (priest), who was made' responsible for its safe guar-

ding. Years rolled on, the Pariliaka prophets were called to their long rest, and, finally, the old tohunga died. With him the sword was buried. Only a very few natives now living can indicate the sjiot where the sacred relic lies, and these are not at all likely to give the knowledge to anyone. GREAT SACRED SIGNIFICANCE. Upon being informed that it was considered by some authorities that the sword had been recovered and now lies in a museum, Pou, in very emphatic terms, stated that this was quite untrue, and concluded his remarks by stating that the sword was of such sacred significance to the old Maori warriors and priests that no pakeha had ever cast eyes on the weapon since the day it came into the possession of the great fighting chief Titokowaru. Colonel Roberts, now living in retirement at Rotorua, who was in charge of the military affairs on this coast for many years, was in command of the troops that invested Pariliaka. A letter received from Colonel Roberts states: — “W/hcn in command of the Taranaki district during all the time of the Te Wlhiti and Tohu disturbances, I had a talk with the late Mr. Thomson, native interpreter, of Normanhy, about the sword. He made every effort to trace it, with little satisfaction, beyond rumour that it was at Pariliaka. Bearing this in lftind, when the whares at Pariliaka were demolished and 22 firearms of various kinds collected, I had a search made, but the guarded secret of the hidden sword was not thereby revealed. “The blade was more the shape of a sabre than a sword. Shortly after the Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu engagement I sent the scabbard (which was left in the camp at Waihi, near Normanby) to Mrs. Von Tempsky. It is now, I believe, in the possession of Mrs. Kettle, who is a daughter of Major Von Tempskv.”